Our Current Reality

Introduction

What is reality? Seems like a silly question. A question that is obviously answered. Reality is that which we see, that which is in front of us or around us. Reality is existence. Reality is, for some people, confined to this world. Reality is what you make of it. That’s what the world tells us. But, what is reality? Is it really confined to this existence? Is this all we have to look forward too? After all, reality is “the totality of real things and events” (MW).

Does reality change between an unbelieving person and a Christian? We all live in the same world, we eat similar food, we drive similar cars, we work similar jobs, we pay taxes, we hurt, we cry, we experience the totality of this life in a similar fashion. So, what is reality? For the Christian, reality looks very different from the unbelieving person. Why? Ephesians 2:4-5 answers this question.

The sermon points that follow will help lead us to the answer.

But God (v.4), 2. Made us Alive (v.5a), 3. By Grace (v.6)

The reason the Christian life is different from the unbelieving person is because “God made us alive by grace.” That is our current reality, far greater than the life the unbeliever possesses. Let us look at each part of this sentence in turn.

But God (v.4)

To some, the two greatest words in all the Scripture are, “But God.” In every instance that “But God” is used, a dramatic swing or shift is taking place. Verse 4 might be the most dramatic of shifts. Verse 4 tells us several truths for such a swing from the reality we used to live in compared to the one we live in now.

Rich in mercy

Paul starts with the effect before the cause. The mercy of God stems from His great love for us. God’s mercy is rich, that is abundant. Much like the love of God and His grace, so is His love in great abundance. In other words, the love of God never runs out. But before we get to love, we look to mercy. What is God’s mercy? Simply, God’s mercy is His relenting hand upon you concerning the wrath you deserve. This is the answer to the problem found in verses 1-3. In order for the mercy of God to shine, their must be something to have mercy attributed too. Consider the words of the Psalmist in Psalm 103:8–11 “Yahweh is compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness. He will not always contend with us, And He will not keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, And He has not rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him.” Now the Psalmist does not use the word ‘mercy’ but it is plain to see mercy being applied to him as he speaks of Yahweh in this way. Have you ever relented from disciplining a child out of love for him or her? Have you ever given a second chance to someone? If either of these are true of you, then you have practiced mercy without using the word. We practice mercy because of God who is merciful. This is why we believe that every human being is created in the image of God. Although we are sinners as verses 1-3 tell us, we are made in the image of God and are able to mimic Him in offering imperfect mercy.

God is rich in mercy and is ‘being’ rich in mercy. In other words, God does not sit on mercy without ever expending it. No! Our God is active, He is working, and one way that He does this is by showering His mercy upon His people. Consider these words from hymn writer Matt Papa, “What riches of kindness He lavished on us, His blood was the payment, His life was the cost, We stood 'neath a debt we could never afford, Our sins they are many, His mercy is more” (His Mercy is More). Verses 4-5 show the mercy of God as it is attributed to our salvation. But might I ask, do you still experience the mercy of God? Or is this something that is only experienced at salvation? Every Christian in this room would and should say, ‘I still experience the mercy of God.’ God extends His mercy, both, to His people continually, and for unbelievers that have not come to saving faith. Did you know that? Unbeliever this morning, God has showered His mercy upon you by giving you the opportunity to hear what He has done so that you can come to Him. God’s mercy upon sinners is shown in this, that God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to live a perfect life, to be hated by men, to die a humiliating death on the cross, to be buried, and to rise again from the grave in a triumphant victory over death! And unbeliever, He extends this to you this morning! Hear the words of Isaiah 55:7 “Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to Yahweh, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.” God shows His mercy in that He has saved men in the past, will do so now in the present, and will continue into the future.

A Great Love

The source of God’s mercy is His love. These two go hand in hand in some ways, but they also work as a cause and effect. Simply, because God loves He is merciful. God’s love is great, it is extraordinary, astounding, and “remarkable” (BSL). Deuteronomy 7:7 says this well concerning the people of Israel, ““Yahweh did not set His affection on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples.” If God were to take the strong and mighty, He would not get the glory. God loves His people dearly and in response we praise and worship His name. According to Ephesians 2:1-3, we found ourselves at a place where we needed a great love to bring us up out of the muck and the mire of our sin. How great is God’s love? I think that is answered this way. Have you received the due penalty for your sin against God? Christian, do you sit condemned because of your sin? This is God’s great love toward you! Again, His love is not a one time gift, it is continuous throughout our lives. God loves you Christian because He sees Christ instead of you! This is His mercy and love upon you! The love of God is summarized in the spiritual blessings of Ephesians 1:3-14. Everything that is listed there is because God greatly loves us. The spiritual blessings in those 11 verses in chapter one show that God’s love is all encompassing. It is not fixed in one particular area. And, as Christians, we see God’s love in a multitude of ways.

However, here Paul’s focus is upon salvation. He is not so much concerned at this point with the outpouring of God’s love throughout the Christian life. Yes, His love continues on, and we experience that love day by day. In verse 4, Paul points the Ephesians back to remembering the great love of God pertaining to their salvation. Do you consider how much love needed to be spent for you? This is not to guilt you in any way, but I hope it causes you to reflect on the great love that had to be poured out for you. When we think of loved ones that do not know the Lord, let us pray that they would experience the great love of God, the same way that you and I who have trusted in Christ have.

Made us Alive (v.5a)

The great love of God brings us to a place of distinction for you Christian. A sharp contrast is given, first of who we were, and now who we are. Paul brings his audience back to remember once more who they were and this is so they see how great the love of God is towards the center. I think there is much that we can gain from the simplicity of verse 5. We tend to look at the apostle Paul as a man who is a smart theologian who knows many things and is able to communicate in a clear manner. And although all these things are true, he is still able to speak in simple terms. I don’t think there is any person who would look at this and not see the obvious difference. So Paul highlights first that we are no longer dead but we are now alive.

Alive, no longer dead

Using the picture from last week seeing that in our helpless state we are nothing more than a spiritual corpse, we are faced once more with that former truth. We need to be reminded again and again. Listen to the words of our Lord in John 6:63 ““The Spirit is the One who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” Did you catch that? The flesh profits nothing. In other words, Jesus is saying that there is nothing good that comes from the flesh and all that the flesh produces is death. The Holy Spirit who gives life therefore, although in John 6:63 you won’t see the word ‘death’ but, there is no doubt that Christ is hinting at it. Jesus knew that the bread that He gave would only temporarily satisfy as it was handed out to the 5000. Physical bread does not give life, in the same way that living according to the flesh does not give life. It is God alone who gives life. And this is what Paul centers on in verse 5.

In contrast to what we saw last week with Satan merely energizing a spiritually dead person, our loving God does not just merely energize us but he makes us alive. It is a complete transformation and not a limited energetic experience. Christ is in the business of transforming lives not merely energizing some one for the moment.

Alive, together with Christ

To no surprise, we are not made alive apart from Christ. Christ always has a part in making someone new, in making them alive. God makes a person alive together with His Son. Since God is divine, He keeps everything regarding life transformation in that divine lens. Meditate on this verse at it has been applied to you, Christian, “And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of Yahweh before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will show compassion on whom I will show compassion”” (Exodus 33:19). It is God who has been gracious and compassionate toward you Christian! This is why we are alive together with Christ. Colossians 2:13 emphasizes this point saying, “And you being dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive with Him, having graciously forgiven us all our transgressions.” You could say that we are alive in Christ and with Christ. Hence, without Christ we are absolutely nothing. Turn to John 14. Permit me to emphasize this point a little bit. Listen to verses 18-20… Do you see how dependent you and I are upon the Lord Jesus Christ? It is because Christ lives that you and I live. That is why Christ makes us alive together with Him. It is He whom we will see on that great day and we will see the most beautiful of connections between Him and the Father and how we are in Christ. We will fully see our life together with Christ. What a most beautiful sight indeed!

Truth reassures

Before we move to point 3, I want to look at the historical context for a moment since this was written to Gentiles in Ephesus and to other churches that would receive this letter. Think back for a moment at this time. Paul is writing from prison. He is unable to fellowship with the brothers. And what does he encourage them in the mean time with? Their salvation! Brothers, do you encourage one another in your salvation? After all, that is why we are all here, is it not? To worship Christ, who saved us from our sin. Paul, being imprisoned, wanted nothing less for the brothers than to remember their salvation in Christ and, therefore, give Christ the worship that He is due! As we are reminded of this precious truth we are, also, reassured by Christ of His saving work done for us! Let us not doubt our salvation, but remember it often and give praise to Christ!

By Grace (v.5b)

It could be said that there are many facets that Christ uses to make us alive. Rightly said, Christ has made us alive in Him. Everything that His death, burial, and resurrection set out to accomplish it did with men and women, boys and girls, coming to salvation in Christ. Paul highlights at the end of verse 5 that it is by grace that salvation has taken place in the life of the Ephesians. The Greek emphasizes that this grace is of and from Christ. This is not some misplaced grace. Paul continues to work from the past tense. This salvation by grace in Christ has already occurred. We can, therefore, measure whether we are Christians or not, better said being in Christ, by asking, ‘has salvation by grace in Christ occurred in your life?’

Salvation is by grace

Any notion that salvation occurs by any work or merit is shot down plainly according to the end of verse 5. We will not touch on faith, rather we will wait until verse 8. But we can still touch on the fact that salvation is an act of God’s grace, not man’s works. The grace that is spoken of here emulates Ephesians 1:6 that was “graciously bestowed on us.” Unlike this verse, Paul throws in this short phrase, ‘by grace you have been saved’ as a sort of quick or summary explanation (Bullinger) of verses 4 and 5. This is not to dismiss verses 4 and 5, but it is helpful for a short statement on the matter of salvation and grace and how they come together. This short statement was necessary to a degree because another matter of fact statement, similar that is, had not yet been written. Two years later, in 64 AD, Paul would write to Titus this, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men” (Titus 2:11). Regardless of the date, audience, and time, the message was always the same. Salvation is a working of the grace of God. However, the Spirit felt it necessary to tell the Ephesians of this glorious truth at this time. It is never a truth that we should tire of hearing!

Without grace, salvation is not possible

Something that needs to be said whether you have heard a million times or not is that ‘without grace salvation is not possible.’ We have made the case that salvation is a work of the grace of God. But I want us to spend a few moments looking at the fact that grace is so important, that without it, salvation in Christ is not possible. In short, it must always be about grace, and never about works pertaining to salvation. Titus 3:5 proves this point saying, “He saved us, not by works which we did in righteousness, but according to His mercy.” Romans 3:23–24 captures this most beautifully saying, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.” There is only one way to be justified before God and that is by grace through faith that is found in Christ alone. We could speculate why this is the case. But let’s keep it simple. The reason that it is by God’s grace through faith in Christ is because it brings forth the willing praise of God’s people that comes from a willing and cheerful heart. I have not heard one Christian (that is one who loves God and His Word) complain or grumble at the hearing of God’s grace being the means for salvation.

Think for a moment, if God had never bestowed His grace down onto man so that he might be saved. Just as we went back to the garden last week to see that Adam did not physically die, but spiritually, so it is also true that we first see the grace of God upon man in the garden. Adam needed God’s mercy and grace, and God gave those both to him freely. But if God never gave His grace to men, the story of God and man would end in the garden, and Satan would have triumphed. The grace of God triumphs any attack, ploy, or scheme of the evil one. Therefore, just as Adam needed God’s grace, so did you, and so did the Ephesians, and God gave His rich mercy as spelled out in grace to all who are in need of it.

Conclusion

I want to leave you with a few practical thoughts to consider as we look, once more, at the wondrous works of God on our behalf.

Mercy, life, and grace are all wrapped up beautifully. You cannot have one of these without the other. Our God is so powerful that He is freely, capable, and without end able to give these things to all that would ask. He is not hiding them from us or anyone else, they are out in plain sight. Christian, the mercy that God gives, the new life you now live, and His grace will always be said of you because of Christ. You never lose them. You who have not put your trust in Christ, they are available to you right now! Come to Christ, turn from your sins, and receive life freely!

Christian you are cleansed from your sin and you are alive together with Christ. You know what that means? That’s right, you now live a new life and the old life is done away with. Therefore, examine your heart, your life, and your doctrine. Are they in line with what God has set forth for those whom He calls His own? As He looks down upon you, would He pleased with your manner of life? The affections of your heart? Take time to reflect on these things.

My hope and desire for each one of you in this room is that this text would be the appetizer to a life that is continually seeking to grow in Christ. May your love and devotion for Christ not stop at the truths of salvation. Oh that you would seek to know Him all the more in this life. What a comfort, what blessing, what joy is there to be had as you continually put yourself before the King of Kings. Remember, Christian, He is not only available to you at salvation, but all throughout your Christian experience here on earth. We can go to Him, let us make all the more effort to do so!

Let’s pray!

Benediction

1 Timothy 1:17 “Now to the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.”