Living the Vision

Living the Vision

Ephesians 2:1-10          June 19, 2005

Scripture Reading: (below)

Introduction:

Ephesians 2:1-10 (Transline)

Indeed, you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you formerly walked

          In accordance with the [present] age of this world

          In accordance with the ruler of the authority of the air, of the spirit now being at work in the sons of disobedience

                   Among whom even we all formerly conducted-ourselves in the                                     desires of our flesh, doing the wants of the flesh and of the thoughts

                    And we were by nature children of wrath, as also the rest

But God, being rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us – even we being dead in trespasses –

          Made-us-alive-with Christ – by grace you are saved

          And raised-us-with him

          And seated-us-with him in the heavenly-places, in Christ Jesus

          In order that he might demonstrate in the coming ages the surpassing riches      of his grace in his kindness toward us in Christ Jesus

                   For by grace you are saved through faith

                   And this is not from you. It is the gift of God – not of works, in order                         that no one may boast

                             For we are his workmanship, having been created in Christ                                Jesus for good works – which God prepared-beforehand in                                order that we might walk in them

We have seen from our messages in Ephesians so far that ---

God has a vision of eternal glory for us, having chosen us from the beginning.

That vision is kept alive by prayer in the resurrection power of Christ.

Now chapter 2 tells us why God’s vision for us is necessary, why his vision for us must be kept alive, and how it is possible to live it.

The reason why God’s vision for us is necessary is because of our natural condition. It is hopeless – but for God himself and what he has done.

The reason why God’s vision for us must be kept alive is also because of our natural condition. We can’t sustain it – but for God himself and what he has done.

Only through the gift God has given can we even hope to live out his vision for us – because of our natural condition.

God’s vision for us is not theoretical – it is real. And God’s vision for us is not unsustainable – it is eternal.

He has given us a tremendously practical gift that enables us to come into the fullness of actually living his vision for us in spite of our natural condition.

Let us first take a look at why we could never live out God’s vision for us.

Then let us take a look at how we can live out God’s vision for us and the hinge upon which the gates of heaven swing.

ILLUS.: The Homecoming, Sermon Illustrators, vol. 1, no. 1.

Ephesians 2:1-3

A.      The believer’s life before conversion: life without Christ

          1.       A life of death

          2.       A life of trespasses and sins

                   a.       Walking after the course of the world

                   b.       Walking under the devil’s power

                   c.       Walking in disobedience

          3.       A life spent with the disobedient of the world

                   a.       Spent in lusts of flesh

                   b.       Spent fulfilling one’s own desires – of the flesh and of the mind

          4.       A life under God’s wrath

Ephesians 2:4-7

B.      The believers’ conversion, Part I: the work of God’s mercy

          1.       God has quickened us with Christ

a.       Why: because his very nature is mercy and love

                   b.       When: while we were dead in sins

                   c.       How: by quickening us together with Christ

          2.       God has raised us up with Christ

          3.       God has made us sit in heavenly places – in Christ

          4.       God had one great purpose: to show us the riches of his grace – in the                         ages to come

Ephesians 2:8-10

C.      The believer’s conversion, Part II: the work of God’s grace – salvation

          1.       You are saved

                   a.       Saved by God’s grace

                   b.       Saved through faith

                   c.       Not saved of yourself

                   d.       Saved as a gift of God, not of works

                   c.       Reason: lest you boast

          2.       You are God’s workmanship

                   a.       Created in Christ Jesus

                   b.       Created to do good works

Big Question:

How can we possibly live God’s vision for us, even if we could keep the vision alive?

Conclusion:

Big Answer:

How can we possibly live God’s vision for us, even if we could keep the vision alive?

We can’t ---

The only way we can possibly live God’s vision for us, indeed, the only way we can even keep it alive, is by his grace.

Timeless Truth:

The only way we can live God’s vision for us is by his grace to us in Christ Jesus.

John Piper: “Grace is not simply leniency when we have sinned. Grace is the enabling gift of God not to sin. Grace is power, not just pardon.”