From Death to Life

And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 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, 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. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.  Ephesians 2:1-10  NKJV

As an adult, especially now as I am a grandfather, I often look back on the course of my life and remember not only the events, but in totality the distance I have come from the beginning to the present.  I obviously too, look at just how much my parents not only gave, but did for me that shaped what I became and what I am today.  As believers, do you not think it would be appropriate to do the same on occasion considering what our Father has done for us, especially as it would also appear that we are fast approaching that promise of eternity with Him that we all long for?

In this passage from the letter to the church at Ephesus, Paul describes this journey explaining in just ten verses just how far we have come once we made the decision to believe.  I want to share my thoughts on this passage today in the hope that it will encourage you, especially at this time when our hope seems ready to be fulfilled and discouragement or impatience can rob us of the joy that our Father wants us to have.  As I see it, Paul shares four stages of our development with us in these verses and I think we could best describe them as wandering, waking, watching, and working.

Wandering

“And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,”

Did you ever consider that we all started in exactly the same place?  That’s right; dead.  In our sins, without the forgiveness He offers through the blood of His Son Jesus Christ, we were all dead.  Strange as it sounds, we could compare ourselves with zombies, or the walking dead.  We had a life, walking around going through the motions, but we were spiritually dead wandering with no purpose to our lives.

Waking to God.

“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),”

All true believers have had what could best be described as a “waking” moment when they heard the gospel and responded to the call of God on their hearts and awakened from death to life.  In the Greek, the phrase “made alive” actually means “reanimation”, or literally making something which was dead to live.  I suppose you could compare this to the story of Frankenstein, in which a dead body was brought back to life.  Although we were dead in our sins, we awoke to a new life by the power of God through the blood of His Son Jesus Christ.

Watching for God.

“and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 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 where we find ourselves today.  You could say that “positionally”, we are with Christ, sitting with Him enjoying the guarantee of eternal life, but “in the ages to come” we will be with Him “literally”.  All who believe should be watching for His appearing, and waiting expectantly for His return when we will meet Him in the air and He will take us to our heavenly home to be with Him for all eternity.

Working with God.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

We are a result of God’s work, and nothing else.  We had no hand in what we have become, and we should never allow ourselves to think otherwise.  What we are is a gift from God Himself, and “His workmanship”.  That said, we must always remember that His plan was to save us in order to do His work.  We were saved from sin and saved for service.  God has prepared a life for us as believers which consists of what He calls “good works , which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”  The question we should all be asking ourselves is, are we busy doing that which God has saved us for?

I and many others believe we are at the very threshold of going home to be with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  I for one, want to enter knowing I have tried my best to do those works which He prepared for me long before I ever knew Him.  I can look back and see how long the road has been, and in all honesty truly believe I can see the finish line before me.  My question for you today is, are you busy doing whatever it is that God prepared for you to do?  I don’t believe we have much time left to do them.

If you are reading this today and have never made the decision to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, and are wandering through life without the hope of eternal life with God, I urge you to do it right now. Simply admit to God that you need His forgiveness because you are a sinner, believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sins, and invite Him to come in and control your life through the Holy Spirit by praying a simple prayer like this;

Father, I know I am a sinner in need of salvation. I believe you sent your Son Jesus to die on the cross for my sin, and I ask you now to forgive me of my sins. I want to receive your gift of salvation so please come into my heart and help me to live and follow you as my Lord and Savior. In Jesus' name, Amen.

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