But God
Ephesians • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 2 viewsBecause of his great love, mercy, and grace, God intervenes in humanity’s hopeless condition by uniting sinners to Christ. Through union with Christ believers are made alive, raised into a new citizenship and identity, and seated with him in present victory awaiting future fulfillment. The sermon calls hearers to ask whether they are truly in Christ and whether their lives reflect that new reality.
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.
4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Our position (1-3)
This ought to bring us low
All things being equal this ought to
But God (4-7)
Literally, “but God” – NIV chooses smoothness and loses impact
“These two words, in and of themselves, in a sense contain the whole of the gospel.” Lloyd-Jones
Our situation is desperate and hopeless, but God intervenes by graciously providing us three blessings
Our Response (8-10)
Today we will answer three questions about this little expression “but God”
Why did God intervene?
How did God intervene?
What was God’s intervention?
[Why] Because of his great love
[Why] Because of his great love
Literal translation (v. 4): “But God, rich in mercy, because of the great love he had for us”
Four descriptions of God’s disposition towards us
Love “Because of his great love”
Mercy “rich in mercy”
Grace “by grace you have been saved”
Kindness “expressed in his kindness”
These four descriptions are hard to distinguish but collectively work to reveal some important truths
God’s blessings flow from God’s character
8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
9 He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
14 for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.
God’s love towards us precedes our redemption
8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
The “but God” of this passage provides hope to the hopeless
[How] With Christ
[How] With Christ
Union with Christ
Union in marriage
Two Types of Union
Representative union
Federal/Representative
Desert Storm – we fought
22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.
Wonderful but incomplete
Life-giving union
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
[What} Gave us Three Blessings
[What} Gave us Three Blessings
1. Made Us Alive with Christ
1. Made Us Alive with Christ
5 [But God…} made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.
Our understanding of being made alive must grow out of our understanding of being dead.
1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.
When we are made alive we are transformed
“The difference between the sinner and the Christian, the unbeliever and the believer, is not that the believer, the Christian, has certain faculties which the other man lacks. No, what happens is that this new disposition given to the Christian directs his faculties in an entirely different way. He is not given a new brain; he is not given a new intelligence, or anything else. He has always had these; they are his servants, his instruments, his ‘members,’ as Paul calls them in the sixth chapter of Romans; what is new is a new bent, a new disposition. He has turned in a different direction; there is a new power working in him and guiding his faculties. This is the thing that makes a man a Christian. (Lloyd-Jones)
We are not changed like a frog into a prince where there is not connection between what we are and what we were.
We are changed like a compass being removed from a metal box freeing it to point in the direction it always should have pointed.
2. Raised Us Up with Christ
2. Raised Us Up with Christ
6 And God raised us up with Christ
The words “raised up” is sometimes used to refer to the resurrection, but that’s not their meaning here.
The context of our next blessing from Christ points us this direction (“Seated with”)
How are we raised up?
We become creatures of a new world
14 May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
36 Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”
10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
The implications of new world citizenship
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.
Obligation: We live for it
Benefit: Eternal, durable rewards
This verb is in the past tense, meaning that in some sense this has already happened
Our citizenship right now is in another place
3. Seated Us with Christ
3. Seated Us with Christ
and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
“Seated with him” shares the “already, not yet” framing of the other two blessings – past tense verbs, meeting present tense needs, waiting fur future tense fulfillment
Seated at the throne
1 The Lord says to my lord:
“Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet.”
Those who are in Christ share his reign.
Satan’s power of deception, temptation, and opposition is still active
In Ephesians, that reign particularly pertains to the powers of Satan
20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.
2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.
10 His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms,
27 and do not give the devil a foothold.
11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.
When Christ crushed the serpent’s head on the cross, those who are in him shared in that victory
The “already, not yet” aspect is key
We are fighting a winning battle
We are still fighting the battle
Conclusion
Conclusion
7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
This small section began with an answer to the question “why?” – Because of his great love for us
It ends with another answer to the same question – “To show the incomparable riches of his grace expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus”
The love and mercy of v. 4 is fully developed into a display of grace and kindness.
Our salvation is a form of revelation
The wonders of general revelation
The incomparable glory of the revelation of our salvation
We have been answering questions about God’s response to our desperate situation (why, how, what).
Let’s close by asking another question that you have to answer:
Are you in Christ?
Are you living like someone in Christ?
