Alive with Christ

Good morning, dear family. I’m eager to be here with you in week 4 of Harbinger Gospel Church, our 4th week in our study of Ephesians and our 1st week in Chapter 2. Today, we explore how the same power that raised Christ from the dead also eternally transforms us.

Before we jump in, I would offer a side note and would submit that Chapter 2:1-10 is often unhelpfully, or even determinately compartmentalized. It is often cherrypicked and handled in isolation in order to build theological foundations. As I’ve explained time and time again during our study on 1 Peter, when studying the scriptures, it is crucial to both consider the context, and to keep the entire book in view. For today’s passage, remember what we just finished reading in chapter 1; it is essential to view chapter 2 verses 1-10 as part of the continuous flow of Paul's message about God's power in Christ, starting from Ephesians 1:20 and leading into the discussion on unity in Christ that we’ll see later on in Chapter 2 verse 11.

In Chapter 2:1-10, I would submit that Paul's aim is not to present a total depravity doctrinal statement like many use this text to support, rather, Paul’s aim is to exalt the Father by demonstrating His power through Jesus and to explain our unity in His divine work. Can larger doctrinally themes be found here? Absolutely, they can, however, let’s be careful not to pursue a systematic theology In isolation at the expense of Paul’s actual point. I believe that by exploring this passage in context, we can see the main idea which is how the incredible power of God manifested in Jesus Christ is the same power that transforms our lives.

Context and Flow from Chapter 1

Paul's discussion begins in Chapter 1, where he prays for the Ephesians to understand the great power God works in us. This power is demonstrated in Christ's resurrection and exaltation. As we transition into Chapter 2, Paul continues this theme, emphasizing that the same power that raised Christ from the dead also raises us from spiritual death.

Unity in Sin and Salvation

Paul starts Ephesians 2 with "you," referring to the Gentiles, and in verse 3, he includes himself and other Jews, saying "we too all." This signifies that all humanity, Jews and Gentiles alike, shared the same sinful condition before Christ's redemptive work. Now, through Christ, we all share in the same triumph, unifying us as one new race, as Paul also states in Galatians 3:28 (CSB): "There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female; since you are all one in Christ Jesus." This unity forms the Church, the fullness of Jesus.

The Power of God in Raising the Church

Paul spends the last section of Chapter 1 by talking about how Christ was raised from the dead, and then wraps up by declaring that the Church is the fullness of Jesus. He then pivots in Chapter 2 to remind us that we, who are now the fullness of Jesus, were once dead in our sins, where he is making the parallel that just as Christ was raised, so to are we.

Being “dead” in sins does not necessarily mean that unbelievers are completely incapable of doing any good or responding to the message of salvation through God’s initiating grace. There are various interpretations of what "dead" in sins means across different denominations and theological systems.

Some traditions teach that "dead" means we are like a corpse, entirely unable to respond to God without first being animated by Him, which involves doctrines like predestination, election, and limited atonement.

Others believe in prevenient grace, which refers to the grace of God that precedes human decision. This grace is extended universally, enabling all people to respond to the Gospel and restoring their ability to exercise free will in matters of faith and salvation.

There is also the view that "dead" is actually not analogous to physical death, as with Lazarus, but rather signifies a state of separation from God, similar to the prodigal son.

Today, I submit that the passage we are examining does not explicitly declare any one of these interpretations as the intended message. Instead, it emphasizes a common thread shared across these views: the hopeless condition of being separated from God, which is our inherited curse from Adam. Paul's point here is to draw a parallel to the resurrection of Christ. Just as Christ was raised from physical death by the power of the Holy Spirit, we are powerfully and eternally transformed by the same Holy Spirit.

This commonality binds us in unity. Our transformation by the Holy Spirit is not only what unites us here on earth but it is also what binds us together with Christ. It is how we become coheirs with Him, how Christ becomes our elder brother, and how we are children of the Father. The Spirit supernaturally changes our nature and makes us one.

Paul emphasizes that it was the power of God that raised Jesus from the dead, and it is this same power that raises the Church. The Spirit reunites the Son to the Father through the resurrection, and we are spiritually reunited with the Father through our spiritual resurrection. This parallel is crucial: just as God resurrected Jesus, He also resurrects those who come to Him in faith. The focus here is on God's purpose and power to bring reconciliation.

Transformation Through God's Power

Again, Paul is drawing parallels, and he’s comparing and contrasting. Before Jesus’ resurrection and ascension, He was limited by a mortal body but now possesses a glorified, immortal body. He once taught and healed on earth but now intercedes for us at the right hand of the Father. Jesus suffered rejection and persecution, yet now reigns in eternal glory and authority. He was crucified and buried, but He conquered death and the grave. Though He experienced human frailty and death, He is now exalted and given the name above every name. It is God's power and plan that accomplished this transformation, and it's the same power and plan that He works in us.

The New Birth in Christ

We were dead, but now we are alive. We were enslaved, but now we are enthroned. We were objects of wrath, but now we are objects of grace. We walked among the disobedient, but now we fellowship with Christ. We were under Satan's dominion, but now we are in union with Christ.

Paul is not introducing this transformation as a new doctrine but is simply fleshing out the doctrine of the new birth that Jesus speaks about in John 3:1-8, where we must be born of the Spirit to enter the kingdom of God.

“There was a man from the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. [2] This man came to him at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one could perform these signs you do unless God were with him.” [3] Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” [4] “How can anyone be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked him. “Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born?” [5] Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. [6] Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. [7] Do not be amazed that I told you that you must be born again. [8] The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.””

And we all have this in common. Both Jew and Gentile must be reborn, born of the spirit, spiritually resurrected in order to enter the kingdom of God.

"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." – John Piper

The Role of the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit, who moved in power to raise Jesus from the dead, moves in power to raise us up, causing us to experience the new birth. The same Spirit that exercised power in Christ by raising Him from the dead and seating Him at the right hand of the Father now makes us alive with Christ, raising us up and seating us with Him in the heavens.

Conclusion

Ephesians 2:1-10 is a testament to the incredible power of God in Christ. It reminds us of our shared sinful condition and our shared redemption through Jesus, unifying us as one body, the Church. This passage calls us to marvel at God's transformative power that not only raised Jesus from the dead but also raises us to new life in Him. As we reflect on this, let us exalt the Father, recognizing His power at work in us and living out the unity and new life we have in Christ.