Cornerstone’s DNA- Gospel

Introduction

Over the last two weeks we have been looking at our Mission and our Vision as a church.

You might recall that we talked about how our job is to CONNECT PEOPLE WITH JESUS and how our GOAL IS to see LIVES TRANSFORMED BY THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL!

For the next three weeks, we are going to be talking about our DNA; or what we hold to be the most important at Cornerstone.

The three parts of our DNA is: Gospel, Community, Mission.

We call this our DNA because without A GOSPEL FOCUS, a church isn’t healthy. Without a loving community, a church isn’t healthy. And if we don’t take JESUS outside these four walls, then the church isn’t healthy.

If we’re honest, it’s easy to find a church that preaches Jesus but doesn’t love people or take it with them.

It’s easy to find a church that loves each other and hangs out but that doesn’t care too much about Jesus or people outside “the club.”

And it’s even possible to find a church that has every opportunity to proclaim Jesus, but doesn’t love people and doesn’t proclaim Jesus.

In all of those cases, the churches fail. They’ve fallen short!

They aren’t actually doing what God tells them to do.

It’s only when we faithfully proclaim and live out the gospel; connecting people with Jesus; while loving people in community and bringing this message to our world that we have a healthy church!

Regardless of size, budget, or anything else; that is what makes a HEALTHY CHURCH!

So we are calling these three things our DNA because they are that FUNDAMENTAL and important to us!

We must always prioritize these three things in EVERYTHING that we do!

Events will come and go. Buildings will come and go; things come and go! but THESE THREE THINGS CAN NEVER BE NEGLECTED!

Gospel, Community, and Mission are our core values that we lean on in the best of times and in the hardest of times.

These three values aren’t just what we are built on. Instead, like DNA, they should direct us!

This is HOW WE CONNECT PEOPLE WITH JESUS!

It’s how we see our vision accomplished!

Today we are going to look at the first of these three things- GOSPEL!

Main Point: We are saved by grace which is God’s gift to us.

Body

As we dive into Ephesians 2:1-10 I don’t want to spend too much time focused on the context, but there are some basic things that we need to establish.

First, Ephesians is written during Paul’s first imprisonment in Rome. This means that it was written around the same time as Paul wrote Colossians which we studied this spring.

The situations of Ephesus and Colossae are very different though.

Ephesus was a center of trade and worship. It was EXTREMELY wealthy.

Ephesians primarily worshipped Artemis, a greek goddess of hunting and young women.

The worship of Artemis was a huge challenge for this church.

Paul knew this firsthand. He had lived with the Ephesians for 2 years and 3 months!

Paul was close to the believers in Ephesus and he loved this church deeply.

It is no wonder that Paul sent Timothy to Ephesus to help the church when it struggled.

So that’s the context of Ephesus, but what about the context of this passage?

Ephesians 1 ends with a prayer and Ephesians 2:11 starts a section on Unity.

One of the major themes of Ephesians is how ALL BELIEVERS SHOULD BE UNITED!

Believers from all sorts of backgrounds and ethnicities!

Ephesus was a diverse town that had very wealthy people and VERY POOR residents and residents from all over the Roman world!

But in the midst of all of that, Paul doesn’t say, “let’s start up 7 different churches so that people can be with only those who they have the most in common with.”

No, he says, “BE UNITED!”

And Ephesians 2:1-10 is a huge part of his PLEA FOR UNITY!

With all of this in mind, we are going to see 3 different parts of our passage today. Ephesians 2:1-3 are Paul’s reminder of our past.

Ephesians 2:1-3

Ephesians 2:1–2 CSB

1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins 2 in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient.

Paul establishes something really important in these two verses.

Paul establishes that we HAVE ALL BEEN DEAD IN OUR SINS!

If you have ever sinned, you are dead!

And WE HAVE ALL SINNED!

Now the death that Paul talks about is not physical; it is spiritual.

Paul is talking throughout this passage about SPIRITUAL LIFE AND DEATH! Keep that in mind.

Paul says that we were dead in our sins and that isn’t all.

Instead, he says that we WALKED according to the ways of this world!

Walking in sin isn’t referring to a one time mistake.

Paul’s building a clear argument.

WE LIVED ACTIVELY IN SIN! WE LOVED SIN!

And notice the wording that is used. Paul doesn’t say, “You were around sin,” he says that we WALKED IN SIN!

Sin isn’t something that we passively fall into. We ACTIVELY CHOOSE TO WALK IN SIN!

We could choose to resist and to FIGHT AGAINST SIN, but instead we ACTIVELY chose to WALK IN SIN!

But what are the ways of the world?

It’s easy to talk about sin as a nebulous thing that is bad and evil.

And it is true that sin is ANYTHING THAT MISSES GOD’S PERFECT MARK, but we can also be more specific!

Last week as we looked at 2 Corinthians 5:16 I gave three things that define a worldly perspective.

These three characteristics of a fleshly, sinful perspective were:

First, a worldly perspective focuses on EXTERNAL APPEARANCES!

Secondly, a worldly perspective SEES SIN and FINDS IT ATTRACTIVE!

Thirdly, a worldly perspective looks for how it can USE OTHER PEOPLE!

Walking ACCORDING TO THE WAYS OF THE WORLD IS SIMILAR!

Think about it like this- when we look at the world from this sinful, worldly perspective that we saw last week, we walk according to the ways of the world!

So the ways of the world are specific sins! It is EVIL, it is WRONG AND WE NEED TO RUN FROM IT!

Paul says that satan is behind this when he talks about the ruler of the power of the air.

Satan is leading people astray. That’s what’s “working in the disobedient.”

Satan is actively trying to lead people astray.

Cornerstone, this spiritual war is VERY REAL!

Ephesians 2:3 CSB

3 We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also.

Paul now includes himself in this admission of sin.

He states that he too lived according to his flesh, according to the fleshly desires that he had.

Remember- flesh is a Pauline way for talking about sin. This word for FLESH is σαρκὸς which is the same word that Paul used in 2 Corinthians 5:16 to talk about the WORLDLY perspectives!

SARKA is SINFUL when Paul talks about it.

But Paul doesn’t just say, “I was a sinner.”

Instead, Paul talks about our nature.

He says that by nature we are UNDER WRATH.

In other words, AS SINNERS, we are INNATELY SUBJECT TO GOD’S WRARTH!

Can we be honest? That isn’t a fun message. As humans we don’t like this message, BUT THIS IS THE TRUTH!

As humans we want to think that if we are “good enough” then we can be saved. But that isn’t true!

What is true is that as sinners we have EARNED God’s JUST AND RIGHTEOUS JUDGMENT!

It’s a STARK warning for us.

Paul’s topic in Ephesians 2:1-10 is real and it is heavy. It can be easy for us to read just a few of these verses and to miss it- but this is a DEEP and HEAVY passage.

Ephesians 2:4-7

In Ephesians 2:4-7 the tone starts to shift- we know that because verse 4 starts with BUT!

So we’ve seen this declaration of every human’s sin, BUT WAIT!

Ephesians 2:4–5 CSB

4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us, 5 made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace!

Even though we have all sinned; even though we INNATELY DESERVE DEATH AND PUNISHMENT, there is MORE TO THE STORY!

God isn’t done yet!

Instead, GOD- who is RICH IN MERCY, full of MERCY, HAS GREAT LOVE FOR US!

This is agape love here- that is FULLY SACRIFICIAL LOVE, SELFLESS LOVE!

And in God’s mercy, in God’s love, God TURNS THINGS AROUND FOR US!

God MAKES US ALIVE WITH JESUS!

And does God do it because we earn it?

NOT AT ALL!

God does it EVEN THOUGH WE ARE DEAD!

Even as we sin, GOD GIVES US LIFE THROUGH JESUS!

And how are we saved?

It isn’t through anything that WE do, it’s through GRACE!

Look at that declaration! “YOU ARE SAVED BY GRACE!”

Cornerstone, hear that this morning.

When we talk about the gospel; the greatest news ever; it is this simple!

You have been saved through GRACE!

That is GREAT NEWS!

Ephesians 2:6–7 CSB

6 He also raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might display the immeasurable riches of his grace through his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

God doesn’t just give us grace!

GOD RAISES US UP WITH JESUS AND SEATS US WITH HIM IN HEAVEN!

Think about that image with me!

Jesus was KILLED, BURIED ADN ROSE AGAIN before ascending to heaven!

We are dead to sin; we’ve been killed by our sin. We are in the grave!

But then God moves!

And God raises us up from the dead!

And we don’t just get new life, we will spend ETERNITY WITH JESUS IN HEAVEN!

Friends, do you see the parallel?

It’s a beautiful parallel between what we NEED and what JESUS DID!

It’s similar to what we see in baptism.

In baptism we see someone BURIED with CHRIST AND RISE AGAIN WITH NEW LIFE!

We say that, we hear that, but do we absorb that?

Cornerstone family, GOD HAS GIVEN YOU NEW LIFE!

And why does God do this?

We see that in verse 7.

God does this as a DISPLAY OF GRACE AND KINDNESS!

We didn’t do anything to EARN this salvation.

We CAN’T!

GOD DID ALL THE WORK!

And if it hadn’t been for God, we wouldn’t have any hope.

But GOD IS NOT FAR OFF AND DISTANT, GOD IS PERSONAL AND GOD GIVES GRACE AND KINDNESS!

Let me be clear. God doesn’t OWE us this. God doesn’t OWE us anything!

There are some who delude people into thinking that GOD OWES THEM SOMETHING!

But hear me; all God OWES US is righteous judgement.

Instead of that judgement though, GOD GIVES US KINDNESS AND GRACE IN JESUS CHRIST!

Think about John 3:16 in that light!

John 3:16 CSB

16 For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

God didn't HAVE TO DO THIS!

BUT GOD CHOSE TO GIVE US HIS ONLY SON JESUS AND TO GIVE US GRACE AND KINDNESS!

And that’s the GOSPEL!

We didn’t earn salvation; it can ONLY COME FROM JESUS AND WHAT JESUS DID FOR US!

Ephesians 2:8-10

As Paul finishes out this section of his epistle, he writes his third section of his argument.

Ephesians 2:8–10 CSB

8 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—9 not from works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.

This statement right here PUMPS ME UP!

This is a GREAT MESSAGE FOR US TO HEAR NOT JUST TODAY BUT EVERY SINGLE DAY!

Let’s walk through it.

WE ARE SAVED BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH!

And this isn’t from us. We didn’t make God’s grace appear.

GOD’S GRACE IS GOD’S GIFT TO US!

And look at what Paul reminds us of again!

WE ARE NOT SAVED BY WORKS!

And why not? SO THAT NO ONE CAN BOAST!

If you’ve been coming to our equipping class on Sunday nights, we’ve been going through 1 Timothy 2 which is written to Timothy while he’s serving in Ephesus.

One of the keys to understanding 1 Timothy 2 AND THIS PHRASE, is that Ephesian culture was all about what YOU earned and what YOU could show off!

Were you a wealthy woman? Then have your slave braid your hair! It was a status sign!

Were you a powerful man?

Then make sure everyone else sees you push people around!

Paul is flipping this Ephesian idea of salvation on its head!

It isn’t at ALL about what we earn or what WE BRING TO THE TABLE!

It’s all about what GOD HAS DONE!

Hear me on this- we didn’t do something better than our neighbor who isn’t saved to earn our salvation. It is only through GOD’S GRAE THAT WE ARE SAVED!

And at the same time; it is GOD’S GRACE THAT CAN GIVE SALVATION TO OUR FRIENDS, OUR NEIGHBORS AND OUR FAMILIES!

So what should we not do?

We shouldn’t BOAST ABOUT OUR SALVATION!

Instead, do you know what we should do?

We should PLEAD WITH THE PEOPLE AROUND US!

We should PATIENTLY, LOVE, EVANGELIZE AND DISCIPLE THEM!

Cornerstone, this is our response to salvation!

Our evangelism is OUR RESPONSE!

And Paul paints a picture of who we are in verse 10.

Paul gives us a powerful declaration of identity for us.

Paul states that:

Ephesians 2:10 CSB

10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.

WE ARE GOD’S WORKMANSHIP!

Just let that hit you. GOD MADE YOU! For every person in this room, hear me today. GOD MADE YOU!

And can I tell you something great?

GOD DOESN’T MAKE MISTAKES! GOD MADE YOU JUST THE WAY GOD WANTED TO!

God made you and GOD CREATED YOU IN CHRIST JESUS!

This goes back to JOHN 1:1 and to Genesis 1:1 and how THE TRINITY IS ALL PRESENT AT CREATION!

It’s a powerful truth that we don’t have time to fully unpack today. But hear this- GOD KNEW YOU FROM BEFORE TIME BEGAN!

And Jesus went to the cross KNOWING YOU! Jesus didn’t just go to the cross for generic people; JESUS WENT TO THE CROSS FOR EACH ONE OF US!

Not only does Jesus create us, Jesus then MAKES US NEW when we are saved!

And look at what comes next!

We read that we are created FOR GOOD WORKS!

And who created these good works for us?

GOD!

God established these good works!

So let’s take a minute and talk about good works. We read about these throughout the New Testament and I worry that we hear “GOOD WORKS” and we think, “Ok, I should go mow someone’s yard,” but that isn’t THE FULL EXTENT OF what’s going on.

ABSOLUTELY- love your neighbor! Absolutely do GOOD THINGS FOR PEOPLE! SERVE PEOPLE! BUT IT GOES ONE STEP FURTHER!

See, James and Paul and the author of Hebrews all link our good works to evangelism.

It tells us that WE DO GOOD WORKS TO POINT PEOPLE TO JESUS!

In fact, the GREATEST WORK THAT WE CAN DO Is the work that JESUS HIMSELF CALLS US TO DO!

IT IS THE WORK OF PROCLAIMING THE GOSPEL!

It’s the work of GOING INTO THE HARVEST AND OF PRAYING FOR THE HARVEST!

It’s the work of PERSISTENTLY LOVING, EVANGELIZING AND DISCIPLING PEOPLE!

It’s the work that’s all around us!

It’s the work that is surrounding us this morning and that is right in front of us on CAMPUS!

That is a HUGE PART OF THESE GOOD WORKS THAT GOD HAS CREATED US TO DO!

We should absolutely serve and love the people around us!

But we should do so ALWAYS looking for ways to DO THE GREATEST WORK- Sharing the gospel!

In Titus 3:14, Paul talks about challenging believers to “devote themselves to good works for pressing needs, so that they will not be unfruitful.”

I can’t stress enough- this pressing need is SALVATION!

Cornerstone, hear me, Ephesians 2:10 tells us that GOD HAS A PLAN FOR YOU IN THE WORK OF SERVING GOD’S KINGDOM!

God doesn’t just call you to go and hope that it works out. GOD HAS PREPARED CONVERSATIONS FOR YOU, GOD HAS PREPARED PEOPLE FOR YOU; GOD HAS A PLAN FOR YOU AND FOR THIS GOOD WORK!

It is our job to OBEY AND TO BRING THE GOSPEL WITH US!

OUR WORLD DESPERATELY NEEDS THE GOOD NEWS OF JESUS!

Application

Main Point: We are saved by grace which is God’s gift to us.

The Gospel gives Us Salvation

The Gospel gives Us OUR Identity (As Individuals and as Christians)

The Gospel gives Us OUR Purpose

The Gospel TELLS us OUR Salvation

The Gospel is really simple. It’s what we’ve seen today. It’s the GOOD NEWS, it’s the MESSAGE THAT JESUS CAME TO EARTH FOR US!

GOSPEL! The Gospel is the ONLY WAY TO BE SAVED! It’s why it’s so DEAR TO US AND SO IMPORTANT! It matters because our entire REALITY is BUILT ON THIS! Today, let me encourage you to respond to the GOSPEL!

(KEY ON VERSES 8-9)

The Gospel TELLS Us OUR Identity

Not only does the Gospel TELL US HOW TO BE SAVED, and tell us about our PURPOSE; the Gospel also TELLS US OUR IDENTITY!

Ephesians 2:5 tells us that we are SAVED BY GRACE!

Ephesians 2:8-9 repeats this SAME statement.

Ephesians 2:10 then gives us identity. The first part of Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are HIS WORKMANSHIP.”

That’s right- you and I are GOD’S WORKMANSHIP!

We are CREATED BY GOD AND WE ARE MADE IN GOD’S IMAGE!

Can I just encourage you- really grasp this.

You are GOD’S WORKMANSHIP!

That IS A HUGE DEAL!

Each and every one of us was made by God INTENTIONALLY THE WAY THAT WE ARE!

GOD DIDN’T MAKE YOU BY MISTAKE!

GOD MADE YOU THE WAY HE DID ON PURPOSE AND BY DESIGN!

In a world where people don’t know who they are- and that’s our world- one of the most COUNTER-CULTURAL THINGS WE CAN DO IS TO HAVE A STRONG IDENTITY NOT BUILT ON SELF-DETERMINISM BUT BUILT INSTEAD ON THE DECLARATIONS OF GOD!

(Practical step- follow along with PTC. Then, as we release things like our IDENTITY BIBLE STUDY, go through it, take your kids through it; pass it on to other friends! OUR WORLD NEEDS TO UNDERSTAND WHAT OUR CREATOR SAYS ABOUT US! AND IN GENESIS 1:31 (Referring to creation but echoed throughout scripture in places like Psalm 139 and in Ephesians 2:10.)

Genesis 1:31 CSB

31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good indeed. Evening came and then morning: the sixth day.

CORNERSTONE, GOD MADE EACH AND EVERY ONE OF US VERY GOOD INDEED!

And God has declared you righteous! 2 Corinthians5:21

2 Corinthians 5:21 CSB

He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

The Gospel TELLS us OUR Purpose

Salvation isn’t just a get out of jail free card. Salvation is so much more!

The great part of the Gospel is that it doesn’t just end at salvation. Jesus didn’t just stop at the point of dying for us.

JESUS THEN COMMISSIONED US!

Jesus gave us EACH IDENTITY AND THEN JESUS GAVE US A PURPOSE. These are not the same, but they are closely related.

And the purpose that Jesus gave us really matters.

There’s a million things that we can do with our lives, but there is a purpose that we have been given as Christians.

We have a job to do as followers of JESUS!

Our job is really simple.

We are to tell others about JESUS!

We are to point people to Jesus and we are to proclaim the message of JESUS’S GRACE ON THE WHOLE WORLD!

Because friends, that MESSAGE IS INCREDIBLE!

Ephesians 2:10 tells us about the importance of these good works which we are CREATED TO DO and that GOD PREPARED AHEAD OF TIME FOR US!

And like we just talked about; these aren’t just nice gestures.

The most important WORK is the proclamation of Jesus to the WORLD!

Cornerstone, our WORLD NEEDS TO HEAR ABOUT JESUS! IT IS RELIANT ON PEOPLE TAKING THE GOSPEL TO THEM!

Think about it. If we really believe what we just saw today in Ephesians 2, then to be blunt, if our friends, our kids, our grandkids don’t hear the gospel and don’t come into a personal relationship with Jesus, then they are going to spend eternity in Hell.

It’s that cut and dry. It’s simple really.

We can PROCLAIM JESUS EVERY DAY through our words and actions like Jesus commands us to or we can choose not to And we can sit back and watch as people wander aimlessly, unable to tell their right hand from their left like God says of Nineveh in Jonah 4.

So friends, practically, let me encourage you- be on the lookout for opportunities to PROCLAIM JESUS to the people around you! Let the words of Colossians 4:2-4 ring true in your life.

Colossians 4:2–4 CSB

2 Devote yourselves to prayer; stay alert in it with thanksgiving. 3 At the same time, pray also for us that God may open a door to us for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains, 4 so that I may make it known as I should.

Let me pray (pray giving thanks for salvation and lifting up non-believers around us)