Made Alive In Christ Series

Eph 2:1-10 MADE ALIVE IN CHRIST

Paul started this letter with a doxology in chapter 1, praising God for the work of the Gospel.

• He praises God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit for their roles in saving us and giving us the hope of eternal life.

• Before time begins, in time and beyond this life.

And went on to pray for the Ephesians, which is remarkable.

• He asked God to bless them with the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him so that the eyes of their hearts be enlightened to know the hope they have in Christ and the glorious inheritance awaiting them.

• And that they may also know the mighty power of God that is at work in them, which is the power that was displayed when Christ was raised from the dead.

• And to know that Christ now rules supreme, with authority and power and dominion, and He is the head of the church.

Marvellous picture of the Gospel. It was a prayer that they would come to know it in its entirety, from conception to our inheritance in heaven.

• It was remarkable that Paul prayed this for the Ephesians because they were among the most mature believers at that time, exemplary in faith and love towards all the saints (1:15).

• Looking at Acts, they were the most well-taught and most well-established church in that region. Well-taught church because Paul spent 3 years with them, the longest.

• Their relationship was close. Acts 20 tells us they were all weeping (20:37) when they said goodbye to Paul (who was on his way to Jerusalem).

• And I say a well-established church because there were already many elders, and it takes time and maturity for believers to be recognised as one.

And yet Paul prayed that they would grow in their knowledge of God and be enlightened to understand the hope they have and the power that is at work in them.

• If they needed that prayer, so do we. There is no graduation when it comes to knowing God. There’s no “We’ve arrived!” when it comes to understanding His will.

• We might be Christians for years but the learning continues. We call ourselves disciples of Christ, meaning, learners of Christ.

1. WE KEEP GROWING IN OUR KNOWLEDGE OF GOD

It would take a lifetime of learning and growing, of experiencing and understanding God through our study and our walk with Him in the circumstances of life.

• Paul says in 1 Cor 13:12 12For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

• Till we see Him face to face, this is our PRAYER – to know Him and understand what He has done. It is the prayer for every Christian.

• We don’t claim to “know it all”. We won’t until we see Him face to face.

I am studying the book of Job now and find it amusing hearing what Job’s friends say to him. Amusing because I see myself in them.

They were mistaken about Job but yet spoke with confidence as if they knew all the reasons for his sufferings. The Lord rebuked them at the end and corrected them.

I was very much like them in the past, giving counsel with ease, carried away by my assumptions and presuppositions and yet speaking with self-confidence, falsely thinking that “I know it all.”

I am more prudent now and speak less. The Lord says we have to give an account for every careless word we speak on the day of judgment (cf. Matt 12:36)

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Paul started the letter with a DOXOLOGY praising God for His master plan of salvation for the world, initiated from eternity past. (1:3-14)

• And then a beautiful PRAYER for the believers to grow in the knowledge of God and His great work. (1:15-23)

• Now in chapter 2, he tells us of the RESULT of what God has done to those who believe Jesus.

We are TRANSFORMED from death to life; formerly DEAD in the trespasses and sins but now MADE ALIVE with Christ.

• This is the result of God’s “mercy, love, grace and kindness” shown towards us (borrowing all the words Paul used in this text).

Paul painted the Gospel from eternity past (conception) to present reality (life change), from the conceived PLAN of God before time to the present experience of the believer.

• It is “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (he said in Rom 1:16).

• We were made alive through the “immeasurable greatness of His power” and “the working of His great might” (1:19) that was displayed in the resurrection of Christ.