Milo

Hosea

INTRODUCTION
Hosea began his ministry near the end of the reign of Jeroboam II of Israel (793-753 B.C.). At that time Israel prospered economically, but was marked by injustice and spiritual decline. Hosea’s message constitutes God’s final warning to apostate Israel, and the prophet lived to see his predictions of judgment fulfilled when the kingdom fell to Assyria in 722 B.C.
The unique feature of Hosea is that prophet’s relationship with his unfaithful wife. Gomer abandoned her husband to pursue adultery, even as Israel had broken her covenant with the Lord. But like God, Hosea had a genuine love for his bride. In the end he found her abandoned, rescued her, and took her back. Today as throughout Old Testament times, the Book of Hosea testifies to the unshakable love of God for His own.

AN ADULTEROUS PEOPLE
Hosea 1–3

“Go, take to yourself an adulterous wife and children of unfaithfulness, because the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the Lord” (Hosea 1:2).

Christians today are to mimic at least one aspect of Hosea’s life. We are to model the way we live with others on the way that God relates to us.

Background
From its inception by Jeroboam I in 731B.C, the Northern Kingdom of Israel had practiced false religion. That ruler, sure reunion with Judah would follow if his people went regularly to Jerusalem to worship, as God’s Law required, set up a counterfeit religious system in his own land. He established two national worship centers, at Bethel and Dan, and set up golden calves at both places, upon which Yahweh was supposed to ride. He ordained a non-Aaronic priesthood and reorganized the religious calendar.
Later Israel proved particularly vulnerable to a virulent form of Baal worship, actively promoted by King Ahab and his wife Jezebel. Even though this had been stamped out during the time of Elijah, Yahweh worship in Israel continued to be corrupt. Not only was the counterfeit system of Jeroboam I maintained, but elements of Baalism, including orgiastic rites and ritual prostitution, were practiced in the name of God. Israel had broken the covenant that bound her to the Lord; an act that was analogous to a woman breaking the marriage covenant.
It is this analogy that is developed in the Book of Hosea. In order to demonstrate to Israel the dynamics of her rejection of the Lord, God permitted the Prophet Hosea to marry a wife who became unfaithful. Hosea’s visible suffering at the betrayal of a wife he sincerely loved enfleshed for God’s people the Lord’s own suffering at their betrayal of Him! But then, wonder of wonders, Hosea searched for and found his prostitute wife, purchased her out of the slavery into which she had fallen, and brought her home!
How Hosea’s neighbors must have watched in awe. She deserved abandonment, yet an unquenchable love moved Hosea to restore her. Just as God’s unquenchable love will move the Lord, after letting Israel taste the consequences of her spiritual adultery, to rescue Israel and also bring her home.
What a powerful reminder to us, first of all of the genuine character of God’s love. But next, of the fact that Hosea was called by God to act out on earth the realities of heaven. Just so, you and I are to respond to others not as they deserve, but as God in grace has responded to us.
Like Hosea, each of us who knows Jesus is to be a living example of His unending love.

Overview
God commanded Hosea to marry a woman who would be unfaithful to him (1:1–11), even as Israel had been unfaithful to God (2:1–23). Showing genuine love for his wife, Hosea found her and brought her back, even as God will one day restore exiled Israel (3:1–5).

Understanding the Text
“During the reign of Jeroboam” Hosea 1:1. With Assyria and Syria temporarily weak, the 40-year reign of Jeroboam was marked by military and economic resurgence in Israel. The king extended Israel’s northern and eastern borders to occupy most of the territory held in David’s day. Wealth flowed into Israel from trade, and local agriculture flourished. Everything seemed to be going so well!
Yet spiritually Israel’s worship was corrupt, sprinkled with pagan practices. Society itself was corrupt, as the moral boundary stones too had been moved. Later Hosea cried, “There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land. There is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery; they break all bounds” (4:2).
It is a tragic error to mistake GNP as a true measure of a nation’s well-being. This happened during the reign of Jeroboam II when Hosea began to minister. And the prosperous, complacent people of Israel were deaf to Hosea’s warning.
Yet there’s a subtle message in this verse, which locates Hosea’s ministry in the time of Jeroboam of Israel, but also the time of Ahaz and Hezekiah of Judah. That message? During Hezekiah’s reign, some 30 years after Hosea began to preach, Assyria invaded and totally crushed the nation of Israel. The prophet lived to see his grim words of warning fulfilled.
In many ways America stands at the same crossroad. Too many of our society’s moral boundary stones have been moved. There is too much violence, too much murder, too much stealing and adultery. And our strength can no more be measured in GNP and weapons systems than ancient Israel’s. Spiritual and moral unfaithfulness remain precursors of certain national disaster.

“Go take to yourself an adulterous wife” Hosea 1:2–3. Scholars debate whether Gomer was perhaps a cult prostitute when Hosea married her. It seems unlikely, primarily because his marriage is intended by God to mimic the Lord’s own experience with Israel. It seems almost certain that Gomer was chaste when they married, even as Israel was initially faithful to the Lord. Yet as time passed, she abandoned her husband to pursue other lovers.
I can’t explain it. Two of my close friends, both fine Christian leaders, have been abandoned by their wives. In each case the wife has gone on afterward to a series of marriages or affairs, even as Gomer did in leaving Hosea. Why would a woman leave a husband who loved her, who provided for her, with whom she’d had children?
But then, why would anyone turn his or her back on relationship with God? Why abandon a God who loves us, who provides for us, who has sacrificed His own Son for us?
Perhaps the explanation has to be sought in the grip sin has on the human heart. We can’t explain it. But each of us has to remain aware that deep within is the capacity to wander. Within each of us there lies a desire to go astray. When we think of Gomer—or when I think of my friends and their ex-wives—we need to acknowledge our own vulnerability.
And then we need to ask the Lord to help us stay ever so close to Him.

“Call him Jezreel” Hosea 1:4–9. The birth of each of Gomer’s three children while she was with Hosea became an occasion for prophecy. With each birth, and through the names given each child, Hosea delivered a new message to his contemporaries.
“Jezreel” was the city where Jehu had slaughtered the family of King Ahab, and symbolized a similar destruction about to come on all Israel. Lo-Ruhamah means “not loved,” or “not an object of compassion.” God would soon cease to show favor to His people. Lo-Ammi means “not My people.” The nation which had rejected God would soon be rejected itself. God would withdraw, not Himself, but His protection.
Each name confronts an unheeding Israel with the fact that sin has consequences. God would no longer intervene to protect His people from the natural consequences of their acts.
Today some suggest that AIDS is a punishment from God on those who practice homosexuality. Others express shock: God couldn’t be so mean! Perhaps. But if AIDS is not a punishment, it surely is a consequence. Sin always has consequences. Some are just more easily identified than others. Jezreel is always just around the corner for those who practice sin. And “not loved” and “not My people” are the relational consequences for those who refuse to stay close to God but violate His precepts.

“Say of your brothers, ‘My people’ ” Hosea 1:10–2:1. With the message of abandonment the Old Testament always includes a promise of restoration. Abandonment in the Old Testament is not rejection. It is much like a farmer, who leaves his fields to themselves for a time, letting the weeds that spring up when a field is untended flourish. In most Old Testament passages the word translated “abandon” actually means “withdraw.”
If we persist in sinning, God may step back and permit us to experience the natural consequences of our wrong choices. But as Hosea said to Israel, God will surely step in again. He will purge His garden of corrupting weeds, and once again affirm “My people” and “My love.”

“I will expose her lewdness” Hosea 2:2–13. In vivid poetic images Hosea now exposed the spiritual unfaithfulness of Israel, using the image of an adulterous wife. She is totally self-centered. She pursues lovers (other gods), but when they fail her she simply goes back to her husband, “for then I was better off than now” (v. 7). There is no sense of sin, no shame, no repentance. She simply comes back, as if she were doing her husband a favor by returning briefly before taking off again!
God announced through Hosea that He would force His wife Israel to face reality and to deal with her sins. Every material blessing would be taken away, and she would be stripped of prosperity.
Prosperity still insulates many people from spiritual realities. And it may be a blessing if all our “good things” are taken away.

“I will give her back her vineyards” Hosea 2:14–23. Again we see the extent of God’s commitment to His own. Despite Israel’s unfaithfulness, the Lord will one day restore His people. “I will betroth you to Me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion. I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the LORD” (vv. 19–20).
If you’ve ever felt too guilty or ashamed to approach God, remember this verse. No matter what you have done in the past, God loves you. His goal is to make you holy, to make you His own. And God will succeed with you, and with His beloved of the Old Testament, Israel.

DEVOTIONAL
As the Lord Loves
(Hosea 3)
Divorce is one of the most traumatic experiences a person can go through. Although I don’t believe the statistics that supposedly indicate some 70 percent of the students in our local school system live with a single or remarried parent, I know that far too many adults and children know that terrible pain.
I’m sure that some divorces are not only justified, but necessary. Yet all too many are not necessary at all. Even when one spouse has an affair, the marriage doesn’t have to end in divorce.
The pain of betrayal is intense. The hurt, the shame, the anger, all well up. Sometimes it all seems too much to bear—to keep on seeing “him” (or “her”) every day. To imagine the spouse with the lover. For some, this is just too much to take.
Still, before a person files for divorce, it’s important to consider Hosea.And to remember what God told him. “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is . . . an adulteress.” And then the Lord added, “Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites.”
What a challenge! In our most intimate relationships, those relationships which have the capacity to cause us the deepest pain, we are to love as the Lord loves.
To love through the hurts. To love through the misunderstandings. To love through thoughtlessness, selfishness, and unconcern. Sometimes to love even through betrayal!
But however hard it may be, we Christians are called to love as the Lord loves.
I know that if we took this principle to heart, and practiced it in our homes, the divorce rate for Christians would drop. And despite the pain of such loving, the rewards would be great.

Personal Application
God’s love won you. When you love as God loves, you win others.

Quotable
“If you truly want to help the soul of your neighbor, you should approach God first with all your heart. Ask Him simply to fill you with love, the greatest of all virtues; with it you can accomplish what you desire.”—Vincent Ferrer

Philemon

INTRODUCTION
This brief, intensely personal letter was written to Philemon, a wealthy Christian slave-owner in Asia Minor’s Lycus Valley. In it Paul appealed to Philemon to welcome back Onesimus, a runaway slave who had been converted under Paul’s ministry. The letter is a dramatic example of how the Gospel unites people of every social class in Christ.

DEAR BROTHER SLAVE
Philemon

“No longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother” (Phile. 16).

Hearts must change before institutions can.

Background
Slavery. A high percentage of the inhabitants of the Roman Empire were slaves. Slaves were viewed as property, and had few personal rights in the Roman world. Several of the New Testament epistles encourage Christian slaves to serve their masters wholeheartedly, as if serving Christ (Eph. 6:5–9; Col. 3:22–25; 1 Peter 2:13–21). These same letters urge masters to treat their slaves well.
There was a movement in the Roman Empire in the first century that saw many masters free their slaves. Other slaves purchased their own freedom with income they earned on the side. It is striking that the Christian community did not become involved in this social issue, even though slavery seems to violate the biblical view of the value of every person. Paul even told Christian slaves not to be troubled by their state, but to accept freedom if the opportunity came (1 Cor. 7:21–23).
The underlying reason seems to be that the early church emphasized the opportunity that any social role gave an individual to serve others. Service, not social status, was given priority. A slave could minister in his servitude; a slave owner could minister by caring for his slaves; a rich man could serve by generously sharing his wealth; a poor man could serve by using his gifts to contribute to the body of believers. What really counted was not the position a person filled in society, but how he served God and others in that role.

Overview
Paul greeted and expressed thanks for Philemon (vv. 1–7), and appealed to him to welcome back his runaway slave Onesimus as a brother (vv. 8–22). He closed with greetings (vv. 23–25).

Understanding the Text
“A prisoner of Christ Jesus” Phile. 1:1. Most believe Paul wrote this letter while in prison in Rome, aboutA.D 60–61. If so, the letter is an illustration of something Paul wrote at the same time to the church in Philippi: “What has happened to me has really served to advance the Gospel” (Phil. 1:12). Even in prison Paul found opportunities to share Christ—and reached at least one person, Onesimus, he would never otherwise have met.
We need to have a similar perspective on our downs, as well as our ups. God remains in charge even when we suffer reverses. Indeed, our reverses might be more important than our successes in fulfilling God’s plan for our lives!

“The church that meets in your home” Phile. 1:2. The “home” was that of Philemon, and the fact that it was large enough for him to host a church, as well as the fact that he owned slaves, suggests that he was relatively wealthy.
How fascinating this is. A zealous, Pharisaic Jew wrote a warm personal letter to a wealthy Asiatic Gentile, appealing to him to welcome back a runaway slave as a brother! No greater social gaps can be imagined than between these three groups in the first century. And yet these people had become one in a common commitment to Jesus, and in the fellowship of His church.
How good it is to become blind to social distinctions, and to see acutely the bond that makes us one with others who know and love our Lord.

“You, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints” Phile. 1:4–7. We can appreciate Philemon as a genuine Christian. Sometimes folks like to invite the traveling evangelist or missionary home—but won’t have anything to do with ordinary folks. This is not the impression we receive of Philemon. According to Paul, he was a man marked by love, who expressed love by welcoming and refreshing “the hearts of” all the saints.
Even so Paul prayed that Philemon would “have a full understanding of every good thing.” Paul was about to stretch Philemon’s capacity to love by asking him to welcome back his runaway slave.
The quality of our love and understanding will be shown when we too are challenged to love someone we might have reason to despise! It’s going the extra mile that shows the great depth of Christian love—and reveals a mature understanding of what is good.

“I appeal to you on the basis of love” Phile. 1:8. Influence, not power, is the secret of Christian leadership. What is the difference? Power coerces others, forcing them to do what we wish whether they want to or not. Influence respects the rights of others to choose, and makes it clear that others have the freedom to make up their own minds.
Paul did marshal a variety of strong arguments, that made very clear what he thought Philemon should do. He exerted a kind of pressure that only a close friend, whose love is well known, would be comfortable in exerting. In fact Paul was confident that Philemon would respond as a Christian should. How wonderful when we can have confidence that our loved ones will do what is right.

“Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful” Phile. 1:11. There is a play on words here in the Greek, for the name Onesimus means “useful.” As a runaway slave, Onesimus “stole” from his master—even though he may have taken nothing away but himself.
In the first century an ordinary slave cost about 500 denarii, equivalent to some 500 days pay for a common laborer. Slaves with special skills might cost hundreds of times as much. By running away, Onesimus was not only “useless” but deprived his master of his rightful capital.
It is understandable, then, why runaway slaves were not very popular in the Roman Empire. When caught they were often put to hard labor in mines, or other settings where they quickly died.
Paul reassured Philemon that Onesimus would now be an asset to him. In doing so he implicitly asked Philemon not to punish the runaway severely.

“Better than a slave, as a dear brother” Phile. 1:16. Paul did not ask Philemon to free the slave Onesimus. Indeed, he implied that the once-useless slave would now be an asset. What he asked was that Philemon now see and treat Onesimus as a “dear brother.”
Ultimately this transformation of perspective undercut the institution of slavery itself. Slavery can only be maintained when some people are viewed as property rather than human beings. The Christian Gospel has not only lifted up repressed classes by acknowledging their human rights, but often has led to the recognition of outcasts as brothers and sisters to be loved.

“I will pay it back” Phile. 1:17–21. Paul here used the language of business. His “personal note” constitutes an IOU. If Philemon had lost money on Onesimus, Paul was willing to repay it personally if Philemon should so demand.
Martin Luther saw this as a picture of what Christ has done for us. Luther wrote, “Here we see how Paul lays himself out for poor Onesimus, and with all his means pleads his cause with his master, and so sets himself as if he were Onesimus, and had himself done wrong to Philemon. Even as Christ did for us with God the Father, so does Paul for Onesimus with Philemon. We are all his Onesimi, to my thinking.”

DEVOTIONAL
The Eye of the Beholder
(Phile. 8–21)
We have a new game. You have folks look at some weird inkblots, write their interpretations, and then you guess who wrote which interpretation.
Everyone knows that inkblot interpretations depend more on what a person thinks than on what he sees. The average person might see a butterfly—and a disturbed person a giant with outstretched arms, about to grab and crush him. What a person sees says more about him than about the inkblot.
The Letter to Philemon reminds us that how we see others is also “in the eye of the beholder.” Paul asked Philemon to stop seeing Onesimus as a “runaway slave,” and to begin seeing him as a “dear brother.”
The Gospel makes the same request of each of us. We’re to stop seeing others as “that dumb blond,” or “that sloppy dresser,” or “that dreamboat,” or “that Very Important Person,” and start seeing them in totally different ways. Non-Christians we’re to see as individuals of infinite worth and value, for whom Christ died. And Christians we’re to see as “dear brothers,” and to love them as members of our family.
Perhaps this is the great contribution to modern believers of Paul’s Letter to Philemon. It asks us pointedly, “What is in your eye when you look at others?”

Personal Application
See others as God sees them, and you will be able to love them.

Quotable
“Man becomes a holy thing, a neighbor, only if we realize that he is the property of God and that Jesus Christ died for him.”—Helmut Thielecke

THE ARMOR OF GOD
Ephesians 6

“Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes” (Eph. 6:10–11).

Use every resource God has provided to wage spiritual warfare.

Overview
Paul examines mutual responsibilities of children and parents (6:1–4), and of slaves and masters (vv. 5–9). Paul reviewed the teaching of this letter, picturing the resources God has provided as a soldier’s armor (vv. 10–20), and closes with brief greetings (vv. 21–24).

Understanding the Text
“Honor your father and mother” Eph. 6:1–3. Paul further developed the thought of mutual submission introduced in 5:21, and applied to husband/wife relationships in verses 22–33. A child’s submission is expressed by obedience to his or her parents.
We might well place a comma in the saying, “Which is the first commandment, with a promise.” Psychologically this is the first commandment that a person experiences: We learn to obey our parents long before we learn about stealing, or murder, or adultery. If we learn to obey our parents as they try to bring us up in the Lord, then the rest will be so much easier. If we are rebellious all the others will be more difficult, even as it will be more difficult to submit to God.
No wonder this commandment has a promise attached. The child who learns to respond to parental guidance will avoid those destructive and harmful behaviors that tend to shorten life.
“That it may go well with you” reminds us again. God gives us His commandments for our benefit. As we live in harmony with what God says is right, we truly are blessed.

“Fathers, do not exasperate your children” Eph. 6:4. One English version has it, “Don’t overcontrol your children.” The thought is expressed in a number of enlightening synonyms: aggravate, provoke, hassle, rile. As children submit to parents by obeying, so parents must submit to children by being sensitive, by listening to their point of view, by being fair.
The important thing to remember in any relationship is that the person with the greatest social power—here, Mom and Dad—have the greatest responsibility to use that power lovingly and wisely.

“Slaves, obey your earthly masters” Eph. 6:5–8. In the Roman Empire slaves were property with no right to direct their own lives. As the Gospel spread, many slaves became Christians. Several of the epistles give guidance to slaves, in each case counseling submission to their masters.
Paul went beyond the other passages here, for he emphasized an inner attitude with which the slaves’ service is to be rendered. For slaves “submission” was not grudging compliance, but wholehearted commitment to doing the master’s will.
Today I suppose Paul’s words would be directed to employee/employer relationships. Surely the advice would be the same. We are to do our work honestly, “with sincerity of heart” at all times. We may not have a supervisor’s eye on us. But God’s eye is. Ultimately the reward for an honest day’s work isn’t to be found in our paycheck, but in God’s “well done.”

“Masters, treat your slaves in the same way” Eph. 6:9. Again “submission” is reciprocal for Christians. The employee submits by giving an honest day’s work. The employer submits by treating employees fairly, with an honest concern for their well-being.
Reciprocal submission is one of the most important principles of Christian living. In every relationship we have, whether personal or professional, you and I are to consider the welfare of others, and act accordingly.

“Take your stand against the devil’s schemes” Eph. 6:10–11. Ephesians is a book about the church. In it Paul presented Christ’s church as a body, a family, and a holy temple. Each of these images calls for Christians to live together in love and unity. It is this dominant theme of the book that helps us understand the nature of the devil’s schemes, and the armor God has provided us to use in withstanding them. Simply, the devil’s schemes in Ephesians are his strategies for disrupting the unity of the church. And the armor of God is God’s resource for maintaining unity.
Living together in love as the living church of Jesus Christ isn’t optional. It’s essential!

The heavily armed Roman legionnaire stands in full armor, equipped for battle. Paul summed up his teaching in Ephesians by linking major themes to different parts of the infantryman’s equipment.

“The belt of truth buckled around your waist” Eph. 6:14. Paul had written, “Each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body” (4:25). Openness and honesty will ultimately create a climate of trust and unity. Attempts to hide our motives, or deceive others, will create a climate of misunderstanding that makes unity impossible.
That “little white lie” that seems so innocent is one of the devil’s messengers intended to disrupt fellowship in Christ’s church.

“The breastplate of righteousness” Eph. 6:14. Paul had written, “Among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people” (5:3). Personal holiness and purity are essential to unity, and to corporate holiness in Christ’s church.

“Your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the Gospel of peace” Eph. 6:15. Paul had frequently stressed the fact that the Gospel brings peace, not only reconciling us to God but also to one another (cf. 2:11–22). In Ephesians, “peace” is that quality of full acceptance which maintains the bond of unity created by the Spirit, enabling the church to move, responsively, to the marching orders of Christ our Head. Without peace, the work of Christ on earth is crippled.

“Take up the shield of faith” Eph. 6:16. Paul has shown us a God who is “able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us” (3:20). If we keep our eyes on this God, all Satan’s fiery darts of doubt will be extinguished.

“Take the helmet of salvation” Eph. 6:17. Paul described who we were in Ephesians 2. And there too he affirmed who we are: persons who are alive in Christ, who are God’s workmanship. Together we Christians need to keep this identity foremost in our thoughts.
Let’s not see others in the church in the light of what they were, or even what they are now. Let’s see them in all their potential, in what we are together becoming. If this perception of our fellow Christians shapes our attitude toward them, one of Satan’s most effective schemes—to make us critical, hostile, or rejecting—will be defeated indeed.

“The sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God” Eph. 6:17. This is the only piece of armor that Paul explained. Why? Because the themes represented by the other parts of the soldier’s equipment were explored in Ephesians, but Paul had not earlier touched on the Word of God.
The other parts of the armor are for our defense against the devil’s disruptive schemes. This, the Word of God, enables us to take the offensive. When we teach and live God’s Word, Satan will increasingly be revealed to be a defeated foe.

“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions” Eph. 6:18–20. God has provided us with the resources we need to fight our spiritual battles. But we cannot use them without prayer. For these are spiritual resources, and we must rely on God as we use them.

DEVOTIONAL
Workplace Imitation
(Eph. 6:1–9)
Paul’s challenging call, “Be imitators of God” (Eph. 5:1), has long captured the fancy of Christians. From Thomas a Kempis’ The Imitation of Christ to Sheldon’s In His Steps, believers have tried to imagine what it would be like to truly imitate God in daily life.
What many miss is that Paul went on in Ephesians to describe the life of imitation as a life of mutual submission in every relationship. Husbands love their wives and put their needs first, and wives gladly respond to husbands. Children obey parents, and parents are sensitive to their children’s feelings and needs. Slaves serve their masters wholeheartedly, and masters consider the needs of their slaves.
It’s perhaps a little pedestrian, but the fact is that the imitation of Christ is perhaps most clearly seen where an employee arrives on time, works hard during the day, and does his best to contribute to the profitability of his boss’ business. And where an employer pays a fair wage, makes sure his employees have medical insurance, makes sure working conditions are safe, and is satisfied with a reasonable profit, even though he could make more by taking advantage of his employees.
But then again, maybe the mundane and commonplace expressions of Christian faith are the most important. After all, we’re to imitate God, and God in Christ entered the world as a human being. He lived with ordinary people, did ordinary work, and only during the last tenth of His 30-year life on earth taught or performed miracles.
You and I may not be able to imitate Christ in the last, spectacular 10 percent of His life on earth. But we surely can imitate Him in the 90 percent He lived as an ordinary man. And, in the ordinary things of our life—in the home, in the workplace—we can display in our submission to others something of the hidden glory of our God.

Personal Application
Imitate God tomorrow. Do an honest day’s work!

Quotable
“He became what we are that He might make us what He is.”—Athanasius of Alexandria

IMITATORS OF GOD
Ephesians 5

“Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us” (Eph. 5:1–2).

There’s nothing flattering in a poor imitation.

Overview
Christians are to follow God’s example and live loving (5:1), holy lives (vv. 2–14), responsive to the Spirit (vv. 15–18) and to one another (vv. 19–20). Christlikeness is especially to be demonstrated by mutual submission in the Christian home (vv. 21–33).

Understanding the Text
“Be imitators of God” Eph. 5:1. The New Testament often encourages Christians to follow the example set by other believers. Here though we’re exhorted to follow the example set by God Himself. This would be impossible if it were not for one thing. We are His “dearly loved children.”
As God’s children we have a new heredity. His own life is planted deep within us. Because of this new life, it is now possible for us to actually be like God.
The verb is best translated “become” rather than “be.” It reminds us that the potential in us has to become actual. You and I have to decide if we will become what we are in Christ, or if we will settle back down into living a mere human life. God has given us all we need to become like Him. The choice is ours.

“Live a life of love” Eph. 5:2. Paul went on to define the decision we have to make. We can choose to live a life of love, and give ourselves to others as a sacrifice to God, or to live a selfish life.
It’s really a simple question. Will I set my heart to ask, “What can I do for others?” or will I set my heart to ask, “What can others do for me?” Will I be a giver? Or a getter?
The wonderful truth is that in giving we receive the most wonderful gift of all: the privilege of being like God, and bringing praise to His name.

“Not be even a hint” Eph. 5:3–7. God is characterized by holiness as well as by love. It’s because we represent Him that no hint of sexual immorality, greed, obscenity—any kind of impurity—are to be associated with Christians.
Some may laugh at the Christian as a prude. We’re not. Sex within marriage is rich, beautiful, exciting, and free. The off-color joke and sly innuendo that the world thinks of as so clever aren’t witty at all. They reflect a warped view of life and goodness, lie under the judgment and wrath of God.
Don’t, however, get the impression that the Christian goes around with a sour face, looking daggers at passing sinners. That’s why Paul mentioned love first (v. 1). If you live a life of love, you can be holy without being self-righteous. If your holiness isn’t beautified by love, holiness itself distorts the image of God.

“Live as children of light” Eph. 5:8–14. Light and dark are symbols John used more often than Paul. But Paul had a special reason for using them here.
I remember fishing once on Lake Saguaro near Phoenix, Arizona. My boys and I got on the lake when it was still dark. We motored up the familiar shore—and suddenly I was completely lost. Strange shapes that appeared to be unknown islands loomed out of the darkness. What could they be? Where was I?
Then, as the sun peeked over eastern cliffs, I saw what had happened. In the dark I’d missed a point and turned into a different arm of the lake than I intended. In the growing brightness I knew where I was, and where I should go.
That’s what Paul is telling us here. In the darkness it’s so easy to become lost. Wander into the realms of darkness, and we’ll lose all sense of reality, and not even know what to do. But if we choose that life of love and holiness that keeps us in God’s light, we’ll expose “the fruitless deeds of darkness.” We will know them for what they are, and we will also “find out what pleases the Lord.”
Walk in the light. Where you are and where you want to go will be clear.

“The fruitless deeds of darkness” Eph. 5:11. Some take this exhortation to mean Christians are supposed to run around busily pointing out others’ sins. Not at all. Paul explained what he meant by saying that we Christians are now “light in the Lord.”
What does a light do when it’s carried into a dark place? Why it exposes what’s there. In the light, you can see the true shape of things that without light are distorted shadows.
This is how we Christians expose the deeds of darkness. We walk into the room, living expressions of God’s love and holiness, and suddenly the true nature of immorality, impurity, greed, obscenity, and all other sins are exposed. People can’t pretend that “bad” is “good” when true goodness is present in the room.
Live as a child of light, and let the beauty of your life expose all that is ugly in this world.

“Be filled with the Spirit” Eph. 5:17–18. People of the world try to escape from the dreariness of their everyday existence by seeking an alcoholic high. Paul said find that escape through the Spirit. Let Him lift you. Let Him make life fresh and new.
You won’t even have a hangover!

“Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs” Eph. 5:19–20. This is one of only a few passages in the New Testament that pictures Christians gathering as the church. Each time the Scriptures suggest closeness and warmth, a rich participation with one another in a common life.
Picture yourself in the setting Paul knew so well. The family has gathered. Brothers and sisters, glad to see each other, crowd together in the room. Soon one starts a hymn. Then another contributes a song. Everyone’s heart is lifted and soon the room is filled with spontaneous prayer.
We don’t have many actual descriptions of such gatherings in the New Testament. But from this book alone we know meetings must have been just like this. We’re to be “rooted and established in love” (3:17). We’re to grow and build ourselves “up in love, as each part does its work” (4:16). How else could this happen if we did not draw close, sharing as a family, loving and praising together.
Don’t think such descriptions of Christ’s church are ideal, even in our age of sitting passively in the Sunday pew. Somewhere in your church there are brothers and sisters who meet, or would be willing to meet, as family. In a Sunday School class. A women’s circle. A home Bible study. Perhaps in your own home. The church still is the church. Really. And in the church, God has family for you.

“Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ” Eph. 5:21. Somehow the designers of our English versions decided that verse 21 shouldn’t be attached to verse 22. These are carefully separated in most versions—even in the NIV!
I can’t imagine why. “Submit” (hypotasso) simply means to subordinate yourself to those considered worthy of respect. If we take seriously verses like Romans 12:10 (“honor one another above yourselves”) and Philippians 2:3 (“in humility consider others better than yourselves”), we’d all be quick to submit—not only to leaders, but to other brothers and sisters as well. Not only wives to husbands, but husbands to wives.
In fact, it’s only in the context of a body in which mutual submission is practiced by all that we can really understand what Paul said about husbands and wives in the rest of this chapter.
But never mind. It’s enough here to note that in Christ submitting isn’t an admission of inferiority. It’s simply an affirmation that others are valued and important enough to be heard, loved, and their needs responded to. In God’s peculiar way it is submission that makes us great.

DEVOTIONAL
Head of the Wife
(Eph. 5:22–33)
Paul said it quite plainly. The wife sets the example of submission. The husband sets the example of loving. Each makes it easier for the other by taking the lead in his or her own unique contribution to the Christian home.
I don’t know whether to be angry at the way some Christians twist this passage, or to weep. I’ve done each at times. Angry, when a husband misuses this passage as a club in an attempt to dominate his wife. Weeping, when a wife has surrendered her hopes and talents and even her identity in an effort to be obedient to what she thought Scripture taught.
Putting it most simply, Paul told us husbands that we are the heads of our wives “as Christ is the Head of the church” (v. 23). Paul went on to show that what this meant to Christ was that He “loved the church and gave Himself up for her to make her holy” (vv. 25–26). Headship to Christ didn’t mean domination. It meant self-sacrifice. Headship didn’t mean “I’m boss.” It meant, “How can I meet your needs?”
That’s what it must mean for a husband who wants to be a Christlike head of his home. It means putting his wife’s needs before his own. It means doing everything he can to help her reach her full potential as a person and as a Christian. It means loving, self-sacrificially, as Christ loved.
So preach me no sermons demanding wives “submit.” Instead, preach me sermons calling on Christian men to love as Christ loved. If a husband gives this kind of love, submission will be joyous and free.

Personal Application
Being head of the home means accepting your responsibility to take the lead in love.

Quotable
“The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.”—Theodore M. Hesburgh

BECOMING MATURE
Ephesians 3–4

“So that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:12–13).

Love is essential to mutual ministry, and mutual ministry to spiritual growth.

Overview
The unity of Jew and Gentile in one body is an unexpected revelation (3:1–13). Yet, one family now, unified by love, Christ’s people experience His power at work in us (vv. 14–21). We are to maintain this unity and mature in Christ (4:1–16), as new men and women living together in love and holiness (vv. 17–32).

Understanding the Text
“The mystery made known to me by revelation” Eph. 3:1–9. A “mystery” in Scripture is a facet of God’s plan previously unknown, but now revealed. The Old Testament made it clear from the very beginning of the Jewish people that God intended to bless Gentiles (Gen. 12:1–3). The unexpected aspect of God’s plan was that Jew and Gentile would be united in Christ’s church, with each welcomed alike on the basis of faith (Eph. 3:6).
This feature of the Gospel antagonized many Jews, who thought of themselves alone as God’s chosen. If we’re not alert, we can fall into the same trap, and resent others who unexpectedly receive the grace of God. Let’s remember that the Gospel is God’s great equalizer. Scripture marks everyone as a sinner, so that anyone can be lifted up by grace.

“The manifold wisdom of God should be made known” Eph. 3:10–13. The word “manifold” might be translated “multifaceted.” God’s plan seems so straightforward when we read the Old Testament. He chose a people, promised them redemption, a Saviour King, and ultimate triumph. And history moved toward this fulfillment. Then, suddenly, the Son of God appeared as the promised King, was rejected by His people, crucified, and resurrected, and we realize that all along God intended far more for humankind than was previously revealed.
Don’t put God in a box, or try to squeeze Him into limiting categories. God’s plans and purposes are multifaceted, and each facet reflects His complex wisdom and love. The more we glimpse of that complexity, the more we should be moved to worship and to praise.

“I kneel before the Father, from whom His whole family . . . derives its name” Eph. 3:14. Paul immediately gives us an example of God’s complex wisdom. The church is the body of Christ: each believer is united to Him as Head, and thus to one another. But, Paul said, the church is also family. We derive that name, family, from the fact that we are also related to God the Father. And, if we are sons of the same Father, we must by virtue of our relationship with Him be brothers and sisters—family.
How complex the wisdom God displays in the church. No single image is capable of expressing what we have in Christ, or who we are (see DEVOTIONAL).

“Immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” Eph. 3:20–21. This benediction may well have been drawn from early church liturgy. If not, it must soon have become part of the Christian church’s affirmation of Christ’s great power.
These verses surely challenge us today. Sit down, and list the greatest work you can imagine that God might do in your life or the life of a loved one. Then ask Him, in complete confidence, to do it. You can have complete confidence, for our God is “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.”

“There is one body and one Spirit” Eph. 4:1–6. Everything Paul wrote in this letter was based on the conviction that the body of Christ is one. “One Lord, one faith, one [Spirit] baptism, one God and Father of all” (vv. 5–6). Our lives also must express this conviction. And the way we express it is by affirming our love for other believers—even for those with whom we differ.
Paul reminds us, “Be completely humble and gentle.” Christians do differ, and differ on important matters. If we focus on our differences, convinced as we are that we are right and the others are wrong, we will become proud and judgmental. Only a humble spirit will free us to love without feeling the need to debate our differences. Only a humble spirit will maintain the bond of peace.
Don’t be proud. No matter how doctrinally correct you may be, if your attitude denies the oneness of the body of Christ, you are wrong.

“He led captives in his train” Eph. 4:7–16. The image is of the return of a conquering general, who liberally distributes the spoil he took from a defeated enemy.
Christ triumphant distributes gifted individuals to the church, not to do the ministry, but “to prepare God’s people for works of service” (v. 12).
Here’s another expression of the complex wisdom of God expressed in His design of Christ’s church. Growth toward maturity doesn’t depend on the ministry of leaders, but on the ministry of the laity, whom leaders are to equip! Here too we see an echo of Paul’s prayer in 3:14–19 (see DEVOTIONAL). Growth toward maturity takes place as the whole body “grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”
The spiritual vitality of your congregation depends on becoming a loving, serving community of saints.

“Put off your old self . . . put on the new self” Eph. 4:17–24. In Ephesians 2 Paul led us to look at the raw material from which God has constructed Christ’s church. He showed us our deadness: the corruption of our original nature, and the futility of self-effort. And Paul reminded us that God “raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms.”
This imagery is picked up here in Ephesians 4. The “old self” is that person we were when ruled by “deceitful desires.” The “new self” is the astounding capacity God has given us to love others, to love God, and to set our hearts on service. The “old self” is selfish and self-centered. The “new self” is selfless and “like God in true righteousness and holiness.”
Many different illustrations have been used to capture the implication of having an “old self” to put off, and a “new self” to put on. Some say it’s like a teeter-totter: when one side is up, the other must be down. Some say it’s like a path that forks in opposite directions, and each person decides down which he will turn. An old Indian is supposed to have said there were two horses inside him, one black, one white, pulling against each other. Which one won? The one he decided to ride.
Paul himself used an analogy. The old and the new are like cloaks a person wears. You put off one, and put the other on. This analogy has surprising force. Teens have always adopted clothing styles as symbols of how they see themselves. Research has shown that these symbols have great power in shaping adolescent behavior. Change the hairstyle, replace that pale, white makeup and the clothes that don’t match, and you change the way a teenage girl sees herself, and thus the way she behaves.
This is what Paul is saying here. Don’t see yourself in the old way anymore. Take off the old man, and hang it up like a suit of discarded clothes. Put on the new man, look at yourself in God’s mirror, and when you see yourself clearly, go out and behave like the person you now really are.

“Be kind and compassionate” Eph. 4:25–32. Just so there’ll be no mistake, Paul held up a mirror for us to look into. Here, he said, is the new man. He doesn’t lie. He gets angry now and then, but not enough to lose control and sin. Once a thief, he’s now hard at work on an assembly line. Once foul-mouthed, he now concentrates on saying loving, positive things that build others up. Instead of bitterness and rage, the new man is marked by kindness and compassion. Instead of brawling, the new man forgives others just as Christ forgave him—freely, generously.
Look closely in this mirror. The person you see—the honest, decent, loving, forgiving individual—is you! This is who you are in Christ!
So put this new man on. And take him with you wherever you go.

DEVOTIONAL
Knowing Christ’s Love
(Eph. 3:14–21)
I’ve recently been made aware again of how few people really know love. No, not love as something they give. Love as something they get. So many of us have never really been loved: loved for ourselves, loved unconditionally, completely.
I thought of that again as I reread this prayer of Paul’s for the Ephesians, and sensed his earnest desire that God’s people be “rooted and established in love.” The “love” Paul spoke of here isn’t the love of God, or love for God. His theme was family love—love for one another in Christ. And it’s vital that we understand why Paul prayed so fervently that God’s family members root and establish their relationship with each other in love.
Paul said that so rooted, we have power “together with all the saints” to grasp and know the love of Christ (vv. 18–19). So family love is a key to spiritual growth—“that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”
Why is this? Partly at least because “love” is such an abstract, confusing term. All too often it’s a selfish term: “I love you” means nothing more than I want to use you to meet some physical or psychological need of my own. How different the love of Christ! Christ’s love is totally unselfish: His “I love you” means He was willing to give Himself to meet our own most desperate need.
How can we ever grasp or understand such love? God, in His wisdom, drew Christ’s people together and made us family. In the context of the family, a family that loves and cherishes, that nurtures and supports, that cares and shares, we are to learn by experience the width and length and height and depth of the love of Christ.
The first great calling of any congregation is not to build a larger building, to raise more money for missions, or even to evangelize its neighborhood. The first great calling of any congregation is to be family. Nurtured by the warmth of Christ’s love as this is expressed through brothers and sisters who care, God’s people are “filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” And Christ, filling our lives, will then reach out through us to win not just our neighborhood but the world.

Personal Application
The mark of a truly spiritual church is still, “See how they love one another.”

Quotable
Christ has no body now on earth but yours;
yours are the only hands with which He can do His work,
yours are the only feet with which He can go about the world,
yours are the only eyes through which His compassion can shine forth upon a troubled world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.
-Teresa of Avila