Ephesian Pt. 3 2: 1-10

Ephesians 2:1–5 NIV

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 flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 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.

When I used to work at a Hispanic church there was a youth pastor that I used to work with and he and I were very close. His name was Russ Billo and one time he and I were reading the book of Ephesians and he asked me this questions:

What can a dead man do for himself?

If you are alive, what can you do for yourself? You can do everything right? get up in the morning, learn how to do work, cook, study, you can practically do anything you want. Let’s look at a famous person Neil Armstrong. Do you know who that is? Neil Armstrong was the first man to ever walk on the moon. He was an astronaut. Isn’t that incredible?! While he was alive this man literally walked on the moon. He went to school as a kid, made it through college, he learned how to fly airplanes and when he was in college did you know he directed 2 plays? And to top it all off, he walked on the moon. He passed away in 2012. Anyone here born after 2012?

When he was alive, he did so many things. As a dead man though, what can he do for himself? The truth is, a dead man can’t do anything for himself and a dead woman can’t do anything for herself. As we read these verses in Ephesians, I want all of you to think about the verses we read in the beginning. Verse 1 says that you and I were once dead in our transgressions and sins. What does that mean to you?

Let’s take a moment and watch a video together.

Ephesians 2:1–3 NIV

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 flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.

These 3 verses right here teach us who you and I were before Jesus. Firstly the Bible tells us that:

We were spiritually dead

You and I were spiritually separated from Jesus. What in the world does it mean that you and I were spiritually separated from Jesus? Let’s look at verse 2:

Ephesians 2:2 NIV

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.

It says we used to live following the ways of this world and the ruler of the kingdom of the air. Following the way of the world means that you and I were living in sin. And sin causes eternal separation from God. Let’s look at Romans 6.

Romans 6:23 NIV

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

what is a wage?

A debt that MUST be paid.

If you sin, you owe your life and the only way to pay for sin, is with your life. There no way to sugar coat it, but when you and I sin, we deserve to go to hell after we die for the rest of eternity. The hard part about it all is that you and I have sinned against Jesus and because of our sin, we have been following the way of this world and Ephesians 2 tells us that we have been following the ruler of the kingdom of the air.

Ephesians 2:2 NIV

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.

Who is that? who is the ruler of the kingdom of the air? Satan. Satan is the ruler of this earth. God created the world a long time ago. And do you know who God put in charge of everything? he put you and me in charge. But when we sinned against God we gave control of this world to satan. And instead of us making the shots, and being in charge, every time we sin we allow the devil to take control of our lives, and of this world.

Ephesians 2:3 NIV

3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.

Like the rest of people on this earth verse 3 tells us that you and I deserve God’s wrath. I know that this seems like it is very morbid, and I know it looks like we’re reading a lot of bad news and don’t get me wrong, this is bad news. But God, but God but God.

Ephesians 2:4–7 ESV

4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

We might have to put this on a shirt or a poster somewhere. But God. What can a dead man do for himself? Nothing, but God can make that person alive again, But God can extend his hand of love and grace and give you forgiveness, and bring you into his family so that you can forget about the wages of sin. So that you can live with Him forever in heaven. But God and only God con do that.

How is it possible for God to bring us back to life? The same God that created you and me, also brought Jesus back to life physically after Jesus died on the cross. If God can bring someone back to life physically, then He has the power to bring you and me back to life spiritually.

Jesus shows you and me what our spiritual resurrection was going to look like when he resurrected after He died on the cross. See, when Jesus came back to life a couple of things happen. People could not believe it. Some people said, I won’t believe it until I see Jesus with my own two eyes! Some people walked with Jesus but didn’t even recognize Him until after they spent some time with Him. Your spiritual resurrection is going to have the same effect on other. Some people won’t have a chance to recognize you, some people won’t believe it. Why? Because the difference between the old you and new you is so big.

When you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior you allow Jesus to open then doors of heaven for you so that you can live in heaven forever. But while you are still alive here on earth, Jesus begins to change your life. He begins to make you into a new person. Jesus begins to slowly take away what he doesn’t like about your life and replacing those bad habits with good ones.

All of a sudden you, you’re no longer following the ways of this world, you begin to follow in Jesus’ footsteps. Jesus saves us and it is not by any kind of power that you and I have, it is only by the power of God. What can a dead man do for himself? nothing. But God can save even those who seem to be the furthest away.

Ephesians 2:8–10 NIV

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is 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 handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Once you have been saved, God calls you His handiwork. He calls you His masterpiece. God sees you through the eyes of His son Jesus. What does that mean? God begins to look at you as His son or daughter.

These last few verses teach us 3 things:

Salvation is a gift.

It’s a gift from God for you, no one else can share this gift with you.

Salvation is a gift.

No one can boast.

What does it mean to boast? It means you can’t show it off, why? because you didn’t do anything to get it. It’s not like a nice pair of shoes you bought with your own money, it only comes through the sacrifice Jesus made.

Salvation is a gift.

No one can boast.

Salvation results in good works.

The last verse for today, verse 11 tells us that created by God, for God to do good things. Like pastor JD said in the video, faith saves us by itself, but faith doesn’t come by itself. Your faith in Jesus needs to be backed up by your actions.

you ever buy anything at Walmart? Have you ever tried walking out of Walmart? You can’t walk out of Walmart without somebody trying to stop you. You get greeted by this guy:

Walmart employee picture

What does he want? he wants your receipt. He wants to verify that you paid for what you have in your cart. I went to Walmart the other day and bought a kitkat and this man wouldn’t let me walk out without showing him my receipt.

The good work you do is your receipt of salvation.

The only way for you to prove to the rest of the world that you have been saved by Jesus is if you show them your receipt. Only if you show the world your good deeds can people believed you have been saved by Jesus. And maybe you think to yourself:

I don’t care if people believe me.

I don’t care if people see me do good.

Did you know, that when people see you love others, and follow in Jesus’ footsteps, it can encourage the people around you to follow Jesus with you? You’re relationship with Jesus is not meant to a private one. Jesus wants you to have a relationship with Him but He wants to have a relationship with the rest of the world too. And He has decided that He wants you to be the reason others believe in Him. Jesus has decided He wants you to share the good news of Jesus with others.

fly the flag of Jesus. Pastor Lewis’ words.

If you don’t know what it means to follow Jesus, talk to me or a staff member.