Made Alive in Christ

Ephesians 2:1-10

“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. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

This sermon was preached on the morning of May 17, 2009 at Clearcreek Chapel.
Please take the time to listen here to the message “Made Alive In Christ“ or to read here the manuscript and then reflect and respond to the following questions :

~ Have you ever really seen with your spiritual eyes your deadness, depravity, dis-obedience and doom in God’s sight? I don’t mean in a disconnected, academic way: in a soul and self shattering reality?

~ Too often, people who are claiming to be after the “but God” in this text are still living like before the “but God”. Does your life now really still look an awful lot like the life described in (v.1-2)? Has your profession of faith in Christ resulted in a radical, Godward change in your living? Does who you have become in Christ express itself in what you do as a Christian?

~ If we have a rich in mercy kind of God, should not Christians also be rich in mercy? Being merciful always has sin in view. So let us view the mercies of God for sinners in such a way that we are merciful to repentant sinners. Let us be slow to believe and accept the worst. And when faced with a believer who is repentant of sin, let us be rich in mercy.

~ God’s saving grace comes to undeserving sinners in such a way as to magnify the glorious character of God. The glory of God is seen to be large, bright and weighty through the lens of God’s saving works. Does it come as a shock to you that salvation is God centered? May God open our eyes so that we see ever more clearly the glory of Christ in the salvation of His people.

~ We are God’s work of art, the product of His skilled craftsmanship. But we are not merely a painting on a wall hung there for its beauty and the admiration of its painter. We are like a wonderfully designed and intricately beautiful piece of fur-niture or tool or computer. One of the ways it glorifies its designer, creator and owner is that it is put to use and does its work. We are God’s workmanship cre-ated to do good works.

~ Through the wonderful description of God’s saving work for poor, miserable sinners comes an invitation. The saving, transforming grace of God is through faith, through believing what God has said, trusting in Him and His saving work through Christ. And it brings you to bow to Him, to acknowledge and accept His kingship and rule over your life. Will you, now?

Clearcreek Chapel, © 2009 by Russ Kennedy All rights reserved.