Ephesians 2:1-9
February 12, 2012
VIDEO - HOMECOMING from Youtube
How Do You Respond? When I first saw this, it put a lump in my throat. How about you? We think "sweet forgiveness, bring it on!" But, maybe for others it puts a different lump in your throat, and you question, "Where's the justice, bring that on!"
Maybe for many of us, paradoxically, it creates both feelings. It puts 2 lumps in our throat. And interestingly enough, I believe that is what grace does. It creates both feelings. Let me say it this way, GRACE — demands nothing of you, but will persuade you to give it all away. If you want the gift of grace, it's yours for the taking. It demands nothing, it’s literal definition is “UNMERITED FAVOR.” That means we receive something we don’t deserve. That’s grace!! But, grace will also lure you into giving everything you have. And it’s this kind of grace we find in Ephesians 2.
In the passage we are going to look at, Paul, masterfully portrays what it means to live by grace -- this offensive, radical, disturbing gift of God. I want to examine this gift by looking at 2 aspects of grace.
The first and primary aspect is NEED. Why is there grace in the world? For 2 reasons, firstly because God is in the world and secondly because there's sin in the world. And wherever there is sin, grace is ready to deliver. Some may not accept grace -- but it's there for the taking. We all need grace.
To grasp grace, we need to understand our deadness. It’s a spiritual deadness Paul is talking about. Listen to his words from Ephesians 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.
Paul is describing people who are without Christ. And notice that Paul includes himself, you and me in that category. We seek to satisfy the cravings of our sinful nature. We follow the ways of the world as opposed to the ways of the Spirit. In the end, Paul explains, we become objects of wrath.
So, the greatest need all people have is the realization that without Christ we're dead. Of course we’re really alive, we’re breathing, walking and talking. But without Christ, we really are spiritually dead.
Spiritual deadness doesn’t mean God has abandoned you and doesn’t care about you. Being spiritually dead means you’re so wrapped up in your life and you’re continually seeking to gratify only yourself. You don’t care what God or anyone else has to say, you want to satisfy your wants and your wants alone. It’s all about you. Even if you call yourself a Christian, it’s still pretty easy to fall into the trap of immediate personal gratification, believing the world only revolves around you.
Of course, you do know who the ruler and spirit of the kingdom of the air is, don’t you? It’s satan. He’s the one who deceives you. He wants you to believe the lies he’s telling you so that you don’t believe God is important, only you are important, only you know what you want, only you know how to satisfy your wants, only you matter, he constantly repeats in your mind, ‘it’s all about me, it’s all about me, it’s all about me.’ And his list of lies goes on and on.
Paul writes it’s Christ who gives us life. Without grace -- without Jesus -- we can't sustain our lives. Without Jesus, we keep putting our deepest needs in the shallow end of the pool and we never get satisfied. And that’s where the amazing gift of grace comes in. The first aspect is admitting our need for grace. This opens the door for us to receive the gift.
The 2nd ASPECT OF GRACE IS – GRACE IS A GIFT
Probably one of the best-known verses of Scripture lays this out in verses 8 and 9. But wait! We have to start at verse 4. When you read Paul, you’ll notice the word, but. I call them THE BIG BUT. So many times, Paul tells us about our sinful, natures, then he says BUT. . . and this BUT brings us the great gift of grace.
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.
Did you hear that?! Verse 3 ended with you and I being objects of God’s wrath, BUT . . . but because of God’s great love for you and I, He’s made us alive with Christ!
Now, let me tell you, the scandal of grace is the recognition that we don't deserve it, but we are given the gift anyway. When we recognize we have sinned, and have become distant from God, when we turn back and repent, what do we hear from God? "You're forgiven."
That's grace, and it's free. It demands nothing of you, but will lure you to give it all away. You see, the more we experience grace, the more we determine to avoid rebellion. That’s what’s so powerful about forgiveness and grace. Grace has the ability to lead us away from rebellion and intentional sinfulness.
Look at what Paul says about grace. . .
– even when you were still sinning, still stuck in sin, still dead in your sinfulness, God grabbed you and saved you. It was His grace, nothing you did saved you.
– And verse 6, feel the power. . . Did you catch it? Did you catch where God puts you? He takes us together and seats us together, with Christ in the heavenly places. If you don’t think you have much worth, just imagine God placing you in His throne room, with His Son, Jesus, the Christ!!! That should blow our minds!
When you accept God’s gift of grace, you’re given the status of being God’s sons and daughters. God adopts you into His family. And when you’re adopted into a family, you’re given a place at the table, aren’t you? And that’s what God is doing for each of us.
So, why does grace have to be a gift? If it wasn't a gift, we would end up boasting about the whole matter and ruin it anyway. It has to be a gift, given to all, so that pride can’t destroy it. Why do you give someone a gift? Because you love someone and you want to demonstrate your love for that person. And don’t lose sight of the fact that God loves us!
Look at verse 8 ~ 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.
Isn’t that great! I guarantee it will be a memory verse sometime this year. Because we proclaim faith in Jesus, we receive this gift, the gift of grace. Now, what will we do with that grace? Will we put it on or not? Will we accept God’s grace?!
Now, let me make a general observation about life. Notice I said "general" observation. This may not always be true, but generally speaking I think it is. Women, generally speaking, are far better gift givers than men. Men tend to give practical gifts, women don’t. Women can be out shopping and not even looking for a gift, but something catches their eye, "Do you see that sweater, O my…that sweater would look great with those brown pants that Barbara has!" Or, "look at that picture, it would go perfect on Betty’s mantle, we've got to get it for her." And they'll buy the thing on the spot.
But that's not the end. When women give the gift, it's an event. They shout out, "Oh please open it, open it!" – hardly able to contain themselves. And if it's something to wear, the other person MUST immediately put it on. "Put those brown pants on right now and let's see them with the sweater." Or, "Move everything off the mantle and let's put the picture up." Is this not true?
Now listen, God gives gifts like a woman. When God gives gifts He says, "Oh Michael, come quick, I've got something for you. Oh, put it on right now! Oh wow, look at that grace on you! You should see yourself! Go stand closer to your workplace – yea that's it. Oh, you should see yourself. OK, go stand next to that person who annoys you . . . go on, whoa! Whoa!! That’s incredible!! Oh, this is awesome, grace looks great on you!!"
Have you received God’s gift of Grace?
Is life difficult, and maybe you are fighting against God . . . so receiving God’s grace seems impossible.
What do you do?
Stop all you are doing and ask God again and again for His grace. He will willingly give it to you. You don’t have to beg, just ask. He’s waiting for us to come to Him, on a daily basis we need His grace, that’s one of the ways in which we can make it in this mixed up world. Without experiencing His grace we truly are lost. So stop all of your fussing and ask for grace, God’s amazing grace, given to you and me all because Jesus went to that wondrous cross.
Let me end with this reminder; and I spoke about it awhile ago. . .
Remember we receive God’s grace and mercy.
Grace – means we receive something we don’t deserve.
Mercy means – we don’t receive what we deserve.
Grace - we do receive God’s love, forgiveness and acceptance.
Mercy - we don’t receive God’s wrath, condemnation and punishment.
Do we not have an awesome God?!
Mercy is the compassionate treatment of a person greater than what he or she deserved and it is made possible through the atonement of Jesus Christ. Grace can take you there, but Mercy will keep you there.
Grace and mercy are among the most powerful forces on this broken Earth.
