Course With Jesus

I. INTRO

A. Where we’ve been

a. Illust. 2 roads

1. Big freeway lots o lanes, lots o folks, all spiritually dead…the highway to hell

i. eph 2:1-4 explains this as the state o all humanity

2. narrow, 1way st. lots o twists & turns, sparsely populated

i. this is the course w/Jesus

ii. the only way on this rd. is the offramp: of salvation

B. Where we’re going

a. This narrow rd…the course w/Jesus is what we’re going to be talking about 2day:

C. Main Text

Ephesians 2:5–10 ESV

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.

D. Pray

II. BODY - Jump right in w/vs 5

Ephesians 2:5 ESV

5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—

A. Salvation is made alive with Christ (what’s that like)

Ephesians 2:5 ESV

5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—

Ephesians 2:6 ESV

6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

a. life with Christ is raised (2 fold)

1. Raised as resurrected

i. that is re-created

-we are created in our mother’s womb:

Psalm 139:13–14 ESV

13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.

*so, what happened?

~Sin nature marred what God created, so he made a fix:

~So, God sent Jesus in2 the world to re-create us in Christ. (that’s what we read @end o )

-we are re-created in Christ

*So, God sent Jesus in2 the world to re-create us in Christ. (that’s what we read @end o )

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.

*plays out when we read

2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

*How?

2 Corinthians 5:18–19 ESV

18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

2. Raised as ascended

Ephesians 2:6 ESV

6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

i. “in heavenly places”

-And not just anywhere in the heavenly places:

Ephesians 1:20 ESV

20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,

*if we’re w/Christ we’re at God’s right hand!

3. Raised now & later

i. now spiritually

-we r re-created now “is a new creation” “raised… already happened, current situation!

- we r ascended now

ii. later physically

-we will b given an eternal body

2 Corinthians 5:2 ESV

2 For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling,

2 Corinthians 5:4 ESV

4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

-we will go up w/that new body when Jesus comes back

1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 ESV

16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.

b. life with Christ is seated

1. Seated means enthroned with Christ

Eph 1:

Ephesians 1:20–21 ESV

20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.

i. w/Christ we have authority over all the spiritual pwrs o this earth!

-This is why Jesus could say:

Matthew 16:18–19 ESV

18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

-caveat: our name isn’t above every name, but we r in Christ, thus we take on the name that’s above every name: Jesus!

2. alive, raised, seated with Christ is our spiritual blessings

Ephesians 1:3 ESV

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,

Ephesians 1:6 ESV

6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

c. Life with Christ is abundant

John 10:10 ESV

10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

Jn 10:10

1. Abundant means full, complete, whole

i. This doesn’t mean the narrow, 1way, course w/Christ is easy street!

-filled w/vacations, all the $$ u want

ii. it means that the good shepherd will

-defend u against spiritual distruction

-& provision 4 our persecution as we proclaim this good news o salvation

iii. this course w/Christ isn’t easy st. but a crazy, difficult, painful, awesome, amazing adventure!

-that’s why Paul wrote

2 Corinthians 4:8–10 ESV

8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.

d. Life with Christ is immeasurable grace & kindness from God

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.