But God…
Posted by Pastor Pat on March 15, 2010
Read Ephesians 2:1-10
Paul continues to show the immeasurable nature of God’s redeeming grace by noting the context in which it took place. It is as if he provides the reader with a snapshot or summary of the whole story from beginning to end. It is because we were dead in our trespasses that God would have to forgive us by means of redeeming us from sin’s debt (1:7). Verses 2 and 3 describe the state of what all once were prior to their adoption as sons and daughters (1:5).
Verses 1 through 3 do not distinguish between male or female, Jew or Gentile, bond or free. All are in the same dead state brought on by trespass and sin. Paul highlights the enemies of grace: the world, the devil, and the flesh. All three work to overthrow and undercut the provision of God for the inability of man. Verse 4 acts as a sharp contrast to the initial three verses. It functions as an explosion of hope. In contrast to all that we are, here stands God who is rich in mercy and great in love. He does not allow us to continue as we were but sets us on a path of life and light. Because of who God is in essence, all His actions are inseparably linked to and flowing from this abundant resource.
The text speaks to our past, what we once were (vv. 1-3). It then addresses the present by noting how we are alive together with Christ and have been raised up with Him and seated with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus (vv. 5, 6). We often fail to appreciate the already-not yet aspect of faith. We are already alive, raised, and seated, yet there is more.
Verse 7 paints a picture of the future. The Church is a trophy of His surpassing grace, a grace marked by richness and kindness. There is something lavish about what God does for those whom He loves.
Everything the church enjoys is a result of a freely bestowed gift (v. 8-10). This gift as such was incapable of being earned through works, thus no one can boast. The Church is the work of His hands and through which He works His good work. This is the story God wrote beforehand and it is in this story we are to walk.
