And You But God (Eph 2:1-7)

And You… But God! Ephesians 2:1-7 Pray & Intro: We are still on the resurrection power of God to give life.  From Paul’s prayer that they should know Christ and his resurrection power to Paul now proclaiming the transforming power and mercy of God to those he has made his own. Read Passage: Paul shows the gravity of our situation apart from Christ to magnify the greatness of God’s mercy (in making us alive with Christ).  To what end? That we should love Him. I. And YOU (we all) – vv. 1-3 A. Helpless and hopeless: Paul describes things like the depths of sin and its stronghold, the depravity and inability of man, and the wrath of God B. Not us but them? – WE ALL in v. 3 (to eventually all of mankind) C. The walking dead – lost, spiritually dead, under death’s dominion (separated from God & need God to give life b/c we, the dead, can’t possibly do anything about our situation) 1. Dead = no spiritual life – “…blind to the glory of Jesus Christ, and deaf to the voice of the Holy Spirit. …no love for God, no sensitive awareness of his personal reality, no leaping of their spirit towards him [to] cry, ‘Abba, Father,’ no longing for fellowship with his people. …as unresponsive to him as a corpse.” (Stott) 2. Walking in trespasses and sins – stepping over the delineated boundaries and missing the mark (one more passive, the other more active, perhaps) – but together intended to be comprehensive of human evil – dead in our full-fledged wickedness  “Those who are spiritually dead have no capacity to seek God (Rom. 3:10-18), to understand spiritual truth (1 Cor. 2:14), or to believe in the gospel (2 Cor. 4:4). It is foolishness to them (1 Cor. 1:18).” (Cole)  Don’t confuse this with lack of culpability. D. Lives directed by the power of evil: the world, the devil, the flesh (two external opponents to God and an internal one too) 1. According to (along) the ways of this world/age – our children and new believers 2. According to the ruling power of Satan  the spirit now working in the sons of disobedience (also means rejecting belief) 3. Living out the cravings of our flesh  doing the bidding of our evil desires/will in body and mind (seat of reason, thoughts, feelings) a. Understanding where normal physical cravings/desires become sin – hunger to gluttony, sleep to laziness, sex to lust) b. Mind – self-confidence and pride (race, education, religion)  “years I spent in vanity and pride… I didn’t care that my Lord was crucified… I didn’t know it was for me he died.” – but no longer is that the case: “mercy there was great …” E. Under God’s wrath/punishment (against sin) 1. Wrath = God’s burning anger due to holy hatred toward sin (John 3:36)  Is God’s wrath really a problem? (Theologically, no. Intellectually, I don’t think so. Spiritually and practically, very much.)  But understand, in the context of children of wrath, that God’s wrath is not separated from God’s love (or vice versa) [*Father] 2. By nature/origin (we do not have a nature that is inclined toward God without his transforming intervention… wearing Christianity as religion is like a pig wearing a tuxedo ) – some of us want to bounce back and forth in our theology: You want God to be God but you don’t like it when he does it his way. You love your ability to make choices and the ability to experience pleasure but you’re angry with God for his justice and wrath against the wrong choices you make.  “Salvation vindicates the greatness and the character of God in a special way and in a manner which nothing else does.” Martin Lloyd-Jones II. But God! (vv. 4-7)  Oh the gracious initiative of God! A. Being rich in mercy, because of his great love, and of his own “making” – his mighty resurrection power (last week)  [*vineyard] You were caught stealing from the master who graciously gave you work (stealing glory – lack of obedience and obeisance [worship/honor]); so he let you become enslaved to your sin, held captive by the father of lies (because you foolishly demonstrated a desire for trinkets instead of having him for your treasure); ultimately a dead man on death row, justly condemned for your wickedness. – BUT GOD! 1. Distinctively rich in mercy (lenient because of compassion/pity) 2. Out of his great love he loved us (Rom. 5:8) 3. Made alive TOGETHER WITH Christ – Made us alive when we were dead.  Flawed but helpful illustrations? Medicinal cure; drowning man grabbing lifeline (well, dead people would do neither) B. Paul can’t wait  - by grace you have been saved! (past) C. Present: raising and seating us – Christ’s destiny has become [ours] as well. (O’Brien)  totally identified with Christ – now citizens of heaven (in that sense there with Him), part of His heavenly kingdom -- seated: authority and prayer D. Future (coming ages): to show the surpassing riches of God’s grace in kindness toward us in Christ.  How to apply our present and future blessings to the present: Col. 3:1-4 III. So what? A. Let God bury your past (of death, captivity, and condemnation) and lead you to a new present and future. – From a son of disobedience to a son of God! From children of wrath by nature to children of faith by grace. No longer helpless and hopeless, but helped and hopeful. 1. Extend that to apply it: From evil desires (of the flesh and mind hostile to God) to holy desire for our Savior and Father. 2. And from the bad news to the good news you long to share with others: dead are made alive, captives set free, and condemned forgiven! B. Why does Paul go on about such things? 1. Such is the condition of every person. 2. Such was the condition of Paul himself. 3. Such is the love of God. Such is Paul’s love for God. 4. Paul wants you to know and experience the joy of embracing the God of such love. a. Your highest good and God’s highest glory are one and the same. – Rom. 5:8; 1 John 4:19; See the last verses of this letter: 6:23-24 “Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible.” b. Love God. To love Christ is to desire him. To love him is to trust him. To love him is to follow him. To love him is to learn from him. To love him is to obey him.  Christian, for all of your religion I fear for you that you might lose sight of your relationship to Jesus. Love God. [re-read vv. 4-5] Ps. 51:5 I was brought forth in iniquity; in sin did my mother conceive me. Take It Home: Further application from “And You… But God!” (Eph. 2:1-7) Paul shows the gravity of our situation apart from Christ to magnify the greatness of God’s mercy (in making us alive with Christ).  To what end? That we should love Him. • Do you really see your sin for what it is? Do you see your inability for what it is? – Why should each of these truths have great significance for your life? • While believers have a new nature, we still battle with our old nature (Gal. 5:16-24). How can believers “fight back” against Satan, worldliness, and the flesh? (Consider the role of the Holy Spirit and the Bible.) • What does the truth of God’s wrath (regarding sin), as well as his mercy, do for you in terms of motivation to share Christ with others? (1 Tim. 1:15-16) • How do God’s power, mercy, love, grace, and kindness toward you affect your desire for him? Measure your love for God according to how you desire him, trust him, follow him, learn from him, and obey him.