The Product Of God's Love-5

The PRODUCT OF GOD's LOVE[In The Aftermath of Mercy]-V—Ephesians 2:1-10

Attention:

God offers THE cure for all man’s ills by means of His(God’s) salvation!

Need:

God’s people wrestle with life & death on a daily basis.

But what is the result of such occasion? What happens in our hearts when faced with life or death decisions?

Do you look at life differently after being spared death? Does life in Christ take on new meaning as we come face-to-face with physical & spiritual death & loss?

Do our obvious blessings transport us to the place where we become more concerned about living for our Maker’s desire?

The apostle Paul explained that the Ephesian Christians were saved because God loves.

Man’s Salvation is the Product of God’s Love.

OR...

Salvation is available because God loves.

How is salvation the product of God’s love?

Earlier we had found that

The Product of God’s Love is The CURE For...

1. DEADNESS(:1)

2. A WAYWARD WALK(:2-3)

3. SEPARATION(:4-6)

4. BOASTING(:7-9)

5—The Product of God’s Love is...

The CURE For DRAWING From The WRONG SOURCE(:10)

Explanation:(:10)Loss of Focus/Dependence

:10—“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

“For we are His workmanship,”

“We are”—Paul is including himself with those who are God’s people. All who “are” true blood-bought believing Christians. All these/such are “His”, i.e., belonging to God.

The referent of “His’ hearkens to :4, where it speaks of “God” who “made us alive together with Christ.”

“Workmanship”—Those who are “His” are not only “His” possession but are the “workmanship”(Lit.=‘His doing’) which He Himself has made. Christians are God’s finished product.

Being the workmanship of God involves & ensures that we are something other than this world’s “workmanship” or the “workmanship” of the flesh. Thereby we are noticeably different in our makeup—our thinking, manner, attitude(s), direction & directive(s), focus(God thru Christ), purpose, power, influence, etc.

2Cor. 5:17—“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

Gal. 5:22-25—“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions & desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”

“We are”—esmen—1) first person plural of “to be.” Strong—first person plural indicative of eimi[I am/exist]; “We are.”

“His”—autov(autou)—Pronoun—1) Himself, herself, themselves, itself; 2) He, she, it; 3) The same. Strong—from the particle au[perhaps akin to the base of ahr[Breathe/Respire/Blow/“Air”] through the idea of a baffling wind](backward); the reflexive pronoun--Self, used(alone or in the comparative eautou[Himself, herself, itself, themselves]) of the third person , & (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other persons.

“Workmanship”—poihma—Noun Neuter—1) That which has been made; 2) A work—2a) Of the works of God as creator. Strong—from poiew[To make or do(in a very wide application, more or less direct)]; A product, i.e. Fabric(literally or figuratively). Used 2X, here & Rom. 1:20.

“created in Christ Jesus for good works,”

These have all been “created”...“for,”(over/before) i.e. with an express purpose.

That purpose is to be God’s purpose.

His purpose is that these “created” beings will “work” & that their “work” will,

1)Have a “good” character &...

2)Exist in & retain a perpetual state of “good”ness.

Being “created in Christ Jesus” sets the bar/tone for any determination of “goodness” to be expressed, lived out, worked out.

If a “work” is entered into or meted out “in Christ Jesus” then it will honor Him above everything else.

If the “works” of Christians are expected to be ‘good’, then God will also see fit to equip His workers toward that fulfillment. No one is left out in the cold regarding giftedness from God. God enables all of his people to fully accomplish His tasks/desire.

“Created”—ktizw—Aorist Passive Participle—1) To make habitable, to people, a place, region, island—1a) To found a city, colony, state; 2) To create—2a) Of God creating the worlds, 2b) To form, shape, i.e. To completely change or transform. Strong—probably akin to ktaomai[To get/acquire](through the idea of proprietor-ship of the manufacturer); To fabricate, i.e. Found(form originally).

“In”2X—en—a primary preposition denoting (fixed)position(in place, time or state), & by implication--Instrumentality(medially or constructively), i.e. A relation of rest(intermediate between eiv[into, unto, to, towards, for, among] & ek/ex[out of, from, by, away from]).

“Christ”—Cristov—Adj.—Christ = “Anointed”—1) Christ was the Messiah, the Son of God; 2) Anointed. Strong—Anointed, i.e. The Messiah, an epithet of Jesus.

“Jesus”—Ihsouv—Jesus = “Jehovah is salvation”—of Hebrew origin [ewvwhy Yeh-ho-shoo'-ah; or evwhy Yeh-ho-shoo'-ah]; Jesus(i.e. Jehoshua), the name of our Lord & two(three) other Israelites.

“For”—epi—Preposition—1) Upon, on, at, by, before; 2) of position--On, at, by, over, against; 3) To, over, on, at, across, against. Strong—a primary preposition; properly, meaning superimposition(of time, place, order, etc.), as a relation of distribution [with the genitive case], i.e. Over, upon, etc.; of rest(with the det.)--At, on, etc.; of direction(with the accusative case)--Towards, upon, etc..