Dakota Community Church
March 6, 2011
Shackles to Sonship
Ephesians 2:1-3
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.
So far we have covered:
1. Dead in transgression and sin
Ephesians 2:1, 5 - As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins…
…made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions…
2. Conformed to the pattern of this world
Ephesians 2:2 - …2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world…
3. Enslaved to the chief enemy of God
Ephesians 2:2
… 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…
Sickened by sin – Sabotaged by Satan – Sentenced to separation (John Piper Quote)
Therefore we were in desperate need of a great Savior.
This bad news is essential to properly grasping the good news.
If you underestimate the seriousness of your situation without Christ you will undervalue your savior and His gift of salvation.
Nobody is talking about these truths because they are unflattering to the human ego and because men are blind to them unless the Holy Spirit reveals them.
Bring these things up in a conversation around the water cooler and you will find yourself on the fast track to social Siberia!
If there is going to be any salvation at all, there must be a divine revelation.
God must reveal these things to us or we perish.
“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”
There are 2 important ideas from this little sentence that I want us to focus on today:
1. There is a spirit being who rules over the kingdom of the air.
2. That evil ruler is at work in the lives of every non-believer in Jesus.
1. There is a spirit being who rules over the kingdom of the air.
Between heaven and earth is the kingdom of the air where we all live.
Have you ever said or heard someone else say something like "There's excitement in the air." Or maybe you have someone describe the atmosphere as “electric”?
Sometimes at a large sporting event a momentum shift will take place and people will say you could “feel it in the air” before it ever showed on the scoreboard.
We live in this kingdom of the air, we interact with each other here and from the time of our birth until the day we die we never leave this place, and even our astronauts have to take containers of it with them when they venture outside of it.
Paul is saying that there is an evil spiritual entity that permeates this realm and rules over it!
This evil being can be called the power of the air.
The whole inhabited world is his domain and is subjected to his power.
Ephesians 6:11-12
Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
We struggle with them; they are not far away rather in the air we breathe
They are not locked away in hell; they inhabit our world.
They have a ruler over them.
Mathew 12:24
But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “It is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons that this fellow drives out demons.”
2 Corinthians 4:4
The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
John 12:31-32
Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.
John 14:30-31
I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me, but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me.
John 16:8-11
When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
Luke 4:5-6
The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to.
What this means then is that this AIR we live in, this WORLD of ours, is subjected to the evil one.
Evil dominates our world – it is the norm when evil happens because the god of this age is evil.
Men are not supposed to commit genocide and murder and rape; we are not supposed to abuse the innocent treat others like so much garbage as long as we get what we want.
Hurricanes are not supposed to rip through trailer parks and tsunamis are not supposed to wipe out coastal villages.
Lions are not supposed to devour lambs and snakes are not supposed to bite children.
These things happen because authority has been surrendered to Satan in this kingdom of air.
1 John 5:19-20
We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true—even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
Galatians 1:3-5
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Colossians 1:12-14
…giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
God is rescuing people from this evil dominion – we are amoung those rescued ones.
At the cross the decisive death blow was struck against Satan.
Colossians 2:13-15
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, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
For the most part the world rejects the Savior and the prince of the power of the air reigns over the sons of disobedience. People, though made for God; remain captives in an evil kingdom.
2. That evil ruler is at work in the lives of every non-believer in Jesus.
“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”
Satan exercises his dominion by working in the lives of people without a Savior.
We need a Savior because we are dead in sin, and Satan is working to keep us that way.
Satan is at work in the lives of the disobedient – blinding their minds!
2 Corinthians 4:4
The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
1 Corinthians 1:18
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
Why? Because they are dead and they get robbed:
1 Corinthians 2:14
The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
Matthew 13:19
When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path.
Satan is at work in the lives of the disobedient – filling them with evil desire
Acts 5:3
Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?
Luke 22:3
Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve. And Judas went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus.
We were not only dead in sin. We were held captive by Satan.
John 8:44
You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire.
2 Timothy 2:24-26
And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.
We were dead to God and fully in support of the wishes of Satan. There was and is only one hope – that God will grant repentance!
That was the condition of every one of us until we were made alive and rescued from Satan by the Savior.
PowerPoint available (Free of charge) on request dcormie@mts.net
