Made Alive in Christ
Ephesians 2:1-10
June 3, 2007

[Prayer]

Today’s message is from Ephesians 2:1-10. The NIV translators gave this passage the title Made Alive in Christ. The passage actually starts out by saying that we were dead in our transgressions and sins and then goes on to say that it was God, because of his love and mercy, that made us alive—and that he made us alive for a purpose. That sums up the passage, but I’m planning on going into more detail after we read the passage.

Remember that as we read the passage, we are reading the word of God. What the apostle Paul wrote in this passage was breathed (or inspired) by God’s Holy Spirit. Paul wrote it down.

(Incidentally, I just read that according to a recent series of Gallup surveys, more than three-fourths of Americans believe that the Bible is the word of God. 47 percent said that “the Bible is the inspired word of God,” while 31 percent said that “the Bible is absolutely accurate and should be taken literally word for word.” That’s a total of 78 percent. I wonder why there are not more doers of the word than there are.)

As always, I encourage all of you to read and to study your Bibles every day. It’s the word of life!

Now let’s read the passage—Ephesians 2:1-10:

1As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. 4But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:1-10 –(NIV)

In this passage, the apostle Paul, as he was guided by the Holy Spirit, makes a distinction between those who are dead and those who are alive. He is writing to those who are alive, so I’m going to speak as speaking to those who are alive. (If you are not alive, it’s very important for you to do something about it without delay!)

Verses 1 and 2 say, “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.” You, the word you in as for you includes all of us. All of us were dead in our transgressions and sins in which we used to live. That means all of us have sinned. In fact there is no one who hasn’t sinned. Adam and Eve sinned by disobeying God. And everyone else since then has sinned. Sin came into the world through Adam and Eve. Only Jesus did not sin. He was the lamb without blemish or defect. He was the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Verse 1 says that we were all dead. What does it mean to be dead? If you are dead, you are without life. If you are physically dead, your body will decay and return to dust. In this case, though, Paul is talking about being spiritually dead. It means that you do not have eternal life. Your physical body may be alive, but you are spiritually dead. You are dead in your transgressions and sins. If you die physically, you will be judged and found guilty because of your transgressions and sins and you will be punished with everlasting destruction. I’m going to quote from what the apostle Paul wrote to the Thessalonian church. He was encouraging them because they were undergoing trials and persecutions. He also spoke of the punishment that was in store for those who do not know God. Here’s what he wrote. This is from 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10:

5All this is evidence that God's judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. 6God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you 7and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. 8He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power 10on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you. (2 Thessalonians 1:5-10 –NIV)

God will punish those who do not know him and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. He will give relief to those who are suffering because of Jesus in this present life and he will do both of these things on the day that Jesus comes in blazing fire with his powerful angels!

Verses 1 and 2 in today’s passage say that we were dead in our sins and transgression in which we used to live when we followed the ways of this world... The implication is that we no longer live in our sins and transgressions. (However, as we will see as we continue through the book of Ephesians, the Ephesians were still sinning even though they were saints and were no longer living in sin. Paul rebuked and corrected them. Are we still sinning even though we are no longer living in our sins? God is rebuking and correcting us too, through the words he gave Paul to write.

We were dead in our transgressions and sins when we followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. First of all, disobedient and obedient refer to classes of people rather than what you happen to be doing at the moment. Disobedient refers those who are dead in their sins and transgressions and obedient to those who are alive in Christ. This is not a thing where you switch back and forth between the two groups from day to day or hour to hour. Those who are obedient are those who have obeyed the truth of the gospel. The apostle Peter tells us, “Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. (1 Peter 1:22)

Here’s a test: Do you remember in the passage from 2 Thessalonians that I read where Paul talked about those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus? Here’s a test to see whether or not you know God and know Jesus. This is from 1 John 2:3-11:

3We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. 4The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: 6Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.
7Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. 8Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.
9Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. 10Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. 11But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him. (1 John 2:3-11 – NIV)

Love and hate, by the way, are what you actually do as opposed to what is in your mind. If you are tempted to hate your brother, but because of the gospel you actually love your brother, you are walking in the light. (And indifference, by the way, isn’t neutral either. If you fail to love someone, in practice, you are hating that person.)

We used to follow the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. Who is the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient? Well, that shouldn’t be hard to guess. He’s our enemy the devil. He’s the one who prowls around like a hungry lion looking for someone to devour. He’s Satan, the Adversary, and Apollyon the Destroyer. The air that Paul speaks about is the stuff that’s all around us. It’s what we physically exist in. The kingdom of the air is the world, our human system of commerce and government. (And, by the way, concerning the world, in 1 Corinthians Paul refers to us—to those who no longer belong to the world, but belong to Jesus—as being in the world, but not of the world. The world is all around us, but we don’t belong to it!)

Satan, the devil, is the ruler of this world. When he tempted Jesus, he told him that if he (Jesus) would just bow down and worship him, he would give him all the kingdoms of this world with all their splendor. He said that they had been given to him and that he could give them to anyone he wanted. Jesus did not dispute him on that point. I believe Satan was not lying. It would not have been a temptation if he had been!

Verse 3 says, “All of us also lived among them—those who are following the ruler of the kingdom of the air—at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.” Gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature... The sinful nature is literally the flesh. The flesh refers to our physical bodies and the weakness of our physical bodies—and in this case, especially to the ease with which we fall to the temptation to give in to the cravings of our physical bodies and sin. (And I might point out that if you are following the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, following the cravings of the flesh is simply doing what comes naturally!) “Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath,” Paul says. We were no different from anyone else. We were headed for God’s judgment and punishment!

OK. Before I go on, I’m going to say a little more about Satan. (We’ll say quite a bit more when we get to chapter 6.) But for now I’m going to start by quoting some scripture. The first is from Isaiah 14:12-15:

12 How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star (Lucifer in the King James), son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!
13 You said in your heart, “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain.
14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”
15 But you are brought down to the grave (hell in the King James), to the depths of the pit. (Isaiah 14:12-15 –NIV)

“I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” “I will, I will, I will, I will, I will.” Satan’s chief sin is self-centeredness and pride. He wants the glory. The glory all belongs to God. If we want the glory, we are following Satan!

I’ve already mentioned that our enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. The apostle Peter says, “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” (1 Peter 5:8, 9)

The apostle Peter also says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” He is quoting from Proverbs 3:34. He goes on to say, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.” (1 Peter 5:5c, 6) You resist the devil by humbling yourself. “Humble yourselves under God's mighty hand” as opposed to “I will, I will, I will, I will, I will.” Do you see the distinction? You can’t do it yourself!  You can’t lift yourself up. Only God can do it. (And I’ll say more about that in just a minute.)

Now I’m going to quote a fairly long passage from Zechariah 3:1-9 with some comments interspersed. You can turn to it if you want. Zechariah 3, starting at verse 1:

1Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord (the Angel of the Lord is Jesus), and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. 2The Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?” (Are we not burning sticks snatched from the fire, too?)
3Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes (that’s sin) as he stood before the angel.
4The angel said to those who were standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes.”
Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you (that’s righteousness).”
5Then I said, “Put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the Lord stood by.
6The angel of the Lord gave this charge to Joshua: 7“This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘If you will walk in my ways and keep my requirements, then you will govern my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you a place among these standing here.
8 “‘Listen, O high priest Joshua and your associates seated before you, who are men symbolic of things to come: I am going to bring my servant, the Branch (the Branch is Jesus). 9See, the stone I have set in front of Joshua! There are seven eyes on that one stone, and I will engrave an inscription on it,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will remove the sin of this land in a single day. (Zechariah 3:1-9 –NIV)

According to Revelation, Satan is the accuser of the brothers (that’s us). He accuses us night and day, just as he accused Joshua in Zechariah’s vision. But, according to Hebrews, Jesus is always there to intercede for us! He is the one who takes away our sin and he is the one who intercedes when Satan accuses us.

Now one more quote: This is from Isaiah 54:16, 17. This is the Lord speaking:

16 “See, it is I who created the blacksmith who fans the coals into flame and forges a weapon fit for its work. And it is I who have created the destroyer to work havoc;
17 no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and this is their vindication from me,” declares the Lord. (Isaiah 54:16, 17 –NIV)

I believe the ‘destroyer’ is Satan the devil. He’s called that (the destroyer) in other places in the Bible. God created him to work havoc.  (“It is I who have created the destroyer to work havoc.”) But he also declares, “No weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you.  This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and this is their vindication from me.” The heritage of God’s servants is to overcome the devil!

Now let’s go on. Verses 4 and 5 in today’s passage say, “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.” It was God who made us alive. We were dead in our transgressions and sin. When you are dead, you sure can’t make yourself alive! You can’t do anything! But God made us alive!

Also, we were by nature objects of wrath. We were headed straight for hell. Nothing we did pleased God at all.

You know, if you see someone start to repent and start to try to make amends, your anger generally starts to cool down. We didn’t do that! We didn’t start to repent or try to make amends with God! In fact, we hated him. But even so, he loved us and showed mercy to us. How did he do that? John 3:16: He loved us by sending Jesus into the world to die for us. And he did that for those who were his enemies! God is rich in mercy!

Now let’s look at verses 6 and 7. Here’s what they say: “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.”

I’m not sure just exactly what the significance of the fact that we are seated with Christ in the heavenly realms is. Most of the commentaries say that this is something that will happen in the future but Paul is stating it as an accomplished fact. But in chapter 1, Paul said that he prayed for his readers to know “God’s incomparably great power for us who believe.” Paul compared that power with the power that was working when God raised Jesus from the dead and seated him in the heavenly realms. I think what Paul is saying here in chapter 2 is further testimony that God gives us power to overcome sin.

God raised us up and seated us with Christ in the heavenly realms. What reason did Paul give for this? It’s so that he will be able to “show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.” God does these things so that he can show to all his creation who he is and what his nature is. He has saved us to show his glory to us and to all his creation. And, by the way, when he judges those who reject his love, he will also be showing his glory.

Verses 8 and 9 say, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” We have been saved by God’s grace. Grace in the Bible is something that is not earned or deserved, but freely give. We did not earn the gift of salvation. In fact, what we earned was God’s wrath. But God saved us anyway because of his grace and mercy. He did it through faith. Faith is also his gift. He did it this way so that we could not boast.

How much we want to boast! At one time I wanted to be able to say, “I did it myself!” (Like the Frank Sinatra song, “Most of all, I did it my way.”) I remember being disappointed that I couldn’t earn my salvation. (That’s kind of like being disappointed that you aren’t going to wind up in hell!) You remember that the primary sin of Satan is pride. Satan will be in hell forever, but God has rescued us from pride. (I think, incidentally, that an argument can be made that pride is at the root of all sin. C. S. Lewis made such an argument.)

Verse 10 says, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” God’s primary purpose for all of his creation in to display his glory. “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” (Psalm 19:1) And we are the work of his hands, also. According to verse 10, we have been created in Christ Jesus to do the good works that God has laid out for us in advance for us to do. (Literally, it says to walk in them—the good works. That means to live our live to do God’s good works!) Practically, if we see an opportunity where we are able to do something good, we can assume that God has laid it out in advance for us to do. This is the way we should live our lives. This one of the reasons God saved us. And this is what brings praise and glory to him. God saved us in order that we might be for the praise of his glory. Amen!

[Prayer]