Eph 2_6-7 Risen with Christ

Biblical:

2 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 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.

Personal:

Making up words…
Funner…

Something is funner than something else…

Or Best-est…

Not just a best friend… but someone who is your best-est friend

You probably ain’t gonna find funner or best-est in the dictionary… you ain’t gonna find gunna either… but you will find ain’t…
Horace Walpole… you all know Horace right? In 1754 he coined a word. One that did not appear in any dictionary… the word… SERENDIPITY

“the faculty of making happy and unexpected discoveries by accident”

Serendipity…
Paul uses… familiar phrases

Make alive…
To Raise up…
To sit down with…

Syn – together with…
Synzoopoeio – “to make alive together with”
Synegeiro – “to raise up together with”
Synkathizo – “to sit down together with”
VERY SIGNIFICANT…
Not just with, or in… “together with”

Bridge:

Tough teaching…

Nothing apart from Him
John 6:35 – Bread of Heaven
John 15:5 - Vine and Branches
Matthew 26:26-28 He is to be consumed like wine…

John 4 He is to be consumed like water…

Rejection of Christ… mans rejection of us…

Lk 10:16 “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”

The glory of Christ manifest in us!

John 17:22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

Tough teaching…
Paul used “in Him”, “in Christ”, “In Christ Jesus” 164 times…

Paul emphasizes the fact our salvation is “in Christ”…
Chosen before the creation of the world – Eph 1:4
Redeemed in Christ Eph 1:7
Justified in Him Gal 2:17
Sanctified in Him 1 Cor 1:2
And Enriched in everyway in Him 1 Cor 1:5
ALL THIS THROUGH THIS TOUGH TEACHING OF MYSTICAL UNION!!

The heart of salvation
The heart of faith
It is the difference between Christianity and the lies of the world and other religions
Covenantal Relationship…

Effectual… technical position before God
Imputed righteousness
Sovereign Providential relationship

Experiential relationship…

Actual… current effects

Compare guilty to jail…

· Vital… real… Personal… Transforming

Body:

I. “to make alive together with”

4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ
Once dead…. Remember…

Now alive!
Vital… real… Personal… Transforming?
Dead to God… to praying and worshipping!!

The unbeliever lives in the pursuit of self…

They are there own reason to exist

Money, Power, Leisure
Our priorities…

To be made alive in Christ…

To have new hope
To have salvation

To be made alive “together” with Christ

Is to adopt his direction
Model him… follow his path
Not a disconnected gift…
Giving your mother-in-law two tickets to the ballet is a distant gift
Taking your wife to an NHL game is a together gift

We have not just been given the tickets
We have not just been made alive
We have been made alive together with Christ

New Life IN Him
New Life THROUGH Him
New Life TOGETHER WITH Him!!

We do not journey alone or without purpose!!
Alive as Christ is Alive!
Made us alive together with Christ
Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
See this life is no add-on
It is… or it isn’t
Together with Him and alive…

Modelling… following… living

Or dead in trespasses and living according to the course of this world.
Philippians 1:21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
Made us alive together with Christ

II. “6 and raised us up with him”
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 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
We have been raised up…
Often used of resurrection…

This case the context would show it is more likely speaking of the ascension…
That we have been moved….
Together with Christ
From being citizens of this realm to being citizens of heaven – raised up in Christ
Our allegiance, hope and citizenship have moved from the perishable to the imperishable
We have filed an eternal change of address card

Ephesians 2:19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household,
Intimately… not a distant proclamation…
We have been raised together with Christ…

Joint heirs
Ambassadors
As Sons and Daughters

Philippians 3:20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;
This is temporary shelter…
Apart from Christ we would not be alive to know of our heavenly home…
It is Christ alone….
Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
Not separate from Christ… different gift… different place… not send your mother-in-law to the ballet… in Christ
6 And raised us up with him

III. “to sit down together with”

4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 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,
Raised our citizenship… from the world to heaven
And seated us… aorist verb… with the FATHER (past tense… already has taken place)

… in Christ Jesus

Not just a change of location but a change of role
Remember what it meant to be joint heirs…

This statement points to the pinnacle of that inheritance…
To sit at the right hand of God together with Christ is the place of rule and authority
Psalm 110:1 The LORD says to my Lord: "Sit at My right hand Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet."
Matt 22:44, Acts 2:34-35; Heb 1:13; Heb 10:13

That is where we have arrived… and we need to live according to our station…
Many a movie depicts the hapless monarch…

The unknown who through freak circumstances becomes king or queen
And bumbles and stumbles as they try to live out that role

But in Christ we are not alone… but we are called to live the reality of our position.
A position intimacy and revelation… closeness… to the heart of God
It is where we are now “seated together with Him”
But God…
We did not deserve this place… but God
We were sinners but God…
The presence and intimacy of God
People burst into flames for seeking the believers position apart from genuine faith
might sit down together with Him
This is our promise!!
We have been made alive together with Chirst
We have been raised together with Him
So that we might sit down together with Him at the right hand of God…

IV. Privilege and Intimacy

7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
We are together with Christ…
So that God’s glory might be demonstrated!!
That his mercy and compassion in grace would be displayed!!

That Jesus would be exalted…

1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
We are a demonstration of the nature of God… to His Glory…
That we…. together with Christ Jesus… would be alive, raised, and seated with God!

Conclusion:

Made us alive together with Christ

Are you alive in Christ?
Has the orientation of your life changed…

Not perfection…
Orientation…
Do you seek after God? In all things, before all things…
To tell a dying person they have life is cruel… to pretend they have a chance…
Seek whole-heartedly…

Have you been raised us up with him?

Are you this worldly?
Are you so focused on the temporary that you can’t see the things of heaven?
Do you live a stranger in this world…?
Our do you live your inheritance… your promise…?

Are you seated together with Him?

Do you have that intimate relationship with God?
Do you savour the glory and presence of God?
Do you live in the light of his Word and in prayer?

Alive, Raised and Seated… together with Him
Your salvation for His glory!