Death to Life Pt. 2

Game

Protect the President

This is a fast-paced dodgeball game. Success lies in hav. ing the right ball. You need a lightweight ball that is easy to throw and catch, and will not hurt at close range. Normal dodgeballs are a little too heavy and hard for this game. A good question to ask yourself is: Would I bounce this off my mom's forehead at close range?

Have everyone stand in a circle. (Notice I didn't say students. Your leaders should play, too.) Ask two people to stand in the middle of the circle. Pick one of them to be the president. The other person is the secret service agent.

It's the secret service agent's job to protect the president.

The people in the circle should try to hit the president with ball. The agent should try to protect the president by staying between him and the ball, and by knocking the ball away.

If the president gets hit, the agent becomes president and the person who hit the president becomes the agent. Only explain this once. The players will get the hang of it quick when they see it.

Announcements

Tuesday Bible Study

Game Night On November 24th (Sunday Night)

Christmas Party on December 15th (Sunday Night at Joyces 5-8).

Review

We’re still in Ephesians 2:1-10.

What are some of the things you remember from that talk?

Merit

Grace

Unmerited Favor

Spiritual Diagnosis

Do you remember the three things we talked about that keep us in our sin?

The World

The Devil

The Flesh

Introduction

We’re going to finish this section of verses tonight. So let’s read them together. Who wants to start?

Ephesians 2:1–10 ESV

1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, 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, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 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. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

But God…

We focused on the first three verses last week. About our condition and how we are unable to save ourselves because our sin is so great.

This is why the words in Ephesians 2:4 are so powerful.

Ephesians 2:4 (ESV)

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

Four Key Bible Words

There are four key bible words in these passages that celebrate God’s character as He sent His Son Jesus Christ:

Love (v.4) God never breaks His Word and He promised to bless us forever in Christ.

Mercy (v.4) God no longer punishes us for what we deserve because Christ took that punishment reserved for us and embraced it on the cross.

Grace (v. 5, 7, 8) God gives us what we need in the obedience of Christ

Kindness (v. 7) God is compassionate. Jesus, the God man and Son of God became one of us to exchange places with us. Where we were supposed to die by crucifixion, Jesus took the wrath in our place. It’s the great exchange.

Resurrection

In these verses God is revealed as being “rich in mercy.” That means that He’s got a lot of it and that it’s actually valuable.

God reveals His mercy in three stages of Resurrection with some important implications:

God “made us alive” (v.5). When we place our faith in Jesus, we share in His death and resurrection as King over everyone and everything. When you are a Christian, it’s like you’re a lightbulb. You’re plugged in or screwed in, and all of the sudden you share in the same power as Jesus, the power that resurrects us just as Jesus was resurrected. We call this regeneration, being made new.

A great example of this is in Ezekiel 37. If anyone asks you if there’s an example of resurrection in the Old Testament, go here. It’s a scene where Ezekiel is told to breathe over this valley of dry bones and God brings them to life by His Word and Spirit becoming an army for God.

God “raised us up” (v.6). Think of it like this. Think of your favorite team sport. Let’s pick soccer. Imagine you are on the sidelines, and one of your teammates scores the winning goal in overtime. Who wins in that game? When we place our faith in Jesus, it’s like being on that team. Jesus wins the goal, and therefore we all win. Since Jesus was raised to life, everyone who places their faith in Him is raised to life.

God “seated us with him in the heavenly realms” (v. 6). Since we are on the “resurrection team,” we’re seated with Jesus as being in the unique position of being at God’s right hand. Generally at an important table gathering, like a wedding or an event with a guest of honor, the person to the right of the honored person is also honored. Since we have that status of “being in Christ” we are positionally at the same seat at the table.

God’s Purpose

The point of all of this is that God wants to spend eternity with us and will shower us with blessings!

God wants to bring everything under Christ. That’s the point of the church. It’s not about tidying up a mess or stopping rebellion. It’s about God pouring out His kindness to us forever. The new creation will be flooded with fresh blessings of God’s grace.

Past & Present

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.

This is completely different than the condition we were born into

Ephesians 2:1 ESV

1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins

Grace Alone

Read Verses 8-10 again.

Our salvation is entirely from God. There is no work that you can do, no good deed, religious performance, church ministry, nothing that can save you. Only God can save you. We were not saved, and will never be kept saved, by our good works of service, but by Christ’s good works of service.

Good Works

BUT! The good works of Christ have saved us for doing good works out of gratitide for what Christ has done for us.

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.

God prepared good work for us to do, good deeds. You were saved for a purpose.

Here’s some church history and theology for you. These principles of salvation have been used since the Council of Dort. You have probably heard it before, it’s called TULIP:

Ephesians for You Grace Alone

■ “Total depravity”—our nature is corrupted in every part.

■ “Unconditional election”—God chose us although we had nothing to qualify us.

■ “Limited atonement”—a bad name for the great truth that Christ died for his particular people.

■ “Irresistible grace”—meaning that God can melt our resistance to him.

■ “Perseverance of the saints”—the sensational truth that God will keep his people trusting to the end despite our periods of rebellion.

The biblical idea of grace is that we received favor that we didn’t earn. It’s not something we deserve. So, let’s not boast in ourselves, and celebrate God’s grace instead. Let’s stop doing ministry or good works to save ourselves, and rejoice in the workf of Jesus Christ. We have been saved from the wrath of God to death, and instead have been raised to life in Christ by His good work on the cross to do the good work he has called us to.

Pray

Small Group Questions

•How could you use these verses to explain the gospel to a non-Christian friend in one minute?

•How could verse 10 transform mundane or tedious tasks that you do during your everyday life?