"From Death to Life - The Power of a Delightful God

Intro- Story of being woken up by a man in our house

One night A long time ago, When Linden was a toddler and Hadley was still in the crib, I went up and prayed with Hadley then went into Lindens room to read our Bible story and pray

But apparently I was so tired that when I laid down with Linden to read the story I fell asleep in his little bed.

I was crazy asleep in my own world, so much so that when Amy came upstairs to go to bed I didn't even wake up when she talked to me ad told me what he was doing.

That is until about 2 in the morning when all of the sudden I was made alive-

I heard the voice of someone I Had never heard before.

I opened my eyes jumped out of that bed and was standing face to face to some guy I had never met in the middle of my house.

When I fell asleep on that bed, I was dead to everything. I was in my own little dream world where everything seemed just fine.

But when someone from the outside stepped into my reality It shook my dream world and wake me up!

And believe me I was woken up!! - I was ALIVE AWAKE AND ALERT!!!

just so you all dont think about this story for the entire sermon, I ll tell you how it ended.

He ran and I chased him down the stairs and then I realized that me being equipped with just my boxer was probably not going to end in a good way of I caught him. So i turned around ran back up the stairs grabbed the two kids and barricaded the family in my bedroom and called the police. They came out with dogs and trailed the guy to the next acreage over , but he got away.

But my point is this- In that moment When I was woken up from my sleep I was made alive

Transition: But friends That’s not the only time in my life that I was drastically MADE ALIVE.

READ- Ephesians 2:1-10

“2:1 And although you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2:2 in which you formerly lived according to this world’s present path, according to the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the ruler of the spirit that is now energizing the sons of disobedience, 2:3 among whom all of us also formerly lived out our lives in the cravings of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath even as the rest …

2:4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, 2:5 even though we were dead in transgressions, He made us alive together with Christ—by grace you are saved!—2:6 and he raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 2:7 to demonstrate in the coming ages the surpassing wealth of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 2:8 For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; 2:9 it is not from works, so that no one can boast. 2:10 For we are his workmanship, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand so we may do them.”.

Transition: Brothers and sister- Dont ever loose sight of what God did for you when He woke you from the dead and brought you to life

If the Bible was a medical Text Book. Ephesians 2:1-3 is the Biblical diagnosis of what a spiritually dead person looks like.

Trans> the first thing I want us to see is …

The Deadness of our Past

A. Dead Men Stink of Sin

Look at the text

Ephesians 2:1 ESV

1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins

Folks, let's be honest here. Before Christ, we were spiritually dead.

And guess what? Dead things stink.

STORY ABOUT A DEAD ANIMAL IN THE HOUSE

A few years back Amy and I were laying in bed and there was this auful smell that just kept coming up when we were layying in our bed, and we couldnt figure out where it was coming from. We looked everywhere Finally we pinpointed it to a wall in our closet and so I decided to drill a hole in the wall to see what it was.

As the drill poked through the dry the smell grew ever worse. It was rotting dead mouse that got trapped in the wall and couldnt get out.

Friends dead things stink

and Our lives before Jesus, reeked of sin and rebellion against God.

Im reminded of the words of Romans 3:10-12

Romans 3:10–12 (ESV)

10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

we were COMPLETELY DEAD IN OUR SINS

And the reality was that Just as a corpse can't bring itself back to life, we were powerless to change our spiritual condition.

but it gets worse

listen to how verse two describes our deadness,

Ephesians 2:2 (ESV)

2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world..

B. Dead Men Shuffle After the World

I hate zombie movies, but they are the perfect example of what we looked like Before Christ.

What do zombies do?

Act it out- walking aimlessly

Like zombies in those horror movies, we mindlessly followed the crowd.

We shuffled along, conforming to the patterns of this world.

We followed the World’s Wisdom

Our values, our priorities, our desires - they all stank of worldliness.

Brothers and sisters- we need to understand the reality, that before Jesus saved us we were just like those we like to condemn for their sinful actions.

We were selfish by nature! Following the same sinful crowd that the world follows today,

And the problem was that all of the worlds wisdom Still left you dead in your sins,

but it gets worse

look at the next description of dead men walking

Ephesians 2:2 (ESV)

2 , following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—

Here's a chilling thought: we didn’t just follow the world but we were puppets of Satan. .

C. Dead Men Serve the Devil

We served the "prince of the power of the air," breathing in the putrid air of his rebellious kingdom.

Satan Hates God, he hates his perfection! he hates His holiness, he hates His righteousness, and he hates His forgiveness of sin.

and He was using you to rob God of His glory,

Before Christ saved you You were a faithful following Satan and you were following Him straight into Hell.

but it gets worse , Verse 3 goes on and says …

D. Dead Men Succumb to Our Own Sinful Desires

Ephesians 2:3 (ESV)

3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind,

The World and Satan’s influence are nothing compared to the desires that come form our own sinful hearts.

We were rotting from the inside out, giving in to every sinful urge and desire our sinful heart produced.

Friends, The stench of our fleshly passions wafted through every area of our lives.

We were literally decomposing spiritually every day of our lives

Friends understand that you were completely full of sin because sin is all that your sinful life could ever produce.

But it gets worse the text goes on to describe the ultimate stench of spiritual death:

look again with me at the 2nd part of verse 3v

Ephesians 2:3 (ESV)

and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

we stood condemned before a holy God. We were "children of His wrath

E. Dead Men Stand Condemned

Friends, do you grasp that The stink of your sin made you repulsive in the nostrils of a righteous God?

We as the human race, Could not be more hopeless than this - The God of the universe, the creator of all, has condemned us to hell because of our own disobedience against His perfect law.

WE ARE utterly hopeless - because there is nothing we could ever do to escape this wrath of eternal punishment from the hands of a Holy God.

Dont fall into the lies of this world that say we are good enough.

WE ARE NOT morally Good. We are not neutrally okey. WE are Totally dead in our sins!!

We are Hopeless

Church this is what Total depravity looks like- There is no way we could ever save ourselves from who we are by nature

BUT- Verse 3 is not the end of our story. take a look at the first two words of versse 4 BUT GOD!!!

the 2 most precious words in the Bible.

in two weeks we are starting our new series through the book of Jonah and it is all about these two words.

Jonah Ran BUT God pursued Him

Jonah was dead in his sin, but God forgave Him

Jonah was rebellious in his actions But God still used him.

Friends these words are not just part of Jonahs story, If you have Jesus in your life than they are your story too.

Look with me at the next few verses in Eph. 2

vs4-5 “But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, 2:5 even though we were dead in transgressions, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you are saved!—

Here We see a glimpse into the

The Divine Intervention of Our Present

God’s Sovereign plan from eternity past was to wake you from the dead and give you live.

& verse 4 begins by saying “But God being Rich in mercy because of His great love for us… “

A. God Showed Us Love and Mercy

Friends, can you believe it? When we were at our worst, when the stench of our sin was overwhelming, God looked at us with eyes of love and a heart full of mercy.

He chose to offer us, a away of escape from our depravity.

He didn't turn away in disgust at the sight of our rebellion. No,He ran after us, He came to us while we were still in our sin.

Why would such a perfect God do this for such imperfect sinners?

Because thats who God is at his very Core.

he is rich in Mercy and He is completely loving in all He does.

His rich mercy and great love became the sweet perfume that overpowered the foul odor of our sin.

When we deserved judgment, He offered grace.

That's the kind of God who saved us from our sins!

verse 5 goes on and says that

Ephesians 2:5 (ESV)

5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—

B. God Made Us Alive with Christ

Now, here's where it gets really exciting. God didn't just mask the smell of death;

He didn't just sweep up the dirtiness of your heart… He completely eradicated it!

Can you imagine that? We were spiritual corpses, but God performed the ultimate miracle.

He breathed new life into our sinful dead souls.

Christianity is not about becoming a better person , its about becoming a new person

2 Corinthians 5:17–18 (ESV)

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;

God saved us by giving us life- and friends this is grace!

C. God Raised Us Up with Christ

But wait, there's more! Not only did God make us alive, but verse 6 says that “He also raised us up with Christ.

We're no longer crawling in the dirt of our sin. We're no longer face-down in the grave of our transgressions.

We've been lifted up! We've been elevated to a new status, a new position

The greek word used in this verse to say raised up is Synergeiren

We use this same root word all the time today on our computers - We use the word Synchronize or synergy

this word means to be linked together as one.

meaning that when God raised Christ from the dead we who are in Christ were raised with him to an eternity with God,

D. God Seated Us with Christ

And if you thought that was amazing, listen to the next part of verse 6 which says

“and God seated us with Christ in the heavenly places.”

Can you grasp the magnitude of this? “

Not only are we synchronized in Christ’s resurrection But we are also synchronized with him in the heavenly places.

We've gone from the gutter to the throne room!

From the graveyard to the heights of heaven!

We now have a position of honor and authority in Christ.

We're no longer groveling in the muck of sin; we're seated in the heavenlies with Jesus Himself!

Our Physical position may still be here on earth, but our spiritual position is no longer in the grave but is in heavenly places with Christ Jesus.

Isn't this incredible, church?

This is what God has done for us through His salvation.

and in verse 7 we see that God does all of this….

So that His grace can be on display in our lives for all eternity.

The Display of God’s Grace in the Future

Ephesians 2:7 (ESV)

7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

God didn’t just save us from His wrath, but he adopted us into his family and gave us an eternal inheritance So that He could pour out His grace upon our lives for all existence.

This is the power that comes with those two Words “BUT GOD”.

TRANSITION:

So the question that should be upon everyones Heart is this …

AM I still dead in my sins or am i truly alive in Christ?

friends, there is no greater question than this.

either you are a dead man walking under the wrath of God or you are alive in Christ and the recipient of his never-ending Grace!!!!

In the next 3 verses in our text Paul list out 4 dynamics of our Salvation

listen to what it says.

IV. The Dynamics of Our Salvation

Ephesians 2:8–9 (ESV)

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

let's break down how this amazing salvation works.

A. Salvation Stems from God's Grace

First and foremost, it's by grace.

Grace is Pure, undeserved, unearned favor from God.

We didn't clean ourselves up first. We didn't become worthy.

No, while we were still stinking of sin, God in grace, compelled by His great love, reached down to us.

Friends we need to understand that Salvation is all grace from start to finish!

‘ For BY GRACE YOU HAVE BEEN SAVED!”

Here's a crucial point for you and me: this salvation can only come to us through faith.

B. Salvation Springs from Faith Not Works

It's not about our good deeds or religious rituals.

We can't earn it, and we can't achieve it through our own efforts.

Faith is simply trusting in what God has done for us in Christ through Grace.

Friends God sent his only son Jesus. He lived a perfect life - the life none of us could ever live,

all so that he could die the death that we deserved to die because of our sins. Her went to the grave that meant for us because the only way that you could ever be rescued from that pit of hell is if your debt was paid in full. And so So Jesus god himself, compelled by Gods great for you Paid your debt in full.

Faith is you acknowledging that You need God in your life. Faith is acknowledging that there is no way you could ever be good enough on your own to gain eternal life and that you need Jesus.

Faith is beleiving that when Jesus died in your place He had the power and the authority to pay your debt in full.

Friends Remember the only thing a dead man can do is stink- We need to understand that even this faith that is required for salvation isn't something we conjured up on our own - it's a gift from God! and thats grace.

Verse 8 goes on and tells us that Because salvation is entirely God's work, it leaves no room for bragging. We can't puff out our chests and say, "Look what I did!"

C. Salvation Silences All Human Boasting

We can't compare ourselves to others and feel superior.

All we can do is point to Jesus and say, "Look what He did for Me while I was still dead in my sins”"

Because God did all the work of saving us - Our salvation silences all human boasting and turns it into praise for God.

and finally in verse 10 is says

Ephesians 2:10 (ESV)

10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

D. Salvation Shines as God's Masterpiece

understand this: in saving us, God has made us His masterpiece. He brought dead men to life!!1

We're His workmanship, His piece of art.

and guess what, He saved us for a purpose, He's not finished with us yet, but He's constantly shaping us, molding us, transforming us into the image of His Son Jesus. Friends this is called sanctification.

And He's designed us for a purpose - to do the good works He's prepared in advance for us to do.

Isn't this salvation amazing, church?

It's all of God, all of grace, received by faith, resulting in a transformed life that brings all the glory back to Him.

Friends That's the gospel, and that's the power that's changed our lives!

BRING IT HOME

If It wasn’t for those two word BUT GOD- We would have nothing to find perfect delight in.

If you dont know Jesus -What are you waiting for? Accept His free gift of salvation today Stop stinking ofSin and start living a life like the Savior

Christian- Dont ever lose sight of who you where before God stepped into your life-

Pray

COMMUNION:

Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; 2:9 it is not from works, so that no one can boast”

Salvation Is a free Gift (2:8-9)

OUR Salvation from our totally depravity is a gift

Look at the verse -this grace only comes through FAITH in Jesus Christ.

Grace is God giving us what we dont deserve.

Faith is-“believing God will Always do what He says’

Faith is not a work we do, but it’s a gift from God.

Understand this morning that even the ability to have faith comes from the Holy Spirit oenning our eyes towards God.

This means that even our faith to believe is a gift from God

Because we are dead in our sins- We would never come to belief in God unless He gives us the faith in our hearts to beleieve.

Grace is a gift, Faith is a gift, Salvation is a gift, and our only human response to this gift is to BELIEve!

Acts 16:31 -“ believe on Jesus and you WILL be saved.”

Why is salvation so simple?

“so that No one can Boast” (2:9)

Because we have absolutely nothing to do with our Salvation, We have nothing to boast about.

Our Salvation was the work of God because of His love toward sus.

God showed YOU Grace!! He put forth His son as a substitute for your sins, and He grants you the faith to believe in Christ as your Savior.

God in His grace, sent Jesus to live the life we could not live, to die a death we should have died, and then God raised him up on our behalf conquering the hold of death and bringing us salvation.

The glory for your salvation goes only to God because He did everything.

When we come to the point of understanding how desperate we truly are then we come to point of belief that Jesus is the only answer for our sin.

Today we remember this gospel story through communion

the purpose of communion is not to save us or to make us right with God. It is a time for us to remember what Christ did for us on the cross.

1 Cor. 11:23-24