Paul says some amazing things about Jesus towards the end of Ephesians 1. He tells us about how God has “raised Christ from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms far above” any and every power and authority in the heavenly realms (v. 20-21, see also 6:12ff). Furthermore, He is “head over everything for the church” (v. 22)—which is exactly what the church needs!
In the second chapter, he turns to us (“As for you” – v. 1). He initially sets the bar low—talking about our life before Jesus. It’s not a pretty picture but it’s one we need to be reminded of from time to time. He quickly moves on to the liberating work God has done through Jesus and then points out one of the purposes God has in rescuing us.
He starts our story in the cemetery. “You were dead”—not in ICU, not even on life support—we were dead. A dead person is powerless to change their situation. Before death we have choices, options, and opportunities, but after death that’s all over. We were spiritually dead and there wasn’t a thing we could do about it. We needed rescue!
We were dead due to our transgressions and sins (v. 1). Notice he says, “your transgressions and sins.” We weren’t spiritually dead because of what Adam or anyone else did. We weren’t this way because of our parents, our friends, or our enemies. We were dead because of what we did.
What did we do? We “followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work among those who are disobedient.” This is Satan, the devil, the being who wants to alienate us from God and eventually destroy us. Our world is full of people who laugh at this idea. They like to think three things:
- The sin they’re involved with is 100% their idea.
- They’re in control of it.
- There is no such being as Satan.
Here’s the irony—if you think these things, you’re in trouble because this is exactly the way Satan wants you to think. He does not mind working in anonymity. But because God loves us and cares for us, He tells us about the evil, destructive forces of the heavenly realms through people like Paul. And long story short, we’ve all been deceived by Satan to some degree and ended up in the spiritual cemetery with everyone else. As Paul tells us in v. 3, we were “deserving of wrath.” Wrath is not something we like to think about or talk about for good reason. But it is a reality and it’s one Satan wants to lead us to.
The good news is the story doesn’t end here. Paul points us to two powerful things—God’s “great” love and His “rich” mercy. That’s Paul’s way of saying our Father doesn’t dabble in these things—they are who He is. And because of He is this way, “He made us alive in Christ even when we were dead in transgressions” (v. 5). What you need to know about Satan is he has power; what you need to know about God is He has greater power. He brought something that was dead back to life!
Paul is not really talking about our coming to God here as much as He is talking about God’s coming to us. That’s why He concludes by noting that “it is by grace you have been saved” (v. 5). The acronym God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense works well here as long as it doesn’t cause us to overlook God’s personal suffering in the giving His Son. Paul goes on to note not just our “being raised up with Christ,” but also being seated “with Him in the heavenly realms” (v. 6). Again, this is not about Jesus being with us down here on earth but us being with Jesus in heaven. This is the grace and glory of salvation Paul wants us to see.
But Paul doesn’t stop here and it’s important we don’t either. God cherishes the entire world—not just us. The idea that “God loves everyone, but I’m His favorite” is an idea that did not come from God. Paul tells us that we’ve been saved “in order that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His grace” (v. 7). He desires to exhibit this grace as “expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus” to the world. The cross is exhibit A. The church is exhibit B.
This means we live as people of the cross. With this, the bar has now been reset. We are to treat others graciously—even when they don’t deserve it because that’s how God in Christ has treated us. As we do so, we are pointing people to God and the incomparable riches of His grace as well as fulfilling God’s purpose in our lives.
Remember, a life without cause is a life without effect!
A Taste of Grace with Bruce Green 