Since 1993 magazines have carried ads featuring famous people wearing a milk moustache. Do you remember the tagline that goes with the ad? That’s right. “Got milk?” The point of the ad is clear. If you drink milk, you too will be strong and handsome like the person featured in the ad.
Milk is certainly good for you, but there is something else that we all desperately need. This “thing” makes a difference not only in this life, but also for eternity. What is it? It’s grace, God’s undeserved love. “Got grace?” we might ask, because without it you have no life and you have no future. Thankfully our sermon text tells us that we can give a resounding “Yes!” to that question. We’ve got grace! Let’s learn again why God’s grace is such a treasure and how it makes a difference for eternity and for this life.
In order to understand why God’s grace makes a difference for eternity we need to first go back in time and look at how God once viewed us. Listen to what the Apostle Paul said in the verses before our text. “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” (Ephesians 2:1-3).
When you get out the family album to look at old pictures, you usually end up laughing at the kind of fashion and hairstyle choices we made decades ago. Why did anyone ever think that big hair, and baby-powder blue suits with wide lapels were cool? Old fashions and hairstyles are a laughing matter, but the way we once spiritually looked to God is not. Paul says that at one time we were dead in our sins. We shouldn’t think that we were passively dead, like a battery that no longer has any charge. Such a battery is certainly useless, but it’s hardly offensive. You can keep a bag full of dead batteries around and it’s not going to start smelling, change color, and attract flies like old hamburger meat would. That’s why when you’re cleaning up after dinner, you dump food scraps into a bin which is taken out every night and not left in the house to rot and to stink.
But that’s the kind of dead we were – a rotten, offensive kind of dead. Oh sure, you’ve always felt alive, but before you were brought to faith you gave into your sinful nature without a fight. You may have been in the habit of spreading gossip around the school and office about others. Or like the Israelites in the Old Testament, you might have been a chronic grumbler never satisfied with the food set before you, complaining that it was too hot, too salty, too slow, or too cold. And even when you did something that was good and kind, you always had an ulterior motive, even if only it was to have someone thank you. Come to think of it, we’re often still this way!
Like a piece of rotten meat that is thrown out with disgust, that’s what God should have done with us. But listen to what Paul announces: “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” (Ephesians 2:4, 5). Paul helps us understand what “grace” means when he said that God made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our sins. In other words, God doesn’t love you because you managed to clean up your act. He loves you even though you continued to be his enemy and continued to remain mired in sin. He demonstrated that undeserved love when he sent his Son to pay for the sins of the world. That’s why the theme of this sermon is not “Got grace?” with a question mark, but “We’ve got grace!” with an exclamation mark! You do have God’s love and that makes a difference for eternity. It means that you don’t have to fear death or hell. Because of God’s grace you are forgiven and heaven and eternal life are yours.
Treasure this grace which has saved you. Treasure it by remembering the effort it took. God didn’t simply push a “save” button on a cosmic computer up in heaven like you do when you’re saving an important document. No, the saving of sinners took blood and suffering, not the simple push of a button. God’s Son Jesus went through hell to save you and me. Paul hammers home that truth by saying six times in seven verses that grace comes to us “in” or “with” Christ. Yes, God has been gracious to all, but not everyone will go to heaven. That’s because heaven is only given to those who have faith in Jesus as their savior from sin. The good news is that even this faith is something that God gives to us, as Paul wrote: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8).
God’s grace makes a difference for eternity, but it also already makes a difference for this life. Paul put it this way: “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6). What does it mean that we’ve already been raised with Christ and seated in the heavenly realms with him when we’re still very much here on earth? Think of it like this. Let’s say that for spring break you head down to an all-inclusive resort in Mexico. But instead of getting on the resort shuttle, which would take you directly from the airport to the resort, you decide to make your way there on your own. You want a little adventure and want to see some of the sights off the beaten track. So you take a local bus into town and walk around a bit until you find another bus you think is going to your resort. Only the ticket agent didn’t understand you when you asked for directions so when you get off the bus where he told you to, you find yourself standing in the middle of nowhere. Before you realize the mistake, the bus has roared off leaving you stranded. At first you just wait, hoping for another bus to come by, but none do. In fact there’s no traffic at all. So you start walking with your gear and it’s not long before you’re sweaty, thirsty, and hungry. Worst of all, it’s getting dark. Now you’re starting to panic because you’re not prepared to sleep on the side of a road in a foreign country – especially since there are probably snakes and other critters that wouldn’t make sleeping very easy. But just then you see headlights in the distance. It’s another bus! You wave it down and are prepared to pay the driver anything to take you back to civilization, but the driver refuses your money. Why? Because he’s driving one of the shuttle buses from your resort, and that’s where he’s headed! How do you feel when you sink into a seat on that bus? The seat itself might be cracked and uncomfortable. You may continue to sweat because there is no air conditioning on the bus, but you don’t care about that. You relax and let go of your stress because it’s almost as if you’re already sitting poolside at the resort – and in a way you are.
Friends, that’s how it is for Christians. Although we still live in a world of sin and have to put up with heartache, there is no need to despair, ever. We’re on our way to heaven, and through faith in Jesus we’re as good as there. That’s Paul’s point in our text. Since that is the case how can we grumble and moan about life as if we have yet to find a place or a purpose? That’s not just silly, it’s a sinful lack of trust in your Savior’s promises that you are already seated with him in the heavenly realms. God’s grace makes a difference for this life in that it gives you hope and a reason to persevere through the challenges.
God’s grace also makes a difference in another way for this life. Listen to what Paul said in the last verse of our text. “…we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10). God’s grace doesn’t just save us from sin, it also empowers us for good works. In fact God has already set out these good works for us to do. He knows, for example, that this afternoon you will take time to help a friend move, or you will stay home and watch the kids so your spouse can go out and relax. He knows that after supper you will gladly help clean up. He also knows how you will treat kindly your classmates this week and give your best to the challenges that will greet you Monday morning when you step back into the office. He knows all this because he has planned for you to do these things.
You can be certain of that because Paul says that we are God’s “workmanship.” That Greek word is poema. Do see what Paul is saying? He’s saying that you are God’s “poem.” You’re his work of art that he has carefully crafted. And for what purpose? To put you on display so that others might witness just how awesomely powerful God’s grace is. And so you might display that grace this week when you forgive those who are not “deserving” of your forgiveness. Or how you might be extraordinarily patient with the child who is pushing your buttons. You can do that, brothers and sisters, because you’ve got grace! God’s grace will motivate and empower you to show the same love God showed you through the person of Jesus.
I started this sermon by talking about the “Got milk?” campaign. Do you know who sponsors those ads? I used to think it was the U.S. government. I figured they wanted to find a cool way to encourage more people to drink milk because it’s good for you. It turns out that this campaign is financed by milk producers. To put it bluntly, they want you to get more milk so they get more money.
God, on the other hand, isn’t trying to sell you anything with today’s text. Instead he’s giving you everything: forgiveness, faith, heaven, and a purpose. You have everything you need for this life and for eternity. Since you’ve got grace, give grace in your words and actions. Amen.
SERMON NOTES
Define grace as it’s described in the Bible.
When God examines our spiritual lives, how did we once look?
Why is it important to remember that God gives us grace “in” and “with” Christ Jesus?
What difference does God’s grace make for our eternity?
God’s grace also makes a difference for this life. Explain the comfort we can derive from the truth that “we are already seated with Christ in the heavenly realms.”
What other difference does God’s grace make for this life?
Paul says that we are God’s “masterpiece” or “poem.” How can you make that evident to others this week?
