Main Point: The dead are raised with Christ to work.
We have been looking at, celebrating, and I hope growing in our experience of the immeasurable greatness of God’s power towards those who believe. Last week, on Resurrection Day, we did a deep dive into how all the Father did in raising the Son from the dead and installing him as head over all things demonstrates his great power available to us. We will follow the same pattern today as we remember the immeasurable greatness of God’s power that worked when each of us Christians was born again. The evidence of God’s great power, available to you today for your work, is the resurrection of Jesus from the dead and you being born again. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead and the regeneration of our hearts of stone prove there is power available to us to keep lovingly doing good works. Each of us is meant to think deeply about Jesus’ resurrection and our salvation so we say, “Since God did those things, I know I can trust him as I do these things.” The main point we need to embrace today is the dead are raised with Christ to work.
Read Ephesians 1:15-2:10
Remember this
I. You were dead
Skim over Ephesians 2:1-3 and you find these words: dead, walked, following, lived, and carrying out; the dead walk, follow, live, and do things. If we are doing things, what does it mean to be dead in our trespasses and sins?
- To be dead is to be a slave of sin (1)
Looking at this passage as a whole, to be a slave of sin is to be unable to do good works; a person must be saved in order to do good works. It is union with Christ that enables doing good works; this is why Jesus said apart from him we can do nothing (John 15:5). This is why we don’t try harder but seek to depend on Jesus more. Thinking biblically, the reason we are unable to do good works is because we have hearts of stone that do not love God and we have blind eyes that do not see the glory of God (Ezek 11:19; 33:26; 2 Cor 4:1-6). In this natural condition, we refuse to honor God and choose to honor other gods.
To make that more concrete, it is the love behind the action that makes the action good or not. Jesus put it this way in Matthew 15:8, “This people honors me with their lips but their heart is far from me.” What the people were saying about God is good, they were saying the right theological things, but the work is not good because the heart does not agree with the words. They said the right things about God, but they did not love God; therefore it is not good work. If a husband tells his wife he loves her (a good thing), but he doesn’t love his wife, are his goods words of love truly a good work? No. Likewise, a person can do something good but if the heart is far from God, then the person is serving another god; this is not good. To be dead in our trespasses and sins is to be incapable of doing good works with love.
The resurrection power of God is demonstrated at the level of my heart and yours. We were dead in our trespasses and sins because our hearts were bound up with those trespasses and sins. But when God gave us new hearts, hearts of flesh, what we love began to change so that what we did began to change and why we did it began to change. The freedom Christ gives is the freedom to love and enjoy God. The resurrection power of God is the power to joyfully sacrifice self for the redemption of others. Before we get to the resurrection part, let’s get clear about those other gods.
- You were going along with the world (2)
Look again at Ephesians 2:1-2, “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you walked, following the course of this world.” In Romans 12:2 terms, you were conformed to this world, pressed by the world into its mold. You loved what the world loved and did what the world did. Or at a deeper level, you loved the world and so you served the world. The world said, “this is how sexuality should work” and you said, “I’ll do that.” The world said, “This is success” and you said, “I’ll be successful like that.” If you look like the world, laugh like the world, act like the world, dress like the world, and spend like the world, then you are following the world, and be warned the world is passing away (1 Jn 2:17). Your god determines the way you act and what you will receive. So, if you act like the world then the world is your god and you will receive only what the world is capable of giving, shallow short-lived glory and a quick empty ending. We all were once in that state following the world and following the devil.
- You were following Satan’s lead (2)
Each one of us was following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience. Just as we followed the world’s ways, so we also walked according to the prince of the power of the air. But looking at verse 2, it’s not just that we followed him or walked according to him, but that he was working in us. How does that work?
2 Corinthians 4:4 says the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ. 2 Timothy 2:26 talks about those who have been captured by the devil to do his will. Satan led each of us in such a way that we did not see the glory of God in Jesus Christ. Since Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, the main way Satan blinds our eyes is by accusing God of wrong and convincing us to reject or turn away from God. Satan’s powerful tools are the idea that God isn’t being fair and the problem of suffering; Satan blinds us by throwing shade on God’s character and then promising us what we want. When God withholds something we feel entitled to, we are in a place of temptation, a potential blinding. When God brings suffering we feel we should be exempt from, we are in a place of temptation, a potential blinding (see Mt 4:1-11). Satan works in us by accusing God of wrong and then promising us some good thing. Satan plays on our desires, our reasoning, and the world’s way of doing.
Looking at this condition, we need to understand that we needed more than a peptalk from Jesus. We needed to be liberated from Satan’s rule (Col 1:13). We needed new citizenship, a transformation to the kingdom of God. Have you forgotten what you were? Remember
- We were all doing whatever we wanted (3)
In verse 3 we begin to see how God rescued us from slavery to our appetites and our mere human reason. We all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind. If it feels good, do it. If it makes sense to you, go for it. A starter list of these works is given in Galatians 5:19, “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.” The mad-scientist driven by the desires of his mind and the sexual predator driven by the desires of his body are both slaves, and we were numbered among them. We were right there with them. Have you ever done something you regretted or said something you regretted? Why did you do it? I did and said those things because I believed doing and saying them would produce something good, satisfy some pleasure or some sense of revenge. We are surely a messed up people and
- We were born this way (3)
Look at the end of verse 3, “and we were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” Jew and Gentile alike are children of wrath living selfishly following the world, the flesh, and the devil. Let’s think on this reality so we grow in our appreciation of the power of God. The opposite of children of wrath (2:3) is children of light (5:8); a human is either a child of wrath or a child of light. We were born children of wrath and are born again as children of light. We are all born with hearts of stone which must be replaced with hearts of flesh.
Trying to make sense of it all, we received unrighteousness from Adam just as we receive righteousness from Christ. We are born as children of wrath; we are born again as children of light. We were in Adam but now we are in Christ (Rom 5:12-21). We were under condemnation but now in Jesus we are under grace. We were worse off than we want to admit, and we are now better off than we know. We do a 180 in verse four. You were following the world, your flesh, and the devil but God made us alive together with Christ. You were swept up in his resurrection!
II. You have been raised
This is powerful good news and let’s dig into it. First, know this
- God loves messed up people (4)
Looking at what you were, verses 1-3, understand that God loved you even then. “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.” The only reason the immeasurably great power of God has any effect on you and me is because God loves messed up people. Who loved the sexually immoral, the idolaters, the adulterers, the homosexuals, the thieves, the greedy, the drunkards, the jerks, and the swindlers that made up the church in Corinth (1 Cor 6:9-11)? God did; God loved them, washed them, sanctified them, and justified them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Holy Spirit. Who loves us? God does. God loves messed up people because he is rich in mercy and loves with a great love. God loves you right now in your mess.
God is rich in mercy, grace, and kindness (1:8, 18; 2:4, 7; 3:8, 16), therefore, messed up people like me and you can be saved. We are utterly dependent on the depths and riches of God’s love. God loves messed up people like me and you and
- God raises the unworthy dead (5-6)
Look at verse 5, “even when we were dead in our trespasses, God made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” God made us alive in Christ when we were dead in our trespasses. Thank God we don’t earn our resurrections, or resurrection would never happen; the dead have nothing to commend them to God. We come alive with Christ because God is merciful and loved us with a great love.
The picture of salvation in Ezekial 16 is helpful here. We were wallowing in our natural filth, tossed out and unwanted, but God came by and said, “live!” God loves us and wants us as his own children. It’s a rough metaphor but it might help. I picture Jesus having all these power lines coming off him, the Father takes those leads and zaps us with resurrection power plugging us into Christ; the dead come to life by connection with Jesus. The unworthy dead come to life by connection with Jesus. That is good news for all of us who think we are too far gone. God loves messed up people, God raises the unworthy dead, and
- Eternity will prove the immeasurable riches of God’s grace (7)
Now God shows the immeasurable riches of his power in our lives. For the rest of eternity, God will show the immeasurable riches of his kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. What must God be like if for all of eternity we will never come to the bottom of his kindness? A million years from now we will still be exploring the depths of God’s kindness. And why, why will we know God’s kindness even though we were messed up sinners, the unworthy dead? It is because we are in Christ Jesus. So how do we get into Jesus?
- Salvation is by grace through faith (8)
We will enjoy the kindness of God for all of eternity, verse 8, “for by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God.” Your salvation is not your own doing, it is the gift of God, and you are saved by grace through faith. Only those who have faith in Jesus are saved and only those made alive by God with Jesus have faith. The truth that this is not your own doing puts the initiative for our salvation solely on God, on his mercy and love for those who do not deserve it. God didn’t save you because you are good enough. God saved you because of his grace.
How are slaves set free? How do the dead come to life? How do hearts of stone become hearts of flesh? The gospel is preached with the Holy Spirit’s power, God zaps us with resurrection power, and we repent and believe. You must believe to be saved. You cannot be saved apart from faith. Salvation is by grace through faith and this is not your own doing it is the gift of God. So know this,
- You cannot be good enough to be saved (9)
I had a heartbreaking conversation with a man Thursday evening who is doing good things to help the poor in very difficult places around the world, but he is doing them believing those good works will be his ticket into heaven. Looking at verses 8 and 9, on what grounds will God save any of us? Our salvation is only on the grounds of the gift of God’s grace, it is not the result of works. Why is that? It is because we are saved for good works not saved by good works. Remember, apart from Christ we are not capable of doing good works (John 15:5). Dead people don’t do good works; resurrected people do good works.
God’s goal in saving people by grace and not by works is to remove all grounds for boasting. Do you see that in verse 9, it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast? If a person could do enough good works to be saved, then that person would have grounds for boasting before God. But, no person has grounds for claiming, “I deserve this” unless of course we are talking about the wrath of God. Instead of being angry at God because we have not received something we think we deserve, we are to depend on God for the power to do the good works he has called us to do. God has no entitled children, only empowered children. So,
III. Get to work
Get to work knowing
- In Christ, we are new creations
There are two major errors in our thinking that keep us from doing good works. The first error is thinking we are not really dead in our sin, so we do not need Jesus to make us new or empower us for good works. This is the person who just keeps working in his/her own strength. Listen, you need to be remade; you are not capable of doing what God has called you to do. Be born again. The second error is thinking good works are impossible to do. This is the person who just quits because he/she knows the work is too much. One person thinks she doesn’t need Jesus and the other person thinks Jesus is not enough.
Look at the resurrection of Jesus and celebrate the reality of verse 10. We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works. We Christians are God’s doing and this doing happened when we were swept up in the resurrection of Jesus so that we are made capable of loving God and loving others. We Christians, doing good works, are the product of God’s power. Pray Hebrews 13:20 and 21 for us, “Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever, Amen” (2 Pt 1:3). Pray for us because in Christ
- We are crafted for good works
Salvation is by grace for good works (Titus 2:11-14; 3:1-8, 14). And what are those good works? What should we be doing? This is what Ephesians 4, 5, and 6 are all about. Every Christian should be lovingly doing the work of building up the church. Every Christian should be lovingly exposing darkness to the light for redemption through Jesus Christ. Every Christian should be lovingly submitting to one another to build one another up. Every wife should be lovingly submitting to her husband. Every husband should be lovingly sacrificing himself for his wife. Every child should be lovingly obeying his/her parents. Every father should be lovingly disciplining and instructing his children. Every employee should be working hard from the heart. Every boss should quit threatening. Every Christian should be fighting demonic powers by speaking the truth in love. And that is just Ephesians 4-6!
Consider also Matthew 25. The good works Jesus has in mind are feeding the hungry, giving the thirsty drink, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, and visiting those in prison (Mt 25:34-46). God calls us to do the good work of loving our neighbors.
Think about good works according to categories. Invest in your family, build up the church, and bring redemption to the world. How does that sound? It sounds overwhelming to me, that is where I am. When I embrace the calling of God to do the good works he has prepared for me it is crushing because I am a proud fool who tries to work in my own strength for my own glory. For a season I may do well at home, or in the church, or at work, or out in the world but all of those all the time is a cross too heavy to bear. Weary and heavy laden I need to depend on Jesus who gives me rest and strength, resurrection strength, immeasurably great strength (Mt 11:28; 2 Cor 12:9). I need to be praying you know Christ’s strength. I need you to be praying that I know Christ’s strength.
This is a call to be sober-minded because the work is too big, and we are too weak. With sober minds let’s remember who we are; we are the redeemed. And how were we redeemed? We are redeemed through the blood of the Lamb; we have been swept up in his resurrection. God, according to his riches of mercy and kindness, according to the immeasurable greatness of his power through which he raised Christ, raised us, and now empowers us to live lives of redemption everywhere we go. Lift up your heads and set your mind on the resurrected Jesus. Those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength; seek out resurrection power. We are not the living dead; we are those who have been raised with Christ in power. There is power for us to do good works for the glory of God and the good of others; there is power to love others joyfully. Christ’s resurrection proves God’s power. Our salvation proves God’s power. We are redeemed. Let’s proclaim it and then get to work.
By and For the gospel 