The Hope Of His Calling

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Eph 1:18 - 2:6 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what [is] the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set [him] at his own right hand in the heavenly [places], Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all [things] under his feet, and gave him [to be] the head over all [things] to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. And you [hath he quickened], who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised [us] up together, and made [us] sit together in heavenly [places] in Christ Jesus:

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We read that Jesus Christ was dead, and then raised by the power of God.

And we are informed that we must understand what exceeding great power works towards us according to the same degree of power that God did that with Christ.

The Son of God was dead.

Killed on a cross.

And the Spirit of glory raised Him up.

Ordinary people do not get that privilege because they are not the sons of God.

But Jesus was Son of God and therefore was raised by the glory of the Father.

He was raised from a tomb, but we are raised from a lifestyle that is actually as much a place of death as the tomb was.

We were dead in trespasses and sins.

This was like a land of EXILE in which we dwelt.

One day, when a man was told to follow the Lord, he excused himself by saying his father died and must attend the ritual.

Jesus said, "Let the dead bury the dead" (Luke 9:60)

In saying that, Jesus showed the reality of those in sin -- that they are dead, although they walk the world.

They are as dead as the one in the casket, according to Jesus.

What is it about a dead person?

They are lifeless.

And that makes them of no use in this world.

Mankind is useless to God in a lifestyle of sin and trespasses.

In fact, when t he prodigal son returned home, the father said, "My son was dead and is alive again."

He was dead in sins and trespasses after he left the Father’s house.

1Tim 5:6 But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth.

1Joh 3:14 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not [his] brother abideth in death.

The manner in which we suddenly were raised from the dead was accomplished by connecting with Jesus’ death.

In no other way could we connect to Him.

Jesus died because we were dead.

He desired us to unite with Him, so He came down to our level.

And when we are baptized into His death, we then connect to the Son of God and actually become part of Him.

And you know what happens when a son of God is dead.

God’s Spirit of glory goes to work to resurrect him from the dead.

How did we become exiled?

When Adam was created, he was intended to be involved in an awesome work of God in the entire physical universe, and it would begin in the Garden of Eden.

The will of God was to eat fruit from a tree of Life.

But all of that was thwarted when he disobeyed God and sinned.

He became defiled by sin.

God said if he ate of the forbidden tree he would DIE.

And this was a Garden housing LIFE.

So, he was exiled from the Garden of Eden.

After a time, God instituted a nation called Israel.

Many laws and rituals were given to this nation, of which you can read about in the Old Testament.