I Am Rescued Series

I Am Rescued

Series: Made for More (Ephesians)

May 8, 2022 - Brad Bailey

Intro

I was talking to mother expecting her first child… said don’t try to be a perfect mom…. I had the general need for grace in mind… but I suppose it’s because our whole story is one of grace… of sinners being rescued. 

That is the world that every mother welcomes their child into… a world of grace… a world of divine grace…of divine RESCUE.

There is no story that draws us more than that of a dramatic rescue.

It's been this way through the history of human story telling.

When firefighters go into a building and they come out with children, we cheer.

It’s why when some person is ruling over others in a horrendous way and the soldiers show up to liberate, we cheer.

> Someone is in trouble...and their future depends on someone rescuing them from their fate.

What I hope we will grasp today...is that these are all just reflections of the ultimate rescue. We are those in need…and we are those who can know ourselves to have been rescued.

As we continue in our series in which we are engaging the Biblical book of Ephesians... a series entitled Made for More...we are letting God speak into who we are and how we can live accordingly. That is what the Apostle Paul was writing about. We've heard of how we are blessed by God by receiving he blessing which Christ shared with us. Last week we heard how in Christ…. We Are Destined. Today... we must hear where it begins...with being rescued. For our rescue is more powerful and profound than any rescue on earth.

Let's hear of our own rescue...

Ephesians 2:1-3? As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 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. 3 All 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.

Paul begins, " As for you, you were dead." A rather strong statement. It may strike you in different ways depending on your personality. Some of you may like those who "tell it like it is"...aren't afraid of speaking the truth blatantly.... and so you can appreciate this bold description. Others might find this a little harsh. The truth is that there are times we must deal with the truth.

How we feel about such truth can be similar to how we feel about doctors. Some want to go often...know anything that may be going on related to their health. Some of us don't like going to doctors...in part because we just don't want bad news. We may avoid wanting to know what the state of our condition is....but of course we are just avoiding a truth that we need.

So Paul tells us the truth.

Here it is: Apart from some outside rescue...You are dead.

That may sound a little surprising or extreme...but it's far from being a new truth. It's what we read in the very first book of the Scriptures.

Genesis 2:17 ?...you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."

This was the beginning of man’s spiritual death—his disobedience to the will of God. God said, if you seek your own life apart from me... the separation will bring death....the consequences will be a separation from life. And what did the spiritual enemy say... depicted as a serpent? Surely you will NOT DIE. (Gen. 3:4)

That is the choice in which we live. God declares the tragedy of our separation from life...an eternal separation...and an enemy tells us to believe it's not true.

So to understand who I are... begins with understanding that...

1. I am rescued FROM death

Like many rescue stories...we may not even realize the extent of jeopardy we are in.

Many of us may have a sense that we need God to just fix up our lives...to recover from some tragic losses...to do a spiritual makeover perhaps. These all true...likely more than we know. God has restoration beyond what we can imagine. God can revolutionize your life. I can look back at the trajectory of posture and practice...I have seen it.

But there is something much more fundamental at hand.

We are not just sick; we are dead!

We don't just need rejuvenation...we need resurrection.

Our stories may declare that we were lost....lonely... in trouble.... but we won't really grasp our true story until we can grasp that we were dead...facing eternal separation.