As for You!!!
Ephesians 2 v 1 – 5
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 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. All of us 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. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved.
In the first chapter we have seen Paul using incredible language to explain what God has done for us and who we are in Christ. We have seen how victorious Jesus is and the power and authority that he possesses. Jesus is Lord and reigns on high. He has been given the ultimate title in this age and in the one to come.
Every time I read this first chapter it leaves me breathless and full of awe.
But then we get to chapter two. Paul reminds us of what we were and where we were heading. We are told about the consequence of sin, the three major enemies against us and that God has a deep anger against anything unholy.
Then the apostle goes back to the mercy and grace of God.
It is good to be reminded of the gospel.
This morning I want to go through these five verses and look at four main points;
1. What we once were
2. The three major enemies
3. How God saw us
4. God’s response
1) What we once were
When I was young and before I was a Christian, I will quickly add, I used to watch those old black and white horror films starring Boris Karloff or Peter Cushing. I remember being in my Mum and Dad’s bedroom, where they kept the small portable, black and white TV. I’d lie on the bed, the lights would be out and I’d be ready for a good scaring. And then the titles would begin and the eerie music would start and the pillow would be gripped. I remember vaguely that one of the films involved zombies or otherwise know as the living dead. Sorry if I am spooking any one out. They would come out at night and walk around very slowly but still manage to catch people and then turn them into one of them. When you see these films now you just sit and laugh as the make up and special effects were hilarious. But when you are twelve or thirteen it is a completely different ball game. You would go to bed with eyes wide open. Every shadowy object in your room was alive and out to get you.
So what has this got to do with these verses?
Well the first two verses say,
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live….
Here we see that outside of Christ you are the living dead.
That sounds a bit harsh. Well it is what the Bible teaches. It goes right back to the first man who ever lived – Adam.
God said to Adam, “Adam, you can eat any fruit in the Garden but not that one over there. If you do eat that fruit you will die.”
Adam, knowing full well what he was doing, ignores God’s warnings and eats the fruit. At that point death entered the world. Not the immediate death of the physical body, although that would occur, but Adam’s spirit died. It was that part of Adam that was able to love God and communicate with God that died.
Adam was destined to live forever. But God said in Genesis 3v22
“The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat and live forever.”
There we have it, one man rebels against God and death enters the world.
If you do not know God personally, you are dead.
But I’m alive you cry. I can see, I can hear, I can touch, I can smell and I can taste.
That is all true, but if you don’t know God you don’t know what real life is like.
In the book of Romans, chapter five it says;
.. just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned - ………
You see as soon as Adam sinned, you and I were implicated. We became the living dead. We can walk around and do all the things that we want to do. But spiritually we can do nothing. We can’t know God, we can’t please God, and we are spiritually dead.
If there were a dead body here, that dead body would be incapable of doing anything.
It couldn’t get up and go for a walk. If you placed a meal in front of it, it wouldn’t be able to eat it. All that the dead body could do is just lay there and rot. The only way the corpse could experience life again is by someone external providing it. The corpse cannot make itself live again. It is hopeless and helpless by itself.
And that is the state of man without God. He is hopeless and helpless. He can do nothing to get himself out of this state he is in. Why?
BECAUSE HE IS DEAD!
Do you not see the awfulness of sin?
But what is sin?
Sin is basically disobedience to God. It is doing the opposite of what God is asking us to do.
What is God asking us to do?
He is asking us not to have any other gods before him. Which could mean our jobs, possessions or our family. God must be our only God.
He wants us not to make idols. We should worship Him and Him alone.
He wants us not to take His name in vain.
He wants us to have a day that we rest in. To do no work on that day.
He wants us to honour our Mum’s and Dad’s.
He wants us not to murder. Jesus said that when you hate someone you are as good as murdering him or her.
God wants us not to commit adultery, or even look at another person with lust.
He wants us not to steal. Even if it’s a paperclip from work.
He wants us to speak well of other people and not say false things about them.
He wants us not to covet. That is to long for something that isn’t yours, i.e., if you see someone’s wife and you want her for your own.
These are all the things God wants us to do. If we don’t do at least one of them, then we have sinned and the consequence of that one sin is that our spirit dies. That is how awful sin is.
The thing is with man is that he is born a sinner. King David said in Psalm 51
Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
This is all pretty bleak. But there is good news later.
But for now, man is in a desperate state. He is born sinful. He cannot avoid sinning because he is a sinner. Man loves to do evil because that is his very nature. And therefore he is dead and he can do nothing about it. Man without God is utterly hopeless and utterly helpless.
This brings me to my next point from the text.
2. We have three agents conspiring against us.
Verses 2 and 3 say this;
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. All of us lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts.
We see here that man has to contend with three enemies;
a. The world
b. The devil
c. The sinful nature
Firstly
a. Man follows the ways of the world.
Man likes to think that he has freewill and that he can think for himself.
But this is not true.
Man is limited in his freethinking because his nature is evil. He is governed by worldviews.
Why do so many people believe in evolution?
The answer is because they were taught it at school. And when you understand the theory of evolution you realise that it allows man to abdicate responsibility for his actions. That man is basically an animal and everything he does comes from human nature. Yes he does things wrong but give him a few more million years and he will get it right.
However, we only have to see what happened in New York to realise that man is not improving but is as evil and selfish as ever.
We are bombarded by the world and it’s values.
Sonya and I watched a programme recently which had one of these mind magicians on. One of the stunts he pulled was incredible. He transported two advertising experts to an office and got them to design an advertisement for a pretend taxidermist company, a company that stuffs dead animals. They had to this in half an hour. He then placed an envelope on the desk with his design and they weren’t to look at it until after they had done theirs. After they had finished, they compared each other’s work. They both had exactly the same ideas. The artwork was almost identical and the wording also. The two advertising men were amazed and perplexed.
How did this man do it?
Well he showed us.
They went through the period of time from when the two men left their office, got into their taxi and arrived at the other office. Along the route they had placed images and sentences that were apparently random but significant to the task. All the images and words they had strategically placed everywhere appeared in the men’s advertisement. They had a group of joggers wearing t-shirts with angels wings on, they went passed the big gates of a zoo, they went past a shop with a harp in the window, they stuck up posters with a specific sentence on it and so on. The journey only took a short time but it was enough to send a message to these two men. They had been influenced by what they saw and what they saw appeared in their advert.
To me this sent shivers down my spine. That people can have such power over one’s mind.
But that is how the world works.
You see, the world hates God and will do all it can do offer something more appealing. It uses different medias to do this.
It uses someone like Hitler to influence a whole nation into causing worldwide devastation. It uses false religion to deceive billions and ensnare them into idol worship. It promotes sexual freedom and pornography as the natural expression of man and teaches that it is perfectly acceptable. But actually what it does is causes marriages to break down, families to be decimated, child abuse to increase at an alarming rate and whole societies and cultures to be ripped apart. Everywhere you go, you will see images that are aimed at man’s biggest weakness – his sinfulness.
Women have to contend with images of a so-called perfect body, perfect face.
Who decides this perfect look, I’ll give you a clue it isn’t God.
No wonder young women have eating disorders. No wonder more people want cosmetic surgery today. The world sends out a lie of gigantic proportions and that is – If you don’t look a certain way then you won’t be loved.
What does God say?
God sees what he makes and says it is VERY GOOD!!!! God knitted you in your mother’s womb; He saw your unformed body. If you cannot say, “I am fearfully and wonderfully made, “ then you need God to transform your mind in this area.
Men you need to stop exposing yourself to things that will twist your image of women. Get rid of the porn; disconnect your Internet if you have to, cancel your satellite or cable channels that fill your vision with sinful images.
Men it is time to get ruthless with sin. If you are married, all this stuff will bring division, insecurity, jealousy, and a lack of fulfilment sexually, masturbation and many other results. If you are single and you don’t sort it out now, then you will take all these things into any future relationship.
God wants us holy.
If you know that you are being following the ways of the world, then today is the day you stop. There is a better way that we will see later.
So we see that we have a huge power to contend with. But that isn’t all. Secondly we have;
b. The devil
If you do not know God this morning then you are following the ways of the devil. Again this sounds harsh, but it is what we read here.
The passage gets even stronger by saying that he, the devil, is actually at work in those who are disobedient. That is, those who don’t follow God’s ways.
The devil hates God with a passion and he hates His creation. He hates man having an exclusive relationship with God and will do all he can to prevent it happening.
The devil is the father of all lies and has blinded the eyes of unbelievers so that they cannot see the truth of the good news of Jesus.
You may be here this morning and don’t believe a word I’m saying. That is because you have been blinded. Satan has deceived you. The last thing he wants is for you to understand that there is forgiveness of sins and the promise of heaven through Jesus Christ.
That is why there are so many other religions. It is to deceive as many people as possible from seeing that Jesus is the only way to the Father.
All other religions teach man what he must do to get to God and after that there is no guarantee of salvation.
Christianity teaches that there is no way that man can get to God on his own. So God had to come down and get to man first.
If you don’t know God this morning, then you are following the ways of the devil. You are an enemy of God’s.
Jesus said those who love evil hate the light because they fear their evil deeds will be exposed.
But despite all this, God still loves you passionately. Even though you live in rebellion to God, He still wants you to know Him and live forever in heaven.
So far we have seen that apart from God you are dead in sin and you follow the ways of the world and you follow the ways of the devil.
The third and final thing you have to contend with is;
c. Your Sinful nature
The next part of the passage says that
‘all of us’ also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts.
When I used to live in South Africa, about eleven years ago, I obtained a bit of an addiction to Coca Cola. So on a hot day, while out doing some street questionnaires I would get a craving for a can of Coke. My throat would get all tingly and my mouth would start twitching with the thought of ice cold, fizzy Coke crashing in on parched land. I would start to imagine holding the cold can in my hand; with the condensation dripping down it’s sides. And then taking the ring pull and hearing the pssst sound as the can is opened. It started to dominate my thinking whenever I was thirsty. I was never satisfied until I drank that fizzy nectar. I craved Coca Cola.
You see man outside of God craves sin. He can’t help himself. Man lives for his own end. He is inherently evil and selfish and lives for himself.
It is completely opposed to what God’s requirements are.
God created man to worship Him.
Sinful man worships himself. He is at the centre of his own life.
The common catchphrase of today is;
If it feels good do it.
Even if it is at the cost of others.
Before I knew God, I didn’t think twice about my actions. The main thing was that I was satisfied. I didn’t have to answer to anyone. No one was going to punish me unless I got caught. Even then you were never sorry for your actions. You were only sorry that you got caught.
You see. Man says that he has freewill. He can make choices in life and no one is going to dictate to him.
But sinful man does not have free choice. He is completely governed by his nature.
I have here a bar of chocolate and an apple. I’ll give some one the choice of one or the other.
Why did you choose ………..?
That isn’t free will. You chose it due to your preference. Man is conditioned. What was best for you was the apple.
Man outside of God does what he desires and that is always according to the flesh.
When one becomes a Christian you are given the Holy Spirit.
He makes your conscience alive again and you become aware of sin and it’s offensiveness.
You no longer have to live by what your old nature desires but can live by what the Holy Spirit desires. That is holiness.
When you get tempted to sin or act disobediently against God you can actually make a decision to say no and choose the better way.
When you become a Christian you still have to contend with the old desires and temptations of the flesh. But you become a new creation, a new person with a new nature. Your new nature desires to please God, but the world, the devil and our flesh still conspire against us.
But there is always a way out.
I have one more bit of bad news before I get on to the absolutely fantastic news.
3. We are by nature objects of Wrath!
We only have to look at the current situation in the world to get some understanding of the word wrath.
The majority of the world is appalled by what happened nearly two weeks ago in America. There is deep anger against the people who committed these atrocities. People want justice and they want it as quickly as possible.
However, the sobering news is that everyone who lives apart from God also has the wrath of God resting on them.
God hates sin with a passion. It brings death and it separates man from Himself.
If you do something naughty as a child then you would get punished. If you break the law in this land or any other land and get caught you deserve to be punished.
And so it is with God. If you are living in disobedience to God then you deserve to be punished.
As we have already seen everyone who doesn’t live God’s way is disobedient and therefore has to be punished.
The bible says that the wages of sin are death. Not just physical death, but eternal death. The bible calls this hell.
Eternal separation from God and all His benefits. There will be darkness, wailing and suffering forever.
If you are not sure that your name is written in God’s book of life then you need to be aware that there will come a day when you will be judged. If your name is not found in the book, the bible says you will be thrown into the lake of fire.
You may think I am being unkind. You may think I am scare mongering.
I heard someone say that if a doctor rushed up to you and said, “Take this medicine because it is the cure.” You would think the guy is mad there is nothing wrong with me. However if the same doctor examined you first and said you had a fatal disease and you will die if you don’t take this medicine, you would not hesitate in taking it.
This is what I’m doing this morning.
I am telling you that you have a terrible disease called sin that you brought on by your own actions. You are responsible for your condition and the wrath of God hangs over you until justice is done.
Do you want to remain like this. Do you want to face the prospect of hell and eternal separation from God.
If sin isn’t dealt with in your life then that is what will happen!
Well, so far it doesn’t look good – you are dead in your sin, you have the world, the devil and your own evil desires keeping you in sin and therefore in rebellion to God and to top it all God’s wrath or anger is resting on your head.
But the good news is in verses 4 and 5 and leads me on to the last point.
4. God’s response to our situation.
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved.
You need to realise this morning that God loves you greatly.
God is aware that you are dead in your sin and that you are totally incapable of getting out of it by yourself.
Listen, God is the only One who can make you alive. Even though you are dead, God can bring life back to you. Even though His anger rests on you, he can remove that anger.
How can that possibly happen?
The only way that God’s anger can be removed from you is by some one else volunteering to take it for you. The only way you can truly live is by some one dying in your place and taking the punishment that you deserve.
It would obviously have to be done by some one who didn’t deserve to die and be punished. Some one who had never sinned.
But I said earlier that all have sinned. The only one who is perfect and doesn’t deserve death and hell is Jesus. When He lived on earth He never sinned. He never disobeyed God His Father. He is the only one who earned the right to eternal life.
However, after earning the right to eternity, He decided to exchange it for our sin and disobedience and therefore our punishment.
Jesus died in your place. When He hung on the cross, he took your sin.
His Father had no choice but to turn His back on His only beloved son.
Our sin separated God the Father from God the Son. We did it.
And in the death of Jesus an exchange took place. Our sin for Jesus’ holiness and right to eternal life.
This is mercy, that even though we deserve eternal hell, we can experience forgiveness of sin and eternity with God.
You may have read about the fire fighters who kept going into the World Trade Centre to save as many people as possible until the building collapsed on them. They were exceptional people.
But there is a man who went into the eternal fire to save you. He suffered unimaginable suffering to snatch you from hell.
Jesus said this;
Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
This morning you can know God’s mercy and grace. You can have your sin forgiven and know eternal life.
If you acknowledge this morning that you have rebelled against God and believe and confess that Jesus is Lord and rose from the dead then you will be saved from the punishment to come.
I’m going to give you the opportunity to respond now by asking you to come forward in a few moments and give your life to Jesus. You think you have all the time in the world, but you don’t. You need to act now while there is still time.
If you are a Christian here this morning and you living by your old nature still, then you need to get right with God. Sin still has consequences and leads to death. You can’t lose your salvation but it destroys and corrupts and is utterly offensive to God. You need to come forward and receive grace and mercy.
If God has spoken to you then you need to come forward now.
If every one can stand. I will count to three and then I want you to come forward and get right with God.
