Ephesians 2:1-7

Made Alive in Christ

1As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. 4But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.



Dig Deeper

It was supposed to be about a three hour drive as my best friend, who was my college roommate, and I headed out for Joliet, Illinois. We were leaving at about 9:00 PM, we were going to pick up a friend in Joliet, and then head right back for another three hours to our hometown. I was a little tired as we left, so my friend was going to drive on the way there. Just before falling asleep, I gave him the directions, which included "stay straight on 39." After less than an hour, I sort of woke up, looked around, and asked how things were going. He told me things were good, so I went back to sleep. About an hour later, I woke up again and saw a sign that said we were 10 miles from Iowa. This was a problem because Iowa was the opposite direction from where we were supposed to be going. It didn't take long to realize that my friend had listened to the "stay straight" part, but not the "39" part. We had been heading down the wrong road for an hour and a half, and my friend had continued driving happily without ever realizing it.

This is something of the point Paul makes as he begins chapter 2. The human race has been, for a very long time, heading down the wrong road. That's not the worst part of the problem. Heading the wrong way is somewhat of a problem, but it is made far worse when you think you're heading in the right direction. How could it be the wrong road, when it is the one that almost everyone else is? It's hard to convince someone that is driving down a well-traveled freeway that the right way to go is to take a turn onto the small dirt road on the side.

One of the more popular arguments in our culture today is that people who act according to their inner motivations and desires are doing a good thing; they're just being themselves. We often call it someone's orientation. We have just come to accept that people should simply act according to these deep seated desires, and it is assumed that these desires must be God-given and are therefore to be followed and celebrated. This is quite the opposite of what Paul says here. Those desires aren't orientations to be celebrated they are temptations to be rejected.

These deep desires and so-called orientations aren't good things that lead us down the road of fulfillment and joy, they are signs that people are so dead in the realm of sin that they can't even tell they are going down the road that leads to destruction. The great lie of our society is that when we follow these inner desires we are being true to ourselves and the way that God made us. In fact Paul says that people stuck in this state are dead in their sins and under the power of the ruler of the kingdom of the air. Paul here refers to the Satan, which means the accuser, the one who has wrested dominion away from man, and who is called elsewhere the god of this age (2 Cor. 4:4). It is Satan that is at work in those who are disobedient. That is the truly sad reality. When humans satisfy the cravings of the sinful nature and follow its desires and thoughts , rather than living in a manner that is true to ourselves, we are allowing Satan to work in us through our disobedience to God's will.

That is the real crux of the matter. We have a choice between following the desires of our own flesh and will, which is a state of disobedience to God, or we can crucify the flesh and die to self, making a commitment to living in accord with God's will. That is what being in Christ is all about. The other option is to remain in the realm of sin as objects who can do nothing else but incur God's wrath. That is what Paul means when he says that we were by nature objects of wrath. When we live our lives and follow our own will, it is a life that is by its very nature, disobedient to God's will, it causes us to remain dead in our sin, and leaves us no other future other than feeling God's wrath that He has reserved for those who have misused the gift of life by not living up to our purpose, which is to do God's will and live in harmony with Him.

Going down this road of sin and death is like going down one of those long stretches of freeway where you can't turn around and there is no exit for miles. You're stuck with no escape from the realm of sin because we are dead with no hope of fixing ourselves. Paul now makes it clear why he has heaped such well-deserved praise on God in chapter 1. God has stepped in and offered us the life of Christ while we were dead in sin and powerless to ever do anything about it. This is nothing but the grace of God. The salvation given to those in Christ is solely due to the love of God (John 3:16), not anything that man has done to deserve any of this. Thus, we see that God's reason for purposing His elect in Christ is the same as the reason He gave Israel for choosing them as His elect people, "The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the LORD loved you" (Deut. 7:7-8).

It is through entering into the life of Christ that we will walk into death and out the other side to a new resurrection life, just like Christ himself experienced. Again we see Paul's theology that what is true of the Messiah is true of His people. He has been raised and so has his people. He has been seated in the heavenly realms and so has his people. There are other passages that talk about the Messiah's people being exalted with him (Rom. 8:37; 1 Cor. 15:48; 2 Cor. 2:14; Gal. 4:26; Phil. 3:20; Col. 3:1-4), but none as clearly and powerfully as this passage here. By saying that the Messiah's people are seated in the heavenly realms, he doesn't mean that we are literally seated in heaven. The heavenly realms refers to God's presence and reality of His age to come available now to those in Christ, so Paul is saying that, in Christ, we are with him in the presence of God.

All of this has been enacted by God so that when we are finally united with Him in the age to come we will be able to understand and enjoy the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. Once again, Paul lavishes well deserved praise on the Almighty God who has made available his mercy, love, grace, and kindness in the life of Christ.



Devotional Thought

If it were not for the resurrection of Christ, there would be no off-ramp on the road that leads to destruction and the wrath of God. Have you taken advantage of God's mercy by using that off-ramp? If you have, have you really taken full advantage of it by completely heading the other way and living the full life of Christ that is available to those in him?