Tag Archives: Ephesians 4:17-24

Preparing for the Day When We exchange Our Tent for a Building

Bloor Lansdowne Christian Fellowship – BLCF Church Message for Sunday:

‘Preparing for the Day When We exchange Our Tent for a Building’ 

© October 1, 2017 by Steve Mickelson

BLCF Bulletin October 1, 2017

Announcements and Call to Worship; Prayer                                                                Opening Hymn #200: The Church’s One Foundation; Choruses                          Prayer and Tithing Hymn #572: Praise God from Whom All Blessings Responsive Reading #654: The Holy City (-from Revelation 21)                       Message shared by Steve Mickelson:                                                                        ‘Preparing for the Day When We exchange Our Tent for a Building’

Let us pray…

The Lesson I would like to share with you today at BLCF is entitled: ‘Preparing for the Day When We exchange Our Tent for a Building’

It is interesting observation that most people endeavor to find permanence to the relationships in their lives. So it is young people may date, but ultimately hope to find their one true “soul mate” for the rest of their days.

There is nothing better than a lasting friendship with someone with someone you can always trust and rely upon.

The same is true for anyone who has lived the lifestyle described as:  itinerant, wandering, roving, roaming, touring, saddlebag, nomadic, gypsy, migrant, vagrant or vagabond.

While such lifestyle may initially seem exciting or romantic, after a while most of us get tired of living on the road, being quite content to have a place of permanence to call home.

Who among us can say that they have embarked upon an extended trip or journey, which initially seemed to promise excitement and adventure, and find ourselves both relieved and grateful to finally arrive back home?

So it was with the People of Israel, who were led by Moses, who in-turn was led by God, to wander the desert for generations to a permanent home in the Promised Land. While they  journeyed, they lived in tents which could be easily struck for the next leg of their journey. Even the Temple where they worshipped was housed in a tent.

Over time the People of Israel, who had longed to be delivered from their bondage in Egypt, sought to find a place which they could permanently call home. They wanted to exchange their tents for a permanent residence made of a more enduring material, such as brick and stone.

We have a few Scripture Verses today, some which reference having a tent for a home. However the tent is not intended to describe a place where one lives, but is used as a metaphor for the body in which we live.

Evangelist Billy Graham is quoted as saying: “To the Christian death is the exchanging of a tent for a building.”  The building exists in heaven, as John records the Lord’s description in John 14:1-7 (ESV):

 I Am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life

 14 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God;[a] believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?[b] 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.”[c] 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also.[d]From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

Footnotes: a. John 14:1 Or You believe in God b. John 14:2 Or In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you c. John 14:4 Some manuscripts Where I am going you know, and the way you know d. John 14:7 Or If you know me, you will know my Father also, or If you have known me, you will know my Father also

 As Christians, who believe that Jesus died for our salvation and who have decided to follow and accept the  ‘Way, Truth and Light’ of the Lord, our choice also brings us the gift of the Holy Spirit of God, Who comes to help transform our bodies from ordinary ‘tents’ to ‘Tabernacles of God’s New Covenant of Salvation’, to live a new life, transformed in the likeness of the Lord, Ephesians 4:17-24 (ESV): 

The New Life

17 Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. 19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. 20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!— 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self,[a] which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Footnotes: a. Ephesians 4:22 Greek man; also verse 24

Those who believe in the Gospel of the Resurrected Christ, Jesus are promised us a heavenly dwelling which is eternal in exchange for our current mortal tent-like bodies,  2 Corinthians 5:1-10 (ESV):

 Our Heavenly Dwelling

5 For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3 if indeed by putting it on[a] we may not be found naked. 4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

6 So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

Footnotes: a. 2 Corinthians 5:3 Some manuscripts putting it off

Our current body is described as being like dwelling in a tent which is separate and away from the Lord. But we have the hope and faith that we  will go to live forever in a new home which is a permanent that Lord has prepared  for us,  Revelation 21:1-11 (ESV):

The New Heaven and the New Earth

 21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place[a] of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people,[b] and God himself will be with them as their God.[c] 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. 8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

The New Jerusalem

9 Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.

Footnotes: a. Revelation 21:3 Or tabernacle b. Revelation 21:3 Some manuscripts peoples c. Revelation 21:3 Some manuscripts omit as their God

Let us pray…

Communion: Matthew 26:26-28 ( -see below)

Closing Hymn #546: Sing the Wondrous Love of Jesus

 Benediction – 2 Corinthians 5:1 (ESV) – Our Heavenly Dwelling:

5 For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

The Father’s Creation: Redeemed by His Son and Renewed with the Spirit

Bloor Lansdowne Christian Fellowship – BLCF Church Message for Sunday:

‘The Father’s Creation: Redeemed by His Son and Renewed with the Spirit’

©May 7, 2017 by Steve Mickelson

BLCF Bulletin May 7, 2017

Announcements and Call to Worship; Prayer                                                                    

Opening Hymn #358: We Praise Thee, O God #449; Choruses                                         

Prayers and Tithing Hymn #572: Praise God from Whom All Blessings          

Responsive Reading #634:  Christian Unity (John and 20, 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4)                                                                                                                                                          

Message by Steve Mickelson:                                                                                                    

‘The Father’s Creation: Redeemed by His Son and Renewed with the Spirit’

 

Let us pray…

Welcome to BLCF Praise and Worship Service for this, the first Sunday of May, 2017. This also happens to be the Sunday where we observe Communion, as the Lord had instructed us to do, until the day he returns.

Our lesson today is entitled: ‘The Father’s Creation: Redeemed by His Son and Renewed with the Spirit’, where we explore through Scripture how we may understand the unseen God in Whose image humanity was created. We will also explore how God has called us to His bosom and how the Father has provided  believers with a path to salvation and a means to stay on that righteous Way.

In the beginning, God created Adam and Eve in His image, as we read in Genesis 1:26-28 (ESV):

26 Then God said, “Let us make man[a] in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Footnotes: a. Genesis 1:26 The Hebrew word for man (adam) is the generic term for mankind and becomes the proper name Adam

We read in Genesis 1: 27, that men and women are created in the image of God:

27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

This passage indicates that God has blessed men and women, encouraging them to multiply and has and has granted us with dominion over every creature that flies in the air, swims in the seas, and walks on the earth.

What do we mean when we say that men and women are images of God? Let us look at the definition of an image:

Image definition im·ag ˈimij/  noun (google search)    

  1. a representation of the external form of a person or thing in art.
synonyms: likeness, resemblance; 

depiction, portrayal, representation; 

statue, statuette, sculpture, bust, effigy; 

painting, picture, portrait, drawing, sketch

“an image of St. Bartholomew”
  1. 2. a simile or metaphor.

Example: “he uses the image of a hole to describe emotional emptiness”

synonyms: simile, metaphor, metonymy; 

figure of speech, trope, turn of phrase; 

imagery

“biblical images”

I find it interesting and perhaps ironic that our Lord often taught by using the metaphor and the second definition of image is a metaphor.

While God’s creation was initially created humanity in the image of God, the devil sought to replace the goodness of that image with the evil of sin, Isaiah 59:1-4 (ESV):

Evil and Oppression

 59 Behold, the Lord‘s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save,
or his ear dull, that it cannot hear;
2 but your iniquities have made a separation
between you and your God,
and your sins have hidden his face from you
so that he does not hear.
3 For your hands are defiled with blood
and your fingers with iniquity;
your lips have spoken lies;
your tongue mutters wickedness.
4 No one enters suit justly;
no one goes to law honestly;
they rely on empty pleas, they speak lies,
they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity.

 It is sin that has hidden humanity from God, resulting in a separation, which brings more sin and ultimately death.

But God’s love for His creation is great. So great that He sent His own Son, Christ Jesus, to restore the goodness to humanity by atoning for the judgment our sins, Colossians 1:15-20 (ESV):

 The Preeminence of Christ

 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by[a] him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Footnotes: a. Colossians 1:16 That is, by means of; or in

While humanity was originally created in the image of God, sin has altered and warped that image, obscuring from the Creator.

If humanity is described as being an expression of the image of God or as a metaphor or His expression of the image of Himself and sin has changed that image, we may consider that like damaged artwork, a restoration is called for:

Restoration of the Frescoes in the Sistine Chapel

The conservation-restoration of the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel was one of the most significant conservation-restorations of the 20th century.

The Sistine Chapel was built by Pope Sixtus IV within the Vatican immediately to the north of St. Peter’s Basilica and completed in about 1481. Its walls were decorated by a number of Renaissance painters who were among the most highly regarded artists of late 15th century Italy, including Ghirlandaio, Perugino, and Botticelli.[1] The Chapel was further enhanced under Pope Julius II by the painting of the ceiling by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512 and by the painting of the Last Judgment, commissioned by Pope Clement VII and completed in 1541, again by Michelangelo.[2] The tapestries on the lowest tier, today best known from the Raphael Cartoons (painted designs) of 1515–16, completed the ensemble.

Together the paintings make up the greatest pictorial scheme of the Renaissance. Individually, some of Michelangelo’s paintings on the ceiling are among the most notable works of western art ever created.[a] The frescoes of the Sistine Chapel and in particular the ceiling and accompanying lunettes by Michelangelo have been subject to a number of restorations, the most recent taking place between 1980 and 1994. This most recent restoration had a profound effect on art lovers and historians, as colours and details that had not been seen for centuries were revealed. It has been claimed that as a result “Every book on Michelangelo will have to be rewritten”.[3] Others, such as the art historian James Beck of ArtWatch International, have been extremely critical of the restoration, saying that the restorers have not realized the true intentions of the artist. This is the subject of continuing debate.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restoration_of_the_Sistine_Chapel_frescoes

Like the tainted frescoes in the Sistine Chapel, God the creator of the universe sought to restore that which He created to their original pristine condition, through His son, Jesus, Colossians 3:1-10 (ESV):

Put On the New Self

 3 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your[a] life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you:[b] sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming.[c] 7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self[d]with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

Footnotes: a. Colossians 3:4 Some manuscripts our b. Colossians 3:5 Greek therefore your members that are on the earth c. Colossians 3:6 Some manuscripts add upon the sons of disobedience d. Colossians 3:9 Greek man; also as supplied in verse 10

While Jesus brought the means of humanity restoration in a day not years of loving sacrifice, by way of the cross, the Lord sent the Holy Spirit of God to maintain the goodness of his restoration, Romans 8:1-4 (ESV):

 Life in the Spirit

8 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.[a] 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you[b] free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin,[c] he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Footnotes: a. Romans 8:1 Some manuscripts add who walk not according to the flesh (but according to the Spirit) b. Romans 8:2 Some manuscripts me c. Romans 8:3 Or and as a sin offering

To recap our journey and lesson today:

  • God created man and woman in His good image.
  • Satan and sin damaged and obscured that image.
  • Christ Jesus came to restore the pristine image to humanity.
  • The Lord sent God’s Holy Spirit to maintain that image.

Those who believe in God’s plan that He sent His son, Jesus, to restore the righteous and holy image to the born again followers of Christ are gifted with the Spirit to renew that likeness to God, Ephesians 4:17-24 (ESV):

 The New Life

 17 Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. 19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. 20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!— 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self,[a] which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Footnotes: a. Ephesians 4:22 Greek man; also verse 24

Let us pray…

 Communion – (Matthew 26:26-29) – Institution of the Lord’s Supper

 Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

Closing Hymn #365: I Am Weak, but Thou Art Strong   

 Benediction:

To God the Father, who created the world,

To God the Son, who redeemed the world,

To God the Holy Spirit, who sustains the world,                                                      

Be praise and glory, now and forever.                                                                              

 Amen.