Sunday, August 16,
2015 pm
STUDIES IN EPHESIANS (20)
THE BASIS OF OUR UNITY (2)
Ephesians 4:4-6
For the sake of flow, we will examine these qualities out of order.
a.
Reference to Holy
Spirit – He has already been addressed throughout this epistle –
Eph. 1:13-14 – we were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise
Eph. 2:18, “For through Him we
both have access by one Spirit to the Father.”
Eph. 2:21-22, “in whom the whole building, being fitted together,
grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built
together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”
Eph. 3:5, “which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men,
as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and
prophets:”
Eph. 16, “that He
would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be
strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man,”
Eph. 4:3, “endeavoring
to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”
b.
There is one Spirit –
1 Cor. 12:4, we are baptized into the body “by one Spirit.”
c.
As Christians, He
dwells within us – Romans 8:9-11 speaks of the Spirit of God dwelling in
us.
d.
How does the One
Spirit promote unity?
i.
We have the word of
God (His word) revealed. Again
consider Eph. 3:3-5 where Paul reveals through the Spirit his message.
ii.
Jesus taught His
apostles that when He left them, the Holy Spirit would come.
In John 14:16-17 He described Him as “the Helper” and “the Spirit
of truth”.
John 14:25–26, ““These things I have spoken to you while being
present with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will
send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your
remembrance all things that I said to you.” (NKJV)
John 16:13,
“However, when He, the Spirit of
truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak
on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will
tell you things to come.”
iii.
Paul 1 Cor. 2:9-16
speaks of how God has revealed Himself to us through His Spirit, that
“which the Holy Spirit teaches.”
iv.
His word is
understandable and does not contradict itself (Eph. 5:17).
When it is followed, it will
promote unity. We
will address this more in our next lesson as we speak about the “one
faith”, Etc.
v.
Romans 8:1 tells us,
“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ
Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the
Spirit.”
a.
This
is a reference to Jesus Christ. The
idea of “Lord” is that He is our king or master. He is our ruler and we
are subject to Him.
i.
Matt. 28:18 – He has
been given “all authority”.
Eph. 1:22-23, He is the head of the church, His body.
He is LORD of us!
ii.
Acts 2:36, ““Therefore
let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus,
whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.””
iii.
Acts 10:36, as Peter
preached to Cornelius after declaring that God shows no partiality, he
said, “The word which God sent to
the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ—He is Lord
of all—”
b.
There is ONE Lord - 1
Cor. 8:6, “yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all
things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom
are all things, and through whom we live.”
Romans 10:12, “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for
the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For
“whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.””
c.
Luke 6:46, Why do You
call me Lord and do not the things that I say? Matt. 7:21-23 – in
declaring Jesus as Lord, we must do what He says.
d.
Colossians 3:17 tells
us to do all in the name of the Lord Jesus… (by His authority) – not
only must we obey Him, but where He specifies, we follow His
instructions.
e.
Philippians 2:9-11 we
find that because of what Jesus did (He left heaven and died for our
sins -5-8), “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him
the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee
should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those
under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
f.
Colossians 2:6, “As
you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,”
g.
Romans 10:9-10, to
become a child of God we need to confess Him as Lord.
h.
How does this promote
unity? We all submit to His
will and instructions we will be united.
We will set aside our differences (nationality, gender, race,
etc.) and become one body in Him.
a.
This is reference to
our Heavenly Father. He is
the supreme and sovereign ruler.
He created this world and all that is in it (with Jesus and the Spirit –
Genesis 1:1)
b.
There is ONE God - 1
Cor. 8:4-6. He is the
heavenly Father. “Therefore
concerning the eating of things offered to idols, we know that an idol
is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one. For
even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as
there are many gods and many lords), yet for us there is one God, the
Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus
Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live.”
1 Timothy 2:5, “For there is one God and one Mediator between
God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,”
c.
As Father – He is to
be honored and reverenced!
We subject ourselves to Him in the same manner we would submit to
our earthly father. And in
this term we find the quality of family – where we are ALL His children
(and thus we need to act like it).
Even Jesus
acknowledged Him by that term (John 17:1-5, Matt. 6:9, 7:21, 10:32-33,
etc.). As such, in some
fashion He is even over the Godhead.
d.
He is also described
here with His sovereignty as being
i.
These declarations
point to the oneness of God (as opposed to the idolatrous concept of the
Roman world). We also can
learn from this with many in our world following after other gods (i.e.
Allah is NOT the God of the Bible, gods of Eastern religions, etc.)
ii.
He is above all -
a declaration of His sovereignty and rule (cf. 1 Cor. 11:3)
iii.
He is through all –
He has influence in this world.
His will can and will be accomplished.
We find His influence in history, through His word today, etc.
He is also everywhere – Psalm 139:7-12)
iv.
He is within us – He
influences us (see other recent lessons) – 1 John 1:7
e.
How does this promote
unity? As with Jesus, when
we acknowledge Him as supreme and the ONE true God it brings unity.
Bear in mind that Paul is writing this in times of polytheism – a
major source of conflict between Jews and Gentiles.
Now that the body of Christ is ONE, there must be agreement that
there is but ONE God! We
call this “monotheism”.
a.
Time will not permit
a detailed discourse on God in three persons.
In summary we are reminded:
i.
Each Person is a
distinct being and has a distinct purpose (as we have seen) – Many
passages (such as our text) identify all three.
Consider also Matthew 28:19 – we baptize in “the name of the
Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
All were involved with creation – Gen. 1:26, 1:1-2, John 1:1-3
2 Cor. 13:14, “The grace of the
Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy
Spirit be with you all.
Amen.”
Matthew 3:16-17 – all present at the baptism of Jesus
ii.
They are distinct –
The Father is NOT the Son or the Holy Spirit, The Holy Spirit is not the
Son, etc. (See chart below),
b.
Together they
comprise what is described as “the Godhead” or “triune” God – (Acts
17:29 – divine nature; Romans 1:20, Colossians 2:9
c.
How are three one?
While they are three distinct persons, they are one in purpose
and work. Together they are
God (deity) – in the same way that water can be liquid, solid or gas.
d.
How does this promote
unity – John 17:20-21 – we learn from the example of the triune God how
united we are to be. All
three have done their part to bring salvation to man.
We can learn from them.
The very thing Paul admonishes us to do – 1 Cor. 11:1
And thus we continue to emphasize the unity we are to possess.
Not only are we one body, we also learn about our unity by seeing
how the Godhead is united.
Working together we can accomplish His will.
In our next lesson we will examine the other qualities in this
list. Until, let us strive
for unity both in attitude and action.
Think about it.