Delivered By Our Gracious God

Intro:

Do you believe in miracles? Do you want to see God display miracles today? If you are looking for miracles at hospitals, doctors offices, and funeral homes, you are looking in the wrong places. Because you are looking in the wrong places, you might be losing hope that God is breaking natural law to carry out the supernatural.

Don’t miss the greatest miracle that God displays daily in the awakening of sinners to new life.

Thomas Boston:

300 Quotations for Preachers from the Puritans “But by a Miracle of Grace”

Surely corruption is ingrained in our hearts, interwoven with our very natures, has sunk deep into our souls, and will never be cured but by a miracle of grace.

If you have been saved by Christ, you are a miracle of grace! Review:

1-3 we looked at doomed by a sinful nature

We now understand the great depravity of man’s nature of sin inherited by our Father Adam. We know that nature is led by a sinful heart with sinful desires and allegiances to evil. We know that nature and those evil intentions and actions are doomed to face the all mighty wrath of a holy God.

Unless…God does a miracle! Unless…God intervenes and rescues those doomed to perish for their sins.

But God!

Initial observations:

God becomes the subject in v 4 standing in contrast to man in v 1-3

Man has been described as having spiritual inability in sin and so the saving acts are all done outside of man’s strength. Theses acts will only come from the power of God

All saving acts are done with unity in Christ. Paul focuses on our union as that which first occured with Christ in his perfect life, atoning death and resurrection, and exaltation to heaven, led the way for not only accomplishments for the church but that we are united with him as we experience the blessings of that work.

1. The Attributes of Our God

Now Paul begins with stressing the work of God in salvation by describing the foundational attributes of God that undergird salvation. They are the WHY we are saved?

Do you ask yourself that question? How could he save me? Of all teh ways that I have rebelled against him and denied his name?

That state of wonder and humilty is a good place for the gospel to take root. The person who does not wonder because they believe themselves to be a gift TO GOD cannot be saved. They need to go back and read 1-3 of chapter 2 again.

Why did he elect you, adopt you, save you by the blood of his son? HIS MERCY, HIS GRACE HIS LOVE.

Ephesians 2:4 NASB95

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

love

Love from God is the foundational attribute. Even though mercy is mentioned first, love is the reason for mercy. These attributes all overlap, but the love of God continues to be proclaimed as the reason for God salvation of sinners. Consider

Romans 5:8 NASB95

8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

John 3:16 NASB95

16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

1 John 4:10 NASB95

10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Love, as we learned in the love chapter in 1 Cor 13, is this core attribute of God that is mentioned alongside our salvation. Gods love is him being sacrificial of himself for others, longsuffering towards others, being satisfied or content in himself, forgiving wrongs towards himself. These are the components of love that God describes for us, and displays throughout the pages of God’s word. Divine love is not sentimentality, emotional, nor passion or desire.

It is the foundation of Christ’s working of redemption for sinners and the foundation of all Christian character because of the Spirit in them.

By the way…God’s love is GREAT. He does not just have love, he has great love. Jeremeiah tells us God’s love is eternal, which does not fade away or lose its efficacy.

Jeremiah 31:3 NASB95

3 The Lord appeared to him from afar, saying, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness.

God does not grow out of love with you because its built on his character of unending faithfulness.

gods love looks towards sinners in spite of their rebellion against him.

God’s Love leads to mercy….

mercy

This is the second attirbute given to us about God. Mercy in the GK is tied to mercy in the Hebrew. It is a compassion towards those in need. We have always heard mercy is “NOT GETTING WHAT WE DESERVE” which is true. Mercy is more than just the absence of judgement from GOd. Mercy is action towards sinners. It’s tied in the OT to his covenant loyalty to his people. Love leads God to show mercy which is his compassion towards the needy.

Blind Baritmaus at the gate called out to the Lord Jesus

Mark 10:47–48 (NASB95)

47 .. “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 Many were sternly telling him to be quiet, but he kept crying out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Jesus asked the man what kind of mercy do you want and Bartimaus replied that he wanted sight again. That was a small request for Jesus who could give more but we have to assume that day that only physical sight returned.

Had Bartimaues known to which well he was dipping his bucket, hecould have asked for forgiveness of sins but he did not.

Paul tells the Ephesians that God is rich in mercy meaning that he has an abundance that does not end for compassion towards those in need. He read in marketing the term “while supplies last” and we know with God, the supply of mercy never runs out. The well of mercy never runs dry!

In another proper passage on the soveriengty of GOd in salvation in Romans 9, Paul calls those in the church “vessels of mercy.”

Romans 9:22–25 NASB95

22 What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? 23 And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, 24 even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles. 25 As He says also in Hosea, “I will call those who were not My people, ‘My people,’ And her who was not beloved, ‘beloved.’ ”

A vessel is a jar and a jar is meant to fill up. God fills our lives with mercy, up to the overflowing but his supply is not diminished in filling our lives with his acts of salvation. There is always more mercy to go around.

salvation from God is a mercy from him because we are helpless and needy. His love elects us and his mercy is compassion to send His Son to die.

grace

I want to include grace in this list of attributes because the Bible describes God as gracious an these verses highlight the truth. Again these terms overlap in meaning, but we know the NT word for grace is CHARIS. It means gift in most forms in the NT. For God to be gracious, it means he gives of himself to help the needs of others, because he loves.

Notice the opposite…to take, or steal. See the contrast in the evil one whom we were delivered from. He takes and steals but God gives away. God gives his son so that he can give salvation freely without condition to sinners. God gives graciously out of his love.

Now grace is contrasted with our the unconditional nature of God’s love. He gives freely to those already described as undeserving. We followed Satan and yet he gives grace to rescue us. Grace is a underserved gift, which we will look at more next time.

Let me ask you friend, that if Jesus has saved you, then his Spirit is working those attributes in your life as fruit of your salvation. Do you see them? Do you see the fruit of selfless love blossoming upon your tree of holiness. Do you have mercy on those who have great need and are in despair? Are eager to give more than you are to recieve? Do you do these things for value, social credit, or to bring glory to Christ?

If we are saved, we will reflect these characteristics as believers because it is Christ in us!

Now let’s look at the…

2. The Acts from God

Ephesians 2:5–6 NASB95

5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, 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,

When you study the word, you need to dig around until you find the roots and trunk of the passage. The roots and trunk are the subject,` verb and direct object of the sentence. All the branches of the sentences are supporting phrases like the ones we just read that describe God. The roots of v 4-7 are BUT GOD>>>MADE US ALIVE>>>>RAISED US UP>>>SEATED US. Everything else enhances those ideas. These are the acts of God in salvation and they are present realities now for all believers in Christ.

regeneration/salvation

You must be born again. Jesus said this in John 3:3. This is regeneration. Paul paints the pictures of dead people coming to new life. But Paul uses a compound word that literally means made-alive-together. This is giving special emphasis to our salvation that provides a victory over death that is realized in a new life IN Christ. As Jesus was given New Life from the dead so the believer is given new life when we are united to Christ by faith.

Romans 6:4 NASB95

4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

Now contrast this idea to the deadness of all humanity because of a sinful nature. Paul teaches the new life only comes when God acts outside of ourselves to take what is dead and make it come alive.

Let’s talk about electricity for a second. No one likes it when the power goes out. Have you ever stopped to think about how much you enjoy the conveinences of electricity to power your comforts. How easily does your mood chnage when those comforts are removed in a power outage like Cold food, warm heat, charged phones, hot water, air conditioning.

I doubt many of you ponder how electricity flows to your house but great effort has been put forth to provide you this service. Miles and miles of thick stranded wire has been run across cities and counties which connects power stations to neighborhoods. That wire then disperses again to each house and connects to the electrical panel in your closet or garage. In that panel, that wire disperses once again to all different parts of your house.

Now what good is all that wire without power running through it? It serves no purpose. It is wasted effort and useless material if the power is not running through it. But when power is activated, it serves a great purpose.

Paul is showing us that humanity has no spiritual good and only when the power of new life is turned on in us because of Christ can we truly realize what God designed for us to be. Our purpose as worshippers of the one True God is realized when we are given new life and awakened from the dead.

That new life is not just gifed by Christ through his Spirit, but it is gifted in Christ as we are united to him. In other words, like that wire in your house, any part of that wire that is severed, electricity ceases to continue down the line. If a tree snaps your power lines, no electricity continues beyond that point.

Herman Bavink writes,

Reformed Dogmatics, Volume 4: Holy Spirit, Church, and New Creation Faith and Regeneration: Which is Prior?

there is no participation in the benefits of Christ except by communion with his person. The benefits of the covenant are not material goods that can be owned and enjoyed apart from the mediator of that covenant. They are included in him and never exist independently of him

As the church, we understand that with Christ providing a way of those spiritually dead to be raised to new spiritual life, that is accompanied by the salvation we receive from God’s wrath. Salvation is another word for deliverance. We are delivered from the wrath to come because Christ took the wrath upon himself.

“by grace you are saved.”

The question is “will you be saved from that wrath in the future when Jesus returns or are you saved now from His wrath? YES

Paul is using language to speak to your position now….you are alive in Christ because Christ is alive. He is not dead. He was raised from the dead. He defeated death and so his victory is your victory. He doesn't say you will be saved in v 5, he says you are saved. Its guaranteed by the seal of the Holy Spirit of promise.

Therefore the statement of being “made alive” contrasts being spiritually “dead in your trespasses.”

resurrection/exaltation

Secondly, there is the idea of the resurrection and exaltation of Christ brings about it also a unity with Christ for the believer. Again, Paul is talking about positions that the believer holds now because of Christ.

Again we are raised with Christ in power and so we not only will be raised at his 2nd coming in a powerful display, but spiritually we exist as the church in a current resurrected and empowered state. We live as empowered people, raised in the power of Christ now to accomplish the work that He has given us to do.

Colossians 3:1 NASB95

1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

How do we seek the things above if not for the union we have the risen Christ who empowers our daily Christian lives to live as His people? How do you put to death your earthly lusts and urges and live in holiness?

Because you and I as the church live in the power of the resurrected Christ.

This is the contrast of the hypocrite and the genuine believer. The false convert does not live according to the power of God. He or she may display religious actions and perform religious duties but their life is powerless when it comes to effectiveness and fruit for the kingdom. They terrorists of 9/11 acted like normal citizens of the USA but their motives were evil. Their plans were hidden and their identities were masked until that September day when their true identity is revealed.

Many professing Christians will be surprised when Christ returns because it will be exposed of them their true identity. They possessed the religious actions that convinced the church they belonged but Jesus sees their hearts. He knows their motives behind their religion. He knows they lack the power of the resurrection in them because they are not united in his resurrection.

Matthew 7:21–23 NASB95

21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’

But in addition, we are not just raised with him, but we are seated with him in the heavenly places.

Again, Paul is talking about your current state of exaltation in Christ. We know that Jesus was raised bodily into heaven and seated at the place of honor at the right hand of God. We know that at his second coming he will come again and usher in an eternity of his reign. Scripture also says that at that future date, the church will reign with him.

2 Timothy 2:11–12 (NASB95)

11 It is a trustworthy statement: For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him; 12 If we endure, we will also reign with Him;

Notice Paul is talking about the future time beyond time in Christ’s kingdom. But Paul is speaking in Ephesians about our life in him now. We must then interpret that he refers to our position with Christ. We are with him now in the spiritual sense even though our bodies dwell on earth. We experience the joy of fellowship and communion with Christ as he states for us to “abide in him.”

How can we abide in him when he is in heaven if it not for the Spirit of God living in us, making us a vessels of fellowship and exaltation with Christ. Friend, if Jesus is your King, then you are already seated with him, in that mystical union, where He is. This idea instructs the heart which is secure in Christ and which is beloved in Him.

3. The Achievements of God

Ephesians 2:7 NASB95

7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

Finally, we come to the goal of our salvation in Christ. Paul tells us in v 7 and he is repeating himself from chapter 1. Numerous times in chapter 1, we saw that the ultimate goal or achievement of God’s saving grace is “to the praise of his glory.” Paul says it similiarly in chapter 2:7, so that the ages to come will see his grace for the church. God desires that throughout eternity, his glorious grace is on full display so that it might end in praise.

As stated in previous sermons, God’s goal is to glorify himself because he is worthy of his glory to be observed and praised in all the earth and into eternity. His grace towards sinners is the way that He has chosen to receive such praise.

Therefore, that grace given to sinners in Jesus Christ is a portion of the unimaginable and unlimited supply of grace that God possesses. This supply is what the world to come should marvel and ponder for all eternity. It is the endless ocean of grace that has no coastlines or shores. Its depth, and width, and breath is inconceivable. Paul emphasizes its volume like a treasure that we are heirs of. It is surpassing treasure. Our minds cannot imagine this volume of grace for its goes beyond or surpasses what we understand. It is also a treasure to God and thus a treasure to us. His grace is what all eternity will marvel in.

We sing these hymns only with finite minds trying to understand the magnitude of grace

Grace, Grace, God’s grace, Grace that is greater than all our sin.”

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing, Tune my heart to sing Thy grace; Streams of mercy, never ceasing, Call for songs of loudest praise.

5 No condemnation now I dread; Jesus, and all in Him is mine! Alive in Him, my living Head, And clothed in righteousness divine, Bold I approach th'eternal throne, And claim the crown, through Christ my own.

Amazing love! how can it be That Thou, my God, should die for me!

Lords Supper