Oct 13
8:47 AM
God's Love Makes Us Alive in Christ
Oct 13
8:47 AM
Oct 13
8:47 AM
Wednesday, October 13, 2021
Ephesians 2:4-5, 10
Today we're continuing in looking at some select verses from the book of Ephesians. To help us understand the love that God has for us, and what his love does inside of us, I want to start with Ephesians 2:4-5, which says this, "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."
All of us - you, me, we've all been, at one time in our lives, dead in our sins, dead in our transgressions. Not physically dead, but spiritually dead. We weren't following God at one time in our lives, but we were following the ways of the world, we were following the prince of this world, who is known as Satan. We were being disobedient to God. We were satisfying the cravings of our sinful nature in the things that we do, the things that we say, even the things that we think. Maybe I'm describing you today. Maybe you are thinking, "Are you nuts? I'm not following Satan. I'm not a Satanist." But I can tell you that there are only two teams. If you are not following Jesus, guess who you are following. This is what it means to be dead in our transgressions and dead in our sins.
But here's the good news, in fact, it's great news! It's that God's love for us has made us alive with Christ. God's love for us has made us alive with Christ! It's worth saying twice. That means that we have been saved from eternal separation from God when we die, and we are given eternal life with God in heaven. So, while it's important to know about the love of God, to know it in your mind, let me ask you a question. Have you ever believed it? Have you ever believed that Jesus is the Son of God? Have you ever believed that he paid for your sins on the cross and rose again to give you eternal life in Heaven with him? If you believe that and you receive it in your heart today, then you are a Christian, and you become alive with Christ. You cross over from being dead in transgression to being alive with Christ. That's how you become adopted into God's family. So, when you are aligned with Christ, you begin to change from the inside out. You start seeing things differently, you start seeing people differently, you start treating them differently. You see God differently in your life, and you give him a higher priority in your life. He should have the top priority in your life when you begin to follow Him. You begin living for him. Ephesians 2:10, just a couple of verses down, says this, "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." I love this passage because the word workmanship, which is from the original Greek word poema. We get the word poem from that. I love to think about that, that we are God's poem, we are His workmanship, we are his masterpiece in progress. God is writing the story of your life, and and you were created in Christ Jesus to do good works. We don't do good works to earn our salvation. Good works are the result of our salvation. So, God loves you so much that he gave you a purpose. Think about that for a moment. He loves you so much, he gave you a purpose for your life with specific works for you to accomplish. When you live your life fulfilling that purpose, you are alive with Christ.
Let's pray. Father, I want to thank you that you sent your son Jesus for us and that we have an opportunity to to invite him in our lives, to believe He is who He said He is, and to receive the free gift of salvation that he offers. If anyone is reading this right now and they've never crossed that line of faith, they've never made Jesus Christ their Lord and their Savior, just say this prayer aloud. Say, "Jesus, I invite you in. I recognize that I need you in my life, I recognize that I'm a sinner and you are a perfect holy God. I believe that you died on the cross for my sins. You paid the price for me. I should have been on that cross, but you paid the price for me. I recognize that and I receive the free gift of salvation. Help me to turn from my sins, change my mind about my sin and the way I used to live, and helped me begin living for you, alive with Christ. Thank you for adopting me into your family. In Jesus' name, amen.