The Work of God (Ephesians 2:1-10)

What is your identity?

In other words, what do you believe about yourself? Do you believe that you are a morning person, a runner, a healthy eater, a procrastinator, a social media addict, a good nurse, a great preacher, a good manager, a horrible mathematician, a chronically late person, a diligent worker, or something else? How do you describe yourself? There are so many options, but did you know you can choose to change any of these? We can become whatever type of person we want to be. These are not born into us. They are the result of our beliefs and the corresponding good or bad habits we have created.

But, on a spiritual level, there is another identity that we can't change. We are going to learn about that in Ephesians.

Dead In Sins

Ephesians 2:1 (ESV) --- 1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins

"And"

First of all, notice that we are starting with the word "And." This is a continuation of what Paul has been discussing in Chapter 1. It's impossible to fully understand what we are about to study together without first remembering what was discussed in Chapter 1.

Paul just finished a discussion of God's work. Before time began, God was working up a plan to have a special group of people he could call his own. Chapter 1 is full of God's plan from the beginning of time, his accomplishment of that plan in Christ, his desire for us to be his treasure, and the way he plans to make us glorious. Chapter 1 of Ephesians is probably the most awe-inspiring chapters in the Bible. Paul tells us that everyone in Christ is God's child, and he loves and treasures his children. What wonderful news!

He ended that Chapter with the prayer that we would know God's calling for our lives. He wants us to see the hope of our transformation, not just in the future, but now! He wants us to understand that we are God's riches as we become what we were created to be. God has tremendous power, and that power is working toward us who believe.

Ephesians 1:19--21 (ESV) --- 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.

The same power that rose Jesus from the grave is working in our lives to make us the praise of God's glory. Now he will elaborate on that. He will describe how that power is at work in us and through us as we study Chapters 2 and 3 together.

You Were Dead

Ephesians 2:1--3 (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.

He starts over with a focus on us in Chapter 2. He says, "And you were dead." This is the identity that we cannot change. We can change everything about ourselves and totally recreate our lifestyle, but we cannot undo the sin we have already done. We are restricted like someone who is paralyzed. Once we have sinned, we go into the dead category, and we can't get out of there.

What does it mean to be dead?

So what does this mean? Spiritual death is described throughout this section. He says, "You were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked." This means that we were carrying on with sin in our lives as though that is no big deal. We would follow the path the world told us to go down. The world easily persuaded us to do whatever our passions and desires drove us to do. I like the image in verse 2. He says we were following the prince of the power of the air. Imagine the air being filled with a fragrance of enticement luring you into the next sin. We walked into trap after trap and enjoyed countless sins.

As we looked out into the world, we see people who were obviously dead in their sins. But most people we would identify as "good." Were they? Is anyone really good if they follow the lusts and enticements of the world?

The world tells us we will be happy if we buy this, pursue this, or experience that. They fill us with ideologies from a young age. They lie to us and tell us that hope is found in sex, money, possessions, power, and glory. They use media like television, the internet, radio, podcasts, advertisements, and cultural bias. So we blindly follow them down their path, sinning along the way.

This is the spirit that is at work in the sons of disobedience. The phrase "Sons of disobedience," seems to refer to those who have fallen away---those who rejected the truth. We are just not as far down the line as they are. Eventually, they get to the point where their evil has become apparent. We like to compare people to say that some are worse than others, but the comparison doesn't work when we look at Jesus. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We are all unworthy of eternal life.

The desires of our body and mind were evil. Every person on earth has gone through a stage like that. Every person has had minds that were selfishly seeking happiness and joy in this world. This made us worthy of wrath. A heart that craves sin is not in line with God's heart. It is not worthy of eternal life. We were doomed!!!

But God

What did we do to get out of that hopeless situation? Are we out of that hopeless situation? In the next section, we read about how we escaped death. We became rich in wisdom and strength. We figured out how to obey God's laws from our hearts. We achieved life by doing all the right things. Is that what it says?

Ephesians 2:4--7 (ESV) --- 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.

Paul does not say that we became righteous enough to save ourselves. He says that God saved us. God made us alive together with Christ. He acted on our behalf because we could do nothing to save ourselves. It says, "Even when we were dead in our trespasses, (God) made us alive together with Christ." God has the power to make us alive. The same power that rose Jesus from the grave was demonstrated in us to bring us from death to life. But that's not all. It also says, "and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus." God didn't just bring us back from the dead. He attached us to Christ so that what Christ experienced, we experience. We can join Christ in his exaltation and power.

Why Would God Do This?

Notice that Paul explains why God decided to save us. First, he says that God was rich in mercy and great in love toward us. He didn't look on our dead rebellious state and think, "I hope they get everything they deserve." He looked on us with mercy. God didn't want us to die. He provided a way for us to be made alive again. He saw that we were sick and in need of a doctor, so he sent Jesus to provide the antidote. Here we find the most basic foundational principle of who God is. He is abounding in steadfast love and mercy toward mankind. He doesn't want anyone to perish. He wants all of us to experience eternal life with him. That's why he created us to begin with. Now he takes us from death to new life and seats us with Jesus in the heavenly places.

Verse 7 says that he also saved us from death to demonstrate his grace in the coming ages. His plan was not just one-time forgiveness. He has a bigger plan in mind to make us into something more. We were created to be image-bearers (Genesis 2). We were supposed to show all creation (heaven and earth) the glory of God by fulfilling the hope of our calling, becoming holy and blameless, to the praise of his glory. Now, even though we fall short of his glory, his grace toward us allows his glory to be seen.

How Did God Do This?

This all seems too good to be true. How could God save us from death? In Christ, we experience that spiritual resurrection when we were buried with Christ in baptism and raised with Him to walk in new life.

Romans 6:1--4 (ESV) --- 1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

Paul says that our baptism was a burial of that old man who followed the path of this world and the passions of his desire. Then, he raised us as a new man. I love the phrase at the end. He says, "By the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life." God made it possible to choose life. We can choose to be alive because we are in Christ. We have the sacrifice of Jesus atoning for all of our sins. If we go on sinning willfully, we return to a dead state. (Hebrews 10:26).

We are saved from death by our burial and resurrection to new life. When we are baptized, we experience spiritual resurrection. When we are baptized, we are added to the body of Christ. His life makes it possible for us to live. Many people have a problem with this idea. They think that baptism is a work we do. Notice that God is using his power to make us alive. We submit to God and go into the waters of baptism with a heart that wants to please God. We come out of baptism with a renewed heart and body that is washed clean in the blood of Jesus.

God Did It

Ephesians 2:8--10 (ESV) --- 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.

God is the one who did this. This was not the working of man. This was not because I did something right and fixed myself. God did this. He saved us when we were helpless and dead. So we have no reason to boast in ourselves. We haven't earned anything. We have just accepted the gift he has offered to us.

Verse 8 says we were saved by grace, through faith. Then, he clarifies that us having faith is not us saving ourselves. Isn't that odd? How many times do we think that God does his part and I do my part? But here, we see that God saves us through our faith. Even our belief in him is ultimately the result of his work. Faith comes by hearing the word of God (Romans 10:17). How could we hear the word of God if God didn't give us his word? God didn't give our faith to us through some selection process, but God is working to share his word with all mankind, so he acts first. We aren't saved because we heard. We are saved because he spoke. Our hearing is not something to brag about. We were dead as can be.

Verse 10 reiterates that God worked on us with a purpose in mind. We are his workmanship. If you are here this morning and believe in Christ, it is because God drew you in this good news. God wants everyone to believe, and he works in the life of everyone, but he has worked in your life as well. You are his workmanship. He worked on you. Isn't that a great thought? God wanted you, and he wanted me. He knew the hairs on our heads, all our faults, all our weaknesses, and how dead we were, but he still wanted us.

Application

In the last verse, he tells us why again. But this time, he tells us plainly what that purpose is. He saved us for good works. We are saved by grace, through faith, for good works. He didn't want to make us alive so that we could die again. He didn't want us to return to the stubborn, selfish living. He wanted us to become workers of good for his glory. That was his plan all along. We should accept this gift of grace with gratitude in our hearts, and as a result, we should stop pursuing the passions and desires that this world tells us to pursue. We should stop falling for the temptations and lusts of the flesh. The grace that has been poured out on us to make us alive should result in good works that praise the one who loves us and wanted to save us from death.

The only question that remains is, "Are you still dead in your sins?" Have you rejected God's working on your heart and resisted the submission that he calls for us to have? Please see his amazing grace and rich mercy toward you. Eternal life is available, but we must submit with faith to a burial of the old man. Once we are there, we can be joined to Christ and raised to walk in the newness of life.

Romans 6:12--16 (ESV) --- 12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. 15 What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?

Conclusion

This is the message of the gospel. If your spiritual identity is not found in Christ, you are dead in your sins and separated from the hope God wants you to have. You have no mercy, no joy, and no peace from God. I promise the joy and peace you find in this world will only last so long, but God's gift is eternal. The grace of God can add you to him and give you new life. If you want to submit your life to God and be given new life, will you do that today? Let us know how we can help you.