Ephesians 2:1-10
Think of extremes. What extremes can you think of? Perhaps of drought and flood at the moment. A few years ago, in 2004, a geographer called Nick Middleton made a series of documentaries titled Going to extremes. During these documentaries, he visited the hottest, coldest, wettest and driest inhabited places on the planet. In my own experience, I have experienced the extremes of a 40C Mongolian winter and a +45 Dubai summer. But what is an extreme? It is a comparison. A +45C day is actually not so hot to a Dubaian unless they came straight from Mongolia!
We dont normally appreciate one extreme unless we know the other. Here in Queensland hot and humid is normal for us, who live here. But for a Mongolian, it would be extreme. Once I returned from Mongolia in January their winter, our summer. I went from 30C to +30C in 2 days! Experiencing one extreme makes us appreciate the other extreme. Think of other extremes. Wet, dry. Slow, fast. Big, small.
Here in Eph 2:1-10 we see the ultimate extreme. Death, and life.
Theres nothing much more extreme than seeing someone you know alive and then seeing them dead. In fact it is so extreme that most people recognise that the soul of the person is no longer there. Todays passage talks of the extremes of life and death. But with a difference.
Normally we have life, and then death. But here in our passage today, we have death - and then life! While most of us have seen life to death, probably no one here has seen death to life. But this is what Paul talks about here. And hes not talking about someone else. Hes talking about us. About me, about you. He starts this passage by telling us that we were dead. Verse 1 says that we were dead in our transgressions.
Now cast our minds back. What have we been talking about in Ephesians? Ephesians 1:3-10 speaks of spiritual blessings. Eph 1:11-14 talks of our inheritance and that we are included in Christ. Eph 1:15-23 is a prayer for revelation, for illumination of the hope to which we are called, and of the riches of our glorious inheritance and of Gods immeasurable power.
I hope we have been appreiciating these things and thanking God for them. Praising Him for them, and telling others who dont Him about them. But to really understand how amazing all these things are we need to understand where we have come from. We need to understand the depths from which God has lifted us.
And where have we come from? We have come from death! Is there anything more dead than death? More lifeless than death? In the first few verses of this passage, we see a grim picture of death. A grim picture of sin, and bondage to sin. That we were under Gods wrath. And then Paul talks about how God rescued us from that!
Lets have a look at the passage:
EPH 2:1 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. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
This passage is a passage of extremes. In it t we see three things:
1. From where we have come.
2. Where we have come to.
3. The means by which this amazing change happened!
And to really appreciate where we are now we first need to go with Paul and visit where we came from. We need to have a look down to the pits. Verse 1 makes no bones about it we were dead. Dead in our transgressions and sins. What are sins? They are wrongdoings. They are not keeping Gods laws. Gods ethics, Gods morals. For example, the instuctions we find in in the Sermon on the Mount and even later in Ephesians. Commands about how we ought to live. So our sins, our transgressions are so bad, that we were dead in our sins.
But as we read this, perhaps you are asking a question. Surely, Im not really that bad. I havent murdered anyone. I havent committed adultery, stolen etc. Think of John Newton who wrote Amazing Grace some centuries ago.
Amazing grace how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found
Was blind, but now I see.
In Amazing Grace, Newton calls himself a wretch. He says he was lost and blind. But John Newton was a slave trader. He used to go up African rivers buying men and women and selling them downstream. He was rebellious foulest of the foul on the slaving ships. He could call himslef a wretch lost blind. But what about us? Im not a slave trader! But we need to understand Gods standard of righteousness.
Eph 4:31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.
EPH 5:3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. 4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. 5 For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person--such a man is an idolater--has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God's wrath comes on those who are disobedient.
Gods standard is much higher than ours. In Matthew, Jesus said:
MT 5:21 "You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, `Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, `Raca, ' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, `You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell.
MT 5:27 "You have heard that it was said, `Do not commit adultery.' 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Main reason John Newton was a slave trader and I am not is that back then it was socially acceptable and now it is not. If I was in his position, I could very well have been caught up in the same sin. Many of us would have murdered, committed adultery, stole etc, if we had the opportunity, and knew we could get away with it. When the computer crashes and wont start and loses all my data, do you get angry and want to get even with the computer or software maker?
Vs three says that we gratified the cravings of our sinful nature, following its desires and thoughts. Literally it means carrying out the desires of the flesh and of the mind. The flesh speaks of fulfilling uncontrolled sensual lusts that is, sudden impulses. The mind speaks of our thoughts and plans to do evil that is, our thought out plans. That is, we carried out our evil desires both in sudden impulses and also thought out plans.
I would be very surprised if any of us here could say that they are innocent of all these things Ive just mentioned! I know Im not innocent. We often dont think we are sinners, because we dont use Gods standard. His standard is perfection. We fall short of that well short. So short in fact that we are described as being dead (verse 1).
What does it mean to be dead? And were we really dead? Before I was a Christian, I lived, breathed, did things. How can it be said that I was dead? I wasnt dead!
But dead has two meanings. Spiritually it means alienation from God. Out of fellowship with God. Divorced from God. But we are not just dead spiritually. One day we will all die. We will experience physcial death. If a person is spiritually dead when they physically die, that person will remain dead. O yes there will be a resurrection. But for the spiritually dead person, that will be a resurrection to judgement for our sins.
Rev 20:15 If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
That is, hell. Ephesians 2:3 says we were objects of wrath, the wrath of God.
So, Paul really means it when he says we were dead in our sins. We really were. And if you do not trust in Christ, if you have not been born again by believing, trusting and living for Christ, you still are dead! So our position is hopeless. We were spiritually dead, and heading for eternal physical death and the wrath of God, in hell. Thats how bad our sin is.
But now comes the amazing bit.
Vs 5 He made us alive with Christ!
We were dead. And He made us alive! And not just alive, but alive with Christ! When did He do this? When we were good? When wed turned from our erring ways? After we turned over a new leaf, and proven our worth to Him? No! It was. when we were dead in our transgressions! When we were dead, cut off from God, separated, divorced from God, He made us alive! And not only that. Verse 6 says that He raised us up with Christ!
Remember, last week in Eph 1:20 Paul prays that we would have a revelation of Gods power a power so powerful that it raised Christ from the dead. The most powerful people, organisations, governments, cannot raise someone from the dead.
Bill Gates cant, Barak Obama cant, Facebook cant, Microsoft cant, the United States cant, China cant. But God can. And He did. He rose Jesus from the dead, which demonstrated Gods power. Not only did He raise Jesus from the dead, in Eph 1:20 it tells us He seated Him in the heavenly realms.
Now here comes the big story. Not only did God raise Jesus from the dead and seat Him in the heavently realms, in Eph 2:6 it tells us that God raised us from the dead and seated us in the heavently realms too with Christ! We share in Christs resurrection! We share in being seated in heavenly places with Christ!
The word construction in Eph 2:6 is like that in Eph 1:20. We were awestruck by the power of God in 1:20 that God could raise someone from the dead. But now we need to be awestruck by not only the power of God - but by the grace of God. You see why did God do this for us? In Newtons words, why did He do this for wretches like us? Why did He not only make us alive, but seat us in heavenly places!
24 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy.
Literally from the Greek it translates as: 2.4 But God, being rich in mercy, through His great love, which loved us.
Through His great love. which loved us. Rich in mercy. How rich in mercy is He? How great is His love? Remember in Eph 1:19-20 it says that He raised Christ from the dead and seating Him in the heavenlies, and in so doing this demonstrated His awesome power. Now in Eph 2:7 it says that He raises us and seats us in the heavenlies in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
The fact that He made us alive and raised us with Christ and seated us in the heavenlies, while we were still dead in our sins, that is, we were totally non worthy of all this Demonstrates his incomparable grace.
Remember Eph 1:19 talks of His incomparable power. It is the same word here His incomparable grace. Another way to translate this word is immeasurable. Immeasurable power. Immeasurable grace. Amazing grace.
Friends, last week we reflected on the immeasurable greatness of the power of God. Today, we see His immeasurable grace! What is grace? It is a gift we dont deserve. That we are utterly undeserving of. Only through love and His kindness to us do we receive it.
How are we saved? Is it through anything we have done? Is it through being objects worthy of His love? NO! By rights we are only objects worthy of His wrath (vs 3). There is no reason that God saved us, absolutely none from our side. It is all from His side. From HIS love and HIS grace. Twice Paul says, it is by grace you have been saved. (Verses 5 and 8). He says it twice, to underline the point. And the second time, he explains what this means.
2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
It is not from ourselves. It is totally Gods work. And in verses 9 it says that it is not by works, that is, not by our works. There is nothing you can do to earn your salvation. Why? Because, we were dead. Dead in sin, rebellion, separation from God. God did everything. Why? Because of His immeasurable love. His immeasurable grace. His amazing grace. His immeasurable kindness, to us. To us, who believe. To us, who trust in Him. To those who, as it says in vs 8, to those who have faith in Him.
And that leads to the question, Do you have faith in Him? You see, if you do not believe in Him, trust Him, live for Him, if you have not asked Jesus to forgive you of your sins, then you are still dead. Dead in your sins. You are spriritually dead. And one day, you will be physically dead, and what will your future be?
If you are still spiritually dead when you die, then you are under Gods wrath. And you will experience eternal death. If you dont believe, turn to Jesus. Admit your sin. Ask Him to forgive you. Trust in Him. If you are not sure how, ask me or the person you came with after the service. And if you trust in Him, you will have your sins forgiven. You will be made spirtually alive, so that in the age to come, you will be physically alive too. You will be raised with Christ, seated in the heavenlies with Christ, for all future, for all eternity.
So, lets recap. We were dead in our sins. And God has saved us. He has made us alive! Made us alive spiritually, and in the future, physically! He has raised us
and seated us in heavenly places. And this is not from anything we have done, but from His actions alone. His grace, love and kindness.
And now when we speak of these things, of all this being Gods work. That we are saved through faith alone, and not through our good works, people have two objections.
The first is that we are arrogant. Arent Christians born again, evangelical Christians, arrogant! We know were saved! How can we be so arrogant! But far from it. If everything is from God, it drives us to humility. If I could have saved myself. If I could have saved myself by the good things I have done, by my exploits, I can boast. I could say, I did it myself! But we cant say that. We are helpless. Salvation is a gift, as it says in our passage
Eph 2:8b it is the gift of God-- 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
Since weve done nothing to be saved, and God has done it all, we cannot boast. This should lead to humility. A humble realisation that the most precious thing we have - eternal life with Him - is a gift we did not earn ourselves.
The second objection that people have is that if we are saved through faith, and not through our good works, then there is no need to be good. Since our salvation is through Gods work, then we can continue in our sin. We can live as we please. We can have it all. We can live as we want it now and still have fire insurance when we die.
But if that is your attitude, then you missed the whole point of this passage, and indeed of the New Testament. You see, we have been delivered from death. But what caused the death? Sin! So we have been delivered from sin also! Note in the first few verses of todays passage, the use of the past tense in describing our sinful life.
EPH 2:1 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.
You see, we have been saved from sin. And not just from sin. We have been saved for a purpose. Our passage concludes with verse 10:
10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Weve been saved, raised, seated in the heavenlies. Weve become His workmanship. Weve been created for what? To do good works. If you are a believer, you were created in Christ Jesus to do good works. Indeed, God has already prepared these good works for you. Are you doing them?
Good works dont save us. But salvation enables us to do good works. And good works are not optional, they are a certain result of salvation. The 2nd half of Ephesians expands on it more. But are you doing good works? What good works has God prepared for you? What gifts has God given you? Are you using them for Him?
So, in 10 verses we have the full panaroma of our lives. We started as dead in sin and we were made alive in Christ, in order to do good works. And how, why? Because of His amazing love. His amazing grace.
Now thats an extreme isnt it? Death to life. Through His immeasurable grace, through His amazing grace. Like John Newton, we ought to be humbled in gratidude, recognising this amazing grace that brought us from one extreme to another from death to life. And praising Him for it..
