In Christ, I Am…Re-Created for Good—Ephesians 2:1-10
(Series on Ephesians: In Christ, I Am…)
Verses 8 and 9 are the gospel in about 30 words, and you would do well to memorize them as a summary of the gospel. You might go through verse 10: (Reread Ephesians 2:8-10.)
The gospel is good news. In fact, that is literally the meaning of the Greek word euangelion, from which we get the English words evangelism and evangelical.
The gospel tells us how we can be SAVED. Christians like to use that word, but what does it really mean? It means we are saved from hell, from an eternity apart from God, in the company of the devil and his angels. But what impact does salvation have on us now?
Some people think of salvation like a card in the game of Monopoly—the “Get out of Jail Free” card. Or, they think it is like a concert ticket, which gets someone into the gate that leads to heaven. So they stick it in their wallet, and forget about it until the time comes to use it. Being saved, then, has little to do with everyday life.
The Bible has a much more comprehensive view of salvation. When we are saved, we are saved from wasting our potential and missing what God intends for us, and we are saved for the fullness of the life God has for us. Salvation takes us from death to life—beginning now, and more gloriously when life on earth is finished.
Our text begins by identifying what we need to be saved from. It is not a pretty picture, but the diagnosis is good news!
Suppose you go to the doctor, and you say, “I haven’t been feeling like my normal self.” You go on to describe a variety of symptoms of poor health, but you don’t really know what the problem is. Would you rather hear from the doctor, “I don’t know what’s wrong with you. I guess you will just have to learn to live with this, as your new normal. Maybe when you die, we can do an autopsy to figure out what is really wrong with you”? Or would you rather have the doctor tell you what is wrong, and tell you how it can be fixed?
The good news of the gospel begins with God identifying what is wrong with us, apart from Christ. Read Ephesians 2:1-3.
“You were dead in your transgressions and sins…” Transgression is slipping up, and sin is missing the target. Your life wasn’t on track. When Paul says, “You were dead,” he implies that we were unable to do the right thing. Sometimes we might even say, “I know I shouldn’t, but I can’t help myself.”
“You were…walking in the way of the world.” In other words, we tend to go with the flow, even when the flow is going down the toilet! Sometimes, it gets even worse: “…walking in the ways of…the ruler of the kingdom of the air.” Greek philosophers like Philo and Pythagoras identified the rulers of the air as evil spirits, and Paul focuses on the chief evil ruler, which would be the devil.
“All of us were…gratifying the cravings of our flesh (our sinful, broken self), following its passions and thoughts.” Paul is talking about the times when we say, “Why did I do that? I should have known better. I don’t want to be like that.”
“We were by nature children of wrath.” (Note to preacher: This is a literal translation; the Greek word is tekna.) With children, we understand that if punishment comes, it is not the parent’s fault.
This is not a pretty picture of humanity without Christ! In fact, our diagnosis is deadly, until verse 4, which begins, “But God…” (Note to preacher: This is the original Greek word order, although some translations change the order to make the sentence less awkward. The Greek speaks of mercy first, and then love; the NIV puts love first, and then mercy. Adapt to the translation you are using.)
Read Ephesians 2:4. The good news is that God loves people who are dead in sin. God loves people who are walking in the ways of an evil world, and even walking with the devil! God loves people who are following their own evil passions. God loves people who deserve to go to hell! God doesn’t just feel compassion for them; he lifts them out of their misery. Read Ephesians 2:4-5. We were dead in sin, going with flow of evil, when God gave us new life in Jesus Christ. He gave new life through a relationship with himself.
***On the television series “Shark Tank,” entrepreneurs present their business ideas to five wealthy, well-connected venture capitalists, hoping that one or more will invest in the business. One of the “sharks” is known for expressing his disdain for an entrepreneur by saying, “You are dead to me.” He means that there is no possibility of a relationship between him and the entrepreneur; as far as he is concerned, the proposal is dead. Sometimes, however, another “shark” will decide to invest, bringing the idea to life. The shark provides money, expertise, and opportunities that would not otherwise be available, and the business has new life.***
God makes us alive by joining with us! Read Ephesians 2:6-7. He brings us into a very unequal partnership, in which we share all of the resources of Christ, and our destiny is tied to his.
Paul says, “God raised us up with Christ.” His resurrection from death to life brings us from death to life!
Think about what the death and resurrection of Jesus accomplished, and what it means for us. We were dead in sin, but Jesus took upon himself the punishment for our sin, and paid the penalty for us. We were caught up in evil, but Jesus overcame the power of evil, when he took its best shot, and then rose victoriously. We were slaves of our lower human nature, but Jesus came in the flesh, remaining sinless, and redeeming our “flesh” from corruption. We were under God’s wrath, but Jesus showed that God has no desire for anyone to suffer his wrath; he will do almost anything to keep us from experiencing his wrath.
Those who accept Jesus as their Savior are alive in Christ. They have already begun their glorious life with him.
Of course, we are not yet with Christ in heaven; Jesus is in heaven, and we live here. But because Jesus is in heaven, in the place of authority and power, we have his power and authority behind us. We can overcome our sins, the powers of evil, and the pressures of the world around us.
Jesus Christ is in heaven, and “in the coming ages” we will share in “the incomparable riches of God’s grace.” But what does that mean for us now? Do we sit back and wait for our life to come? No, we have life already, and we make the most of it.
Read Ephesians 2:10.
In the beginning, God created people to bring glory to him. He gave us abilities, he gave us work to do, and he made us his agents for good in the world. When sin disrupted our relationship with God, our ability to do good was corrupted. Sometimes we choose to do bad things; other times we fail to do as much good as we should.
Paul says that we are God’s handiwork, not only because created us in the first place, but because are re-created in Christ—“created in Christ Jesus.” When God brings us to life through Jesus, we are re-created with the ability to do good. In fact, God already has chosen some good things for us to do. Awesome!
***I am teaching an online class right now, training pastors and leaders. God is creating in them the ability to do good. They are created with natural abilities: a couple of them use their musical gifts as worship leaders, some are administrators, and all care about people. God has also re-created them to do good. One was a drug addict, and God saved him to reach many people who would otherwise not consider following Jesus. Another has been deaf from birth, and God surprised him by making him the pastor of a deaf congregation. God creates and re-recreates people for the good works that he has planned for them.**
The gospel is that people who were dead in sin are saved, so that they are alive in Christ, re-created for good. How does God save? How do people accept the good news, and receive new life in Christ?
Some people get turned around on the gospel. They think that salvation begins with being good, and doing good works. Of course, that can’t work. If you are dead, you can’t do much good.
***A smart phone is a powerful tool, a good tool. But suppose that the battery runs down, until the phone goes dead. The phone is then worthless, and the phone has absolutely no ability to do anything good. It would be stupid to say to the phone, “If you prove your worth to me, I will plug you in, so you can boot up again.” No, first I have to recharge the battery, turn on the phone, and then it can come alive and serve me well.**
That is why Paul says, “By grace you are saved, through faith…not by works…” Good works do not generate salvation; salvation makes good works possible.
Other people think that salvation is by faith. They might say, “If you just have faith, you can overcome any obstacle, and do great things.” That might sound better, but if our faith is in our ability to fix ourselves, we weren’t so dead after all, and we didn’t need God to make us alive.
Paul does not say, “By faith you are saved,” but “By grace you are saved.” God takes the initiative to save us, when we are dead to him because of sin, unworthy of his mercy and love, and unable to generate the kind of faith we need to come alive.
Using the analogy of the smart phone: Faith is like the cord that connects the phone to the source of its life, its power. Without the cord, the phone eventually goes dead. But the cord cannot bring the phone to life without a source of power or life. Faith will not bring us to life, unless it connects us with God, the Source of life.
Today, you received a card that says, “In Christ, I am…Re-Created for Good.” I hope you will take the card with you this week, as a reminder of what God is doing in your life.
Without Christ, you were dead in sin, and under the control of evil influences. With Christ, you are alive to God, with power over sin and harmful thoughts and negative influences.
With Christ, you have a seat reserved in heaven, where Christ is seated in the place of authority over all things. God’s authority over all things can already be seen in your life, as you walk with him on this earth.
In Christ, God has created you for good, and he has already planned good works that you can do for his glory, even this week. We can expect to find opportunities to do good, and glorify God.
All of this is a gift from God—a gift of God’s grace. To God be the glory!
