Wednesday – October 19, 2016
God is far beyond good, let none of us forget to be thankful to Him, to praise Him, and to worship Him with our full heart. Don’t be afraid, you really can’t overdo it. I will now pick-up with our study of Ephesians.
Ephesians 2:1-3 (KJV)
1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
I left off yesterday discussing how our sin caused an abdication of the authority God gave us, mankind, in the beginning to the evil one, Satan and his cohorts. Paul goes on in verse two to tell us that this same spirit that was at work in our lives before we declared Jesus as our Lord (highest authority in our lives) is still at work in the children of disobedience. It is probably worth noting that we are a child of disobedience when we step outside of what we know to do. In that moment of disobedience we have provided the enemy a case to take before the Father as our accuser and in the absence of our repentance our Heavenly Father has no choice, legally, but to render a verdict, judgment, justice, allowing some level of stealing, killing, and destroying in our lives. If there is any level of stealing, killing, and destroying in our lives we must examine ourselves and get the disobedience out immediately. We do not have these things to teach us or show us something so God can rescue us. Give me a break, we have a good and loving God. The main focus of the term, “children of disobedience” is those that are lost, not saved, not born again, those who are under, the children of, or born of, disobedience. Disobedience himself is Satan, as Lucifer he became the father, the originator of disobedience. And we were a part of that bunch and thought we were just the cats’ meow.
Ephesians 2:3 (KJV)
3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
The word conversation in modern day vernacular would be best understood as citizenship. So, before Jesus when we were dead in our trespasses and sins, we were citizens of the world system which is ruled by the devil. Let me point out something here that may seem a little trivial but I think as we meditate on it you will see the significance. There is a difference in Scripture between the earth and the world. The earth is the physical sphere upon which we walk. The world is the system that exist upon the earth or adorns the earth. The earth did not belong to mankind in the beginning, but he had authority over and were responsible for the earth. The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof (Psalm 24:1, 1 Corinthians 10:26). Now, Jesus is heir of all, and so we in Christ Jesus as joint-heirs are owners of the earth. The world system from the day of Adam to this day however is ruled by Satan. In the Old Testament we see that God had a people but He kept them as separate as He could from the world. Today we are separate from the world in Christ Jesus and we are the light of the world, we are in the world but not of the world. Okay, back to verse three.
Ephesians 2:3 (KJV)
3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
Notice that the Apostle Paul makes note of the lusts of the flesh, then says “the desires of the flesh and of the mind”. Our flesh is as it is generally referred to in Scripture, and Paul makes that point right here, is our unrenewed mind and our physical body. Of course, when we were walking dead in our trespasses and sins generally our whole mind was unrenewed and our body was geared, trained, to enjoy sin. We before salvation, and those who have not chosen salvation are children of wrath, Satan is under a sentence of wrath and as his children we are under a sentence of wrath as well. Praise God that is not the only choice.
John 3:16-18 (KJV)
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Let us each one decide that we will not be children of wrath, we will not remain in condemnation but will believe “in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
By: Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
