GOD…MADE US ALIVE WITH CHRIST (Outline)
March 2, 2008 –
LENT 4 -
Ephesians 2:4-10
INTRO: Scripture uses earthly opposites to help believers understand the mysteries of things divine. Jesus used many common, earthly opposites to help the people of his day comprehend faith. A few of these earthly opposites: light/dark; lost/found; hot/cold; and dead/alive. Today’s text is no different. Our text’s words are re-emphasized in another portion of Scripture. "When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins"(COLOSSIANS 2:13). Once dead – dead in sin: Now the believer is alive in Christ. All of this is because of God’s forgiveness. Knowing we were once dead in sins helps us to better understand what it means to be alive in Christ.
GOD…MADE US ALIVE WITH CHRIST.
We are no longer dead, lifeless
– but alive, alive with and in Christ.
I. God is rich in mercy.
II. God saves us by grace.
I. GOD IS RICH IN MERCY
A. The apostle Paul begins chapter 2 with many opposites before the opening verse 4 of today’s text.
1. Believers are described: dead in transgressions and sins, disobedient, objects of wrath.
2. Now our text begins, verse 4. God’s great love is the cure for all the wickedness of mankind.
B. Verse 5. Believers are no longer dead in sin. Just the opposite, believers are made alive with Christ.
1. The end of verse 5 explains how all of this happens. It is by grace you have been saved.
2. Why has God’s grace come to these believers? Verse 4b. God is rich in mercy, loving.
C. There is more to knowing God’s mercy. There is also believing in God’s providing mercy, verse 6.
1. Paul reminds these believers that their future is now. Their heavenly home is a present truth.
2. Christ has been raised. They have been raised. Christ is seated in heaven. They are also.
D. Christ lived and died and rose again. Jesus now sits at God’s right preparing a place for every one of us as well as every believer. Now this place, our heavenly home, is not just some far-off distant promise. Heaven, our eternal future, is also our present gift. We may not always think of heaven as something that is ours, right now in the present. We know that we must rid ourselves of the mortal to put on immortality. We are also told that eternity is ours – now. "But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ"(PHILIPPIANS 3:20). We are all citizens of the country in which we are living. God tells us that we are right now, in the present living as citizens of heaven.
E. God is rich in mercy. For each of us our eternity is secure, safe, and sound. Our heavenly home is our home not because what we have done. Eternity is ours because our heavenly Father is rich in mercy. Through Christ we have been made alive. This is the exact opposite of what we were or even what we deserve. "But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear"(ISAIAH 59:2). Have you ever been separated from a loved one by a disagreement or misunderstanding? They do not listen. You are cut off. This is the same with the barrier of our sins that cut us off from God. Our sins separate us from God. But God does not separate himself from us.
F. Truly, our heavenly Father is rich in mercy. God is not just kindly. Nor is God just nice. Our Lord Almighty is much, much more. God is even more than just merciful. Our God is RICH in mercy. "Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy"(MICAH 7:18). Who is like God that they would delight to show mercy!?!? We forgive but not always with a delight to show mercy. We forgive but still may have a hard time forgetting. Our rich-in-mercy God is just the opposite. God does not hold our sins against us. Instead God holds the righteous robe of Christ against us. This white robe of Jesus’ righteousness covers all the blackness of sin-diseased souls. God is rich in mercy.
GOD…MADE US ALIVE WITH CHRIST.
Our God is rich in mercy. That is just the beginning.
II. GOD SAVES US BY GRACE
A. Verse 8 presents to the world the heart of the message of salvation. By grace you have been saved.
1. Paul writes that grace and faith are God’s gifts. A gift is undeserved, sometimes unexpected.
2. Because they could not these believers did not save themselves – it was God’s free gift.
B. There would be no boasting, verse 9. No boasting because no one had done anything for salvation.
1. The Jews felt they deserved to be saved. They liked to boast about their saving works.
2. The Gentiles had done nothing to save themselves. With Paul they understood God’s grace.
C. Verse 10. God created man as his workmanship. The original means work of art.
1. Man was created as God’s work of art. God prepared future good works for his creatures to do.
2. The believers would reveal the kindness of God in Christ Jesus to others, verse 7.
D. Living one’s Christian faith is called sanctification. Believers live holy, Christian lives because of every thing that God has done for us. This is our gospel motivation in a world filled with sin and darkness. Today’s verses clearly remind us that our works do not save us. Paul clearly writes that there are future good works for us to do that we do not even know about. The good works will be there and we will do them because of God’s free gift of grace and faith that has been worked in us. "In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven"(MATTHEW 5:16). Jesus uses opposites once again. We live not for personal glory but for our heavenly Father’s praise and glory. We live this way because Christ lived for us and loved us first.
E. God’s grace is defined as God’s undeserved love. That definition is a good starting point in beginning to understand this complex concept. Grace has been translated as God treats us better than we deserve. Time and again Scripture teaches us that grace and faith do not depend on man’s desires and efforts. Man simply cannot save himself. If he could, there would be boasting. Our eternal salvation is so very important that the Lord takes all the responsibility upon his shoulders to save mankind. "But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit"(TITUS 3:4,5). God made us alive with Christ. We are saved by grace, not works, none can boast.
F. We are left stand in awe and humility at this amazing grace of our Creator and Savior. Our sinful nature opposes the Lord God Almighty at every step. We sin daily. We sin much. Our loving Lord and Father forgives daily and forgives much. "There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus"(ROMANS 3:23,24). How can we honestly, completely comprehend what God’s grace fully means for us? We study God’s word. We cherish God’s word. Then we only begin to scratch the surface of the depth of the riches and the wisdom of God. God made us alive with Christ. We are thankful. We rejoice.
CONC.: Thank God that our eternal salvation does not depend our works, efforts, or choices. We would fail miserably. Adam and Eve did not make the right choice in a perfect world. We dare not think we could do any better. God chose us, we did not choose him. This is God’s grace. Our heavenly Father has saved us in spite of ourselves. (1 PETER 2:10 opposites: once not people/now the people of God, once no mercy/now received God’s mercy.) "Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness"(LAMENTATIONS 3:23, 24). Our sins definitely, daily deserve God’s judgment. Instead, GOD…MADE US ALIVE WITH CHRIST. God is rich in mercy -- for his compassions never fail. God saves us by grace -- we are not consumed. God does this for us, for others, for ever. Amen. Pastor Timm O. Meyer
SERVICES: SAT – 1:00pm @ NCF Min., +
SUN – 12:00pm @ NCF Medium / 9:30am @ Church
Sunday radio broadcast @ 9:05am on KQNK 106.7FM or 1530AM + www.kqnk.com
LENT 4 readings:
HOSEA 5:15-6:3;
ROMANS 8:1-10;
MATTHEW 20:17-28
(PSALMS 42-43)
