Isn’t it
amazing how you can read through God’s word and come back to the same part of
scripture and get a deeper understanding of it? That is what happened to me
recently as I was reading Ephesians 2:1-10. I know that our pastor has covered
this part of scripture with us in the past, but when I went through it
recently, some vital important words jumped out at me that added another layer of
understanding.
There
are numerous passages talking about being raised from the dead, but what does
that really mean. Do we have to wait until we’re dead in the ground before we
are raised from the dead? Paul in Ephesians is not writing about the physical body
being raised from the dead but the spiritual, long before we take out last
breath.
There is
a TV series called The Walking Dead where surviving humans have
to survive in a post-apocalyptic world overcome by flesh eating zombies. I
personally have never seen the show but find the premise of the show to have
something in common with the spiritual state of our world today. The truth of
the matter is that, spiritually speaking, we are living among the dead and were
once dead ourselves. Paul explains this truth and the need to realize where we
came from and how we were brought out of that dead existence because of a
special gift and the responsibility that comes with it.
Ephesians 2:1-10
(V.1)And
you He made alive.
When Jesus uttered the words, “it is finished,” this is the moment we were made
alive. The word made means completed, finished, ended and prepared. We
were made alive from trespasses and
sins which come from walking (V.2) according to: (a) the course of this world, (b) according
to the prince of the power of the air (in other words the god of the dead), who works in the sons of disobedience. (V.3)Among whom also we all walked conducting ourselves in the lusts of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the
flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
We were no better than the walking dead with no chance at eternal life…
(V.4) But (except, save for) God—this
is a powerful statement. In other words—only God—if it weren’t for God—we would
NEVER have been made alive from this eternal dead spiritual state; God who is (a)
rich in mercy, (b) who has great love with which He loved us. Loved us when? (V.5) …Even when we were dead in trespasses—left in an eternal state of spiritual
decay because of the first Adam, covered with spiritual maggots, and emitting a
stench that was unbearable to God because of our trespasses and sin. It was from
this state that we were made alive. God’s plan all along was to save His
creation from the first Adam’s choice, but how?
The key
word here is together, jointly, with
Christ. When Christ was raised from the dead, we who believe were also raised from eternal death. Paul in verse 6 repeats this again—God raised
us together—without Christ being raised from the dead, there would be no chance
for us. It was God’s power that raised Christ and the reason we now have this new
life. We could never have achieved this on our own. Only with Christ could this
be made possible because He was the perfect sacrifice for all. Here’s the
coolest part…God not only raised us
together, but He also made us sit
together with Christ in the heavenly
places. Our view has changed from where we sat before, and Paul is telling
us here that we no longer have the same perspective as we once did when we were
walking in this world. For in Him we live and move and have our
being… (Acts 17:28).
(V.7) That in the ages to come, He might show others His exceeding riches of
His grace in His kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. We who believe now
have a good work to fulfill, not works of the flesh, but works for the Kingdom.
We are now His ambassadors! Now then, we
are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us;... (II
Corinthians 5:20). Jesus is sitting on
the throne, and we are now His representation from that heavenly court. We are
now coming on Christ’s behalf to the dead still in this lost world, of who
still walk among us, imploring them on
Christ behalf to be reconciled to God! Jesus asked the Father to not remove
us from the world but to protect us from the evil one for we who are believers
are living in a hostile world (John 17:15). Jesus knows that we are to remain
here for a reason; the good workings of Christ that are yet to be fulfilled in
each of us for the sake of saving the many.
(V.8) Grace came first—this is His
gift to the dead—and faith came second; faith to believe that Christ was indeed
raised from the dead and us together with Him. Cleansed of all our trespasses
and sin; not of ourselves for it is a giftfrom God. Having been called and separated to share this amazing good news with
others who are still walking according to this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air.
(V.9) There is nothing any of us could
ever do to earn this gift. Because it is not of works, even those who think
they’re “good” people don’t have a chance. Why? Because our carnal nature is
enmity against God (Romans 8:7)…remember those walking in trespasses and sin
are a stench to Him. No amount of works on our part can cover that smell. And
as if we could ever cover that smell up, we would end up boasting about it
(pride comes into play which is a sin). (V.10)No, we are His workmanship—the fruit of His love—created in Christ Jesus (Ephesians
2:14-16) that His name may be known…not ours through good works that God already laid
aside for each of us to do, before we were even born, beforehand Paul writes,
that we should walk alive in Him, and not as the walking dead any longer.
We serve
the God of the living as it says in Mark 12:27, “He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living,” and if
that is so, then we should be walking therefore in the Spirit. Paul focuses on
three walks in Ephesians 5:1-21: walk in love, walk in light, and walk in
wisdom.
Walk
in Love
Be imitators of God not the god
of this world. Walking in love means to follow the steps Jesus took. Sometimes
it’s hard to love the unlovely people in our lives but it is the heart of
Christ that we pray for their hearts and salvation. It means living a
sacrificial life which is a reasonable service (Romans 12:1). Serve not only in
your excess but especially in your lacking. Service is about giving of one’s
time and energy for the betterment of the church body. It means praying for others needs and meeting others needs. Not always thinking of ourselves and what
we need and want.
Walk
in Light
We came from darkness (zombies)
but now walk in the light, and therefore, should be bearing the fruit of the
Spirit as listed in Galatians 5:22-23, which is born out of all goodness,
righteousness, and truth and is acceptable to the Lord. We should have no
fellowship with darkness any longer but expose them. Be honest with yourself
and root out any unfruitful works out in your life.
Walk
in Wisdom
Redeem the time you have left on
this earth by walking circumspectly (vigilantly, watchful) because the days are
evil. Read the word daily to gain understanding and wisdom, fellowship with
other believers encouraging one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always
for God’s goodness, and submitting to one another in the fear of God.
This is
truly something to be thankful for this Thanksgiving season. Feast on His
love—bask in His light—drink in His good pleasure. For it pleases Him to have
you sit at His table!
No comments:
Post a Comment