Sermon Central
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Discover The Keys Series
Contributed by Kevin Ruffcorn on Jun 17, 2006 (message contributor)
Summary: Ephesians gives us keys that open us up to the powerful movement of the HS in our lives. The first key to understand it God’s overwhelming grace. In Christ we are made alive.
Ephesians 2:10 “Alive in Christ”
INTRODUCTION
If you don’t have the correct keys, you cannot unlock the door. This is true in our daily lives and it is true in our Christian lives, also. If we are going to live the abundant life that is ours in Christ, there are certain keys that we must understand and use. Put another way, we need to know the basics.
Paul’s letter to the Ephesians deftly spells out the basics of the Christian life and enables the reader to understand and use the necessary keys.
DEATH—A COMMON EXPERIENCE
After the necessary niceties in his greeting to the Christians in Ephesus, Paul gets right down to the basics. He bluntly tells them that they were dead.
Death in theological terms is not physical death—the cessation of a heart beat and brain waves. Death is separation—separation from God.
Not only were the Ephesians dead, but so was everyone else.
The Bible looks at the condition of the world and our condition, and explains that the reason for problem is sin. There are many other explanations, but for the Jews and Christians the problem with the world and humankind is sin.
GOD RESCUES US
Not only are we sinners, but we are also helpless. We can’t get out of our sin. We can’t stop sinning, and we cannot live lives that will be completely pleasing to God.
Paul gives the Ephesians another surprise. Our problem has already been taken care of. Paul writes that God made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions.
Salvation isn’t something that we need to achieve. Salvation isn’t something that we discover or earn. Salvation is already ours. Salvation was given to us through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Christians have everything that we need for our Christian lives. Everything has already been given to us because of God’s great love for us.
FREE GIFT
Paul continues on in his theme of God’s graciousness in our lives and tells his readers that they have been saved by grace through faith, and that this is not a work it is a gift.
God gives us salvation, and even gives us the ability to have faith and believe in our salvation. Everything needed for our relationship with God has already been given to us.
Paul invites his readers to receive this gift and to live in its reality. We live in our salvation by serving God with our time and talents, and living lives that honor God in word and deed.
CONCLUSION
The first key of the Christian life is that we are alive in Christ, and that this new life is a gift. If we forget this gift and ever try to earn our salvation or “brown nose” God, our faith turns into an empty, powerless religion.
God’s love empowers us and frees us to experience the abundant life that is ours in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Amen
