Motivated by Grace

Introduction: Think about all the things that you have to do on a regular basis. All of your responsibilities. From home, to work, to school, to your church.

What motivates you to get stuff done?

In any given situation there are different motivators.

Fear is a powerful motivator. Sometimes this is fear of another person. Other times this is fear of how something will make us feel if we don’t do it.

A subset of this is called FOMO or the fear of missing out. We don’t want to regret missing out so we’re motivated to avoid regret.

Joy is a powerful motivator. We are naturally motivated to do things that will make us happy.

Love is another motivator. We are motivated to do things for people we love.

Compassion is another motivator. When we someone in need, we are motivated to meet that need because we have compassion.

And while there are positives and negatives to each of these, they are all a part of our motivation to serve God.

We are called to fear God.

We are invited into the joy of the Lord.

We are commanded to love the Lord our God.

We are told to show compassion on God’s children.

Each motivation has a place.

But one that is often forgotten is the motivation of Thanksgiving.

Transition to the Text: Turn with me in your Bibles to Ephesians 2:1-10. For the last few weeks, we have looked what Paul tells us we ought to be thankful for. Naturally we are thankful for our salvation. We are thankful for those things that accompany our salvation. We are thankful for God’s work in other.

Today we shift to our response and ask the question, what should our motivation be in follow Jesus?

Not to keep you in suspense I offer to you our Authentic Principle.

Introduce:

Authentic Principle: Let God’s grace motivate you to live for Him.

Read:

Ephesians 2:1–10 (ESV)

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.

Authentic Principle: Let God’s grace motivate you to live for Him.

1. Because of Sin we are dead. (Ephesians 2:1-3)

Explanation: Paul recounts the history of a Christian beginning in chapter 2. Chapter 1 ended with the glorious climax of Christians seated with Jesus in glory because of what Jesus had done for us on the cross.

Chapter takes a drastic turn back to the beginning.

Illustration: I often will talk about my days before becoming a Christian as my “BC” day. Or before Christ.

Much like the world in the time before Jesus came into the world, the world was dark and dreary. Sin was everywhere and hope was becoming harder to come by, so were my days before Christ.

Many of us when we think of our time before we became Christians, we don’t fully grasp the reality of our situation. Most people think of themselves as generally good and Jesus just makes better what was already there.

But that’s not how the Bible describes a Christian’s BC days.

Paul, not one to pull punches, writes, “you were dead.”

Because of sin we are dead.

in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked.

You followed the world over God

You were a servant of satan

You lived for the flesh, doing whatever felt right or made us happy.

You were children of wrath.

Sometimes when someone writes “you,” it can feel accusatory, but we know that Paul includes himself here. He knows what he was like.

So what does this mean?

Apart for Christ, you are dead, no matter how alive you might seem.

What about people who’ve never had a chance to hear the gospel? Dead in their sin.

What about your relative who was the most kind, loving, and generous person you’ve ever known (even more than any Christian you’ve ever met)? Dead in their sin. Because none of that makes you a Christian. Only Jesus makes you a Christian.

Application: You might be thinking. I thought this was about thanksgiving. This is hard to handle.

You can’t be truly grateful until you knows what’s truly at stake.

If you are saved, it should make you truly grateful to God. And it should motivate you to share the gospel with those who need to know they are dead in their sin. They need to be warned, because most people believe that even if they don’t believe in Jesus, if they die, their good deeds will be enough.

Romans 3:12 ESV

12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

Verse 4 begins with one of the most powerful words in the English language. “But.”

Sometimes it is not a good word.

“You’re a great guy…but”

“I know you were hoping for a Christmas bonus…but”

“I went to the store like you asked me, but I forgot to get everything you asked me to get.”

“I love you, but I don’t like you right now.”

In vs. 4 we have a good but.

Because in spite of our sin and being dead,

But God....

2. Because of Grace we are Made Alive. (Ephesians 2:4-6)

Explanation: But God, rich in mercy, because of His great love for us....made us alive.

Just like we need to truly understand our situation before Christ, we need to truly understand how the change takes place.

We can dive deep down into deep theology of whether or not a dead person has the power to choose Jesus or not. We can sing a thousand verses of “I have decided to follow Jesus.” In the end, it was always God.

God made us alive. Not because of our worthiness. Not because of our good works that overcame our dead in sin situation. God looked upon us and chose us.

This goes back to chapter 1 of Ephesians where Pauls says, He chose us, predestined us for adoption, he redeemed us and gave us an inheritance.

That we are alive at all, is alone by God’s grace and mercy on us. We don’t deserve it. We can’t earn it.

This is amazing, but also difficult. Because again, we see people who were truly evil before Christ, murderers, rapists, thieves welcomed by Jesus with open arms while those people we see as “good even if they aren’t Christians” So a person who does awful things in life can accept Jesus and all is forgiven? Again, we must remember that our salvation is not based on works, but grace.

Illustration: Like me you’ve probably heard a lot of stories about people having near death experiences where they die for a few minutes only to come back recounting things they saw. We naturally can’t discuss the truth of all of them. Some stories have been debunked as fraudulent.

But there are enough stories of people having these experiences where they literally come back alive changed that gives some credence to the possibility that God can use any means to make people alive.

But the primary means he uses is other Christians sharing the gospel with the lost and then the Holy Spirit changing their minds and hearts into worshippers of Jesus.

Application: God didn’t come to make bad people good, or even good people better. He came to make dead people alive.

So let us be grateful that He has given us life.

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.

My children are to the age, where they are always asking “Why?” Clean your room. Why? Go to bed, “Why?” Eat your peas, “Why?” As parents we are tempted so say these words, “Because I said so!

Sometimes it’s appropriate to give an answer. God is not afraid of our “whys?”

Why did God make us, who are alive, alive?

vs. 7…so that in the coming ages, he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

Paul is talking about heaven. The ages to come are the eternity we will spend with Him in heaven.

So what is our response to God’s amazing grace?

3. Because of Faith we are saved. (Ephesians 2:7-10)

Explanation: My children are to the age, where they are always asking “Why?” Clean your room. Why? Go to bed, “Why?” Eat your peas, “Why?” As parents we are tempted so say these words, “Because I said so!

Sometimes it’s appropriate to give an answer. God is not afraid of our “whys?”

Why did God make us, who are alive, alive?

vs. 7…so that in the coming ages, he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

Paul is talking about heaven. The ages to come are the eternity we will spend with Him in heaven.

So what is our response to God’s amazing grace?

Faith and Works.

We start with Faith.

8-9 are powerful verses of God’s goodness and grace. They speak of how God’s saves us.

God’s part is grace. It is by God’s grace that we are saved.

Through faith is our part in that we put our faith in Jesus as the only way to God.

And just in case you were confused about whether or not you could earn it, Paul reminds us, this is not of your own doing,

- it is a gift from God

- not the result of works....

- why? So that no one may boast in themselves.

Vs. 10 leads into our 2nd response.

Good works. Wait, I thought you said we weren’t saved by works. Right, we aren’t saved by works. We are saved for works.

Some of us think of our Christian lives as getting saved at a young age and then waiting for heaven.

But we are saved for good works. The primary good work that Paul has in mind is sharing the gospel with others.

But there is also works of mercy with the need.

Feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty.

Clothing the naked

Visiting the sick and prisoner

We are God’s representatives here on earth. The way we act, reflects on God.

So we ought to walk in them.

Illustration:

Application: Be grateful by showing faith and getting to work.

Response: How will you respond to God’s grace in your life?

Summation:

Authentic Principle: Let God’s grace motivate you to live for Him.

1. Because of Sin we are dead. (Ephesians 2:1-3)

2. Because of Grace we are Made Alive. (Ephesians 2:4-6)

3. Because of Faith we are saved. (Ephesians 2:7-10)

Response: How will you respond to God’s grace in your life?

Closing Illustration: What motivates you?

One of my favorite movies is the count of Monte Cristo. The story of a man wrongly imprisoned. Who lived 13 year. He was thought dead by those who loved him.

While in prison he learned to fight and learned of a hidden treasure.

Upon escaping, he found the treasure, became the richest man in the world.

All motivated by revenge.

We get to see the story right up until the time he gets his revenge. The story ends.

Because like many movies and stories.

Most of us don’t want to see what comes next. Most of us don’t want to see that happily ever after is a struggle.

In this case, we don’t want to see a man try to change his motivation in an instant from revenge to something more loving.

We know, that this man likely needs years of counseling to deal with the PTSD.

Only God can truly make us alive and give us something better to live for. A better motivation is Grace.

A better motivation is to be truly grateful to God that we were once dead in sin but in spite of that God made us alive because of His great love for us so that in heaven, he will never stop showing his great love for us.

Again, in order to be truly grateful, you must truly know what’s at state.

Let God’s grace motivate you to live for him.

Jesus died for your sins and my sins because He loves His own people and will spend eternity with us in heaven.

[Prayer]

If that’s you, today I want to guide you in a prayer of thanksgiving, confession and repentance. There is nothing magical about this prayer. If you don’t believe it, it won’t matter.

But if you are feeling the Holy Spirit calling you to something more, you can use this prayer to start your own prayer.

God, I’m so grateful for what Jesus did for me on the cross. I know that he took the penalty of my sin and willingly died so that I didn’t have to. Please make me alive in Jesus.

I confess my sin to you as the one I have offended. Knowing that I deserve your wrath I look to the cross of Jesus as He took my sin and died in my place. Because of this, I know your wrath is satisfied. Thank you God for this and all the other blessings in my life.

Cleanse me of my lingering sinfulness and help me to live for you from this day forward as I follow Jesus and shine His light through words and actions to a desperate world that needs His peace. Thank you God for the life and purpose I now have in Christ Jesus.

In Jesus name amen.

If today you are accepting the invitation to follow Jesus, we’d love to hear from you today so we can help you being that journey of faith.

Let’s pray.

Week 14 of 2020-2021 Sermon Series: Authentic

Truly Grateful: Motivated by Thanksgiving

Ephesians 2:1-10

Authentic Principle: Let God’s grace motivate you to live for Him.

1. Because of Sin we are dead. (Ephesians 2:1-3)

2. Because of Grace we are Made Alive. (Ephesians 2:4-6)

3. Because of Faith we are saved. (Ephesians 2:7-10)

Response: How will you respond to God’s grace in your life?

Opening Discussion:

What motivates you to get out of bed in the morning? What motivates you in how you treat others? What motivates you to do your job or school work? What motivates you not to sin?

Sermon:

What does Paul mean when he says, “ you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked?” How does this fulfil God’s promise to Adam in Genesis 2:17?

How does Paul describe those who are still dead?

What is the motivation of the “dead” person?

What does Paul say is God’s motivation for saving us? What is the benefits of God saving us?

What is the “gift of God” referring to in Ephesians 2:8?

What does it mean that we God’s “workmanship?”

What now is our motivation for doing good works for God?

Application:

What was your life like before you became a Christian? How is your life different now?

How does it feel to know that before Christ (or if you are still apart from Christ), you are dead? What if you don’t feel dead? How does this connect to Genesis 2:17 and Romans 6:23?

Why is God’s mercy (in spite of our sin) so unexpected and undeserved? Why do we so often take this for granted?

How should the fact that we are saved in spite of not deserving it motivate us towards following Jesus better?

How would your life be different if you lived fully in light of God’s grace and mercy in your life?