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Welcome, Read text & Pray: 3 Minutes

English Standard Version Chapter 2

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.

Ephesians: An Introduction and Commentary a. New Life from the Dead (2:1–10)

apostle does not show the grace of God until he has made inescapably clear the desperate need and universal sinfulness of humanity

And you were dead.

What does it mean that we were dead? First, I want us see that dead was a former condition of our lives. “You were dead.” So Paul is talking about a previous life before in Christ. So, I want you to think about that life a for few moments. Even if you professed faith in Christ at age and most of life has been as a Christian. No matter your prior experiences, all of had a former life. Paul defines it as dead.

What does it mean to be dead?

First it means you were IN something that made you dead. You were IN your trespasses and sins. One commentator is correct when he said....

Ephesians: An Introduction and Commentary a. New Life from the Dead (2:1–10)

There is probably no essential difference between the two nouns: the root meaning of the first is ‘missing the mark’ and of the second ‘slipping’ or ‘falling from the way’, and thus both express the failure of people to live as they could and should

The idea here is before God and other. We were in a constant state of missing the mark and slipping the way that God established us. 1 John 3:4 say sin is lawlessness. This means that “lawlessness” which means “an utter disregard for God and His laws.” At one point we had the attitude that we get decide what is right and wrong. We might have even been religious and spiritual, but we had defined God as we wished Him to be, not as He is. Consequently our entire life was missing the mark and slipped off road God’s good law.

Notice we were not in a single trespass or sin but we were in many. We were wading in a sludgy swamp filled with them. As we were not simply standing in them, but we were walking around in them. in which you once walked.

Our former lives were lived wading and wandering around in the stinky suer of ours sins.

Notice the possessive as well. It was your sin. Not the sins of anyone else. You own personal suer of sin. Your sin made you dead. So, you were like the walking dead walking around in the suer of you sin.

So dead means you were in your sin and walking around in it.

Second, dead means you were walking around following a couple things: middle of 2.... following the course of this world, following the prince of power of air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.

This phase brings together two concepts: the age of evil and darkness which spans Genesis 3 and on, and of world dominated under that age. First we were following the natural course of world which is the full accumulation of people who disregard God and his good laws, who decided what right and wrong and define God as they wish him to be not as he truly is. The world refers to the total population of people wading and walking around in the suer of their personal sins and as they do, individual suers meet with others. The whole social and political values system is alien to God and his ways.

Second, we were following the prince of the power of air. As a former follower of the course of the world, we all had a prince ruling over us, not many princes but one prince. The prince it says. This prince of the air which here can be translated as “foggy atmosphere”. This prince is ruling power of this atmosphere. He has command over it and we were once following this prince and contributors to fog. This prince is the Devil himself. He is the spirit that is at work in the sons of disobedience. He has not caused them to be sons of disobedience. They are that on their own. He is at work in them to keep them dead, keep them in the foggy atmosphere, keep them in the suer.

So we were dead means: We were sons of disobedience, we followed the wrong prince. We followed the course of world– the accumulation of the population of people wading and walking around in the suer of their sins.

verse 3… among who we all once lived in the passions of our flesh… Paul shift from speaking just about the Ephesians believers who are gentiles and includes Jews also like himself.. whether Jew or gentile we all alike once lived in the passions of our flesh.

what did that life look like? keep going, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind.

A point of clarification is needed here: the desires of the body and mind have nature desires that God designed in us as good and for good. The body require food to survive. It require sleep to function. We have sexual desire are created in us by God. Those desires are not evil or sinful. They are a part of what it means to be human. The mind has idea for creating and innovating and learning a trade or job skills or to contribute to society in some way. God created our mind and body. The phrase carrying our the passion of our flesh was the corrupt dead expressions of them. The desire for food and drink can become gluttonous and drunkeness, which is evil. The desire for sex can become pornography, taking advantage of someone, using someone, and in the worst forms rape and exploitation of girls.

Our minds themselves were depraved to do what ought not be done and to justify even approve what was not to be done.

In varying degrees… we all once lived this way. You were not as sinful as you could be but you were still sinful and consequently we were as the end of verse 3 concludes, by nature children wrath, like the rest of mankind.

by nature. children. wrath. This was not a good trifecta to define us. Left alone, our nature was to walk contrary to God and his ways. We were children not God’s mercy and love but children of his wrath and condemnation. As John the Baptist said in John 3:36. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life because the wrath of God remains on Him. That’s the biggest problem we faced.

Outside was the world we followed, inside was the flesh we lived by, and in the air was the prince who ruled and we followed. Wrath of God over us. The entirety and sum total of all of is what it means that we were dead.

Paul has made inescapably clear the desperate need and universal deadness of former life and the remaining life of those outside Christ. Many do not wish to hear this and sadly some churches are silent about this. Not this church because to fully appreciate and truly worship God in Christ and by the Spirit requires us to square with the truth of our former life outside of Christ.

Now verse 4....

But God… As we shall see these are perhaps the sweetest two words together in all of Scripture. At the junction of what we once were to what we are now are the word “but God.”

How is he described? But God who is rich in mercy. He is a God with wealth of mercy. He is a mercy tycoon!

Mercy is forgiving treatment of someone who should be treated harshly for a crime. Mercy is to show pity on a person who is guilty and deserves to be placed on death row. Mercy is to back off from punishing. Psalms 7 says the wrath of God abides forever. It is his rich mercy that withholds his wrath.

God is a wealth of forgiving treatment and endlessly rich in showing pity.

because of the great love with which he loved us.... the love here is agape love. Agape love is the strong kind of love. This love concerns itself exclusive for the benefit and the best of another. Agape love involves selfless sacrifice. In the Scripture agape love is of God and from God. God is agape, according to 1 John 4:8. Notice Paul puts an exclamation mark on God’s love by inserting great in front of it. Because his great agape with which he “agaped” us. So we were the receivers of God’s agape, his self-sacrifice exclusively for the benefit the best of us....

Even when we were dead in our trespasses. Everything back in verses 1-3. Even when we were walking around in the suer of our sin. Even when, we were following the course of world. Even when we where following the wrong prince. Even when we were sons of disobedience. Even when we carried out the passions of our body and mind, even when we were by nature children of wrath. God, the tycoon of mercy and because the great agape with which he agaped us…

....made us alive. So we were once dead. But not God made us alive. And if God made us alive that means we’re alive. We don’t get dead again. ff

fffffHow was his great love and rich mercy demonstrated? Making us alive together, raising us up together, and seating us together with Christ in the heavenlies.

His great love and rich mercy made us alive together with Christ. We were dead and dead men don’t rise.

His great love and rich mercy raised us up together with Christ.

His great love and rich mercy seated us together with Christ

Where is Christ seated? In the heavenlies. Where is that? Far about all rule and authority and power and dominion and every name in every age (1:21).

What’s God’s purpose in making us alive together, raising us up together and seating us together with Christ?

To show in every age the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

In most places however it refers to our relationship to God, with God and before Him without Christ. according to Scripture is the most serious kind of death. It is lifeless fellowship with God. It is the kind of death that has not life connection with God. Paul says to the Ephesians you were dead and you were that way because you were in something that killed you–your trespasses and sins...