Today I am asking you the question, “Who are you following?”
We are going to take our text today from Ephesians 2:1, “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of the world.”
That word “follow” really stood out to me. What is Paul saying when he says we are following the ways of the world? We see this a lot in his explanation of how we are learning to live from the new so that we are not following the ways of the world, the ways of the old.
In Romans 12:1, it reminds us that our mind needs to be renewed, it needs to metamorphosize, a brand new species of being. Christ has made it possible for us to live from this new created spirit. So what is Paul saying here when he says “Used to follow the ways of the world?”
Have we made this a past tense experience in our life or is this something we are continuing in, even unknowingly? Who are we following when we are following the ways of the world?
In verse 2, he mentions the ruler of the kingdom of the air. Those words “follow” and “ruler of the world,” the implication is Satan, he rules the atmosphere of worldly thinking, the kingdom of “self.”
In Matthew 6, Jesus says we are to seek His Kingdom the Kingdom where God is the ruler. There are two different kingdoms here, and my question is again, who are we following? We may be doing this, not willfully, but just unknowingly because we think “I have prayed the prayer, I’m a Christian, I love God, I go to church every Sunday.” Again, who or what are we following?
He further goes on to say that the spirit of the prince of the power of the air is at work in those that are disobedient. And we have all lived like this. When we were ruled by the prince and the power of the air, we gratified the cravings of our sinful nature. There are cravings in the sensual man that are gratified when in that realm of thinking like the world. Jesus has made it possible to for us to live a brand new life and follow a new way.
Matter of fact, He said He is The Way, the truth, and the life. The way, the truth, and the life is a person and His name is Jesus Christ. He wants to fully have rule and reign in your heart and in your life. It’s a brand new way of being so that when we read Ephesians 2 we could begin to say that I am one them, that this used to be a past tense kind of thing in my life.
The principality of the rulership of this world no longer is dominating me. I know there is a lot here. I don’t have a whole lot in this specific blog to give you details on how to live this out, but we will in future teachings.
At the same time, you are not left without. You have the Holy Spirit living inside of you and the wherewithal to be willing to say “Lord, I want to live by my new nature. I want to follow you. I want to live Matthew 6:33 to where I am seeking first Your Kingdom and Your righteousness. That says You have made it possible for me to stand upright and before the Father. You have done the work and now I want to learn how to live from this new man.” So let me go back to my original question: Who are you following? Let’s learn to follow Christ. Let’s learn to let Him rule and reign in our hearts.