Transformed Together: Ryan Kwon on Ephesians 4:25–5:14

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Ryan Kwon
Now, if you have your Bibles, please turn to Ephesians, chapter four. Now, when I was told that I was teaching through the book of Ephesians, I was thrilled at the prospect of opening Paul’s glorious, soaring words about the riches of his grace. And then we talked about who was assigned which text and I got Ephesians chapter four. It’s all about following rules. It’s about ethical injunctions. Now it makes total sense that Dr Piper would open up our conference by preaching Ephesians chapter one, and the glorious realities of the Divine election. But more curious, however, is our new president, Mark brogob, how he assigned himself. I mean, was assigned. Was assigned Ephesians two and the oneness of Christ. Now in Ephesians, chapter four, I get to tell you to stop yelling at each other and get a job. And so perhaps the organizers of this conference, assuming that I’m a good Asian, is naturally inclined to follow some rules, and they’re not wrong. They’re not wrong. My father used to tell me, Ryan, you’re not a beesian, you’re not a season, you’re an Asian. So here we are. Here we are, okay. But in all seriousness, Paul now shows us what Reformed theology has always shone a light on that God’s indicatives always lead to God’s imperatives. The commands don’t cancel grace, but they’re the fruit of God’s grace. So by being made new in him through the grace of the gospel, you and I have now new means, new motivation to obey, and it’s such a delight to obey. I first got a taste of this as an unbeliever. I didn’t grow in the Christian home. My father was an immigrant. He was agnostic to this country. He worked hard. He was a stern man, a man of very few words, but in sixth grade, he gave me a commission over my life. He said, You will become a doctor. And so I was I was a good student. I got good grades, but in my senior year in high school, I was caught reading leading a cheating ring, and there, my principal called my dad to discuss whether they were going to expel me or not. I was so fearful, because I had already gotten into the college of my choice, and I was afraid that I’d be rejected by them. But I was more fearful of my dad. My dad was a fearful man. He comes into the office of my principals, and he had a few words with him, and he just walked out, and I just followed him like a lost little duckling. He got into his car and waited there, almost expecting me to come in, and so, God, I got into the back seat as to be free of the range of his fist, and so I sat there. And the entire ride home, it was completely silent, and my imagination just ran wild as to what he was going to do to me when I got home. But when I got home, he sat on the couch, and I stood in the middle of the living room. Minutes felt like hours as I just stood there, and suddenly he stood up with his fists clenched, he lunged towards me, and fearing the worst, I tightened up my face and my body, and to my utter surprise, instead of throwing a punch, he threw himself down at my feet, and he started to bow to me as if he Dishonored me in the pool of his own tears. He said, Ryan, forgive me. I failed you as a father. I have not taught you well, so I bear the responsibility. And he continued to bow, just innately. I started to bow back to him. I didn’t know what to do. You see, little did I know then, but this was my dad’s attempt to propitiate for my sins. He was taking my shame, and I’ll tell you that from that day, I went from a child of having to obey to wanting to obey. My heart shifted from duty to delight. And so when I first heard the gospel of Jesus Christ from a friend in college, I asked, How can one man suffering on the cross save a multitude of sinners through all time? And she went on to say, because that one man is worth more than all of them put together, put every person who would ever believe throughout all time on one side of the scale, and put Jesus Christ on the other, and Jesus would outweigh us all. And when I realized that, my eyes opened for the first time and. Heart leaned towards him through myself, and I realized to the hope that he was calling me. And my dad shed tears, but Jesus shed his blood for giving my trespasses according to the riches of his grace. And it was in that moment, my heart went from duty to delight, and I remember thinking, if this Gospel is true, then I will give my entire life and my service to Him for the one who gave his life for me. Now Paul turns from Ephesians one through three at what God has done, and now he wants us to live out our calling in response to this grace, and Paul says in chapter four, verse one, i Therefore I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called You and I have been called to put off a form of living and to put on another. Often in the Bible, this ethical teaching could be simply summarizes this, not do what I say, but be what you are. Be what you are. As to say that if we were to collect all the ethical injunctions that are written in Ephesians, Chapter Four through 640, plus, that would be a list just as much about who you are than what to do, because the Christian life is not informed by the gospel, but it’s ignited by the gospel. It is a power. It doesn’t have power, but the gospel is power, and it revolutionizes every square inch of our lives. And this is what Paul assumes as he lays out these injunctions. Now Paul lays out here three ways that we are empowered to live this Christian life, and it’s almost as if every point he escalates or even amplifies it to give us all that we need to live faithfully. As Peter echoes that in the second letter in chapter one, verse three, he says his divine power. The gospel has granted us all things to pertain to life and godliness, who has called us to His own glory and excellence. So here’s what Paul calls us to, first, to live out who we are. Second, to live out who we are together, and third, to live out who we are together in God’s family, there’s this individual identity that’s given, then a collective identity, then a familial identity. So that would be our outline. First Christians live out who we are. Individual identity has been given to us. Paul says in verse 17, I have to backtrack and get a running start towards verse 25 Now this I say, and testify in the Lord that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do. Now realize that Paul is talking to Gentiles saying, don’t be like Gentiles, and what he means is not referring to their ethnicity, but their new spiritual reality. You see, you have a Gentile passport, yes, but yet now you’ve been citizens of the kingdom of God and a brand new identity. So the mystery of Paul that speaks in Ephesians, one in this letter, brought these Gentiles under the union with Christ. Yet Paul warns these Ephesians Gentiles, because though they are made new, some of them have fallen into the old pattern of living. So he reminds them what they are redeemed from verse 18. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because their ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of the heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy, to practice every kind of impurity. But that’s not the way you learn Christ. And the picture here is of a skin that has been hardened, calloused, where you lose a sense of feeling. And you and I know that there are medical conditions of people who lose all sensations of feeling. And after all, that’s a dangerous medical condition because, after all, they cannot feel what they’re touching. If they touch a hot stove or they put their hand in the fire, it’s dangerous, quite threatening, because they’re not realizing that their hands are burning. They’re hurting themselves. And Paul is saying that’s exactly what it’s like to live without God, to know sin and yet persist in still is to become calloused, morally, leading to sensuality, desiring more and more to every kind of impurity. Now listen, this is a stunning warning against the Christians, that while knowing our sins, our persistence to still sin can dull our senses to the heinous effect of sin, whether it be premarital sex or extramatal sex, pornography, idolizing career success or idolizing our kids, prioritizing them and their sports above the worship of God. And by the way, you know Caitlin Clark will your seven year old. Her,

Ryan Kwon
just get over it. And whatever our sins are, if we persist in them, it can dull us. And you see, we know that sin is destructive, but the terrifying thing about sin, it’s not that it’s only destructive, but it is a sedative, and so the longer we do them, we think to ourselves, Well, this is not hurting me. It’s like the addicts who have to take increasing doses of substance that they are abusing to get the same effects, and before long, our lives will resemble more like a Gentile giving ourselves to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity, and we’ll need more of this kind of sin to experience the same hit and thrill. And my question to you this morning is, what are the sins that you are callous to think about that? Because if nothing comes quick to your mind and heart, perhaps the sin is not just destroying you, but it’s also sedating you. And then in verse 20, we’re given a great contrast. But that is not the way you learn Christ, assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him as the truth in Jesus, put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life, and corrupt is corrupt through deceitful desires, and be renewed in the living, I mean, in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self created after the likeness of God. Now, before Paul gives us the moral injunctions here, his final appeal to us is that we are to understand that these aren’t just a list of Christian do’s and don’ts, but these are who we are as a natural flow of who we are in a new creature, a new creation. Remember, you and I are made new, therefore we’re to put on a new set of clothes and realize what’s on us instead of what was behind us. We no longer wear the prisoner’s garb, but yet now we have the righteous robe of Jesus Christ. So keep living this way. Ephesians, secondly, cry Christians live out who we are together. Together. This is a collective identity that we’re given now we go from the big picture to the details of what Christian living looks like, verse 25 and therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. So it tells us to put away falsehood and speak truth. Why? Look at the reason. It doesn’t say, don’t lie because it’s bad. Don’t lie because honesty is the best policy. Notice the reason given here, because we are members of one another. It says we’re a spiritual family. We’re alive together. And this is amazing, because when you look at these lists of injunctions, most of these commands in the Bible might be found under other world views and other religions. But what makes this distinctively Christian is not just theological or ideological, but it’s relational, because the theme of the unity of the body flows through this letter. Why? Because it flows through the heart of God. And remember Ephesians, one nine, we see the heart of God. God making known to us the mystery of his will according to His purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan to unite all things to him, the heart of God, in 214 for He has made us both one and has broken down the dividing wall of hostility that he might create in himself, one new man in place of two. That’s Jews and Gentiles coming together so making peace that might reconcile us both to God and one body. We learned about the vertical and the horizontal relationships. And then we go on in 316, this mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body through the gospel, and Paul continues to share God’s heart for unity in four. Four, there is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call. And simply put, God’s will for us is to build unity. And yet the thing that destroys unity is not our passivity, but it is specifically in this context sin. Sin destroys our unity. So the ethics that Paul gives is always related to being a part of the family. Don’t lie, tell the truth. Why? Because we’re one body. Now that doesn’t penetrate a lot of us, because we tend to read the Bible through our own cultural grid, and I get it for most of us, our cultural grid. It is driven by this individualistic Western culture rather than the Eastern family culture, and we tend to believe that our family exists for me instead of the other way around. We tend to think that our family exists for our win, opposed to we existing for our family’s win. Now, growing up, my father made it very clear to me that I existed for the families, when not the other way around. My dad would wake me up early on Saturday mornings and say, Hey, we’re going to clean up the entire house. And then I would protest and say, Dad, but that’s not my stuff. And he would say, Oh, I know it’s not your stuff, but it’s your family’s stuff, and it would be fine if the family existed for you, but listen, you exist for the family. He would say, Ryan, you have a first name, but you wouldn’t have a first name if you didn’t First have your last name. That’s what he would say. And now I say that to my kids,

Speaker 1
Dad, I didn’t make that mess. I’m like, that’s not my job.

Ryan Kwon
Son, don’t clean up for your first name, but clean up for your last name. Now for some of you who play sports, you understand your coach saying something similar to say, don’t play for the name that is. Play for the name in the front of your jersey, not the name in the back. Why? Because you and I are family, we are alive, but more alive together. That’s just not an individual identity, but a collective identity. And then Paul gives us four specific ethical injunctions to make sense of this, something that the Ephesians were struggling in Unity. Number one. He says, Be honest with each other. Now this is not just saying, don’t lie in general, but in particular, in God’s family, as one body, do not lie to each other, because then we cannot be members of one another. Now what does this mean? Well, when my children were young, and I used to catch them in the lie I would always give them a one hour lecture. Maybe that’s why they stopped lying, or maybe they got really good at lying, I don’t know, but this is what I would say. I would say, Son, if you lie, then you live out of a false identity, and that makes it impossible for you to be known and loved, and that starts to erode the very thing that your soul needs is to be known and is to be loved. And you’ll always believe then that people won’t love you for who you really are, but who they think you are because of your lies, and that ultimately will distort you and eventually bleed into the reality that maybe, maybe, maybe God can’t love the real me, and that builds the resistance of the gospel and like it, if we lie to one another, we are subtly believing that we cannot be loved as who we are. And if there is a purpose of gospel community, it is to reassure ourselves that you today, whichever form you are, you can be loved, and you are loved as who you are, nothing else. God doesn’t love the future version of you, but by His grace, He cannot love you more than he loves you right now. In fact, we heard that He loved us before the creation of the world. That means not a single meritous Act contributed to how God loves us. He loved us before, and he loves us now the same. So tell the truth to each other, because your fake you is tired, so be transparent with your sins. Be honest. Don’t exaggerate. And some of us are avoiding hard conversations, and we’re withholding truth from the body. And Paul says, Be gospel people and be honest with one another. Secondly, put off anger. Verse 26 be angry and do not sin, and do not let the sun go down on your anger. Give no opportunity to the devil. Now notice the nuance here. It doesn’t say, Don’t be angry. It says, Be angry, but do not sin. This is a quote from Psalm chapter four, having righteous anger. After all, Jesus himself had righteous anger, and so often our anger, though it leads to sin, because the nature of our anger is not righteous. It’s rather quite simple and selfish, and our bitter anger gets the best of us because we’re not getting our way. And so our anger leads to sin, and Paul’s ammunition here is to NOT SIN and this wonderful phrase, do not let the sun go down while you’re still angry. It doesn’t mean if you’re from Alaska and the sun doesn’t set for about three months, that you’re justified in your anger for three months. Or it doesn’t mean that if you got into a fight with your spouse at night. Then you have a whole nother day, from sunrise to sundown as you stew in your anger. That’s not what it’s saying here, Paul is speaking proverbially here, not literally, and he’s encouraging us the importance of timely resolution of anger. Why? Because anger is far more destructive than we think. Now notice, in this context, this verse is often used and most exclusively used during marriage counseling and through our marriage but in this context, Paul uses it primarily for the church, because Paul is concerned about the unity of Christ’s bride, and then Paul ratchets it up. Verse 27 give no opportunity to the devil our very own. HP, Charles once said, anger is like giving the devil a couch to sit on in your heart, and the longer you are angry, the more he makes himself at home. Wow. The Greek word for opportunity here is literally a place, a place. So anger gives the devil a place to dwell. So if you want to dim your potential in your church to see the glory of God, if you want to limit the gospel impact at work in your church, they keep providing a place for the devil through your anger. So keep avoiding that person in your church. Keep gossiping to one another, refuse to reconcile. Keep attending the other services to avoid that person. But Paul would say, Here, give no opportunity or the place for the devil. Third, put off stealing. Verse 28 let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor doing honest work with his own hands so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. And you might be watching the news, and you might be infuriated by all the common thievery of the smash and grabs and looting and the modern terms, I suppose it’s the flash Rob. It’s not the flash mob anymore. It’s the flash Rob. Or when we hear about the unwise spending of our government, it just infuriates us. Yet these words, let the thief no longer steal is not given to the world, but Paul gives it to the church. In fact, this is in the present active participle, which is best translated as we who are stealing currently should no longer steal. And this assumes, then that you and I in the church are stealing in ways that we’re not infuriated by, such as cheating on our taxes or stealing from your employer your time and resources, unauthorized sharing of your TV subscriptions with your family members, or plagiarizing sermons online. Paul says, Don’t steal, but instead, work usefully with your hands, earn your money, but once again, look at the compelling reason as to why we shouldn’t steal. It’s not just moral, it’s not just theological, but it’s quite relational, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. So don’t steal. Work hard. Why you should provide others. And so can you, in this moment, think of some people in your church that could be provided for, somebody that lost a job, somebody who is sick, somebody who’s unable to ignore that need. It’s like stealing, says Paul. But at the same time, Paul says, Don’t be a Robin Hood. Why Robin Hood is seen as a hero in all of our fables. He loved the poor. Gave to the poor. But how do you give to the poor by stealing from the rich? And Paul says, that’s not actually the way you do it Robin Hood. What you need to do is to get off from your couch, go on LinkedIn and get a job, work hard so that you could give to the poor. This, again, is not a moral reason, but a relational reason. Is to not steal that the body of Christ will be transformed. Fourth, build others up. Verse 29 let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as good for building up as it fits the occasion that it may give grace to those who hear. Chapters one to three, we receive all this grace now we’re to be the dispensers of this same grace with words. So it’s not talking so much about truth and falsehood, as it said in verse 25 this is refusing to use words that tear others down and rather build each other up. And it’s been said that there are two buckets that we draw from when we argue with people. One bucket, you have gasoline, and the other you have water. And when you open your mouth, you draw from one of the two buckets. First, if you choose gasoline, sarcasm, shouting blame, then you are feeding the fire, making the conflict even hotter, more destructive. And yet. If you choose water, then patience, empathy, understanding comes into play, and you cool things down, you diffuse tension, and you promote healing. And Paul is saying, think about your words. They say, men, on the average, use 10,000 words a day, while women use 20,000 words. And just in case you think I’m picking on you, preachers use 30,000 words. Yes. Could you imagine if we recorded all of our conversations in a given week and played them back? I just wonder what percentage of our conversations and words are building others up, glorifying God and dispensing grace, we’ve got great power to build each other up since we’re one body. Proverbs 15 four says the soothing tongue is a tree of life,

Ryan Kwon
but perverse tongue crushes the spirit. Could I encourage you never to assume the person next to you is doing as well as they look. Could I just encourage you of that, that all around us in our churches, there are brothers and sisters who feel unheard, unseen, and they’re crying out desperately, sometimes in silence, for that encouragement. And if we could hear their cries, we would hear, I just need an unsolicited word of life from you. Would you give that we get enough corrupting talk from the news and social media? What if our church were the primary source for the words that give life in our society today and so build each other up and give grace to those who hear. Now in verse 30, we’re giving a marvelous summary statement of this whole thing, and do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Now this is quite stunning God, the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity. Somehow we could grieve Him, as we first heard in the first session of how chatgpt cannot have a heart to glorify God, that God created this world with the heart. Now on the opposite side, we see outside of this world that God is not chatgpt either, that he has a heart and that you and I could grieve Him. That’s a stunning thought for us to reflect on, and this passage happens to tell us that the best way that we grieve God’s heart in this context is to promote this unity, that if we lie, we get angry, we steal, we use words that tear down we grieve the Holy Spirit. After all, the Holy Spirit unites us, and according to Ephesians, one, he has sealed us. And now we’re told the same word, sealed to one another for the day of redemption. So the Holy Spirit is active in spreading the gospel, bringing all things together under one head, Jesus Christ. And so when we act in disunity, we grieve Him, but also we forget the day of redemption. Is speaking of that final day when Jesus returns, and when you and I will enter into the new heavens and new earth, and we’ll spend eternity with one another in love and perfect harmony. And yet, if we live in this unity now, we’re forgetting my brothers and sisters where we’re going. You know, Martin Luther once said there are two days on my calendar, this day and that day, which means that I live today in light of that day, and when you’re having a bad day, or maybe perhaps a series of bad days, then remember the ultimate day is drawing near. So let’s live in light of that reality. Ephesians, so Paul continues, verse 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice, be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ has forgiven you. And there seems to be an intentional progression here. Paul says, Don’t think bitter thoughts that lead to bitter deeds, that lead to bitter words that lead to all forms of malice, and refuse to think badly of another person, assume the best in others. Because of all the things that we judge people for, it’s likely that our source of judgment comes from 1% of what we know about them, while the 99% is in them that we do not know are under them we don’t know. So be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another as Christ has forgiven us. Finally, three Christians live out who we are together as God’s family. Now this is a familial identity, and Paul here continues to amplify the mean. Us to which we have to live out the Christian life. Not only do we have a new identity, not only is it collective in that we do it together, but that we’re not just part of an old family, but we’re part of God’s family. Verse one, therefore be imitators of God as beloved children walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice to God. Now the word beloved, here is the Greek word agape, toss, which doesn’t mean that you’re liked or you’re just valued. It is the same word that the Father had to had to Jesus when he was being baptized, and he said in Matthew chapter three, verse 17, This is My beloved Son in whom I’m well pleased. And to be called the beloved means that we’re wrapped up in the same eternal, unbreakable love of the father that he had for his son. And the language here is covenant affection, so you’re not adopted to God’s family, just in status, but you are adopted and cherished with divine affection. Then Paul goes on to say that we’re not just beloved, but we’re children. He could have said beloved servants, he could have said beloved disciples, but we’re his beloved children. Now, would you just notice how far we’ve come from Gentiles to chosen to chosen to chosen together now chosen to be God’s family and his children. And that same pattern was first seen in chapter two, verse 19. So then you’re no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens of a household of God, see, so this is our ultimate covenantal identity, and therefore imitate Him, not to earn his approval, but because you have his full approval, because Christ loved us and gave himself up For us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Fragrant offering is used, particularly in the Old Testament, to describe a sacrifice that is pleasing to God. And so when we love one another, we please the Father, and we please the Father because he’s already so pleased with us. And secondly, we imitate him, because children naturally are like their parents. In fact, in Jewish culture, is expected that children will grow up to be like their parents. So God’s children as his children, we follow in this likeness. Why? Because we are made in this image. Now, when my family and I are out and about in the city, and some family that recognizes us, sees us, they’ll always comment. 100% of the time they’re like, Oh, your son is a splitting is a spitting image of your wife or your daughter looks just like you? Well, the question is, Are you the spitting image of your heavenly Father? When people look at you? Do you look like the offspring of God or the offspring of the world, the sons of disobedience? And so Paul says here, verse five, for you, may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral and impure or who is covetous has no inheritance in the kingdom and God. Now King, I mean, Tim Keller argues here that the sin of sexual immorality and greed and covetousness are Paul’s way of getting across the comprehensive spectrum of the law of God. For instance, there are churches across the land, in particular in the west coast, where I’m from, where greed is sin seen as the sin of the hour? Yes, because all injustice, they would say, flows out of the sin of greed and is poured out into society. But when it comes to biblical ethics of sexuality, they minimize it. They think it’s archaic and out of date. And yet, there are other churches in the country where there they put ton of emphasis on the sin of sexuality, but are totally silent and mute when it comes to Christian charity for the poor and the marginalized. And Keller says the law of God is so comprehensive that we’re all tempted to ignore the parts that don’t fit our temperament. Wow, isn’t that so true? We often so cherry pick the laws based on our preferences, our comfort and some of the biases that we have deep inside we’re not even aware of. I call this the trail mix theology. All of us love eating trail mix. Pick and choose what we want and leave behind what we don’t like. I know this because at the bottom of every trail mix, and you’re covered, on the bottom of that trail mix is those nasty, unsanctified, wrinkled things called raisins, yes, well, How’d it get there? How’d it get there? Oh, you know, we pretend to grab indiscriminately, but immediately what we become are like. California gold miners, you know. And we start sifting for the Eminem first, then the nuts, then sometimes the dry fruit, leaving all those nasty, sinful raisins fall through the cracks. And Paul says, Here you got to eat your raisins too. That’s what he’s saying. In fact, J i Packer puts it better. He says, If we edit the laws of God, take in what we like and leave out what we don’t, we are no longer sitting under God’s word, but we’re standing over it, and God forbid that we ever stand over God’s glorious word, and instead, as God’s children, we sit at his feet,

Ryan Kwon
longing for every word that comes out of the mouth of God. It should taste like honey to our lips. So Paul aims to motivate us by being imitators of God as His children, warning us the impact of sin. Verse six, Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things, the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not become partakers of them. Now Paul purposely gives us a stunning contrast between beloved children and sons of disobedience. Now he’s doing this in some ways of finality for us to experience the impact of where we were to, where we have come from, who we are today. And Paul is drawing a sharp contrast between the two, reminding us it’s just like those weight loss pictures of the stunning transformation. And he’s saying, You are a different person. Now, first, we were one sons of disobedience, our former family by nature, and Paul echoes this in chapter two, verse two, our natural inheritance is one of rebellion against God, and so this family, in turn, will receive God’s wrath. And by the way, Wrath does not unhinge emotions from God as we think. The Bible talks about wrath as a judicial condemnation for those who are in sin. Now, Paul intentionally creates that tension between who we once were to who we are now. He wants to give us this amazing, glorious picture of what we look like now as God’s children. Verse eight, for at one time, you were darkness. You were darkness. You didn’t just do darkness. You were it’s not an activity, it’s an identity. You were darkness, but now you are light in the world. Walk as children of light. Now, what does that look like to walk in children of light, he goes on verse nine, for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true. And so to the degree that you delight in the fact that you are children of light, you will live this way. But conversely, the reason why you and I make foolish choices today is because we are not thrilled enough to be children of light. So how can we thrill our hearts again? And the answer lies in this prepositional phrase found in verse eight. For at one time, you were darkness, but now you are light. How in the Lord, in the Lord? In the first part of Ephesians, God says, the moment that you have received Christ, you are united in him, and you are put in him. And then says, while you are still sinners, and while you are still part of darkness, while you are still flawed in Christ, you are seen as brilliant, beautiful, acceptable as goodness, righteousness and truth. And this is incredible. And you say, how could this be? Well, imagine a little boy growing up in a forgotten orphanage. He never knew his parents. He slept on a cot in a crowded room. He wears hand me downs, all too big, all too worn, and every day, he eats what’s given. He only speaks when he’s spoken to and keeps his expectations low, because that’s what he’s learned, not to hope for much. Then one day, everything changes. A couple walks in, dignified, kind, compassionate, warm, and the father kneels down, looks at him square in the face, eye to eye, and says, We’ve come for you. We want you to be our son. Papers are signed. The child is whisked into a new car that he’s never dreamt of riding in, lands in a home that is far greater than he’s ever imagined. His room is ready. He has new clothes on. He has a new name. His future is secure. But more than all the possession now that he’s ever had now he has a father’s hand to hold a mother’s voice to sing over him and the seat at the. Family Table. You see, he didn’t earn it. He didn’t fill out an application. He wasn’t chosen because he was impressive. He was beloved. It was a covenantal love that made him theirs. What God has done through Christ is just that for us, you and I, are spiritual orphans, sons of disobedience, without hope, without family, but our father sought us. The son paid the price to redeem us. And now the Spirit, according to Galatians 47 says you’re no longer a slave, but a son. And if a son, then heir, through God, so put away your old self, live out of your newness, together as God’s family for the glory of God, let us pray, Father, what love is this that we will go from being sons of disobedience to be called the children of God? What grace is this that you will call us to be transformed through the unity of your bride, and we cannot see your glorious grace unless you help us. So, open our eyes, open our hearts, open them wide, and help us to marvel at your belovedness, so that all of our duties will simply melt into our delights we pray in Jesus, name Amen,