Death to Life (Eph. 2:1-10)
Notes
Transcript
Death to Life
Death to Life
Introduction
Good evening! It is so good to see everyone here tonight. We are closing out our series in the book of Ephesians this week as we will jump back into Mark. Before we begin, I do have a question for you.
Have any of you heard of the phrase, “playing opossum?”
Raise your hand if you have heard that phrase. Can anyone tell me what it means? My grandad used to always use this phrase whenever I was a kid. It means to play dead. An opossum, when threatened, will play death in order to be left alone. But then, it will jump up and run away after it feels the threat is gone.
So, you might see a opossum and think its dead and then all of a sudden it is alive and runs away. Today, we are going to be looking at Ephesians 2:1-10, and we will see how as humans we can go from death to life through faith in Jesus Christ. Remember, we are all born with a fallen nature that inclines us toward sin. What that means is that we are all born with a sway that leads us toward sinning and dishonoring God. It is because of this sin that we are deemed dead, meaning that we are spiritually dead. However, we can be made alive through Christ.
With that in mind look with me at:
1 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.
Pray.
We all once were, or currently are, dead in sin.
We all once were, or currently are, dead in sin.
Remember that Paul has been writing to Ephesian believers meeting in a network of house churches. As he writes to them, he has finished his prayer for the Ephesian believers. Now, he calls them to remember that they have been saved by faith in Jesus Christ. Paul calls these believers to remember how they were prior to salvation through Christ. Prior to Christ, Paul tells these believers that they were dead.
1 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—
Unlike the opossum that was playing dead, apart from faith in Jesus Christ, we are dead. We are spiritually dead because of sin. The opossum was playing dead. If we do not place our faith in Christ, we are not almost dead, playing dead, or sick. We are absolutely 100% percent dead as a doornail if we are not in Christ.
What does a dead person do? A dead person does not do anything! Why? Because they are dead. Therefore, whenever we do not place our faith in Jesus’s death, burial, and resurrection, we are dead. We can do nothing to honor God. We are dead and can’t do anything to make ourselves alive. We can’t do anything at all to make ourselves alive because we do not have faith in Christ.
Remember, we are all born with a nature inclined toward sin. Because of this, we are spiritually dead because we all fall to sin. Each an every one of us has broken God’s law and dishonored Him. Because of that we are considered sons of disobedience. The Scripture says we all once walked in sin. This means that we are living in disobedience to God. We are not living for God. Instead, we are living against God. We walk in disobedience meaning we do not live according to God’s Word. We live however we want to. We live according to our sinful nature dishonoring God at every turn. That is what Paul means whenever it says that the Ephesian believers once walked in disobedience. They were living according to their sinful flesh and not living for God.
If we do not have a relationship with Jesus, we do the same thing. For those of us who have accepted Jesus, we all once walked in disobedience to God as well. We all lived in sin and dishonored God. We once told lies, stole, cheated, placed idols in front of God, and fell to other sins as well. We all once walked in disobedience to God. However, if you have not placed your faith in Jesus, you are still walking in disobedience. You are still walking in sin and trespasses. This is the way of the world. The world lives at odds with God. The world is under the sway of satan. The world does not live for Jesus because of satan’s influence in the world.
Also, before we had faith in Jesus, we were following the ways of satan. Look at verse 2 when it says, “following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.” Those of us in Christ, we once walked following sin and were under the sway of satan. That is scary but it is what the Bible tells us. If you are apart from Christ, this is still the case. If we are not in Christ, we are incapable of honoring Christ. I am not saying that apart from faith in Jesus Christ that one is possessed by satan. However, apart from Christ, one lives according to the world in which satan has sway. If you are not living for Christ with faith in Jesus, you are dead and following satan.
The ultimate end result of one not in Christ is doom.
Apart from faith in Christ:
One walks according to sinful passions. Sinful passions of the flesh are listed in
19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Apart from Christ, one lives in such a way following their sinful passions dishonoring God.
This is where we all once were. If we have placed our faith in Jesus, prior to placing our faith in Jesus, we were once following our sinful passions and we were deemed as children of wrath like the rest of mankind. All of mankind falls to sin because in Adam all of mankind sinned. All fall to sin. If one does not repent of sin and turn to Christ, he or she is doomed and bound for hell. God will exercise His righteous wrath upon those who do not place their faith in Jesus. That is what it means to be a child of wrath.
This is the bad news. Apart from Christ all are sinners incapable of honoring God. Apart from Christ, you are walking in disobedience. How do you know if you are walking in disobedience?
Are you following your sinful passions or God’s passions?
Is there a difference between the way you live and the way the world lives?
Have you placed your faith in Jesus Christ?
Now we come to the Good News.
God made a way to save us by giving up His Son, Jesus Christ.
God made a way to save us by giving up His Son, Jesus Christ.
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.
While we were dead in our trespasses and sin, God gave Jesus, His Son, to die on the cross for our sins. Also, while we were dead, God chose us to call upon Jesus for salvation. This reveals to us the nature of God. God is rich in mercy.
What that means is that God is does not give us what we deserve if we are in Christ. As we are born sinners that dishonor God, each of us is worthy of hell because of how we have sinned against God. However, God does not give us what we deserve. Instead, He has mercy upon us and gave of Himself, Jesus Christ to save us. God had mercy upon humanity by giving His perfect, sinless Son to die on the cross to save humanity. All we have to do is accept that mercy.
This also reveals God’s deep love for us. God loves us so much that He gave us His Son to transition us from death to life. We were dead in our trespasses and sins. But God has made us alive in Christ. And this is all of grace.
Mercy is not getting what we do deserve. Grace is getting what we do not deserve. We deserve hell, but God grants us live through faith in Jesus Christ. We get what we do not deserve through Jesus Christ. By grace you have been saved.
These Ephesian believers were dead in their trespasses and sins just like each and everyone of us were prior to faith in Jesus. Some of you may not have accepted Christ, and are still dead in your sin. Only through faith in Jesus’s death on the cross, burial, and resurrection can we be saved. God granted us grace in the sending of His Son to die for us. We are not worthy of Jesus’s sacrifice, but God gives grace to save us. He does all the work to draw us back to Himself. All we have to do is accept the free gift of eternal life. Eternal life is only found by placing your faith in Jesus.
Look at what Paul says regarding those made alive in Christ, “and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” If we have accepted Jesus Christ, we already have been seated with Jesus in eternity. Our spot is waiting on us. We are secure in Christ. Repent and believe in Jesus, and your eternity will be secured by the blood of Jesus Christ.
15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.
Think of a gift. Whenever someone offers you a gift, do you have to do anything to receive it? No, you just have to accept. So, as the Holy Spirit draws you to salvation in Christ, all you have to do is say yes to His drawing. Also, Romans says that the grace of Jesus abounded for many. Not all will accept this free gift through Jesus Christ. Some will reject. Those who reject remain dead in their sin and their end is still doom. However, do not let that be you tonight. If you feel Jesus drawing you to salvation, please accept the free gift He offers.
God gives of Himself to reveal to us his immeasurable riches that are in Christ. We have been moved from complete and total death to be fully alive through faith in Christ Jesus.
This leads to our last point tonight.
God made the way for salvation, and He is the One that draws us to Himself.
God made the way for salvation, and He is the One that draws us to Himself.
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.
God does all the work to draw the sinner to salvation. Prior to faith in Jesus Christ, we could do nothing to honor God or save ourselves. R. Kent Hughes writes, “those without Christ are spiritually dead and so cannot respond to the witness of the Holy Spirit or understand the glories of Christ.”
Without the Holy Spirit’s enabling, we are unable to come to Christ or understand the truths of Scripture. God does all the work by allowing for the Holy Spirit to work in our lives to draw us to Christ. Notice that Paul says, “it is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.” We have already touched on this subject a little bit, but we cannot work enough to earn a spot in heaven. We cannot do enough to forgive ourselves from sin. All we can do is accept the free gift of Jesus’s death on the cross and resurrection from the dead that paid for our sin and brings about salvation.
It is only by God’s grace that we are saved. We cannot save ourselves and the reason for that is so all honor and praise is directed to Christ.
I was raised in a Christian home. I went to church each and every Sunday. I was a good kid by the world’s standards. I made straight A’s and even served in my community. But, that was not enough to save me. My works were nothing. Only faith in Jesus Christ can save us from our sin. If we could save ourselves that would cause us to boast in ourselves. But since we cannot save ourselves, all honor and glory must go to Jesus because He is the One who can save us from our sins.
After placing our faith in Jesus, we then become the workmanship of Christ. That means that we are able to honor Jesus through doing works all for His glory and not our own. The call is for the believer to follow God’s Word and do good works all for His glory. Works do not save us, but in Christ, they honor Him.
26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.
Share the Gospel