Eph 2:1-10 MADE ALIVE IN CHRIST
Paul started this letter with a doxology in chapter 1, praising God for the work of the Gospel.
• He praises God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit for their roles in saving us and giving us the hope of eternal life.
• Before time begins, in time and beyond this life.
And went on to pray for the Ephesians, which is remarkable.
• He asked God to bless them with the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him so that the eyes of their hearts be enlightened to know the hope they have in Christ and the glorious inheritance awaiting them.
• And that they may also know the mighty power of God that is at work in them, which is the power that was displayed when Christ was raised from the dead.
• And to know that Christ now rules supreme, with authority and power and dominion, and He is the head of the church.
Marvellous picture of the Gospel. It was a prayer that they would come to know it in its entirety, from conception to our inheritance in heaven.
• It was remarkable that Paul prayed this for the Ephesians because they were among the most mature believers at that time, exemplary in faith and love towards all the saints (1:15).
• Looking at Acts, they were the most well-taught and most well-established church in that region. Well-taught church because Paul spent 3 years with them, the longest.
• Their relationship was close. Acts 20 tells us they were all weeping (20:37) when they said goodbye to Paul (who was on his way to Jerusalem).
• And I say a well-established church because there were already many elders, and it takes time and maturity for believers to be recognised as one.
And yet Paul prayed that they would grow in their knowledge of God and be enlightened to understand the hope they have and the power that is at work in them.
• If they needed that prayer, so do we. There is no graduation when it comes to knowing God. There’s no “We’ve arrived!” when it comes to understanding His will.
• We might be Christians for years but the learning continues. We call ourselves disciples of Christ, meaning, learners of Christ.
1. WE KEEP GROWING IN OUR KNOWLEDGE OF GOD
It would take a lifetime of learning and growing, of experiencing and understanding God through our study and our walk with Him in the circumstances of life.
• Paul says in 1 Cor 13:12 12For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
• Till we see Him face to face, this is our PRAYER – to know Him and understand what He has done. It is the prayer for every Christian.
• We don’t claim to “know it all”. We won’t until we see Him face to face.
I am studying the book of Job now and find it amusing hearing what Job’s friends say to him. Amusing because I see myself in them.
They were mistaken about Job but yet spoke with confidence as if they knew all the reasons for his sufferings. The Lord rebuked them at the end and corrected them.
I was very much like them in the past, giving counsel with ease, carried away by my assumptions and presuppositions and yet speaking with self-confidence, falsely thinking that “I know it all.”
I am more prudent now and speak less. The Lord says we have to give an account for every careless word we speak on the day of judgment (cf. Matt 12:36)
-------------------
Paul started the letter with a DOXOLOGY praising God for His master plan of salvation for the world, initiated from eternity past. (1:3-14)
• And then a beautiful PRAYER for the believers to grow in the knowledge of God and His great work. (1:15-23)
• Now in chapter 2, he tells us of the RESULT of what God has done to those who believe Jesus.
We are TRANSFORMED from death to life; formerly DEAD in the trespasses and sins but now MADE ALIVE with Christ.
• This is the result of God’s “mercy, love, grace and kindness” shown towards us (borrowing all the words Paul used in this text).
Paul painted the Gospel from eternity past (conception) to present reality (life change), from the conceived PLAN of God before time to the present experience of the believer.
• It is “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (he said in Rom 1:16).
• We were made alive through the “immeasurable greatness of His power” and “the working of His great might” (1:19) that was displayed in the resurrection of Christ.
• We were shown “the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us.” (2:7)
Look at how he linked the two - the resurrection of Christ and our resurrection in Christ:
• 1:19-20 19… the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places…
• 2:5-6 5…even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus…
Christ is our forerunner. He is the “firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Cor 15:20). Whatever happens to Him, now happens to us who believe Him.
• Our salvation and resurrection are as guaranteed as the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He rose from the dead and so shall we.
2. OUR SALVATION IS A MIRACLE OF GOD
Paul paints this TRANSFORMATION – pointing to the PAST, PRESENT and FUTURE.
• Verses 1-3 their PAST CONDITION – “DEAD in trespasses and sins”.
• Verses 4-6 their PRESENT LIFE – “BUT GOD” stepped in and reversed all that.
• He who is “rich in mercy” and of “great love”, showed His “immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us” and saved us through Jesus Christ.
• Verses 7-10 our glorious FUTURE – raised to life and seated with Christ in the heavenly places (6).
Paul used just one word to describe the condition we were in before – DEAD.
• We were “dead in the trespasses and sins in which we once walked…” (1-2a)
• Not physical death but spiritual death, cut off from the source of life, God Himself.
• TRESPASSES mean we have “crossed the line” (transgressions) and SIN means we “missed the mark”, both describing our rebellion against God’s standards.
• We are incapable of appreciating anything spiritual.
Paul reminded them of what this DEAD LIFE looked like – one that they were familiar with before they knew Christ. They were following the WORLD, SATAN and SELF.
• Without God, these are our tutors in life. We can’t hear God’s voice; we only hear these and we respond to them.
The first “following” is the WORLD. We follow “the course of this WORLD” (2:2).
• By default, without Christ, we follow the ways and values of the world because there isn’t any other.
The second “following” is SATAN, the “prince of the power of the air, that spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.” (2:2b)
• Described by Jesus as “the ruler of this world” (John 12:31).
• Later in 6:11, Paul says, “Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.”
• He is the enemy of God and seeks to deceive and tempt us until Jesus returns.
And the third “following” is “the passions of our FLESH” (2:3). “Carrying out our desires of the body and the mind…” (2:3).
• Hence we were by nature children of wrath living under God’s anger and judgment, just like the rest of mankind. (2:3b).
• We were under such a condition without God because we had no other bearing or compass. All these are real forces that can still tempt us today.
But that was the condition of the PAST. We are not defeated by them today because of CHRIST.
• The influences of the world, Satan and self will be there but we need not succumb to them. God has given us the POWER to overcome in Christ.
---------------------
2:4-6 4BUT GOD, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, 5even when we were dead in our trespasses, MADE US ALIVE together with Christ — by grace you have been saved — 6And raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”
• It’s a great feat to raise the DEAD back to LIFE and God did it, through Christ.
• And because Christ conquered death and lived by the power of God, so shall we!
Believers of Christ will experience this resurrection power and be made alive with Christ.
• We know the “greatness of His power” (1:19) because we have seen it in Christ and we experienced it today. God raised us up with Him.
• The spiritually dead ones will be resurrected spiritually by the power of God through faith in Christ. And this is the grace of God. It is a gift of God.
We are a NEW CREATION in Christ (2 Cor 5:17). Jesus uses the words, “Unless one is BORN AGAIN he cannot see the Kingdom of God.” (John 3:3)
• It is not a makeover. It’s not a resuscitation. We cannot revive the dead.
• We cannot even reform him; we have to resurrect him. And for that only God can do.
• Only God can give life to the dead and He did when He saved us through Jesus.
• Our salvation is a miracle. It is entirely a work of God.
3. NO ONE IS BEYOND REDEMPTION
No one is so dead that he cannot be made alive with Christ. Unless he doesn’t want it.
Let me share with you this interesting vision that God caused the prophet Ezekiel to see when Israel was in exile and all hope was lost.
Ezekiel 37:1-10
1The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. 2And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry.
3And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
And I answered, “O Lord GOD, you know.”
4Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. 5Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. 6And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the LORD.”
7So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them.
9Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord GOD: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.”
10So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. (Referring to the nation of Israel)
Israel is not dead and gone. It might look dead, impossible and hopeless, but God says He can infuse life into the corpse and make it live.
• Despite the exile and captivity, Israel will come back. And only God can do it. The utterly hopeless can come back to life.
God can make the dead live, no matter how dead they are.
• No one is beyond redemption. No one is outside God’s reach. No one is beyond hope.
• If we turn our hearts and minds towards God, He can make all things new.
---------------------------------
Not only does God raise us from the dead, but He seats us together with Christ in the heavenly places.
• We are given a privileged POSITION that is even higher than the angels. We are adopted as sons and become joint heirs with Christ.
• God took us out of the cemetery and put us in the throne room.
• Do we know who we are in Christ? Do we know how precious we are to God?
A Roman Queen was once asked, “Where are your jewels?” She responded by calling her two sons and, pointing to them, said, “These are my jewels.”
• God points to us and says, “These are my jewels, these are precious ones.” Jesus would say, “This is my bride, my love. This is my church!”
• Moses sang a song in Deut 32: “Hee encircled him, He cared for him, He kept him as the apple of his eye.” (32:10)
That’s the undeniable theme in Luke 15 where we see 3 PARABLES in a row - the lost sheep, lost coin and lost son – and with a common refrain: “Rejoice with me, for I have found the lost.”
• It calls for a celebration because the lost has been found.
This is the celebration of God’s grace and it will last forever, Paul says.
• 2:7 7So that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
• It will be a perpetual celebration of God’s grace and kindness shown toward us!
That’s what we see when we read Revelations and get a glimpse of heaven:
• Rev 5:11-12 “11Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honour and glory and blessing!”
• We will be praising the LAMB upon the throne. There is no other reference point. The cross and all that happens on it will be our only reference point.
• We worship the Lamb that was slain for us.
4. THE CELEBRATION OF GOD’S GRACE LAST FOREVER
Let’s start now.
• Eph 2:8-10 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
• 10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Let us live the life that we were meant to live. We bear the fruit of our salvation. We are to BE GOOD and DO GOOD.
• This is God’s will for us right from the start. We are saved to do good and glorify Him.
Dear friends, there is power in the Name of Jesus for all who are without life.
• He alone can give us a life - life abundant and eternal with God.
• Ask God for the faith to trust Jesus Christ today. He has not given us another way.
John Newton was trained by his father for a life in the Royal Navy. But Newton mocked authority and ran with the wrong crowd. He went to Africa in his early twenties and made his living on the “Greyhound,” a slave ship that crossed the Atlantic.
Newton poked fun at religion and made jokes about it. One day the “Greyhound” ran into a huge storm. Newton awoke to find his cabin filled with water. After working the pumps all night, he finally threw himself on the deck and pleaded: “If this will not do, then Lord have mercy on us all.”
Newton received mercy, together with the Greyhound and its crew. He wrote “Amazing Grace” – amazing grace, that saved a wretch like me.
At the end of his life when his memory is fading, he said: “My memory is almost gone but I remember two things: I am a great sinner, and Jesus is a great Saviour.”
