We Are Saved, 2 February 2014
Big Idea: We are saved by grace. We were dead but now we’re alive. Hallelujah!
Ephesians 2:1-10
Introduction
One of my many weaknesses is my propensity to see things in black and white in a world of grey. I tend to be all or nothing, going to extremes. I’ve learned this about myself and I am working to avoid the tendency but when I was younger it wouldn’t be uncommon for me to turn the volume of the radio down to 1 when someone complained that 11 was a little much, or if someone said I talked too much I would resort to silence.
Although much of life is grey, some things are clearly black or white, on or off, yes or no, Seattle or Denver!
The Wrath of God
Our series on the book of Ephesians is called Who Do You Think You Are? This is one of the most important questions in life. How you see yourself determines how you think and act and live. We live in a culture where most people see themselves as good people, at least in comparison to the criminals we see paraded in front of us on the nightly news. People will say, “I haven’t killed anyone, I paid—most of—my taxes, and I’m kind to animals so I’m pretty good.” But they’re not. I’m not. Romans 3:23 says that
“…all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
We tend to focus on the first part, but what about the latter. God’s glory is perfection. He is holy. He is righteous. He hates sin—all sin!
I want to begin today with God’s wrath. It’s politically incorrect to discuss, but it’s real. We can deny it but does not change it. God hates sin and
“…the wages of sin is death…” (Romans 6:23)
Ephesians 2 could’ve begun like this:
You are dead in your transgressions and sins in which you live, following the ways of this world and the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also live among them, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we are by nature objects of wrath.
Objects of wrath. That means all sin will be destroyed. It’s like cancer. You wouldn’t want a doctor to remove 10% of your cancer or even 90%. The goal is to live 100% cancer free. God can only live in a sin-free environment. His wrath will come and destroy all sin…and that’s a good think—unless we are sinners. But we are! We are all sinners.
Celebrate Jesus
Today is a day of celebration. We’re not celebrating my birthday or yours. We’re not celebrating a Super Bowl championship since it is hours away. Today we are celebrating Jesus, and every day should be a celebration of Christ. Our text for today actually begins
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. (Ephesians 2:1-3)
It’s all past-tense because of Jesus!!!
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions — it is by grace you have been saved. (Ephesians 2:4-5)
But God. God butts in! He invades our broken planet that has been decimated by sin like our state has been invaded by snow and cold temperatures.
We were dead. Now we’re alive…with Christ. We are alive…in Christ.
Jesus didn’t come to make bad people good. He came to make dead people come alive!
I didn’t do it. You didn’t do it. Jesus did it!
We were dead and then Jesus made us alive!
I have a friend, Tony, who died six years ago at St. Joe’s Hospital. His heart was the worst the hospital had ever seen, but then a miracle occurred; he came back to life, and has never been the same since—in a good way. He was dead and now he’s alive.
What did Tony do to move from death to life? Nothing! He laid in the hospital bed and was healed in the midst of an ocean of prayer and a supernatural event not even the doctors can explain.
It’s the same way with us. We were dead and then Jesus made us alive. That’s grace!
Grace
Grace is unmerited favor. It doesn’t make sense. It’s not fair. You can’t do anything to get it. It’s amazing!
A week ago I was DJing with a friend and I explained it this way:
If you recklessly smash your car into mine (please don’t!), justice means you pay to get my car fixed—and me, too, if I’m injured.
Mercy means I shrug it off, forgive you, and pretend the accident never happened. Who likes mercy?!
Grace means I not only refuse payment to fix my car, I offer to pay to fix yours…and take you out for ice cream!
That’s insane, right? That’s grace! That’s what Jesus offers every man, woman and child.
And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:6-7)
We are seated with Christ in the heavenly realms. This means we are invited to spend eternity with Almighty God. We are welcomed into His Kingdom, not because we were good, but because of grace.
Notice again the phrase “in Christ” and “with Christ.” It’s all Jesus. We’re just along for the ride. Literally.
I have a friend who owns a Ferrari. It’s a beautiful car probably worth more than my house. He has two sons and if he were to ever let them drive the Ferrari into town, it would be obvious that there is only one reason they were driving such nice wheels—their dad! They did nothing to deserve the privilege except be born.
That’s grace!
Don’t miss these next two verses. This is one of the most important passages in the entire Bible.
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
What is our role in salvation? Nothing! It’s all a gift. Even faith is a gift of God!
We all deserve God’s wrath. You, me, Billy Graham, and—fill in the blank!
Religion has always tried to work hard to make God like us. Every religion I have ever encountered is spelled D-O; it’s about what we do. The problem is our works compared to God are like me trying to jump from here to the moon. It doesn’t matter how much I practice or how hard I work, there’s no way I could ever jump to the moon.
What I love about the movement of Jesus is we are the only ones with grace. Grace is spelled D-O-N-E. It’s not what we do, but what’s been done by Jesus. I’ve encouraged my three kids to check out other religions. Explore. We’re the only ones with grace. It’s amazing, it’s extravagant, it’s almost unbelievable!
For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10)
There’s so much that can be said about this verse but I want to briefly highlight a few thoughts
We are God’s workmanship, His masterpiece, His creation, His treasure. He doesn’t make junk!
We were created “in Christ.” We were created by Christ and then recreated in Christ because of grace.
We were created to do good works. We don’t do good works and then get in. We encounter Jesus and do good works as a result. Our lives are lived not out of obligation but gratitude. One of the most important works we can do is let dead people know they are dead, and how they can become alive in Christ!
God knew us in our mother’s womb and prepared good words for us to do. He wants us to do two things: love Him and love others. When you ponder grace, don’t you want to dance, sing, and then obey whatever He says?!
We were dead. Because of Jesus we’re alive!
Credits:
Some ideas from
J.I. Packer, Ephesians (sermon series audio)
Mark Driscoll, Who Do You Think You Are (book and podcast series)
GLO Bible
Louie Giglio, Passion City Church sermon series
J. Vernon McGee, Thru The Bible, http://thruthebible.ca
You can listen to this message and others at the Scio podcast here. You can also subscribe to our podcast here.
Ephesians 2:1-10
Introduction
One of my many weaknesses is my propensity to see things in black and white in a world of grey. I tend to be all or nothing, going to extremes. I’ve learned this about myself and I am working to avoid the tendency but when I was younger it wouldn’t be uncommon for me to turn the volume of the radio down to 1 when someone complained that 11 was a little much, or if someone said I talked too much I would resort to silence.
Although much of life is grey, some things are clearly black or white, on or off, yes or no, Seattle or Denver!
The Wrath of God
Our series on the book of Ephesians is called Who Do You Think You Are? This is one of the most important questions in life. How you see yourself determines how you think and act and live. We live in a culture where most people see themselves as good people, at least in comparison to the criminals we see paraded in front of us on the nightly news. People will say, “I haven’t killed anyone, I paid—most of—my taxes, and I’m kind to animals so I’m pretty good.” But they’re not. I’m not. Romans 3:23 says that
“…all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
We tend to focus on the first part, but what about the latter. God’s glory is perfection. He is holy. He is righteous. He hates sin—all sin!
I want to begin today with God’s wrath. It’s politically incorrect to discuss, but it’s real. We can deny it but does not change it. God hates sin and
“…the wages of sin is death…” (Romans 6:23)
Ephesians 2 could’ve begun like this:
You are dead in your transgressions and sins in which you live, following the ways of this world and the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also live among them, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we are by nature objects of wrath.
Objects of wrath. That means all sin will be destroyed. It’s like cancer. You wouldn’t want a doctor to remove 10% of your cancer or even 90%. The goal is to live 100% cancer free. God can only live in a sin-free environment. His wrath will come and destroy all sin…and that’s a good think—unless we are sinners. But we are! We are all sinners.
Celebrate Jesus
Today is a day of celebration. We’re not celebrating my birthday or yours. We’re not celebrating a Super Bowl championship since it is hours away. Today we are celebrating Jesus, and every day should be a celebration of Christ. Our text for today actually begins
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. (Ephesians 2:1-3)
It’s all past-tense because of Jesus!!!
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions — it is by grace you have been saved. (Ephesians 2:4-5)
But God. God butts in! He invades our broken planet that has been decimated by sin like our state has been invaded by snow and cold temperatures.
We were dead. Now we’re alive…with Christ. We are alive…in Christ.
Jesus didn’t come to make bad people good. He came to make dead people come alive!
I didn’t do it. You didn’t do it. Jesus did it!
We were dead and then Jesus made us alive!
I have a friend, Tony, who died six years ago at St. Joe’s Hospital. His heart was the worst the hospital had ever seen, but then a miracle occurred; he came back to life, and has never been the same since—in a good way. He was dead and now he’s alive.
What did Tony do to move from death to life? Nothing! He laid in the hospital bed and was healed in the midst of an ocean of prayer and a supernatural event not even the doctors can explain.
It’s the same way with us. We were dead and then Jesus made us alive. That’s grace!
Grace
Grace is unmerited favor. It doesn’t make sense. It’s not fair. You can’t do anything to get it. It’s amazing!
A week ago I was DJing with a friend and I explained it this way:
If you recklessly smash your car into mine (please don’t!), justice means you pay to get my car fixed—and me, too, if I’m injured.
Mercy means I shrug it off, forgive you, and pretend the accident never happened. Who likes mercy?!
Grace means I not only refuse payment to fix my car, I offer to pay to fix yours…and take you out for ice cream!
That’s insane, right? That’s grace! That’s what Jesus offers every man, woman and child.
And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:6-7)
We are seated with Christ in the heavenly realms. This means we are invited to spend eternity with Almighty God. We are welcomed into His Kingdom, not because we were good, but because of grace.
Notice again the phrase “in Christ” and “with Christ.” It’s all Jesus. We’re just along for the ride. Literally.
I have a friend who owns a Ferrari. It’s a beautiful car probably worth more than my house. He has two sons and if he were to ever let them drive the Ferrari into town, it would be obvious that there is only one reason they were driving such nice wheels—their dad! They did nothing to deserve the privilege except be born.
That’s grace!
Don’t miss these next two verses. This is one of the most important passages in the entire Bible.
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
What is our role in salvation? Nothing! It’s all a gift. Even faith is a gift of God!
We all deserve God’s wrath. You, me, Billy Graham, and—fill in the blank!
Religion has always tried to work hard to make God like us. Every religion I have ever encountered is spelled D-O; it’s about what we do. The problem is our works compared to God are like me trying to jump from here to the moon. It doesn’t matter how much I practice or how hard I work, there’s no way I could ever jump to the moon.
What I love about the movement of Jesus is we are the only ones with grace. Grace is spelled D-O-N-E. It’s not what we do, but what’s been done by Jesus. I’ve encouraged my three kids to check out other religions. Explore. We’re the only ones with grace. It’s amazing, it’s extravagant, it’s almost unbelievable!
For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10)
There’s so much that can be said about this verse but I want to briefly highlight a few thoughts
We are God’s workmanship, His masterpiece, His creation, His treasure. He doesn’t make junk!
We were created “in Christ.” We were created by Christ and then recreated in Christ because of grace.
We were created to do good works. We don’t do good works and then get in. We encounter Jesus and do good works as a result. Our lives are lived not out of obligation but gratitude. One of the most important works we can do is let dead people know they are dead, and how they can become alive in Christ!
God knew us in our mother’s womb and prepared good words for us to do. He wants us to do two things: love Him and love others. When you ponder grace, don’t you want to dance, sing, and then obey whatever He says?!
We were dead. Because of Jesus we’re alive!
Credits:
Some ideas from
J.I. Packer, Ephesians (sermon series audio)
Mark Driscoll, Who Do You Think You Are (book and podcast series)
GLO Bible
Louie Giglio, Passion City Church sermon series
J. Vernon McGee, Thru The Bible, http://thruthebible.ca
You can listen to this message and others at the Scio podcast here. You can also subscribe to our podcast here.