“Dead Man Walking”
Ephesians 2:1-10
Focus: The beauty of the gospel is displayed as Paul contrasts life before Christ to life in Christ and reveals to his readers a future to look towards and a
purpose to live for.
Function: To lead the congregation up close to this huge passage where we can look at it with face upturned in awe and wonder at what God has done.
In coming to the text just read to us, I have to admit to you this morning that I am just a little bit intimidated! This is one of the
most beautiful and grandest texts in all of Scripture! It is HUGE. . . in language . . . in depth . . . in meaning . . . and in scope!
One of my favorite preachers & teachers, Fred Craddock, talks about passages in Scripture that are just too big to preach. Either the
language is so grandiose or the meaning so deep that a preacher can hardly do it justice. But he says, “Texts do not always have to be mastered. There is immense value in taking the hand of a congregation and leading it up close to a huge passage where it can stand with face upturned in awe and wonder. What so many sermons lack is not truth or clarity or relevance, but size.” And so, it is with that in mind that I intend this morning to lead us to this huge passage where we can gaze at it ‘in awe and wonder’ and marvel at just what God has done for us! As I see it, the danger in preaching is in reducing a text
such as this to three points and a poem! There is so much more here that God would have us see!
Here Paul begins making a clear distinction between “life before Christ” and “life in Christ” which will form the basis for much of
the rest of the letter. Look at it again . . .notice the number of contrasts that Paul makes.
1. living in transgressions & sins vs. living in good works prepared by God
2. this world vs. the heavenly realms
3. death vs. life
4. sinful nature (lit. “Flesh”) vs. union with Christ
5. wrath vs. mercy & salvation
6. under the “ruler of the air” vs. seated with Christ
7. by nature vs. by grace
8. not from works vs. thru faith
Paul wants to make sure that the Ephesians understand that this new salvation to which they are called makes a radical
difference in their lives! Its not just a change of status, but a change of life! That’s what chpt. 4-6 are all about! How does this
new salvation play itself out in real life? What does it look like? What difference does it make? You’ll remember that in chpt. 1
Paul has sought to motivate his readers towards that goal by reminding them of the REASON to live for Christ. . . “God . . . has
blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” AND by reminding them from where their
POWER to change comes from . . .”I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the
hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints and his incomparably great power
for us who believe.” Now Paul turns to reminding the Ephesians of three other things: (1) their past (2) their present (3) their
future.
I. Paul reminds US of ‘How Bad it Was.’
Eph 2:1-3
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. (NIV)
Notice the language that Paul chooses to use . . .
We WERE Dead. Do you remember your life before you came to know Christ? Was it anything like this? Paul very much
viewed life before Christ as spiritual death! Now, I think Paul was a pretty good fellow! He was a good Jew (a “Hebrew of
Hebrews”, he would refer to himself.), a good Pharisee, a keeper of the law, & zealous for doing what he thought was defending
the faith! (Cf. Phil 3:4-6) He may have been a pretty good guy, but no matter how good he might have been- from the
perspective of his new life “in Christ”, all life “before Christ” is characterized by death! Paul says that he was simply ‘dead’.
Elsewhere Paul views death as a tyrant that dominates unredeemed humanity, both in the here & now AND in the grave! “The
wages of sin is DEATH” Rom. 6:23
I think it is interesting that he chooses the word DEATH to describe the reality of life without Christ. We understand a culture of death. Look at our world today and think about how death controls our culture still! In the third world, famine, disease and death are everyday realities. And not just in our ’civilized’ world, either! Last week was the 30th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade- the landmark Supreme Court decision that gave women the right to kill their unborn children. In these last 30 years, over 45 million abortion procedures have been performed;
i.e. 45 million innocent children have been slaughtered. Death permeates our reality and as a result, threatens to control life! How many people have gotten rich from ‘miracle drugs’ that were supposed to lengthen our life-span? How many people
have bought into those things, frantically striving to stave off old age and death? The cloning controversy stirred again in the last
few weeks has been from a group who has been pursuing a way to have eternal life and eternal youth. Death still plagues our
present humanity and remains an ever-present threat! This shouldn’t have come as a surprise! God told Adam & Eve in the
garden that if they ate from the forbidden tree, they would surely die! How many of us are afraid to face death . . . either our own
or the death of a loved one?
We WERE Worldly. This is the way we ‘used to live’ when we followed the ways of the world, the “ruler of the kingdom of the
air”. This was our former way of life; the way we used to walk. And Paul reminds us of just who is in control in this world, without
mentioning his name. He’ll come back to it in chapt. 6, but for now its enough for us to make note that this ‘ruler’ has been
handed over “authority” concerning the affairs of this world. John confirms what Paul has said. I Jn 5:19 We know that we are
children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. (NIV) This ruler, this spirit is at work in all those who are
disobedient! And ALL OF US (Paul is including himself) lived among them! The problem wasn’t so much that we lived with
them, but that we lived like them! We were one of them!
So, we WERE objects of wrath! Whose wrath? God’s? You might have thought of God as ONLY a ‘warm & fuzzy’ loving
grandfatherly type; you might have thought of Paul as ONLY the Apostle of Grace & Mercy; but even in his letter to the Romans
(the gospel of grace) he talks @ wrath.
18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their
wickedness, Rom 1:18 (NIV)
Wrath is an important concept in the Bible. Because of our sin we were at enmity with God! His wrath was against us! No hope
of relationship; no hope of reconciliation, because we had broken it! BUT, NO LONGER! Paul points out that God took care of
that for us.
That was the way we were.
II. Paul reminds us ‘How Sweet It Is’!
Eph 2:4-9
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, (NIV)
In the words of “the Great One”, “How Sweet it IS!” Paul points to our past only to emphasize how good we have it NOW! In the present!
Notice the words he stacks on top of each other . . .“Mercy”, “love”, “grace,” “kindness,” and “gift”-- in an attempt to describe this
awesome and incredible salvation! Its as if simple words aren’t enough to adequately describe the reality of the gospel! Each of
these words carry a nuance just a tad different from the others, but their meanings shade into each other. It’s like “a cascade of
expansive language” attempting to describe the grandeur of God’s work in Christ! Notice the key ideas here--
Even when we were dead he made us ALIVE! He didn’t have to! But he is a god who is rich in mercy and out of his great love
for us, he took care of our sin! Rom 6:3-4 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his
death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through
the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. (NIV) And so, if you’re ’in Christ’; if you’ve been baptized ’into Christ’ then you are quite literally “Dead Man Walking”; though once dead we
have been raised again to live a new life!
By grace he saved us! Saved us from what? Saved us from that death! We are NOT just saved from hell, but saved from life.
. . a life on earth dominated by death; life lived in fear of death! We are saved from that “worldly” lifestyle that only leads to death!
Think about people you know that you’d describe as just ‘worldly.’ People who you’d say are consumed by the pursuit of wealth or power, things of this world. People without God. Are they generally happy people?
By grace he raised us up & seated us in the heavenlies with Christ Jesus! Paul isn’t talking about heaven here– this isn’t
the final resurrection, this is something that God has already done for us. We, right here and now, are raised with Christ &
seated in the heavenly realms! How? In what way? If we are joined with Christ now as Paul has already made clear . . . where
is Christ? He is seated at the right hand of God in the heavenly realms. (1:20) What is true of Christ is true of us if we are
joined together. If he is exalted to God’s right hand, so are we. In other words, we have been put in a place of honor next to
God; Our position has changed from being “in the world” to being “in Christ”. Its not that we WILL be “in Christ” but that we ARE
“in Christ”. With that comes a sense of privilege, honor and security about our salvation! Folks, that should make a difference in
HOW we live life NOW, not just where we spend eternity.
III. Paul also reminds us ‘How Glorious it Will Be!’
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.
Not only in the here and now, but God has a future plan for his church and it will be full of grace! What is that future? Jump
forward to 3:10 just a second . . . “His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the
rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms. . . .” God’s plan for the church: reveal God. Show Him to the world. As we look over
the last 2,000 years of church history how have we done? How have we pointed the world to the manifold wisdom of God? How
are WE doing right now? How do we show God to the world?
IV. All of this is for a point: We are Saved for a Purpose!
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.
10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (NIV)
Paul doesn’t want anyone to misunderstand: we’ve never done anything to come close to deserving this salvation! God has
done it all; ‘this is not from yourselves’. We are saved by God’s grace through our faith and NOT by works! Yet we are
certainly saved FOR good works. He created us in our mother’s womb; he re-created us in Christ– we are his creation, his
‘workmanship’ (poiema- from which we get poem) . . . we’re His work of art! . . . Sculpted, painted, crafted TO DO GOOD
WORKS! A life being lived ‘in Christ’ is a life that is ’purposeful’ ...always on the lookout for good works.
Conclusion: Is your life characterized by obedience & good works?
It strikes me that many people have trouble in the Christian life because either . . .
(1) they’ve forgotten ‘How Bad it Was’
(2) they don’t appreciate ‘How Sweet it Is’
If we’re really honest with ourselves, I don’t believe many of us really believe our situation was as bleak as Paul says. I don’t
know about you, but I saw myself as a pretty good person. I was in High School when I became a Christian. I didn’t drink. I
didn’t smoke. I didn’t sleep around. But, folks, I didn’t know God. And I didn’t know that I was dead in my sins! But, I was! My
situation was as bleak as the murderer awaiting execution on death row!
Your neighbors around you may be pretty good folks. They keep the yard cut, they love their kids, they’re good citizens. But do
they know God? Do they have a relationship with Him? A famous t.v. preacher is known for saying, “Before you can get a
person saved, you’ve got to get him lost.” There is tremendous truth to that! Before individuals make a decision to follow Christ,
they’ve got to be convicted that they need Christ!
That’s exactly what happened at Pentecost when Peter preached to the crowd and Luke tells us that when they heard Peter’s
sermon ‘they were cut to the heart.’ They were convicted and responded by asking, “What can we do to be saved?”
Have you ever really been convicted that your life WITHOUT Christ was dead? You’ll never appreciate ‘How Sweet it Is’ (in
Christ) until you remember ‘How Bad it really Was’ (without Christ).
Another problem many have is in truly taking hold of just how good it is to be in Christ! Can it be THIS good? Isn’t this just too
good to be true? The answer to that, of course, is NO . . . it IS true-- when you’re talking about a loving God who would rather
die than spend eternity without you.
“It is by grace you have been saved through faith - and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God– not by works, so that no one can boast.”
What good news! Have you been saved from death this morning? Are you ALIVE with Christ? Are you enjoying the good
works he has prepared for you?
If not, how can we encourage you this morning to leave your old life of death, take a step of faith today and commit yourself to
being a disciple of Jesus Christ by being buried with him in baptism and raised to walk a new life!
