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Bible, Christianity, Daily Faith, Faith, Jesus

Ephesians 2:1-10

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Sermon: March 11, 2023

EPHESIANS PART 4

Sermon for Trinity Christian Fellowship – March 11
All Scripture is taken from BibleGateway.com, NLT

Over the past three weeks we explored Ephesians 1 and its message: that we have been united with all believers in Jesus Christ through the power of Jesus Christ and His sacrifice. He took pleasure in sacrificing for us and it was His plan from the beginning to unite us as His family. Because of Jesus, we have power from the Holy Spirit to overcome evil. That is the power of the gospel. 

Today, we will explore more of what this means as we study Ephesians 2. 

Ephesians 2:1-10 is about how we were made alive through Christ. 

Verse 2-3 tells us who we were before Christ. I think as Christians we sometimes forget where we came from. Or if we don’t have a dramatic change then we may not fully understand how bad it was and how in danger we were of turning down a dark path.

Ephesians 1:2: Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. 2 You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. 3 All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.

So who were we?

First, we were dead. We had no spiritual life, no eternal life. We were made of simple flesh that was going to pass away one day. 

Why were we dead? Paul says it was because of our disobedience and many sins. He explains that the devil is the one who influences and commands the unseen world – that is likely the evil spirits. He also says that this devil is the spirit that works in the hearts of the ungodly. Those who refuse to obey God.

If it seems like there is an evil authority over some people, it is because there is. The enemy, the devil, is working in this world according to the Bible. 

In verse 2, he reminds the church that they used to live that way – which was following the sinful desires of the flesh. That means that our sinful desires are desires that are influenced by satan. That should put us on high alert.

Do you ever feel pulled to do evil? Do you ever feel like you want to sin? To do things that you know are wrong and that God would not approve of? 

Paul says that they, and by extension, you and I before we knew Christ, used to live that way. We USED TO obey our flesh. It was natural for us to do this.

This is the key word: WE USED TO. 

Let’s look at verses 4-6: But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) 6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. 

Something amazing happened when Jesus was raised from the dead. When God raised Christ from the dead, He also raised us from the dead! Of course we will die one day, but because we have been united with Christ Jesus by following Him, He will raise us like He raised Christ! 

That is a huge gift and it is because he loved us so much even when we were sinning. He wanted to rescue us. He had compassion on us. We did nothing to deserve his salvation, but it is by His grace that we will be saved and resurrected on the last day!

Why? Ephesians 2:7 says, So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.

Remember that Paul is speaking to the church of Ephesus. He is telling them that God will be able to point to them in future ages as examples. WE – Trinity Christian Fellowship (or any other listener or reader!)– are part of that future age! The people of the church of Ephesus, who Paul is writing to, were not Jews! They were gentiles. They were people who were strangers to the gospel of Jesus Christ, to the knowledge of the coming messiah, but were saved anyway! Just like us! God called them and used them as an immediate audience for scripture that continues to teach us to this day. And you and I are just like them. We were strangers to the good news for so long, but we are included in the resurrection! Praise God!

And just in case we don’t fully understand what Paul has said so far about this being a gift from God, not something we deserve, he repeats his ideas in Ephesians 2:8: God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

Whenever something is repeated in scripture, we need to pay special attention. This letter repeats the message: Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. We cannot go around and say, “God chose me because I was just a good person and he wanted to save me.” NO. That is not true.

If we seem like good people, it is because of God’s supernatural power working in our hearts to enable us to overcome our flesh and to overcome the influence of the devil. The devil influences the hearts of those who don’t follow Jesus, but we who follow Jesus, have access to the Holy Spirit to overcome that temptation. 

We are NOT GOOD. HE is good, and He is in us. Hallelujah that He is in us!

Verse 10 reminds us that we do good because He planned those things for us to do. We were not saved because of our good works; we do good works because are saved!

Let’s tell the world that He is good and He can do good in all who humbly say yes to Him. Go and tell the world why you are as you are and why you are not as you once were – give the credit to Jesus and let’s make disciples of Phnom Penh and the world! 

International Travel, Singleness, Travel

TODAY, I PUT ON PANTS.

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It may not seem newsworthy, but do you remember the excitement of field trip day? The disappointment when you find out where you’re going. BUT the anticipation the night before REGARDLESS of where you’re going. It doesn’t really matter in the end because you still get out of class. You can’t sleep. You can’t eat. Or you can’t stop eating. You know your crush will be there. You get up early even though you’re sleep deprived. You shower. Put on makeup. Or gel your hair. Whatever your version of vanity is. Your cutest, but casual-est outfit. “This old thing!” Your lipstick. 

You know your destination itself won’t be much. A play like you’ve gone to every year since 6th grade. A museum. Another museum. The zoo. You are way too excited for the monotony of this field trip. And yet, you don’t care. You are just giddy to get out. To get out to DIFFERENT. Something new. Anything new is stimulating when compared to the wrong shade of blue lockers you face every day as you walk from the bus lot to first period.You take a selfie. You take five. 

You walk too fast or too slow, all for a purpose. I walked slow. I saw my friend Egypt in the hallway. She left five minutes before me. She turned left in the hallway to find a stairwell leading outside. I was told to be there five minutes after her, so I waved goodbye and good luck and took a picture of HER happy dance as she trotted down the hallway. She was excited for field trip day too.

Egypt tasting freedom for the first time in nearly two weeks! Me, realizing it was too early to actually leave my apartment.

I paced back and forth in my apartment, waiting until it was my time to leave. My friend, Jen, who was scheduled to leave at the same time as me texted me a few minutes early. “You leaving yet?” I checked my eye liner in the mirror. Smiled. Pulled my government issued mask over my nose and texted back, “Now.”

Masks: The new lipstick!

As I entered the hallway, I had a choice to make. Left or right. When I arrived here 12 days ago, it was nearly midnight and I took the elevator. This time, we weren’t allowed to take the elevator. We were told to walk to a stairwell and only use the stairwell. I didn’t know for sure where the stairwells were exactly or which stairwell was closest, and I definitely wanted the one that the furthest away. 

You see, this IS the field trip. Getting dressed up. Looking out the window. Seeing your quarantine partners doing their happy dance, 12 feet apart, as they each take their turn. 

View out my sun closet window. The anticipation is almost too much!

Now it was my turn. I exited my room and watched as my door shut for the first time. Ever. I heard the electronic click. Can I get back in? I should try. I entered the code as shown, and it unlocked. I smiled and let it close again.

I turned right. 

It appeared to be the furthest away from our destination. I walked slowly but quickly. Quickly enough to feel the freedom. Slowly enough to make it last.

I met Jen at the door. We stayed six feet apart but chatted as we approached the field just outside our building. A Korean man with a mask waved at us. His eyes smiled. He asked our names and then directed us to sit, very far apart, not facing one another, under the covered seats. “How is your quarantine going!?” he asked. Jen responded that she liked quarantine. She “thrived” in it. It’s her third quarantine. Then, I spoke.

“I’m grateful I get to do this in my own apartment!” A pause. Silence. A thumbs up from the Korean man in a mask.

I continued. “And I’m excited to be out here! I’m wearing pants for the first time in two weeks.”

There was laughter. (I do wear pants, just mostly pajama shorts but it’s all about the story, right!?)

Then Egypt approached with a giant smile on her face. Her field trip was more than halfway over. She did another happy dance. Slowly. But with glee. With freedom in her eyes. She’s on day 13. “How was it?” “Great,” she probably said.

Aren’t her smiling eyes the best!?

Jen was supposed to go next, but I was closer and they did not want our paths to cross due to possible infection, so they let me go first.

This time there was a chair. Probably wise.

As they shoved the stick down my throat, I gagged. I think the staff in full PPE laughed and jumped backwards. Then they put a stick up my nostrils. I made noises to help. It wasn’t painful. It was… pleasant. Pleasant like the end of women’s exam. The experience itself is miserable, but when it’s over, you’re so glad it’s over, and you know it means that you don’t have to do this again for a long time. That is the kind of pleasantness I felt during this COVID TEST field trip. 

Jen getting her Covid test!

Freedom is coming soon.

My happy dance! Look, I’m wearing pants! (And a cute shirt my aunt Victoria gave me!)

I hope it’s negative!

Curious how I spent quarantine? Stay tuned. It’s coming.

I hope.

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Daily Faith, independence day, Uncategorized

A Declaration of Independence: Be Free

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I have been studying the beginning of my faith these past few days, not the beginning of my personal walk, but the beginning of God’s recorded faithfulness: Genesis and Exodus. It’s quite timely that this morning, on our great nation’s Independence Day, I walked, so to speak, with the Israelites through their own independence from bondage in Egypt and into their first years as a baby nation. I got to see the formation process of their first set of laws, their first official leaders, and their first ruler: God Himself. 

I wanted to breathe in the knowledge of truth and just sit and soak in the verses surrounding the Exodus from Egypt and learn more about these roots from the Spirit of God. In some ways, it parallels the exodus of many of the people groups in the Americas from their motherland for the purpose of religious independence. Though the details are far from identical, the craving for autonomy and freedom transcends time and culture.

So what stands out to me most from my reading of the foundation of the nation of Israel? Well first, they were an oppressed people and they cried out to God. Additionally, their women were faithful even when their lives were in grave danger. The midwives were instructed by Pharaoh to kill all the boys upon birth, but the women “feared God,” didn’t follow this order, and were blessed with their own families as a result. When the rulers of the day wanted to annihilate Israel, their faithfulness led to their expansion (Exodus 1:20-21).

Something else that stands out to me occurs while Moses was on the run: God saw Israel, and He was “concerned” about them (Exodus 2:25). Now this word, “concern” seems to be a bit downplayed in this translation. Not to get too theological, but… well just bear with me as I get a bit theological!  The Hebrew word here for “concern” is Yada, which means to know, to be known, to deeply respected (Strong). It is the same word used to describe a sexual union between a man and a woman in the covenant of marriage (side note: the word for sexual relations when not referring to a man and a woman in a marital covenant is usually a totally different word with entirely different implications… totally worth looking into–something, by the way, I learned at Dannah and Bob Gresh’s Sexual Theology and Healing Training Master Class last week and highly recommend attending in the future! Visit purefreedom.org to find out more!). It is the same word used to describe the relationship between God and His people throughout the whole Bible. It is the highest form of relationship. In their agony, they were seen. They were known. They were understood. And they were rescued!

Finally, I am keen to mention the relentlessness of God’s heart. After rescuing Israel, God is relentlessly concerned with their well being. Something I didn’t realize before was that He reminded them of what He had done for them and offered to make them His “own treasure (Exodus 19:5).” They agreed to it! God did not force Himself on Israel! They cried out to Him. He heard them. He delivered them. Then, He OFFERED Himself as their King. They responded. “Everything that Adonai has spoken, we will do (Exodus 19:8).” And friend, He will not force Himself on you. (And neither should we try to force Him onto others.) But He will relentlessly pursue you when you’ve EARNESTLY said yes to His invitation.

He repeatedly instructs Moses to remind the people not to touch the mountain where He was located because it would kill them. Over and over again, he reminds Moses to remind the people. He had ongoing compassion and care for them. 

Then, He gave them a series of ordinances that were quite liberating! Remember that they had been in bondage, with no will of their own for hundreds of years. This was their constitution. It freed them to live in a society that was not lawless and oppressive towards even the least of them. 

And in this constitution, He gave them a day of rest! After hundreds of years of slavery, do you think they struggled to take a day off? I imagine they were quite addicted to productivity. I know how I get when all I do is work, work, work! It can be hard to force myself to turn my brain off and rest. And this new ruler required rest for everyone! Even the slaves and cattle! He even justifies the sabbath rest in Exodus 23:12, “You are to do your work for six days, but on the seventh day you will rest, so that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and also the son of your handmaid and the outsider may be refreshed.” Everybody wants Saturday off, and God started that! He made Saturday a required day off. (So why do we go to church on Sunday? Oh dear… that’s another, for some reason, controversial topic for another day, but please do look into it!)

He freed them from bondage, slavery, oppression, and violence and gave them a united identity, a set of laws to keep order and to protect all life and innocence. He ascribed value to the individual, including women and children! He took them from a nation with a bounty on their male infants and made it an offense punishable by death for anyone who hurt a pregnant woman, ending either of their lives (or causing severe harm) (Exodus 21:22). 

God declared their independence from the ways of an oppressive world, and in return they pledged allegiance to Him alone. 

Now that is a God to whom I want to pledge my allegiance! And I get to! We non-Israelites were invited into the family of God and declared spiritually and eternally independent from wickedness under the blood of Jesus. Through the blood of Jesus, like the Israelites through the blood of the passover lamb, we too have been emancipated. 

So today I ask you to look deeply into your relationship with God (and I invite you to ask Jesus to come into your heart and lead you in all your ways if you do not yet have this relationship) and ask yourself–Have I yet been declared independent? And if so, am I living in the freedom for which I was set free (Galatians 5:1)? 

Be free. Set others free.

Happy Independence Day! We have much to celebrate.

References:

The Bible. Tree of Life Version, Baker Books, 2015.

Strong, James. Strong’s Expanded Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2009.