Ephesians 2_1-3 They Way We Were rev 1

Secular:

Coming into the 8th grade I was a B – B+ student
It was my second year at Central Senior in Lindsay, ON
It was also the year my parents split…
Things were definitely turned upside down
And my attention was focused on other places than my studies…
My history teacher, Mrs. MacLean, was 1,000 years old… I think…
She had no sense of humour and was very strict… she had actually taught my father when he attended the same school… he thought she was 1,000 years old back then…
I didn’t do well… missing most of my assignments, and a project worth 30% of my mark.
On that day when you go to the front and have your mark revealed…. My knees quaked… this was definitely going to be different.
She pulled the slip of paper away from my mark…. And there was a B
I looked at her like an inquisitive dog… (head turned)
And she said…

“I gave you a mark based on what I know about you, not about what you showed me.”

It was a profound lesson on Grace.
It wasn’t about what I truly deserved…. It was about what she saw in me.
As we study our text… it is important for us to see Grace…
For what we have been given by God’s Grace is not what we deserve… but that He sees His Son in us.

Biblical:

Ephesians 2:1-3" And you were dead in the 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 that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind."

Personal:

Have you ever been rescued….
Whether from a fire, a car accident, a breakdown, an animal encounter….
Dire circumstances…
The bus with the baseball team where 6 died… and 4 are still in hospital…
What was it like waiting for rescue…
Horrifying….
Dire circumstances…
Katrina… aftermath
Wandering… flooded… hungry…
What was it like… before the rescue…

Bridge:

God rescues us from the just consequence of our sin.
As a reminder… as he unfolds our salvation or rescue… we are reminded of what it was like before.
This is a snapshot… and episode of this is your life…
That we would never forget the GREAT GRACE OF GOD!

Body:

Ephesians 2:1-3" And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked,

Well, Sick, or Dead?

Well… we have choices… stay healthy…
Sick… seek remedy… mere malady… at least some hope
Dead… dead… what do you do if you are dead? Dead in your trespasses and sins?
Dead men do not seek help… dead women do not ask to be rescued!
"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23, ESV)
To live in sin… the consequence is death…
And we all were dead in the trespasses and sins
There was no sense of a spark of merit… a glint of holiness… a wee bit of spiritual life…
We had a Radical Depravity… we may not have been as bad as we could have been…
But our sin soaked souls were dead to the things of God.
"They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart." (Ephesians 4:18, ESV)
Death is alienation from God
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins
Not Sick… definitely not… not bootstraps faith…
Death is alienation from God….
Apart from Christ… Apart from Grace…

WE ARE DEAD PERIOD

APPLICATION

Well, Sick, or Dead?

Walking Corpses

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked,

Dead people do dead peoples business…
After hearing Christ’s message… to follow him…
"Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.”" (Matthew 8:21-22, ESV)
Worried about earthly inheritance…

Idiom for waiting for dad to die to get my inheritance

The focus is about earthly issues
Our focus is hope
The Walking Dead focus on the things that are perishing and fleeting
Focusing on self! Gulp!
“but she who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives." (1 Timothy 5:6, ESV)
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked,
Is this not how we walked… self indulgent…. Self centred… temporal loves
Spiritual Zombies…
Zombie movies the dead that can not rest and are unsure if they are dead or alive…
Walking… talking…..
Worried about this or that… but missing out on life!
Are you Walking like a zombie….
So focused on this life… give no evidence… no credibility to the life to come…
We give witness to our destiny…
"The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil." (Matthew 12:35, ESV)
Life mirrors its outcome
"But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander." (Matthew 15:18-19, ESV)
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, ZOMBIE WALKING
Dead in their deeds
Tresspasses – paraptoma – slip, stumble, fall…
Sins – Hamartia – miss the mark… missing and falling short of God’s standard of holiness "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," (Romans 3:23, ESV)
The live unforgiven
Living for self is dead spiritually
"For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened." (Romans 1:21, ESV)
APPLICATION

Walking Corpses

Objects of Wrath

Walking, according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind."

Herod the glory seeker…
"Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last." (Acts 12:23, ESV)
Not glory giving… No. 1 purpose in life…
And to give glory we must be HOLY!
"You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matthew 5:48, ESV)
Only in Christ
Apart from Him

We are Corpses… living for our selves
We are vile
We are dead in trespasses and sin
We are objects of wrath

"For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. You shall not defile yourselves with any swarming thing that crawls on the ground." (Leviticus 11:44, ESV)
We must be Holy… (Just an OT command… right?)
"since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”" (1 Peter 1:16, ESV)
What happens to the unholy?
The objects of wrath?
"Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out." (John 12:31, ESV)

Away from God…

This is a spiritual war…
The outcome is far more glorious and far more gruesome than any physical war!!
"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." (Ephesians 6:12, ESV)
The Spiritual War is for the Glory of God and the souls of men
This was us before Christ…
When we warred against God!
"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. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God." (Galatians 5:19-21, ESV)
Apart from Christ… we are objects of wrath
In Christ we are heirs of the Kingdom!

Walking corpses serve the world…
Those dead in sin serve the flesh… and Satan
To whom will you bow…
Before Christ we bowed to the world!
"Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed," (Romans 6:16-17, ESV)
Objects of wrath are apart from God.
Objects of wrath live according to the flesh…
They serve the prince of this world
"For all that is in the world— the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world." (1 John 2:16, ESV)
Objects of wrath do not believe in Christ… and are separated from him!
"Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God." (John 3:18, ESV)
APPLICATION

Objects of Wrath…

This is where we were…
It is being called to our minds…
To remind us of the great treasure we have in Christ

A Radical Remedy

That rescue… from dire consequences comes in Christ!!
God rescues us from the just consequence of our sin.
As a reminder… as he unfolds our salvation or rescue… we are reminded of what it was like before.
This is a snapshot… and episode of this is your life…
It is like that drug commercial played backwards…
Oh…That we would never forget the GREAT GRACE OF GOD!

Ephesians 2:1-3" And you were dead in the 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 that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind."