Real Life

The world has been obsessed with zombies for a long time. Some people think it is our deep desire for life after death. Some people think it has to do with a lust for power, being willing to consume others for your own gain. But in the most simple terms, that theme seems to aptly describe the way a lot of people live life. Humans mindlessly pursuing cravings and impulses, following the path of least resistance, doing what’s right in their own eyes. They think real life consists of being able to do whatever they will, whatever comes naturally. Self-determination is the spirit of our age. Nothing will make you a zombie like following the spirit of the age.

What’s the way out? Do you want to get out of sleepwalking through life? What is real life according to God? How can you live your fullest life as a human? We will see it involves receiving a new identity in Christ, boasting in the grace of God, and walking in good works.

Receiving a New Identity in Christ

We begin with understanding our problem. Paul pulls no punches. The human condition apart from Christ as a living death. We all enter the human story dead in our sin (verse 1). According to verse 2, we are “following the course/way (lit. “age”) of this world” and “following the prince of the power of the air”. Jesus described it as taking the easy path that seems popular, but leads to destruction.

There are lots of people following the spirit of the age, “do what’s right in your eyes”, “do what makes you happy”. They believe they are all masters of their fate and captains of their soul. But this is all a deception. Paul says living this way is following the “course”, or literally the “age” the world. You are nothing more than a product of the age. And worse, you are a slave to the “prince of the power of the air”, which is one way the Bible talks about Satan. Walking the path of least resistance in this world is enslavement on the path to destruction. It is a death march.

In verse 3, we see that we are enslaved to the “passions” or desires/lusts of our flesh, including the desires/lit. “will” of body and the mind. Your body and mind have a will of their own. When we follow our own will, we think we are free, but it is self-centered living. Your world is very very small.

Paul uses two phrases that should really scare us. In verse 2, he describes our identity apart from Christ as “sons of disobedience” and in verse 3 as “children of wrath”. We all act according to our nature. Human nature, apart from the transforming work of Jesus Christ, is in sinful rebellion, disobedient to God, and while we remain in that nature, we face God’s judgment. This is our condition apart from Christ.

Take a minute to remember who is speaking these words. This is Paul the Pharisee. He was one of the most religious people you will ever meet. And he includes himself in this condition. Verse 3, “among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh”. Even religious activity, apart from Christ is nothing more than self-serving disobedience, because it is demanding that God accept us on our terms. Living a self-centered, self-serving, self-determined life, you are dragging your dead, rotting corpse into the presence of the Holy One, demanding He serve you.

So, if human nature is so desperate, where is the hope?

But God (verse 4)… the two most hope-filled words in the Bible. Human nature is desperate and helpless. And God’s nature?

He is rich in mercy (verse 4). Your sinful rebellion only draws the loving heart of God the Father more fully toward you. He is rich in mercy because of the great love with which He loves us. Just as your love for a child or a friend would compel you toward the one that was sick and dying, so His love compels Him toward us when our souls are sick unto death in our sin.

Verse 5, “even when we were dead in our trespasses and sins, God” acted to save us. He did not wait until we were ready. He did not wait until we asked. He did not require us to take prerequisites or remedial classes. He did not give us a pre-test. He did not ask us to lift a finger so that He could do the rest. In our sins, we are dead. Not just weak, though we are that. Not just diseased, though we are that. Not just misguided, though we are that. We are unable to life a finger toward God to beckon His help. But God is rich in mercy because of His great love for us, and He performs three actions on our behalf.

He made us alive together with Christ.

He raised us up with Christ.

He seated us with Himself in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

We’re talking about a whole new life. Life does not come from your self. Your new life is in Christ. Jesus called this being born from above, or born again. Jesus has the fullness of life in Himself, and He shares that with us. He was raised from the dead, and His resurrection becomes our resurrection. He has been exalted to be seated with God the Father in the heavenly places. And He shares that seat with us. All this while our feet are still on the ground here. When you are united to Jesus Christ by faith, your new life takes on a heavenly dimension. Your soul is now communing with God while your feet walk the earth.

Real life is receiving this new identity from God. I am now “in Christ”. Paul goes on. Real life is also boasting in the grace of God.

Boasting in the Grace of God

Most people think that they are really living when they have some achievement or reward that they can boast about. You got the promotion, you won the game, you aced your test. But that’s boasting in comparison to other people. When you compare yourself to the Person who made this galaxy, can you boast about anything?

When we understand who we are and who God is, we understand there is nothing we can boast of in ourselves. But if I know God, I can make my boast in Him.

Paul says once in verse 5, and then repeats himself in verse 8 so you get the point, “by grace you have been saved.” God seems less concerned with your happiness from doing your own will than showcasing the immeasurable riches of His grace.

But that requires a confession that we are in need of grace. Can I come to church and confess that I am in need? I am powerless and my life is unmanageable. Left to myself, I will follow the path of least resistance on the road to destruction. But God is rich in mercy. He loves to save us.

Verse 8

Grace, some people use it as an acronym, “God’s Riches at Christ’s Expense”. Which is good. Grace involves being given a gift that you did not earn and don’t deserve. Salvation is a gift from God that comes at Christ’s expense. He died on the cross to pay our debt of sin and atone for our rebellion.

Grace is also God’s disposition toward us. God doesn’t give us the gift of salvation begrudgingly. Jesus did not go to the cross kicking and screaming, feeling resentment toward us. He went for the joy set before Him.

God is favorably disposed toward us. And the more dead in our sin and the more sick our soul, the more God’s heart is moved with compassion toward us. Jesus demonstrated this by spending most of His time with sinners and sufferers.

We are saved by grace, through faith. Faith unites me with Jesus Christ, so that all He is and has done is mine. But even the faith is not my “own doing” (verse 8). The faith is part of the gift, not a result of my works. So I cannot boast.

What I can boast in is the immeasurable riches of God’s grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. I did not earn God’s favor. He is filled with grace by nature. Jesus Christ came filled with grace and truth, and used them both to save me, to raise me from the dead. I am no longer among the walking dead because God has made me alive together with Christ, by grace I have been saved. Verse 7 tells me that the one thing we’ll all be talking about in the coming ages, long after any of our own achievements have been forgotten, is the goodness and kindness of God’s grace for us in Jesus. We will boast about that forever.

In the meantime, He doesn’t just save us from sin and death. He saves us toward a new life, filled with good works to do.

Walking in Good Works

Real life is found in walking in the good works God prepared for me to do. Paul uses a really beautiful word to describe God’s plan for my new life in Christ. He says we are His ποίημα (poiema). This is a beautiful word, from which we get our word “poem”. It means a handiwork, a creation, something made by hand, a work of art. God’s fingerprints are all over your life. He is making you into a beautiful creation. He is shaping a whole new life for you.

Paul used this word in verse 3 to describe the way we were shaping our life according to the desires of our body and mind. Now, by God’s grace, through faith in Jesus Christ, you are no longer dominated by self-centered cravings, you are free to love as God loves.

You are being created in Christ Jesus for good works. Think of all the good works Jesus did while He was on earth. He wants to keep doing them through you now.

And God prepared them beforehand. He has had a plan for your life long before you ever asked Him. By the way, have you asked Him? There are some people who call themselves Christians because they go to church or read the Bible. But they have never asked God what His plans are for them. They have yet to surrender to Him.

What could God make of your life if you let Him? This church is filled with people who have listened to God’s voice and found His plan to make them into teachers and counselors, coaches, helpers, agents of hospitality, caregivers, mentors, leaders, administrators, pastors, givers, and encouragers. He has given the gift of serving to some of us and those people lead the rest of us to see the needs around us and jump in to help. Other have the gift of administration and can get us organized. But we all have some good works that God has prepared for us.

And Paul brings us full circle. We began in verse 2 talking about the way we once walked. We were the walking dead, following the spirit of the age. Now, God has prepared a beautiful life of service to others for us in Christ, that we should walk in all the good works He desires.

This is real life. Receiving and knowing your new identity in Christ: fully alive, raised up, seated with him in the heavenly places. Boasting of God’s grace, you make His grace known to others. And then walking in the good works He prepared for you that others would see Christ Jesus in you.

We all come in need. We are powerless. We can all walk out of here filled with the life of Christ.

Communion

Questions for Discussion

What kinds of activities are life-giving for you?

What do we learn about ourselves in our passage?

When you read about our condition apart from Christ in verses 1-3, can you relate to any of that, and how does that inform your relationship with God?

How would you describe our new life in Christ according to verses 4-7?

What do we learn about God in this passage?

What does it mean to be “in Christ”? Then, how do we understand all blessings we share “in Christ”, from verses 5 and 6?

What is God’s plan for your life, according to our passage?

In what ways have you seen God shaping your life?

How will you respond to this passage this week?

Who is someone you can share this passage with this week?