TROPHIES OF GOD’S GRACE
EPHESIANS 2:1-10
Years ago I attended a church service where, one by one, a dozen people walked across the stage and held up a sign indicating their greatest failures in their life. Some were about addiction, immorality, and other failures in life. Then, when all were assembled together, they turned their cards over to reveal what they are now. No longer stained by sin and failure, they were living examples (trophies) of what God can do when sinners yield their life to Him.
* This passage speaks about how we, too, are trophies of God’s grace.
Vs 1-3, Paul reminds us of what we are without Christ.
Vs 4-6, he reminds us of what Christ did for us and God changed us.
Vs 7-10, he reminds us of how Christ views us.
1. HOW CHRIST FOUND US.
Without Christ....
(1) You were Spiritually Dead.
Eph 2:1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,
Without Christ, you are dead. Spiritually separated from God and unable to experience the life that God has for you. The life He wants you to have. Sin causes this separation and death and there is nothing we ourselves can do to save ourselves.
(2) You were a Slave to Sin.
Eph 2:2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.
Satan is the master of the lost person and the world is his weapon. He tempts us and controls us through sin.
3 great traps in our society....
Humanism- places man above all else. Self becomes one’s own God and the only desire is to please self. Expressed in sins of selfishness.
Materialism- places value on things, especially money. Humanism defines who is #1 and materialism seeks to keep #1 happy.
Sexual Immorality- America has never been more decadent and degenerate. We live in an age where sexual perversions are tolerated, adultery is validated, and homosexuality is celebrated.
** This is the world’s system and it is controlled by Satan.
(3) You were Condemned.
Eph 2:3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
Many people have a distorted view of God. They think of Him only as a God of Love, and that He is. They think of Him as this grandpa in the sky that overlooks sinful behavior. But They fail to realize that God is Holy and Just and that He hates sin because sin destroys everything it touches. * once were. If you still are, then you’re lost.
Rom 2:5-6 5 But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, 6 who will render to each person according to his deeds:
you may think you’ve gotten away with something, but nothing escapes His attention and there is a record of sin and one day God will pour out His wrath on sinners, perhaps in this life...Judgement!
(4) You were Without Hope.
Eph 2:12 remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
Without Christ, there is no hope for salvation. If one has not repented of his sins and been born again, he is already condemned and destined for hell. But, in Christ, we have eternal life, we have a relationship with God, and we have hope.
2. HOW GOD CHANGED US.
(1) He Gave us Life.
Eph 2:4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
* Notice- He gave us life in Jesus Christ. We were born again. Snatched from the Jaws of Death and given a new life. A Better life.
What motivated God to do this?
a) He is rich in mercy. Mercy- forgiving someone of a crime/debt. Our problem- The price of sin is death. That debt must be paid.
b) He has great love. Agape- unconditional love. A love so great that it is willing to forgive any/all sins and failures. This love drove Jesus Christ to die on the cross in our place to pay the price for our sins.
Jn 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.
If all God did for us was to forgive us and give us new life, that would be awesome, but He didn’t stop there.
(2) He Raised us up.
Eph 2:6a and raised us up with Him,
Shipwrecks- Treasure hunters search the oceans for Spanish treasure ships that sank in the Caribbean. They sit deep in the ocean. Ship decays away and the treasure covered with gunk is hard to recognize. They go to great lengths and expense to find this treasure and raise it up and clean it. On the seabed, it was dirty and served no purpose, but once raised up and cleansed, this treasure is immensely valuable.
* Believers are raised up and cleansed of sin because they are valuable to God.
* It’s great that God saved. Wonderful news that He raised us up. But, He didn’t stop there.
(3) He Seated us with Christ.
Eph 2:6b and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
What does that mean?
* You have a place at the table. In 1982, I was coming home from military training in San Antonio. My friend, Jim, would be driving to Tennessee and I rode with him and he dropped me at my home in Mississippi. We arrived at about 9pm, but there was my whole family gathered with a table full of food. 3 Main dishes, all kinds of sides, and 3 desserts. Jim was shocked to see this reception. My Mom was like this. Always ready with food for the table. Jim had planned to drop me off and leave but my Mom demanded he stay. If he was a friend of mine, he was welcome at her table. He gorged himself and continued on to his home.
If you are a friend of Jesus Christ, you have a place at the Father's table in Heaven. It will be a glorious homecoming as we have fellowship with Him around the table.
* Adopted into the family of God.
Rom 8:14-17 14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ,
you are no longer a slave to Satan/sin, but a child of the King!
3. HOW CHRIST VIEWS US.
(1) A Trophy of Grace.
Eph 2:7-9 7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Many people keep trophies and awards of their accomplishments. Mommas keep pictures of their kids on the refrigerator door. Grandmas replace those with pictures of their grandkids.
* On God’s refrigerator, there is a picture of you. You are the shining trophy of the grace of God. You are the great example of the love and majesty of God. ** He found you in a hopeless situation. You were spiritually dead, a slave to sin, and condemned to hell. But, because of His love and mercy, He forgave your sins, He raised you up, and adopted you into His family. Throughout all eternity, the angels and all Creation will praise Him for what He did for you and in you!
(2) A Valuable Treasure.
Eph 2:10a For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus
Workmanship- poeima- The Greek word here is poiema from which we get our word poetry. It is also generically used for any work of art. It reflects the image that we are a poem or a treasured work of art. This is what you are to God!! A treasure!
My Lathe- newest hobby. I make Christmas trees out of cedar logs. I make bowls, vases out of all kinds of logs. My favorites pieces come from a Log that's been lying in the ditch for 2 years. I pulled that log out and shaped it on my lathe and restored the wood. It had been laying there rotting and worthless, forgotten by the world but I knew it was there, and now has been transformed into something beautiful and useful.
Likewise,
We are no longer dead, but alive with Christ.
We are no longer strangers, but part of the family of God.
We are no longer hopeless, but filled with hope in Christ.
We are no longer without God, for we know God through His Son.
(3) An Anointed Servant.
Eph 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
Sculptors are amazing people. You can put before them a giant slab of stone and they can see something beautiful inside of it that others cannot see. He spends months working on it and when they are thru, the beauty of His masterpiece is obvious to all. When asked how they sculpt a lion out of the stone, they answer "I remove everything that's not the lion so that the lion is all that remains."
* God is the Great Sculptor of human souls.
He sees inside of you things the world cannot see. Things even you don’t see in yourself.
If you will yield yourself to Him, He will work in you to remove what anything that is holding you back.
** Sin, failure, guilt, shame. Those are chiseled away. And, He transforms you into What He desires you to be.
He anoints you with His Holy Spirit and empowers you to serve Him in His Kingdom.
God saved us and created us in Christ Jesus for a reason.
Our salvation is not the end purpose.
Our salvation is the process by which God can fulfill His purpose and plan for our lives.
In the end, everything that we are in Christ Jesus, everything that he transforms us into, and all the works that we do in our service to Him is a Trophy of His Grace unto Him. And for all eternity, all of Creation will worship Him because of His grace revealed in us.
