Ephesians 2
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Ephesians 2
Ephesians 2
Good morning Church! This morning we are in Ephesians chapter 2. We will go through it together in a minute, but first I just want you to listen to it, at least the first part of it. This is the New Living Translation. Eph 2:1-10
1 Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins.
2 You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God.
3 All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.
4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much,
5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)
6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.
7 So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.
8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.
9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.
10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
Let’s pray...
Have you ever noticed the fascination we have with the before and after? We have extreme make over shows on TV for houses, for weight loss, there was even a plastic surgery addition that was taken off the air. Before the week is out, we will all see some sort of advertisement, for a diet or weight loss product with a before and after, a hair growth product either for adding hair, or removing hair, with a before and after photo. This isn’t new to our era, it was the 1930’s when Charles Atlas started advertising in comic books that he could turn a 97 pound weakling into a muscle man like him.
Whenever we witness such a transformation, we never give the person credit for the change, we want to know what product, what solution, what pill, made you change from what you once were, to what you are today.
For many of us in this room, it was witnessing a miraculous transformation in one of our friends, our parents, perhaps even an enemy, where you witness a change so complete, that you literally saw old things pass away, and all things become new, as if they were a completely new creation. You had to know what, why, how, and it was Jesus! And it was that before and after, that made us want to know more about Jesus. Several of you in this room this morning, have been that before and after that stirred the hearts of others. This morning, we are going to begin, with talking about with what is some of yours favorite subject you!…
oh I forgot, but first, picture. After church these photos will be combined into one and posted on our church website! And the photo of all of us together is going to be the design of a mural to be painted on this side of our building! Now absolutely none of what I just said is true, except the part about you being your favorite subject, at least for some of you. If it were true, I mean, I have the pictures…for how many of us when we saw the photo, who is the first person we would look for....probably your husband, your wife, perhaps the kids, nope, I know, your pastor....it would be you! Eph 2:1
1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,
Paul starts this morning with And You! He made alive…what do you notice about those three words? They are italicized, and that means what? They weren’t in our original text, but were added by the translators to help us have a greater understanding of the intent of the phrase. Often it is used when a word for word translation would be a little rough, or might not make complete sense. Well lets look again at the NLT Eph 2:1
1 Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins.
How about the ESV? Eph 2:1
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins
New American Standard Version? Eph 2:1
1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,
They seemed to get it ok, and I think the NKJV got it as well,... I just think in anticipation of verses 4 & 5 they just didn’t want us to get too bummed out and discouraged, and have our self esteem drop down below 95, I don’t know but in order to get the full affect of the before and after we have to understand what we were without Jesus...
1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,
We were dead! That doesn’t make sense Paul, what do you mean we were dead? Paul is being as clear as he can be, we were dead men walking, we were like Zombies, walking around, following the crowd with no spiritual life within us at all....he says we were dead in our trespasses and sins. Ever wonder what the difference is? Here sins is a general moral failure kinda in the we all fall short sort of way, we have missed the mark or the standard set by God, where a trespass is to knowingly crossing a boundary, challenging God by crossing a known line.
I went for a hike earlier in the week trying to maintain this gift that God has given me… where I went there were wild blueberry bushes, most of which had gone by or had been decimated by the bears, there was plenty of sign of that. I found some here and there along with some raspberries. I enjoyed what I could. Now when I got back to the trail head, if I went over to the board and took a brochure and read on page three, no picking berries the first week of August, I would have been guilty of sin, or missing the mark that they land conservation group had set.
Now on the drive back, I was looking out over the blueberry fields along the road, and they were empty, until I got to this old farm house I’ve always admired. I won’t tell you were it is, so you won’t be tempted to trespass,…but as I was looking into the back yard of that place which runs right into the blueberry fields, the landscape turned blue! It was a couple of days after the last rain we got, the berries had not yet been harvested, and those thirsty berries looked like they sucked up every drop. The berries were so big you could see them from the road, and the top of those plants looked almost purple....
But there was this sign…do you know what it said? No Trespassing! Well who’s going to go steal berries with the house right there…and then I noticed what I had never seen before…a no trespassing sign on the house, it was empty too, so no one was around....verse 2, kidding. There was no one there to stop me, but a sign warning me that if I did, I’d knowingly be crossing a line, and be in sin…well lets just say it’s a good thing I started sermon prep early this week, and now I’ll be getting my berries from Alexanders. Now verse 2. Eph 2:2-3
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 and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
IF I’m not mistaken this says all of us. Now I understand that may be offensive to some, on more than one occasion we’ve had people get up and leave in the middle of a service because they were offended a hearing they were a sinner, or their children were born sinners…I know there’s some poor soul that had to get up and use the restroom and now has to wait another 10 minutes…go before the service...
None of us parents had to teach our children to sin. They came out crying because they selfishly wanted things their way. When the cookies on the counter went missing, who took them? No me? Paul says all of us were like zombies, dead spiritually, flowing with the current of the world according to the leading of Satan, always looking to fulfill the desires of our flesh. And then, for me the two most precious words in the Bible, Eph 2:4
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
God intervened, when? Before we chose Him, in the last chapter we read that it was before the foundation of the world. Why did He intervene? Well come on, because we’re so stinking lovable! Oops! Wrong translation, because of His great love with which He loved us, because God is love gang. I’m so glad it wasn’t because I’m so lovable! You know why? Tomorrow’s my day off, what if I’m not as lovable? What if I can’t keep it up Sunday after Sunday, Wednesday after Wednesday, wait, I’m married, oops and I’m a Dad, what if I can’t be lovable on Mondays, and Tuesdays, and Wednesdays? He doesn’t love me because of Me, it’s because of Him, because of His great love.
5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
6 and raised us up together, and 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.
This is when He started loving us, when we were Zombies, not after we became Saints.
Verse 6, do you guys remember the list of things that Paul told us that we all have in Jesus in chapter one? Verse six gives us another one…just as He was raised up, we have a seat with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus right now. I mean right now were here, but positionally in Christ, I’m already there, because of that down payment I have in the Holy Spirit, the Promise of eternity with Him, the guarantee.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
These next few verses is another spot that beautifully tie together the Sovereignty of God that we talked about last week, along with the free will of man. We have been saved by His grace, His unmerited, unearned favor that we don’t and never could deserve or earn, were not saved by faith, we are saved by grace it’s through faith, but that is just the conduit it flows through, it’s not any work of ours. Some say here that the not of yourselves it is the gift of God, refers to that faith. That’s not true, at lease in this context.
I’m not a Greek scholar, but those that are say the language here specifically refers to salvation. It is salvation that is not in anyway of ourselves and is 100% the gift of God. But I do agree Biblically that even our faith is a gift, that’s just not what it is saying here. But if you recall from our study of 2 Corinthians…what it says about the Zombies, every single one of use who was dead in our trespasses and sins… 2 Cor 4:3-4
3 But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing,
4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.
Unless, by grace our eyes were opened, through the faith that was also given to us as a gift, to each one according to Romans 12:3
3 For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.
It is all a gift offered and provided, with a responsibility for us to choose whether or not to receive…verse 9
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 word translated here as workmanship, comes from the Greek word...ποίημα (poiēma) “Poem”
How would you describe a poem to someone? The heart of the creator, the reflection, in Colossians we read this about Jesus Col 1:15
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
But we are God’s poem, His workmanship…Eph 2:10
10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
To reflect His heart through good works. In Galatians we talked about over and over again what it meant to walk in the Spirit, to be lead by the Spirit Gal 5:25
25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Oh, church stop resisting! Your greatest joy, your deepest peace, lays not in you maintaining control, but in yielding it, fully surrendering it, to the One who’s image you bare. He created us as His poiema, that through our lives, those around us would see the before and after, and that in that our lives would glorify God! Probably all of us have plans today for after our gathering, but remember that God has prepared works for us to do that we should walk in them, receive fulfillment in them, give blessings to others through them, that in them, they would see the heart of God, and want that which, no want the who that has changed us so completely!
No after showing how radically God changes the individual, Paul transitions to unity among the peoples. Eph 2:11-12
11 Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands—
12 that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
Again, Paul starts with the before..once you were not the people of God, it’s actually a slur, but also without Christ aliens strangers from the covenants, without hope, and were far from God. There was longstanding division between the Jews and Gentiles that went both ways…but in verse 13 Paul says… Eph 2:13
13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
There is reconciliation, there is equality at the cross. I’m so glad that in 2022 we have gotten rid of all of our differences with people groups that differ from us. Is that true? Have we lost all of our prejudice? Do other groups have prejudice of you?
Oh, let me tell you a quick story. Different hike, nothing to do with blueberries or trespassing. 91 degrees, look, this is a bonus peace of information for you this morning…don’t hike when it’s 91 degrees. The only thing that is remotely fun about hiking when it’s 91 degrees....I lost it, nothing is fun about it, nothing is smart about it. That being said I did it.
Fast forward, huffing and puffing, I get to the top and there is a guy up there, also struggling because of the heat. Right away he tells me that he’s not alone, he’s with a friend, but they are on the phone…at first I thought he was probably afraid of me because I came up from a different trail than he did, I looked around an didn’t see anyone…now that I think about it, I might have been delusional and imagined that part…because it was 91 degrees...
but all of a sudden the guy started yelling and jumping around, slapping his leg, dropped his phone, and said I just got stung, I had a wasp in my shorts, it was a wasp, I’ve never had that happen to me before…he didn’t ask if I ever had, and I didn’t offer because he seemed really distressed and in pain...
Nothing funny about that really. The guy was just trying to enjoy the outdoors and he was attacked, and in a ton of pain…you can feel for the poor guys can’t you??? It was brutal!
Now what if I told you the guys was different from us? What if I told you he was from away? You know like a Gentile was any non Jew. Someone that wasn’t born in Maine…wasn’t born in Maine with at least three generations before them, well... they are from away. Now, get this, and I wouldn’t lie about this…what if I told you we was a Canadian tourist! Well, now that guy got what was coming to him didn’t he. That’s a silly example, but not all of them are. Christian, you need to remember that all things are equal at the cross. Just like the Jews need to be saved in the same way as the gentiles, all things are equal at the cross.
So if there is any of that in you anywhere, even toward Canadian tourists, you need to take that and leave it at the cross of Jesus. Verse 14 Eph 2:14-16
14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation,
15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace,
16 and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.
Paul is talking about how Jews and Gentiles where brought together so there was no longer division, and no longer separation. Really no longer Jew and no longer Gentile but a new breed, the Christian, in Christ made new. Verse 17
17 And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near.
18 For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.
Afar off the gentile and to those who were near the Jews...
19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,
20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone,
21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord,
22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
Jesus, the cornerstone is what holds us all together....Next week the mystery of Christ...