In Ephesians
4:17 – 19 we see that the peoples of the world are on walkabout in the
“futility of their mind,” so then, why do we, as those who have “the mind of
Christ” (1 Cor. 2:16), follow such futility?
We also see that
they are “darkened in their understanding.” That is, their understanding is the
opposite of being “enlightened,” they can’t see what is really going on – and
yet so many of us follow the people of the world. Not only that, but we often
adopt the ways of learning of the world, including the way we read and
interpret Scripture. Our epistemology is often that of the world (consider what
Paul writes in 1 Cor. 1:17 – 2:16). Even Christians who profess a high view of
Scripture have incorporated the epistemology of the worldly academy, which has
now taken root within both the pulpit and the pew. Why do we live in a house
that has blackout curtains and no lights? Paul writes in Eph. 5:8, “…for you
were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of
Light…”
We see that the
peoples of the world are “excluded from the life of God because of the
ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart…”
Recall that
there are two types of people on earth, those who are alive in Christ and those
who aren’t (Eph. 2:1ff). There are those who have “the life of God” and those
who don’t. Ignorance is a barrier to us receiving the life of God in Jesus
Christ, and our hardness of heart seals our ignorance, it preserves it, it
throws a cloak over it, it blocks the light of the Gospel from our hearts and
minds.
In 2 Cor. 4:3 –
4 Paul writes, “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are
perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the
unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of
Christ, who is the image of God.”
Then in 2 Cor.
4:6 we read, “For God, who said, Light shall shine out of darkness, is the One
who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of
God in the face of Christ.”
When we read
these passages, I want to caution us once again, not to think in selective
terms of the peoples of the world, that is, thinking that Paul is writing about
the “bad people” of the world, because he is not; Paul is writing about all the
peoples of the world; he is writing about who we were before we came into a
relationship with Jesus Christ; “for you were formerly darkness.”
The peoples of
the world live in spiritual death, and epistemological and cognitive darkness,
and yet so often we follow their lead, adopting their ways, making idols of their
political, sports, economic, academic, religious, artistic, and entertainment
celebrities – why are we so foolish?
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