| |
Our Life Through God's Eyes
Scripture: Ephesians 2:1-5
C.I.: What God Did for Us at Our Conversion!
Last week we began a new series of lessons from Ephesians 2. In that lesson we saw ourselves through God's eyes (i.e., guilt & God's grace). Today we are going to see what God has done for us again through His eyes!
I. Three Things God Did, (Ephesians 2:6-10)
A. #1: He Raised Us Up with Him, (vs. 6-7)
1. “…and raised us up with him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ,” (v. 6)
a. We were spiritually dead (cf. vs. 1-3). So when God saved us He spiritually resurrected us
( “raised us up with Him” ).
b. Now seeing ourselves through God's eyes gives us a “heavenly” perspective, “…seated us with
Him in the heavenly places in Christ.”
1) Notice the past tense verbs; “raised us” & “seated us.” These things then happened at the
moment of our conversion.
2) Now we would all have to admit that Golden, Colorado is a beautiful place, but it ain't
heaven!
3) So what are the “heavenly places” (this word is actually the plural of heaven).
a) ( Eph. 1:3 ), “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord and….” So the heavenly
places is a place where our spiritual blessing are found.
b) ( Eph. 1:20 ), “…which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the
dead, and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places.” So it is where God
the Father & God the Son are now.
c) ( Eph. 3:10 ), “…that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through
the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.” It is where rulers
and authorities hear the words of God through His people.
d) ( Eph. 6:12 ), “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against rulers…”
It is where Satan is!
e) The heavenlies must therefore be the complete spiritual, non-material realm (i.e., the
place of heaven/hell, demons/angels, etc.)!
f) ILLUST.: The total reality for the electromagnetic spectrum is vast. Yet even
though it is so big we only see a small portion of it which we call “visible light.” In
the same way the heavenly places is also quite large but we can only perceive a small
portion of it.
c. Therefore, as Christians, we should see ourselves from a more “heavenly” perspective!
1) This should keep us from “…walking according to the course of this world,” Eph. 2:1-2,
which killed us!!!!
2. “…in order that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness
toward us in Christ Jesus.”
a. “Surpassing” = in supreme measure; Scrooge McDuck's “money bin” = wealth beyond
measure! Yet God's grace should be understood to be far greater than anything we can imagine.
1) Thus, we are “God's trophies.” Trophies, awards, medals, etc., are not great in themselves
(nor are we, see Ephesians 2:1-3 ).
2) Rather, they show the greatness of the One who has received them! Therefore, in saving us
and elevating us to Himself, God demonstrates His own greatness as the One who loved us,
had mercy upon us & who saved us!
3) ILLUST: Mother Teresa (when asked about accolades she received, responded), “Do you
think the donkey Jesus road into Jerusalem upon thought all the cheering was for it?!”
B. #2: He Saved Us, (vs. 8-9)
• ( v. 8 ), “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.”
a. “For by grace” (GRACE = “Favor”)
1) During the period of the Reformation, Luther, Calvin, et al taught; “ sola gratia, sola fide,
sola Christus.”
2) This Latin phrase means our salvation is “By grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ
alone.” (In their response to Catholicism they allowed the pendulum to swing too far!)
a) For if salvation is by grace “alone” then everyone will be saved. But we know that
this is not the case, (see Matthew 7:13-14 ).
b) Yet if it is by faith “alone” then all who believe will be saved (contrary to Jms 2:19 ).
c) If salvation is by Christ “alone” then neither faith nor grace are required and nobody
believes that!
b. All human beings, even if they had a million lifetimes to live, could never earn/merit salvation.
1) This “grace” therefore, had to originate from God, ( Tit. 2:11 ), “For the grace of God has
appeared bringing salvation to all men.”
2) If grace is all that was required for salvation then all men would be saved! Yet in Jesus we
have been taught that God's grace is granted to those who have met His conditions.
3) Therefore, while “grace” is unmerited, it is NOT unconditional, ( cf. Jn. 3:36; Heb. 5:9 ),
“He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son shall not see
life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” “…He has become the author of eternal salvation
to all those who obey Him.”
b. “you have been saved”
1) Salvation = Having been freed from the guilt and debt demanded by our sins.
2) Jesus set us free by His death, ( Rom. 3:23-25 ), “For all have sinned and fall short of the
glory of God, being justified [made righteous] as a gift by His grace through the redemption
which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation [adequate
sacrifice/ransom price] in His blood through faith.”
c. “through faith”
1) Faith, therefore, is God's condition in order to receive the benefit of Christ's death.
2) Yet “faith” does NOT mean belief ( Jms. 2:19 ), “You believe that God is one. You do well,
the demons also believe, and shudder.”
3) Biblical “faith” is characterized by the obedient response to those things that we do believe,
( Heb. 3:18-19 ), “And to whom did God swear that they should not enter His rest, but to
those who were disobedient ? And so we see they were not able to enter because of unbelief .”
4) Did Noah have “faith”? How do we know? ( Heb. 11:7 ), “By faith, Noah, being warned
about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his family.”
5) Did Abraham have faith? How do we know? ( Heb. 11:8 ), “By faith, Abraham, when he was
called, obeyed by going out to a place he was to receive for an inheritance, and he went out
no knowing where he was going.”
d. “that [salvation] not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.”
1) Yet salvation is truly God's gift to mankind. It cannot be earned and it is not deserved.
a) ILLUST.: Last week we attended Noah Stanley's 2 nd birthday party!
b) There were gifts on the table which had already been paid for.
c) All Noah had to do was reach out and take them.
d) But if he didn't, these gifts would have been worthless! (Same is true of God's grace)
2. ( v. 9 ), “…not as a result of works that no one should boast.”
a. This is another passage into which men have put a lot of teaching that is simply not there!
1) Does this passage say that people are saved without any works whatsoever?
a) ( John 6:28-29 ), They said therefore to Him, ‘What shall we do that we may work the
works of God?' Jesus answered and said to them, ‘This is the work of God, that you
believe in Him whom He has sent.”
b) So if we are saved w/o works, and belief is a work, then only the atheists go to
heaven! I believe most of us would agree that this is not fair!!!
2) Some teach that no acts of obedience can save us, since (they would say) “these are works.”
a) Yet few would teach we are saved w/o these acts of obedience (cf. Lk. 13:3; Rom.
10:9; I Pt. 3:21 ), “I tell you, no, but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”
“If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord , and believe in your heart that God
raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart man believes
resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses resulting in salvation.”
“…baptism now saves you – not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to
God for a clear conscience – through the resurrection of Jesus.”
b. What Ephesians 2:9 teaches is that we can't be saved by works of merit or righteousness to earn
salvation, ( Tit. 3:5 ), “He saved us, not on the basis of deeds we have done in righteousness, but
according to His mercy, by the mashing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy SPirit.”
1) The “washing of regeneration” = what God does for us at our baptism, ( Acts 22:16 ), “And
now, why do you delay? Arise, and be baptized, and wash away your sins calling on His
name.”
2) The Holy Spirit “renews” us – when we receive Him in baptism, ( Acts 2:38 ), “Repent, and
let each one of you be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus for the forgiveness of your
sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
3) Therefore, our salvation is only possible if we come to God on His terms.
C. #3: He Created Us for Good Works, (v. 10)
1. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared
beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
a. Our works killed us (cf. vs. 1-3), God's works saved us (cf. vs. 4-8). Therefore, we are now
God's masterpiece!!!
1) Each work of art (i.e. Christian) is different (no prints, each one is an original!).
2) God created you special for a work that only you can do, ( quote Eph. 4:8, 11-12, 15-16 ),
“And when HE ascended on high He led captive a host of captives, and gave gifts to men …
He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as
pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building
up of the body of Christ … we are to grow up into all aspects into Him who is the head,
Christ … from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint
supplies, through the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body
for the building up of itself in love.”
a) Each one of us has been gifted by God to fulfill His will.
b) The leaders have been gifted to equip each one of us to be involved in “…the work of
service.”
c) There are no unimportant or unnecessary parts in the Lord's body (the church).
d) All of us are necessary to help the church grow spiritually and numerically.
CONCLUSIONS
1. MEMBERS: God didn't save us merely so we could be saved. Rather, He saved us so He could use
us to His glory, ( I Pt. 4:10-11 ), “As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving God
as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Whoever speaks, let him speak, as it were, as the
oracles of God. Whoever serves, let him do so by the strength that God supplies, so that in all
things God may be glorified in Christ Jesus.”
2. GUESTS: If you desire God's unmerited (yet conditional) grace in your life…
a. John 6:29, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”
b. Luke 13:3, “I tell you, no, but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”
c. Romans 10:9, “...that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your
heart God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
d. I Peter 3:21, “…corresponding to that, baptism now saves you – not the removal of dirt from
the flesh, but an appeal to God for a clear conscience – through the resurrection of Jesus
Christ.”
|
|
