"And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following 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. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."
Ephesians 2:1-10 ESV
John Calvin said that when it comes to knowledge, it is easier to know God than to know ourselves "first, because a true knowledge of ourselves assumes a true knowledge of God, and, second, because we tend to think we do know ourselves, when, in fact, the depths or our condition are beyond our comprehension without the help of God."
The prophet Jeremiah wrote, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)
David said in Psalm 19:12, “Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults.”
The longer I live on this earth the more I discover the exceeding depths of my depravity, corruption, and utter sinfulness. John Piper says, No one knows the extent of his sinfulness. It is deeper than anyone knows.
I am so glad that God has given us a means by which we can truly know ourselves, if we dare use it: The Word of God! We may never know the fullness of our sinfulness but we can know the depths of our sinfulness. The Word of God gives us a complete pathology of our depraved nature. The reason it does is so that we will be humbled to humbly receive what we need that only God can give. If we understand our true state without Christ we will be amazed by grace and continually in love with Jesus. In short, we will always know that we are doing better than we ever deserve!
In Ephesians 2 the apostle Paul holds up a mirror to us to help us to see the true state of who we are without Jesus Christ and His saving work.
1. We are dead in trespasses and sins "And you were dead in the trespasses and sins" (Ephesians 2:1).
2. We are slaves of Satan "...in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience." (Ephesians 2:2)
3. We are Spiritually Depraved "...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." (Ephesians 2:3)
If you go a little farther in Ephesians, Paul adds some more realities to the state of our soul:
4. We are Spiritually Darkened "Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. 18 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;17-19)
5. We are Spiritually Defiled "For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous ( that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. " (Ephesians 5:5-6)
Add to that two more verses in Romans:
6. We are slaves to sin "You who were once slaves of sin..." (Romans 6:17).
7. No good thing dwells in me "For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. "(Romans 7:18).
So the diagnosis of us all without Jesus Christ is: We Are Dead
But that leads to the glory, the wonder, the mercy, the amazing and stupendous, remedy:
"even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." Ephesians 2:5-10
The remedy: WE ARE ALIVE!
“God made us alive.” oh reader, do you hear this? Does this move you? Does this fill you with awe? With exceeding joy and gladness? Dare I say, giddiness?! You will never experience the fullness of the greatness of God’s love for you if you don’t see his love in relation to your former deadness. Because verse 4 says that the greatness of his love is shown precisely in this: that it makes us alive when we were dead. “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.” Because of his great love for us, he made us alive. If you don’t know that you were dead, you will not know the fullness of the love of God.
God’s mercy and love and grace are as desperately needed and beautiful to me today as it was 35 years ago, frankly more. May God's amazing grace that has brought you here to read this blog awaken you, renew your faith that justified you, sanctifies you to walk the narrow Calvary road, and will some day remove every last stitch of this soul destroying, God demeaning sin and will present present you spotless before Him. May His mercy soften you and open you with humble praise and deep gratitude and passionate hearts toward God for the riches of his mercy and the greatness of his love and the power of his grace.
AMEN!
Pastor Bill
No comments:
Post a Comment