WHAT GOD HAS DONE
Ephesians 2:1-5, 10 NKJV
1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 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, 3 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.
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
This entire second chapter is worth reading again and again. Paul lays out what has happened to us in Christ. Paul was given a revelation of what God did for us through Christ. Even the disciples did not grasp why Jesus died and was raised. Jesus began to explain to them after the resurrection, but it was Paul that the Lord enlightened further. The letters Paul wrote to the church are called the Pauline Revelation. Paul did not create this teaching; he said that it was given to him by the Lord.
We were dead spiritually, but now we have been made alive. Obviously, this death to life is speaking from a spiritual standpoint. When I received the Lord back in the day, I was very much alive, walking across a field in Carbondale, Illinois. I was alive physically but dead or separated from God spiritually. I was dead in my trespasses and sins. Trespasses involve faults, errors, lapses, mistakes, and wrongdoing. While sin is a direct offense in relation to God, an aberration from God’s truth.
And it’s no wonder I was living this way. Verse two said I was walking according to the course of this world. I was unconsciously or blindly walking according to Satan, the spirit who works in this world and is the author of rebellion and disobedience. This is how we all lived prior to a relationship with the Lord Jesus. In varying degrees and different ways, we were all walking according to the course of this world. We were all subject to fulfilling the lusts or strong desires of our flesh. Paul adds a word we may not have associated with the course of this world or the lusts of our flesh. He says we were fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind. Later in chapter four, Paul speaks of walking in the futility of our mind. So our minds before Christ were on the wrong setting. Our minds were separated from God and His ways. This is why Paul wrote the church at Rome and encouraged them to not be conformed to the course of this world’s system but be transformed by the renewing of their minds. So our minds have to be constantly recalibrated to God’s Word and ways. This will help us live differently as children of God, not children of wrath.
But God. Those are two words that lead to good. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us. We can get happy on that one sentence. God is rich in mercy. Another way of expressing that is that God is rich in compassion. God’s mercy and compassion bring comfort to our hearts. When God is rich, He totally redefines what rich means. Our Heavenly Father is loaded with compassion. And because of His great love that He loves us with, He has made us alive with Christ. Even when we were separated from Him by our sins, He made us alive, connected to Him. By grace, we have been saved. Not because we are so amazing, but because He is amazing.
And He makes us His workmanship. We are His creations in Christ for the purpose of doing good things. He made us good to do good. All because of His great love and abundant compassion. We know God creates all things as the Master Craftsman, and He does not do shoddy work. When we made Jesus Lord, He worked something new and amazing in us, taking us from spiritual death to life, to live as His masterpieces created to do good in order to glorify Him. It just doesn’t get any better than that.
APPLICATION
Take a few minutes to read Ephesians chapter 2 again, particularly verses 1-10. And every time you find something good that God has done for you stop and give Him thanks.
PRAYER
Thank You, Father, for Your mercy and compassion even when I was dead in sins. Thank you for making me alive in Christ, I am Your masterpiece, ready to do good. Thank You for your grace that has saved me.