Geography of Grace

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Thomas VanderPloeg

Sermon • Submitted 6 years ago • Presented 6 years ago • 27:46

Ephesians 2:1–10

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Ephesians 2:1–10 NIV

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in 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. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 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. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Back when my son was about four years old I remember one night when our family was eating pizza for dinner. And my son—after putting down two slices of pizza already; which, by the way, is plenty for a four-year-old boy—he asks for a third slice of pizza. I respond by asking him if he really need to eat another slice. And he answers by telling that this next slice of pizza is for Jesus. So, I say, “what do you mean, you need a slice of pizza for Jesus?” And he replies, “Yeah, we learned in Sunday school this week that Jesus lives in our hearts. He must be hungry too, so I should chomp another slice for him.”

The mind of a four-year-old thinks in absolute, concrete terms. When this children’s worship room full of toddlers was told that Jesus lives in their hearts, they took it literally. That’s how four-year-olds think—we can’t blame them for that. And now my boy had a theological defense for a third helping of dinner. What can I say?

Of course, there is not a literal mini body of Jesus inside of us that has flesh and blood and breathes and eats. But before we brush this story completely aside as just another example of cute toddler episodes, there may be something of real merit to consider. After all, the reality of a risen, living Jesus is something we all confess. You see, at some point in learning what it means to be a Christian, we talk about grace. Twice in the passage we read today Paul says that we are saved by grace. And most of us—if not all of us—have learned what grace means. We understand grace to be the gift of our salvation freely given to us by God. We understand that we have done nothing to earn or gain this gift, but it is from God alone through the sacrifice of Jesus. But do we understand how that shows up in our lives? What does it look like to live within the truth of that amazing grace? What is the shape of that grace in our lives? How does grace fit with who we are; and where we are? What is the geography of grace? When my kid was four he thought his connection to Jesus was quite literal—that’s what his Sunday school teacher taught him. So, what is our understanding today about the way in which the grace of God connects us to Jesus?

If you are following along today with the sermon notes sheet in the order of worship, you’ll notice some shapes drawn in. Today’s sermon notes are going to be more pictures than words. So, we will fill in those drawings as we go today.

Ephesians: a Letter of Contrast

Let’s start by taking another quick look at what the apostle Paul has written to the Ephesians. As we look at the first ten verses of chapter two, we see that Paul is developing a contrast. This is the first of five section in Ephesians that Paul uses this type of contrast formula. A major theme in this letter for Paul is to highlight for these new believers in Ephesus the difference between their old life apart from Christ, and their new life in Christ. It is a contrast between two worlds as Paul sees it. The one world that Paul is speaking about is the world of being dead in sin. If you have the passage open in front of you look at how Paul launches right into this in verse one: “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins.” And then Paul fleshes this out a bit in the first three verses where he speaks of “gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature.” This first world that Paul speaks of is one that is apart from Christ.

Contrast formula: “formerly…but now”

formerly: dead in transgressions/sins — but now: made alive with Christ

Then in verse five he marks the contrast between this world and another world. He says now that God has “made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions.” The second world Paul points to in this passage is the world of being alive in Christ. And continuing in verse five Paul explains exactly how this works. He says, “it is by grace you have been saved.” Then in verses six, seven, and eight Paul fleshes out this second world of being alive in Christ, where again in verse eight he repeats the phrase, “it is by grace you have been saved.”

Repeated phrases: “it is by grace you have been saved” (2x) — “in/with Christ” (6x)

So, we begin to see here how Paul sets up this picture of two worlds that we face. The first world he identifies by twice repeating the phrase, “you were dead in sin.” And the second world he identifies by twice repeating the phrase, “it is by grace you have been saved.”

That’s the first thing we notice when we begin to break down this passage and look at it a little more carefully. But then the next thing we notice in this passage is how intent Paul is on placing our identity in or with Christ. Six times in these ten verses Paul says that we are now in Christ. Paul seems rather stubbornly insistent that this grace which Christ gives to us is more than a gift we receive—it’s a relocation of our identity.

Today I want to share with you two possibilities for what this picture looks like. And then I’ll share with you two observations about each possibility.

Missing the Geography of Grace

Well then, first possibility of this picture of grace is one in which we clearly delineate the two different realities that Paul speaks of in Ephesians 2. So we’ll put two circles on the board to represent these two distinct realities. And we’ll label one as “sin” referring to Paul’s identification of this reality as being dead in sin. And we’ll label the other one as “Christ” referring to Paul’s identification of this reality as being alive in Christ.

Image illustration A

And we’ll put a line between them to signify the distinction between these two realities.

Separate circles for “dead in sin” and “alive in Christ”

Division - we are either on one side or the other

Now, as I said earlier, let’s note two observations about this picture. If this were to, in fact, represent the geography of grace, then those of us who have received the gift of grace would have to locate ourselves in the circle on the right—because Paul makes it so clear in this text that our location in the geography of grace is in Christ. So, the first thing we observe about this picture is division. There is a clear divide between being in Christ and being in sin. We either have to be in one circle or in the other circle. So maybe we read a passage like the one today and this is the picture we are left with. It’s either one side or the other side. And Paul says that grace is what brings us to the side of being in Christ.

Static - there is no movement, but some kind of instantaneous transfer

The second observation about this picture is that it is static. What I mean by that is that this picture is set; it’s immobile. Those who are dead in sin are dead in sin; and those who are alive in Christ are alive in Christ. And so, we imagine that when Christ extends his gift of grace to those he has called it is almost as though they poof from one circle to the other. Because, after all, Paul says that grace is a gift of God and not by our works.

I think there are many people who understand grace like this. They see the kingdom of God and the kingdom of this world as two completely distinct and separate realities and we are either on one side or on the other side. It’s nice and clean. It’s cut and dried. But it leaves us a bit unsatisfied, doesn’t it? There are still some puzzling unanswered questions that have to be accounted for. Don’t we still live in a broken world of sin—even those of us who have accepted God’s gift of grace? Being in Christ means we are no long dead in sin—that is true. But does it also mean that we are completely removed from all things in this circle of sin? Then why do we still struggle with sin so much? You see, some people picture the geography of grace like this and walk away with very little assurance that they are, in fact, in Christ because the effects of sin still seem so apparent about them. So maybe they can then explain this problem away by pointing to it as a future picture. They may say that Paul’s reference to being in Christ is a picture—not of how things are now—but of how things are going to be after we physically die and leave the sinfulness of these earthly bodies. But, you see, Paul doesn’t speak of salvation as a future thing. Paul does not say in this passage that “it is by grace that you will be saved.” He says that “it is by grace that you have been saved.”

For many people, we may understand what grace is, but that doesn’t mean we understand the geography of grace. We may not clearly understand what that picture of grace looks like in our lives. So, let’s consider a second way to picture it. And like the first picture, we’ll note two observations about this picture as well.

Moving in the Geography of Grace

Like the first picture we saw, we’ll begin by affirming that there is a contrast between two sides. There is the side of being dead in sin, and the side of being alive in Christ. And like the first picture, we understand that without grace we are located in the side of sin and death—completely apart from God. But this time let’s consider the full power of what Paul reveals in this letter; that Christ—by his incarnation, Christ—by his living a perfect and blameless life, Christ—by his death on the cross, Christ—by his resurrection; Christ has brought the reality of life in him and caused it to collide with the world of sin and death. So, the picture is one of overlapping circles, like this:

Image illustration B

Overlapping circles for “dead in sin” and “alive in Christ” (Venn diagram)

The geography of grace, then, is not one where Christ brings us to him. Rather, Christ brought himself to us. We are now in Christ not because we are taken to him, but because he came to us. In this geography of grace we acknowledge the tension that still exists. In this geography of grace we acknowledge that, during this life, we experience both sides at once. Or to say it better, we are moving further away from one world while moving further into the other world—further away from the kingdom of sin while moving further into another kingdom of God.

But some people might say, how can this be that we live in two realities at once? Isn’t that a paradox? Consider this example. 100 years ago our society categorized a distinction between children and adults—much like we do yet today. But back then there was some kind of magic moment when society stopped considering a person to be a child and started considering a person to be an adult. Somewhere around the age of 18 people made a transition from being identified in the reality of children to being identified in the reality of adults. However, sometime during the last 100 years this transition from child to adult became significantly more complicated in our society; so complicated, in fact, that we created a whole new category that never existed before: adolescence. Adolescence is an overlapping of two worlds. An adolescent is someone who exists in the tension between the world of children and the world of adults. They are not complete one, nor completely the other, but something of both at the same time.

Collided - Christ came into a world that was dead in sin

Now, let’s observe the two features that stand out in this second picture. In the first picture, you remember, we observed that the sides were divided. In this picture, however, we observe that the sides have collided. The geography of grace has not resulted in division between two worlds, but in collision between two worlds. This is why we speak of the kingdom of God as being already-not-yet. Something of both exists because there is an overlap in worlds.

Similarly, our location in Christ is already realized. It is a part of our life now as those who have been saved by grace. Our being in Christ is not a reference to some future reality that won’t happen till after we die a physical death. We are in Christ even now!

Movement - Christ calls us to live in him so that we can move into the kingdom of God

Yet even so, there is still struggle with sin. Even in this in-between-time we feel the effects of evil in this world. This leads us to our second observation. You remember in the first picture our placement was static; we were either in one circle or the other. Well, in this second picture notice how our placement is characterized by movement. This is not a static picture of reality, but a moving picture. The geography of grace is one in which Christ has placed us in him so that we can move in him. Christ calls sinners to himself out of death in sin. This is the miracle of grace. This is the accomplishment that we could never do on our own. This is the action that Paul claims in verses 8-9 is “not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works.”

But before we close the book and walk away from this passage, notice verse 10 again with me. We are created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which he prepared in advance for us to do. God comes to us so that our identity can be found in Christ. And when we are in Christ—even though we are still not completely free from sin—the power of Christ with his people results in movement. In Christ you and I have the ability to move further and further away from the world of death in sin. And in Christ you and I have the ability to move further and further into the world of being alive in Christ.

What do these good works look like that God has prepared in advance for us to do? Well, Paul moves on from here to explain this throughout the entire rest of this letter to the Ephesians. That’s a whole bunch of other sermons we don’t have time for today. Paul explains reconciliation within the body of Christ. And in chapter 4 Paul urges for unity among the believers. And in chapters 5-6 he calls for this reconciliation and unity to show up in places like the relationships between husbands and wives, and the relationships between parents and children, and the relationships between those in authority and those under authority.

But all of these instructions for Christian living are framed by Paul in the context of being in Christ. The geography of grace is so important to Paul. Our place in Christ is the basis for being able to do any of these things that Paul goes on to explain in this letter to the Ephesians.

Good Works That Show God’s Handiwork

I don’t know exactly where you see yourself on this picture today. Maybe today you’re realizing that—even though you’ve understood what grace is for a long time—you’ve had the picture wrong. Maybe today God is opening your heart for the first time to see that wonderful, amazing gift of life in Christ. Maybe today you’re realizing that—even though you’ve been in Christ for some time—it’s been a while since you’ve moved. Maybe today you’re simply realizing again in a fresh and new way how incredible life in Christ is and it leaves you standing in awe and in worship of our great savior. Maybe today you’re realizing that being in Christ is not just a metaphor we use to explain theological terms like grace; it’s a world brought to us by Christ himself—a world that we live in right now today.

Good works do not prove anything, do not earn anything

Because this is how Paul understood it: You are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which he has prepared in advance for you to do. This means that none of us here are stuck dead in our sin. All of us here are made alive in Christ. And every single one of us is now free to live in ways that move us further and further into embracing the kingdom of God every day in our lives right here. You are free to live like that.

Good works declare that we are God’s handiwork

What will you do? Some people try to do good works because they are trying to earn something. Some people try to do good works because they want to prove what good people they are. Some people try to do good works because they think it’s an obligation. That’s not us. Because of God’s grace, we don’t need to prove anything. Because of God’s grace, we don’t need to earn anything. No. The good works that we do are meant to declare only one thing: that we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus. What will you do? What works can you do this week that declare to the world around you that you are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus? Keep moving where God is leading.

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