Daily Bread 2010 - Ephesians 2
Ephesians 2
Made Alive in Christ
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 evil 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.
As Paul moves toward the famous Ephesians 2:8 passage, he uses the metaphor of being “dead” in our transgressions and sins. Sometimes the life of “sin” or “wild living” is glamorized as someone who is really “living”. But rarely does TV or other media show the aftermath of living this type of lifestyle. The broken marriages, estranged kids and several stops at the rehab center are rarely shown, which are the inevitable result of pursuing a blatantly sinful lifestyle which is at odds with God’s plan for living.
In fact Ephesians describes this as a spiritual battle. In verse 2 he says, “In which you used to live when you followed the ways of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.” Paul calls this being dead in our transgressions and sins. “Transgressions” being those ways in which we walked outside of the proscribed boundaries God has set forth for us as summarized in the Ten Commandments. “Sins” being ways in which we missed the mark for who God created us to be. Either way this left us dead with no way to revive ourselves.
And then as Paul describes the process of our coming back to God through His initiation and by His love and grace as God foresaw our destitute condition. Paul says, “God made us alive in Christ.” And then Paul says, “God raised us up in Christ seated us with him in the heavenly realms.” Usually we think this kind of promise is reserved for us after we die. But Paul talks about it in a present tense. Meaning, we are made alive today, while we used to be dead.
There are many people walking around “alive” physically, even though they are “dead” spiritually. We sometimes refer to them as “the walking dead”. Indeed there are those who are living, but barely. And yet in one of my favorite verses in John 10:10, the apostle tells us the Jesus came to, “Give us life and life abundantly.”
As someone who struggled in my early years of following Christ to die to the ways of the world, this was very helpful for me to discover that by following Jesus I was really living. And in the other way I kept trying I was really dying, even though I tried hard to make it look like everything was going great.
How about you are you living or dying? Do you feel alive and energized to be part of God’s plan for the salvation of the world? Do you realize if you are in Christ you have already been raised from the dead and are seated with him in the heavenly realms? If you have come to God by His grace through faith, it is a done deal, your eternal fate is sealed so now you can start living now!
Of course if you are not sure where you stand with God, realize that in God’s mercy He saw that you were dead and out of his love and kindness he reached out to send you a lifeline in His Son. God wants you to live life in its fullest now and then spend eternity enjoying the incomparable riches of His grace that He has lavished on us in His Son.
Jesus make us come alive today, as we come to you by faith in Your Son and move from dying to really living. Forgive us for thinking we have a better way. Raise us up to newness of life and life in the Spirit. We know we are Your workmanship created in advance to do good works which you have prepared in advance for us to do. Thank you God for the incomparable riches you have given us in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Made Alive in Christ
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 evil 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.
As Paul moves toward the famous Ephesians 2:8 passage, he uses the metaphor of being “dead” in our transgressions and sins. Sometimes the life of “sin” or “wild living” is glamorized as someone who is really “living”. But rarely does TV or other media show the aftermath of living this type of lifestyle. The broken marriages, estranged kids and several stops at the rehab center are rarely shown, which are the inevitable result of pursuing a blatantly sinful lifestyle which is at odds with God’s plan for living.
In fact Ephesians describes this as a spiritual battle. In verse 2 he says, “In which you used to live when you followed the ways of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.” Paul calls this being dead in our transgressions and sins. “Transgressions” being those ways in which we walked outside of the proscribed boundaries God has set forth for us as summarized in the Ten Commandments. “Sins” being ways in which we missed the mark for who God created us to be. Either way this left us dead with no way to revive ourselves.
And then as Paul describes the process of our coming back to God through His initiation and by His love and grace as God foresaw our destitute condition. Paul says, “God made us alive in Christ.” And then Paul says, “God raised us up in Christ seated us with him in the heavenly realms.” Usually we think this kind of promise is reserved for us after we die. But Paul talks about it in a present tense. Meaning, we are made alive today, while we used to be dead.
There are many people walking around “alive” physically, even though they are “dead” spiritually. We sometimes refer to them as “the walking dead”. Indeed there are those who are living, but barely. And yet in one of my favorite verses in John 10:10, the apostle tells us the Jesus came to, “Give us life and life abundantly.”
As someone who struggled in my early years of following Christ to die to the ways of the world, this was very helpful for me to discover that by following Jesus I was really living. And in the other way I kept trying I was really dying, even though I tried hard to make it look like everything was going great.
How about you are you living or dying? Do you feel alive and energized to be part of God’s plan for the salvation of the world? Do you realize if you are in Christ you have already been raised from the dead and are seated with him in the heavenly realms? If you have come to God by His grace through faith, it is a done deal, your eternal fate is sealed so now you can start living now!
Of course if you are not sure where you stand with God, realize that in God’s mercy He saw that you were dead and out of his love and kindness he reached out to send you a lifeline in His Son. God wants you to live life in its fullest now and then spend eternity enjoying the incomparable riches of His grace that He has lavished on us in His Son.
Jesus make us come alive today, as we come to you by faith in Your Son and move from dying to really living. Forgive us for thinking we have a better way. Raise us up to newness of life and life in the Spirit. We know we are Your workmanship created in advance to do good works which you have prepared in advance for us to do. Thank you God for the incomparable riches you have given us in Jesus’ name, Amen.
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