Being built up... (6)

Made alive with Christ...

One day I was talking to a friend of mine, and he told me that he had actually died in the hospital. It was like he could see them working on him even though he was dead. He even heard a voice that told him that it wasn’t his time.

Some of you have taken first aid courses that have equipped you with the skills to resuscitate a person who has stopped breathing. There may even be some of you that have had to put your skills to use.

There have been a couple of times in my life where I have helped calves breathe. Once a calf was too long coming. There was a heartbeat, but the calf wasn’t breathing, so I prayed and I covered a nostril and started breathing for the calf.

When you are in a situation like this, seconds can seem like minutes. I’m not sure, but I think it was probably a minute or two that I worked on the calf.

The other time that I remember is when I saw something in the corral, only to realize that a mother was kneeling or her calf. I did what most farmers would do. I gave her a love tap to get her off of the calf.

It wasn’t breathing, but I had seen it move only seconds before. I prayed and started breathing into the calf’s nostril as I covered the other nostril. As the calf started to breath, I was relieved and joyful that God had caused the calf to start breathing again.

This morning, I’d like to speak about another kind of life,

Life in Christ

Let’s read our scripture this morning. We’ll only be looking at the first 5 verses thsi morning, but this was one sentence to Paul.

Ephesians 2:1–7 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. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

As Paul starts these verses, he clarifies who is audience is.

He says,

“As for you...”

The Ephesian church would have been feeling pretty good about themselves as Paul is writing about Jesus.

Ephesians 1:21–23 NLT

21 Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come. 22 God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. 23 And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.

Then Paul drops the bomb,

As for you...

This is where God the Father has placed Jesus, but as for you...

Paul paints a dark picture of sinful humanity.

Ephesians 2:1 NIV

1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,

You were dead...

in your transgressions, your disobedience and many sins.

How can somebody be alive and yet dead at the same time?

I’m glad you asked. When we walk around, there doesn’t appear to be any dead people walking around. Some people might seem close to it, but we all still seem alive.

Let’s take a quick look at when sin entered the world.

Genesis 2:15–17 NIV

15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

According to the timeline, God had made Adam, man, first. Eve wasn’t yet created when God gave these instructions to Adam.

When the serpent came to deceive Adam and Eve, it came to Eve. Yes, Adam was standing there, but the serpent spoke to Eve.

Let’s read the story of the fall and what transpired after they ate.

Genesis 2:25–3:12 NIV

25 Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame. 1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ” 4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. 8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” 10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” 11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” 12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

Can you even begin to imagine what it must have been like to be in perfect relationship with God? Adam and Eve could walk with God in the Garden in the cool of the day. It was truly paradise. There were no thorns and thistles. The ground produced exactly as it was created to do. The soil would have the perfect amount of nutrients, as well as the perfect PH level for each plant.

There wasn’t any need for Miracle Gro or other convention fertilizers, and there was perfect peace.

Adam and Eve had what people try to achieve but really just don’t know how to find it.

If it sounds to good to be true...

It probably is...

The serpent flat out lied to them. The serpent said,

Genesis 3:4–5 NIV

4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Yes they knew the difference between right and wrong. It sounded enticing. Before this, they only knew what right was...

Because they ate,

They died...

Sin entered the world and with sin came death. We believe in body, soul, and spirit. They spiritually died and because of what they did, we are born spiritually dead. We are born alienated from God.

Ephesians 2:1 NIV

1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,

The emphasis here is on our past. We were dead in our transgressions and sins.

Because of this spiritual death, because of being alienated from God,

We lived in sin...

Ephesians 2:2 NLT

2 You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God.

There is a lot here, so let’s break it down.

You lived in sin...

Sin is an archery term referring to missing the mark or the target. God has standards. He has a law, and we missed it.

But Pastor Dave, I’m really a good person. I believe that in my estimation, there are a lot of good people. They give to charities. They pay their taxes. They would give food to someone who is hungry. They are generally honest, etc.

The problem with this kind of thinking is this, we don’t make the target. Even if we are almost perfect, nobody gets a pass.

You lived in sin,

Just like the rest of the world.

Romans 3:10 (NIV)

10 As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one

Romans 3:23 (NIV)

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

None of us are immune to sin. None of us are immune to temptation.

1 Corinthians 10:13 NIV

13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

The 1984 edition of the NIV used the word,

“Seized” you

There isn’t a temptation from within our world that somebody else hasn’t had to deal with. When we are going through some of these trials, we can feel like sitting ducks, but we are not alone because God is faithful. He will not leave us alone, but with the temptation, He will provide a way of escape.

Let’s never forget: God is for us, He is not against us, and we are more than conquerors through Christ who loved us.

Let’s put the emphasis on what Paul said,

Ephesians 2:2 (NLT)

2 You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world,

obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God.

We used to live in sin. Are we perfect? No! But by God’s grace working in us we can become more and more like Jesus as we follow Him and submit to Him.

Who did we used to obey?

The devil. He is the prince of the power of the air.

This all took place at the fall. Our flesh, our sinful nature craves and desires to do what we want to do.

“If it feels good, Do it!”

The problem is that the wages of sin is death.

This is the human condition without God.

Ephesians 2:3 NLT

3 All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.

This is a dismal picture of the human race. Our human condition spells out a lot of what is wrong in our world.

Jeremiah 17:9 NKJV

9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?

Paul was speaking of life before Christ.

The Psalmist wrote this,

Psalm 139:23–24 NIV

23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

God knows our hearts and even though humanity fell so far from God, He sent His Son to purchase our salvation, to bring us from death to life.

When the world looks its darkest, when there seems to be no hope for the hopeless, we have verse 4.

But God...

Ephesians 2:4 NKJV

4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,

Let’s stop for a minute here, But God...

I was facing His anger. He could have poured out His wrath on me. He could have punished me for what I have done, and yet.

Ephesians 2:4 NKJV

4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,

God’s mercy is rich. It is deep. It is wide. It is long. It is high. It is vast and abundant. It is measureless.

Mercy, is God placing the penalty of my sins on Jesus, and giving me Jesus’ righteousness. Even though, I deserved weeping and gnashing of teeth, because of His great love, God gave me Jesus, and His shed blood.

2 Corinthians 5:21 NLT

21 For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

1 John 2:1–2 NIV

1 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

Because of God’s great love,

He has made us alive with Christ...

Ephesians 2:4–5 NIV

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.

We cannot come alive without Jesus’ death on the cross. The human condition isn’t, if I could only be better, if I can only get better at doing good.

The issue is that we need to be brought from death to life, and we can’t do that. Only God can bring us from death to live.

It’s not by human works that we can please God, otherwise that would have been done a long time ago. It is only by faith that we can be saved.

Grace can be hard to accept. We have been taught that we get what we deserve. If you want something, you have to pay for it.

How can we pay for something that has already been bought and paid for? We can’t.

God paid for our salvation. God brings us from death to life. We believe, but He gives us faith to believe. Next week, we’re going to look more deeply into this.

The transaction giving us life was completed at the cross. We, as humans, are left with the decision of what we will do with Jesus.

God’s grace is freely available to all. This is the message that we have to share.

I’m reminded of the lepers in 2 Kings 7 who came to the camp of the Arameans. The people of Samaria had been besieged. They were starving.

These lepers found that everything that they wanted was available to them, but they realized that they couldn’t keep this to themselves.

We’ve been given spiritual life in Christ. We have been given everything that we need for life and for godliness. We must not hoard this message that we can bring to others.

Today, I’d like to encourage you to share this message of hope and this message of life to somebody. Let’s pray that the Holy Spirit would open doors so that we could share this message of salvation to whosoever will. Today is the day, now is the time for people to come to Christ.

Let’s pray!