06PM January 8 Ephesians 2 1_10
January 8, 2006—Evening Worship
“The Glorious Grace of God” Series – Part 4
The Salvation Combination
Pictures of Grace
Ephesians 2:1-10
Intro: You are valuable to God! You are precious to God! You are of great worth to God! God went to great lengths to secure your salvation. But He was willing to do so b/c He loves you w/an everlasting love!
Jesus Christ left His home in glory to come to this earth & live in human flesh; to die as your substitute on a rough, rugged Roman cross! Jesus Christ gave His life in exchange for yours & then 3 days later, by the power of God, He was raised from the dead!
Oh, you are valuable to God, but not b/c of anything you’ve ever done! It’s not b/c of anything you would ever do! It’s all b/c of God’s amazing grace! Amazing Grace how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found; was blind but now I see!
The whole book of Ephesians details for us the glorious grace of God. & when you take the sinfulness of man & combine it w/the grace of God, you find God to be the God of all forgiveness. Think back on your life before God saved you. You didn’t love God; you didn’t care about God or His ways or even His word. You just lived for yourself & your own pleasure.
As the apostle Paul was writing to the believers in Ephesus, he penned these words of great encouragement as he develops for us 3 pictures of grace in the 1st 10 verses of chapter 2. Let’s read them together as we observe these pictures of grace.
Ephesians 2 1 & you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses & sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh & of the mind, & were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, b/c of His great love w/which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together w/Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 & raised us up together, & made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, & that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
- The 1st picture Paul develops is…
1. A Picture of the Natural Man. (vv. 1b-3)
- & as he develops this picture, he helps us to understand it by breaking it down into 3 elements.
- 1st the Scripture tells us that the natural man, all those who do not know Christ in a personal love relationship, are…
A. Spiritually Dead in sin. (v. 1b) “…you…who were dead in trespasses & sins.”
- The Bible does not say that those who don’t know Jesus are on their last leg; it doesn’t say that they are drowning; it doesn’t even say that they are dying.
- The Bible says that all those who don’t know Jesus are already dead spiritually.
- They are dead in their trespasses & sins.
- That means that they have no capacity to choose to follow God; it means they have no sensitivity to the word of God or the Spirit of God.
- Being spiritually dead is not something that happens to a few people here or there.
- Spiritual death is the condition passed down to all of us from Adam, who was the 1st human that sinned against God.
- Adam was created in a state of innocence, not knowing any evil, only the good.
- But when he chose to sin, Adam plummeted the whole human race into sin, & therefore, we were all born in sin.
Genesis 2 16 & the Lord God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good & evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."
- & that death, spiritual death, passed to all mankind.
- Men & women, boys & girls in every nation all over the world are spiritually dead in sin.
- But not only that, but the Bible tells us they are also…
B. Physically Powerless to change. (v. 2) “…in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience.”
- W/o exception, everyone that is not a part of the family of God, is walking “according to the course of this world.”
- IOW lost men & women, boys & girls in every nation all over the world are just going w/the flow. They’re just doing what everyone else around them is doing.
- They are just like fish that swim in schools or birds that fly in formation.
- They are just doing what everyone else around them is doing & they’re doing it b/c that’s all they know to do.
- Being born a sinner & being a sinner by choice, they have no real understanding of God!
- & having no understanding of God they have no desire to change & furthermore, they have no ability to change.
- They are pawns to the will of “the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience.”
- All unbelievers are under the influence of the devil; all unbelievers are slaves of sin; all unbelievers are powerless to change themselves or their desires b/c they are bound in sin.
- IOW they are w/o hope, w/o help, w/o power, w/o purpose—being separated from God!
- But not only are all unbelievers spiritually dead & physically powerless to change, they are also…
C. Morally Bankrupt by nature. (v. 3) “…among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh & of the mind, & were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.”
- Every one of us, before God saved us, were just like every other unbeliever; all we wanted to do was to have a good time; to do our own thing; to be our own boss; to decide for ourselves what & when & where we would do what we would do!
- I can think back on some of the things I did before God saved me & it actually causes me to shutter!
- My mind was so far in the gutter; my heart was so hard; my thoughts were so evil; my desires were so disgusting—all b/c I had no moral compass.
- I had nothing to direct my life but the hunt for pleasure.
- Now you may have not been as much of a sinner as I was – or you may have been worse than I was – but the point is that no matter how good & helpful & moral you were or tried to be—it was as filthy rags before a holy God!
- & b/c we were all God-hating sinners, His wrath was hanging over us, just as it is over all those who are alien, unbelievers.
John 3 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.18 "He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, b/c he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
- The wrath of God is abiding over all unbelievers who continue in their sinful state.
- & you see that Paul is talking about all of us b/c we were in that same condition before God saved us.
- That’s not a very pretty picture of the natural man, but Paul goes on to give us…
2. A Picture of the Supernatural God. (vv. 1a, 4-7)
- While the natural man is spiritually dead, the picture Paul develops of the supernatural God reveals that He is…
A. Spiritually Alive forever. (vv. 4-5) 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, b/c of His great love w/which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together w/Christ (by grace you have been saved).
- After that rather dismal picture of the natural man, Paul connects that thought w/the simple phrase, “But God.”
- It was God’s mercy that reached down to us in our bondage to sin; it was His overflowing abundant mercy that delivered us.
- Why? b/c of His great, abundant, exceeding, overwhelming, unconditional, eternal love!
- & notice that vv. 4-5 echoes the thought of Romans 5:8 which says that, “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
- But what I really want to point out is in v. 5, that God “made us alive together w/Christ.”
- Here, the Bible confirms the truth that Jesus is alive; He died, but was raised from the dead; He defeated death, hell & the grave & now is seated at the right hand of God the Father, where He intercedes for all believers!
- Jesus is alive & He’s alive forever more! He’ll never face death again b/c He’s conquered death!
- & if we believe His word & have faith in Him, death for us is just a passage way to glory!
- Jesus is alive forevermore & He is…
B. Permanently Omnipotent over all. (vv. 1a, 6) 1a & you He made alive…6 & raised us up together, & made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
- No one but God could accomplish that task! Only God could make you, a lost, spiritually dead, rebel sinner – alive & raise you up w/Christ to sit w/Him in heavenly places!
- Only the all powerful, Almighty God could do that! & he did it for all who believe!
- All believers were once unbelievers, but God did what only God could do!
- He regenerated us; He placed life in these old dead bodies; He opened our hearts & illuminated our minds to His truth!
- He called us & drew us & gave us sense enough to respond to the offer of His grace!
Romans 11 33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom & knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments & His ways past finding out!
- IOW Paul says, “I don’t know how He does what He does, but I’m so glad that He does it!”
- God is able to plan & execute the salvation of all who would believe as He, in a demonstration of His sovereign loving grace elects them as part of His family.
- God has the power & He uses that power in perfect wisdom & justice!
He is alive & He is omnipotent & He is…
C. Exceedingly Gracious to us. (v. 7) 7 …that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
- I said in the introduction that you are valuable to God & you are! You are precious to Him!
- You are, as it were, a trophy that will forever display the grace, mercy, love, care, compassion, kindness & forgiveness of God!
- Just think of it – through out all eternity – you’re going to be a reason that others give glory to God!
- They’re going to look at you, there in heaven, & know that you were just like them; you were a low-down, rotten to the core, rebel who hated God & His word & ways.
- But there you are, in heaven, b/c God showed you kindness & grace when He reached down to scoop you up from the mire & filth of your sinful bondage & saved you!
- Oh thank God for His wonderful grace! Thank God for His mercy, kindness, love!
- We were nothing w/o God’s grace! There was nothing good in us; nothing that made God want to love us.
- We were not like little puppies w/big sad eyes & very little strength – so that when God looked at us He thought, “Oh, how precious! Aren’t they so cute!”
- We were spiritually dead, God-hating, rebel sinners.
- There was no reason for God to love us & yet He did!
- & so for all eternity you can draw attention to the loving grace of God your Savior!
- Paul has given us a picture of the natural man, a picture of the supernatural God & now…
3. A Picture of the Radical Transformation. (vv. 8-10)
- This transformation began w/…
A. The Divine Plan of salvation. (v. 8) 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, & that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.
- There is no other way; there is no other plan; there are no other options; there are no other alternatives!
- Anyone who has ever been saved has been saved by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ!
- Let me remind you that God’s grace is His unmerited favor. We can not earn it; there is no work we can do to achieve it; it is His free gift as an act of His sovereignty.
- Since it is a gift, He decides to whom it will be given.
- We don’t decide to have God give us a gift – He decides, He chooses, He elects.
- Salvation is God’s gift to give not ours to take.
- He implants w/in us a regenerate heart & then draws us to the place where we can exercise the faith He gives us.
- Our response of faith in Christ is in response to God’s grace offered in the gospel.
- The Bible tells us that salvation is of the Lord & it’s His gift to give.
- & through His gift of grace & faith, there is a radical transformation of the rebel sinner into a loyal saint.
- But notice…
B. The Divine Proclamation about salvation. (v. 9) 9 …not of works, lest anyone should boast.
- There is no work to do that will earn your salvation.
- There is nothing we can give to God or do for Him that He needs or doesn’t already have. So our attempts to please God some other way are meaningless & useless.
- B/c God knows our tendency toward pride & arrogance, if anyone could point to how righteous they were in order to make it into heaven, they would.
- But it’s not about us; not about what we have done; not about what we could do; not about how spiritual we are; not about any acts of kindness or works of righteousness.
- No, our salvation is all about what God did; it all points to His righteousness & His ability & His power & His grace!
- IOW in heaven the only one receiving glory for salvation will be the Triune God!
- & here on earth there is no one worthy of praise but the Triune God!
- The Bible says, “By the keeping of the law shall no flesh be justified.”
- So God has decreed that the only way to be saved is by His grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone!
- Which brings us to…
C. The Divine Purpose in salvation. (v. 10) 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
- You are who you are tonight by God’s grace & plan!
- You are gifted the way you are tonight according to God’s purpose for your life!
- You are created in God’s image, as His masterpiece, to do His will, for His glory!
- IOW God made you, to gift you, to use you that others, through you, might believe!
- God has laid out the pattern of your life in the works that He has purposed for you to accomplish & He’s made you & equipped you & empowered you for such a time as this!
- What are you doing for the glory of God now that God has saved you?
Conclusion: It’s all b/c of God’s amazing grace; b/c on Calvary’s mountain, He took my place. & some day, some glorious morning, I’ll see Him face to face! & it’s all b/c of God’s amazing grace!
These 3 pictures help us to understand God’s purpose, God’s plan, & our participation. I wonder—if we stood before God right now, would we be confident or ashamed of our work for Him?
Invitation: God maybe calling you tonight to salvation. If you sense God speaking to you about the eternal destiny of your soul, would you repent & place your faith in Him?
Or maybe God has shown you a serious lack in your service to Him. Would you confess that & seek His forgiveness & commit yourself to follow closely after the Lord?
It’s my desire to meet each one of you in heaven & to be present when God says to you, “Well done good & faithful servant!” Tell me, could He say that to you right now? If not, will you offer yourself to Him tonight as a living sacrifice?
Hymn 555 A Child of the King