You Are Alive Series

You Are Alive

Text: Eph. 2:1-10

Introduction

1. Illustration: A few years ago, when archaeologists began excavating in the courtyard of a medieval monastery, they found seeds that had been dormant for more than 400 years that had begun to grow. King Henry VIII had closed the monastery in 1539, and herbs tended by the monks died. But they sprouted to life again after the archaeologists disturbed the earth.

2. In our text today, Paul makes it clear that once we were spiritually dead, but God disturbed the earth of our hearts and we came to life.

3. There are three key words or phrases in this part of Paul’s letter:

a. Once

b. But God

c. Saved You by His Grace

4. Read Eph. 2:1-10

Proposition: Once we were spiritually dead, but new we are alive because of the gift of God’s grace.

Transition: First Paul talks about…

I. Once (1-3).

A. Once You Were Dead

1. At the end of the last chapter Paul talked about the resurrection power that believers have in Christ. Now he’s going to talk about why they have that power.

2. Here in v. 1, Paul begins by saying, “Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins.”

a. These believers were dead before they believed and accepted Jesus as their savior.

b. This doesn’t refer only to the physical death of the sinner or to their eternal spiritual death; it also refers to a state of death here and now.

c. Paul views life without Christ as one that is meaningless and not worth living.

d. As we are spiritually dead before our conversion, we are separated from God and unable to experience the full life that God has for us.

e. While we may be physically alive, we are spiritually dead and in need of new life.

3. Now, in order to avoid saying these people were more evil than anybody else, Paul says in vv. 2-3, “You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. 3 All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else. “

a. Paul indicates here that we are all in the same boat. He says they used to live in sin just like the rest of the world.

b. Next, he says that used to live by obeying the devil. The Bible pictures Satan as an evil tyrant with a certain power in the world in which we live.

c. Paul refers to the devil as “the commander of the powers of the unseen world,” referring to the space around the world which is the devil’s sphere of influence.

d. Even though his influence on unbelievers is powerful, it is also limited because of Christ’s victory on the cross. He cannot separate us from God.

e. The devil is also “the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God.”

f. Because they have not surrendered to God, they are subject to Satan’s evil influence, and this can be seen in the things they do and say and in the things they value.

4. Again, Paul emphasizes the fact at one time we were all like this and we lived not to please God but to please ourselves.

a. He talks about things like our “passionate desires,” and the “inclinations of our sinful nature.”

b. These are legitimate human needs that become distorted and perverted to serve our selfish sinful nature.

c. Paul’s focus here is on the mind. In our lives before Christ our minds were centered on a misguided way of thinking that causes people to do what their sinful nature tells them to do.

d. The mind is Satan’s playground, and before the Holy Spirit starts working in our lives this is how Satan controls us.

5. Paul also says that because of this we were “by our very nature subject to God wrath.”

a. The anger that Paul is talking about here is not a personal emotional outburst, but rather one where God is constant displeasure and reaction against sin.

b. It is not people that God is angry with, but rather it is sin that is the object of God’s wrath.

c. But even still, God sees value in us, and sees us as someone worth saving. That is why God took action to bring us back to himself.

B. All Have Sinned

1. Illustration: Some folks think they are good really good people. Let’s suppose that a person on sins 3 times a day. A sin in the morning, a sin during the day and a sin at night. Sounds like a pretty good person! Let’s think for a moment. If that person is saved at 10 years old and dies at 80 years old that person will commit 76,650 sins in their lifetime! Imagine nearly 80,000 sins and this is from the life of a "good person." The truth is that all have sinned (more than we would really like to know) and all need Jesus.