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Monday, December 10, 2018

Desires

Paul writes to the Ephesians about Christian living. He contrasts the unbeliever with the believer when he says "you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds" (Eph 4:17). They operate in darkened understanding and alienation from God due to internal ignorance and hardness of heart (Eph 4:18). "But that is not the way you learned Christ," he says (Eph 4:20). How, then?

"Put off your old self," he says (Eph 4:22). That old self is part of the former life and "is corrupt through deceitful desires." Instead we should "be renewed in the spirit of your minds and put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness" (Eph 4:23-24).

Imagine that! Old self? Shed like a set of dirty clothes. "Corrupt." We don't think like the old self, but are "renewed in the spirit of your minds." The new self is in the likeness of God. That's something.

I'm interested in that depiction of our desires. The old self gives itself to sensuality, greedily practicing every kind of impurity (Eph 4:19). That's easy to see; just look around you. It's the everyday news. But Paul calls those desires "deceitful". Really? You know it. We are promised joy and satisfaction in all those things. Take this drug, drink this drink, do this act ... we're quite sure this will be good. Fulfilling. And it is! For about two seconds. Then it's not. We need more. More drugs, more alcohol, more sex, more money, more power -- more. We think indulging our desires will bring happiness and instead it brings dissatisfaction. "Greed", essentially, means "not enough" and that's us. Satan holds out the promise of happy living his way -- Satan, the father of lies. These are "deceitful desires."

Paul contrasts here two lifestyles. One is characterized by futile thinking and the pursuit of personal pleasure. The other is characterized by "the new self" with a renewed mind, a living reflection of God "in true righteousness and holiness." The "deceitful desires" are set aside and replaced with new desires from God. That's what we need, you see. Desires from God. Which is it with you? Is your primary pursuit your own pleasures, or is it something new?

7 comments:

Bob said...

"Which is it with you? Is your primary pursuit your own pleasures, or is it something new?"
I Would venture to say that for the child of God, walking with the Father in Holiness, is the new primary pursuit of pleasure. we are being transformed by the renewing of our minds. that we may be conformed to the image of Christ. when i was a Man, i thought like a Man, seeking my my own selfish way. but now i am a child, a child of the living God. now i think like a child, singing , adoring, praising, and walking hand in hand with my brother Jesus, and my Daddy....
oh what manner of Love it this?

Bob said...

just a quick thought...

i just realized.. Christ became a Man, and suffered so that as High priest, He may identify with us.
We children of Christ , now must share in His suffering, so that we might identify with Him..

And that's all i know...

Bob said...

ok so i shared this idea with a friend, and what i got back was, "so have you suffered for Christ? " this question begs a potentially arrogant answer. if i were to say yes, then i must innumerate the quantity, and quality of my suffering. it seems that the only honest answer is that "it remains to be seen" judgment day will test the value of our service and suffering.
i guess that may not satisfy most peoples opinion. how did i get myself in the conversation?
i thought i was on to something, now not so sure....

Craig said...

Bob, I think you’re on to something. At least as it pertains to those of us in the US. Sure we might have someone lie about us or fling expletives around, but we don’t suffer for Christ. People in other cultures certainly do, but we don’t. I’ve noticed the same thing when the topic is serving others. I think it’s way to easy to make the conversation about “our accomplishments” and get caught up in numbers and pride.

It’s tough because we want to be recognized, but the goal is to point towards Christ, not us.

Bob said...

thank you Craig..:"It’s tough because we want to be recognized, but the goal is to point towards Christ, not us."

the difficulty with the subject of suffering, is that it is subjective..
who suffers more? how much should we suffer? the only solution set is the one that Christ determines. i guess suffering is not the ultimate point, identifying with Christ is the main point. suffering is just something we share in this identity. we are to rejoice when we suffer for Christ (not because suffering is somehow a fun thing.) but because it is a privilege to counted among the brethren.

wow.. now im using old English words .. i must be getting like , more spiritual than you.
but at least you have identified with suffering this conversation, i will give you that. thank you Craig,,

Craig said...

I saw something somewhere else that made me think of this conversation. I just have this sense, that any time a Christian starts to talk publicly about how generous, or moral, or loving, or whatever else they are that they are headed down this same road. It always concerns me when a believer holds themselves up as an example (even/especially if it’s a humblebrag(.

Craig said...

I completely agree. Our suffering only has value in the extent that it brings glory to Christ and trying to compare is probably pointless. Probably best to humbly point to the cross.