We are Alive

Well, morning everyone, and thank you Ash. I'm not sure if you're still in the room. Remind me how much alive I'm not. As it turns out, I just can't keep up with that sort of thing and his energy is just such a blessing to us as a church in moments like this.

So I really appreciate my brother. So as we have already been told, we're in the book of Ephesians in this term. If I've not met you, I'm Steve, senior pastor here at St. Paul's.

What we're doing in this term is we're discovering in the book of Ephesians who the church is. And we're doing that as we just heard from our news segment about we're doing that as we look forward to the next five to 10 years in what God is calling us to as a church in life and ministry together.

What we've already seen in Ephesians 1 is that in Jesus Christ, we have every spiritual blessing now in the present, present tense now. And we also have a guaranteed future glory in God's presence.

So what we have now and the future that we're looking forward to and the fulfillment of all things. So it is what we have and yet what we are still to receive.

And what we have and what we are still to receive is every desire, every dream, every longing of the heart being gifted to us in Jesus Christ.

Now today's passage is one of the richest in the Bible of what it means in fact to be a Christian.

And what it means when Christians talk about being saved, being born again or becoming a Christian.

And so if you are here in this room or online right now and you are not yet a Christian, then my hope is that these verses will give you clarity on what it is to be a Christian.

And also a desire welling up in you, in fact, to want to be one.

If, however, you are a Christian and you're sitting in the room or online, you are a Christian, it is crucial for you to realize as you come to this text that this text is not primarily evangelistic.

That wasn't Paul's origin.

That was not his purpose here.

This text is actually written to Christians.

It's written for Christians.

You see, what he wants is for Christians to be captivated by the love and the grace of God that has in fact ripped us.

And I mean ripped us from the grip of condemnation and death and raised us to the place of honor with Jesus Christ.

He wants us to be, our affections to be captivated by that truth.

He wants us to know the glorious Father, have our hearts and our affections to be drawn to him in such a way that our lives are transformed.

That's his intention here.

And so I've got three points, which on the St. Paul's app, you've got it there and you can take notes if you like as you go along.

Now the first three verses are a comprehensive panoramic picture of the human condition outside of God.

It's the condition of everyone outside of God.

It says quite bluntly, dead in your transgressions and sins.

Now death here or dead is not a figure of speech.

He's referring to humanity as being absolutely dead.

Not in danger of death, not dying, but absolutely dead.

He refers to Gentiles in verse 1 and his fellow Jews in verse 3.

So he's not making a distinction here between a particular depraved element of human society.

He's saying all people are dead in transgressions and sins.

That is, spiritual death is universal.

All of humanity from top to bottom, all people are spiritually dead apart from Christ.

And the key to understanding what that means is the word followed in verse 2 and following in verse 3.

Those words there, which come from the same root word, basically mean to be mastered by.

It's much stronger than the English language of following.

It means to be mastered by, to be controlled by.

It, in fact, means to be enslaved.

Spiritually, humanity is as helpless as a corpse.

Completely controlled, completely mastered by death in such a way that you have no capacity whatsoever to move, to act, to do anything on your own.

And a corpse cannot bring itself back to life.

And there are three things that we are told here that we are all enslaved to.

Firstly, it says verse 2, enslaved to the ways of the world.

Verse 2 again.

Secondly, we're enslaved to the ruler of the kingdom of the air.

And thirdly, in verse 3, enslaved to gratifying the cravings of our flesh following its desires and thoughts.

Now, when Paul refers there to our flesh, we automatically think of the stuff that's over the top of our bones and stuff.

But he doesn't mean that.

He's not referring to that.

In both Hebrew and Greek language, the word flesh means the whole person.

Mind, soul, spirit, body.

And it's a word that is particularly used in Hebrew and Greek language that refers to self-centered human nature.

It refers to the nature of all people.

And so notice the words craving, desires, thoughts.

What he's referring to here is the bottom, the aspect here of self-centered human nature is the inner life of the person.

And according to the Bible, the reason why all of humanity is dead, spiritually dead in transgressions and sins,

is because every single person is profoundly self-centered.

Profoundly centered on the self.

As I've often referred to the 16th century church reformer and theologian Martin Luther,

in his lectures on the Romans, the book of Romans,

put the condition of the human heart very succinctly.

The Latin phrase he used was incurvitus in se, which is curved in on itself.

That is the condition of every human heart.

Curvitus in se, curved in on itself.

In such a way he said that every human heart is wickedly,

curvedly, viciously seeking to use all things,

even God,

for its own glory.

Profoundly self-centered is what it means to be human apart from God.

It's like all of us have a computer that's not crashing right down at the center of our being,

and this computer never, never, never, never stops.

And it's constantly in overdrive, analyzing, analyzing, analyzing everything,

every person, every object, every interaction, every event, every setting,

saying, how does this glorify me?

That is the natural default human heart.

Everything is about analyzing its benefits to my happiness,

my glory, my reputation, my comfort, my control.

Everything gets put through the grid of my heart,

curved in on itself.

That is the core issue of humanity is pride.

It is what the theologian John Calvin said,

pride is the sin that exists below every sin.

It's the very thing that caused the very first sin in the very first place.

And pride is not so much thinking highly of yourself,

it is constantly thinking about yourself.

That's pride.

Pride is making sure that everything is centered on me.

Now, it is obvious that self-centeredness can make you a cruel person.

You know, history is full of those tyrants and dictators and, you know,

who, you know, the egotistical, the proud person, the self-centered, the murderous,

you know, we see them everywhere.

You know, they want to get their own way.

They want to make sure that they're at the center and the top and, you know.

But more often than not, self-centeredness creates moral people.

Not as obvious to spot.

Someone that others look up to and want to be like.

You see, if everything exists for my self-centered heart to make me look good and feel good,

then there's no better way to make me feel good or look good than to be a good person that other people affirm,

as opposed to the tyrant that other people despise.

Self-centeredness drives most people into serving the needy,

into political causes,

into being a good child to parents or a good parent to children,

a good friend who assists whenever possible,

a dutiful person who does what's expected of them.

And what lies beneath that is a self-centeredness that drives us doing those things for our own affirmation.

We help for our sake.

We do good things to be noticed by people.

We do it all to receive the applause,

to build up our sense of worth,

wealth,

which is always fragile and crumbling.

Now, I'm sure that most of you remember that one of the greatest Hollywood classics of the last century,

the movie Rocky,

starring Sylvester Stallone,

it is beyond me that the guy,

after all these years,

has yet to win an Oscar.

Anyway,

his love interest in the movie

asked him,

why?

Why are you taking on the world champion in a boxing match?

He's going to pulverize you.

Of course, he doesn't.

If he did,

we wouldn't have Rocky 6,

7,

8,

25,

I don't know how many movies there are,

but why?

Why are you doing this?

Because he wasn't expected to win.

It was meant to be a spectacle.

And his reply

is remarkable.

He says,

I want to go the distance.

That's all he wanted,

not to win,

I just want to go the distance

and then I will know

that I'm not a bum.

See what he's saying there?

I want to prove something to myself.

Everything else in life can fall down.

My marriage can fail.

I can be a rotten kid.

But as long as I've gone the distance

with Apollo Creed,

at least in that moment,

I know

that I'm not a bum.

You see,

outside of God,

every person

is trying to prove themselves

that they are worthy of affirmation.

Because we need affirmation

more than anything else.

And Luther's point here

is that we evaluate

everything

in terms of whether

it makes me look good

or not.

And yet the reality is

none of it will ever be enough.

None of it will ever be enough.

And so we are enslaved

to the treadmill

of the pursuit

of that affirmation.

So self-centeredness

can make you cruel.

It can make you moral.

But

we need to hear this one.

Self-centeredness

can make you

a religious person too.

We can devote ourselves

to God

doing good works,

turning up to church,

reading the Bible,

praying,

giving,

all good

and right things

to do,

God's called us to,

but for entirely

the wrong reason.

Where the motive

of the heart

is about

even trying

to get God

to approve

of us.

How do we know?

How can we tell

the difference?

Well,

when things aren't

going well in life,

we do two things.

We start to pull

back away

from those things.

Or

and

we start getting

angry at God

for not giving us

what we think

he should give us

in that moment

for things not going well.

God,

I've done all this stuff

for you.

How can this go wrong

in my life?

And both of those

things are an indication

we're expecting God

to come through

for us in that moment.

Of all I've done

for you,

God,

it is

mind-boggling

that you could

possibly get

into Christianity

and even stay

in Christianity

for decades

to have God

serve you,

your ego,

your affirmation,

rather than

for us to serve God.

that is

always the issue

if our obedience

and our Christian life

is conditional

on the circumstances

of life.

Verse 3

uses the word

craving

to describe

our self-centeredness.

It's a word

that means

an inordinate desire.

In other words,

it means that

this self-centeredness

is

an over-desire.

It's in fact

addictive.

It means

it's never enough.

It's addictive

in the same way

that gambling

is addictive.

It's never enough.

It's the same way

that heroin's addictive.

It's never enough.

It might give you

a high for just a moment

but you just look

at the next hit,

the next hit,

the next hit.

It means that

we are living

for our own glory

and it will never,

ever be enough.

No amount of glory,

no amount of acclaim,

no amount of recognition,

no amount of comfort

will ever be enough

to settle

the restless heart.

The computer

that's in overdrive

and it makes us

miserable.

It makes us miserable

despite what

our social media profiles

attempt to portray

about our life.

the default setting

of every human heart

without Jesus,

without God

is simply this

as I read years ago

and I can't remember

where I got it.

It is simply this.

I think it was C.S. Lewis.

I'll give it to him anyway.

It is your life

for mine.

Your ego,

your self-centeredness,

your life

must be sacrificed

for mine.

You exist to serve me,

my interests first

and that is how

we even relate

to our creator

and our sustainer

and our God.

God, you exist for me.

Now the Bible's view

of sin

is that every,

it's not just

that every person

is tainted by it

but that every aspect

of a human person

is tainted by it

and the consequence

is shocking.

Verse 3,

like the rest,

we were by nature

deserving of death.

Not just by nature

dead

but by nature

deserving of condemnation.

Not only spiritually dead

but condemned by God.

Our self-centeredness

means we are deserving

of God's wrath,

his anger,

his condemnation,

his judgment.

Now the Bible reveals

that God's anger

is not like human anger.

It's not spite.

It's not malice.

It's not animosity.

It's not revenge.

It's not arbitrary.

It is predictable

and it's not governed

by mood or whim.

It is God's personal,

righteous,

perfect,

constant hostility

to evil,

injustice,

and sin.

It is his settled refusal

to compromise with it

in any way whatsoever

and his resolve

is to condemn it.

This is the spiritual death

that all people

are enslaved to

that leads to

physical death

and ultimately

eternal death

under the just

condemnation

of God.

That is the horror

of verse 3

of being deserved

of wrath.

C.S. Lewis

certainly did write

nothing more,

there is nothing

more enslaving

and miserable

than self-centeredness.

It makes you

miserable

and it will

increasingly

make you

miserable.

He described it

as hell

begun

in you

that will

eventually

take you

to hell.

That's self-centeredness.

That's pride.

And in this

constant state

of spiritual

death

and free

fall

into eternal

death,

unable

to even

know

that we are

in fact

dead,

let alone

help

ourselves

to save

ourselves,

what humanity

needs

is intervention.

Not just

a bit

of help.

Christianity

is not

self-help.

We need

someone to

intervene.

A corpse

cannot push

the emergency

button and

call for help

and we

can't do

so spiritually

either.

and that's

what makes

verses 4 to 7

so remarkable.

We're alive

by grace.

I love it

when Mel

read this

out.

I don't

know if you

noticed,

but she

did.

But,

but,

there's

never a

bigger

but in

the world

than this

one.

Because of

his great

love for

us,

God,

who is

rich in

mercy,

made us

alive with

Christ,

even when

we were

dead in

transgressions.

It is by

grace you

have been

saved.

And God

raised us

up with

Christ and

seated us

with him

in the

heavenly

realms in

Christ Jesus.

Verse 6

says that

God raised

us up

with Christ

and seated

us with

him in the

heavenly

realms.

That's

verse 6.

I don't

know if you

remember from

last week.

I mean,

Nick's just

read it out

to us,

in fact,

reminding us

from chapter

1 that

God raised

Christ up

and seated

him in

the heavenly

realms.

Here we are

told he's

done that

with us.

That's where

we are

now.

What does

that mean?

You see,

in the first

century Roman

world,

the conquering

general would

return from

the great

victory and

that general

was given

the greatest

honour,

the highest

place in

the capital

as they

returned,

the capital

city, and

they were

seated at

the right

hand of

the emperor.

That was

their honour.

Jesus died,

was raised

up, given

the place

of greatest

honour, the

seat of the

right hand of

the throne in

the heavenly

realms.

It is the

most honourable

seat in

all of

heaven and

the earth

and under

the earth.

And so

notice,

God raised

us up with

Christ and

seated us

with him.

that's

past tense.

It's done.

Because it

can't mean

that he's

raised us

up from

dead

physically

because as

of yet,

I've not

died.

It can't

mean that

I'm in

heaven with

him because

I'm still

here.

It means

that we

are legally

right now

declared that

that is my

seat.

You see,

what it's

saying is

when a person

trusts in

Jesus Christ,

all their

sins,

all of

their

self-centeredness

are so

hidden,

so covered

that they

are treated

as if

they have

done

everything

that Jesus,

the conquering

king,

has done.

God delights

and honours

and accepts

and rejoices

over us

in the

way that

he does

his own

son.

How can

that be?

Verse 7,

he might

show us

the incomparable

riches of

his grace

expressed in

his kindness

to us

in Christ

Jesus.

The word

kindness

there is

not an

emotion.

It's

actually

action.

It's a

word that

means costly

action.

The first

three verses

tell us

that the

essence of

sin is

putting

ourselves

where only

God should

be.

That is the

very centre

of our

lives,

on the

throne of

our lives,

in control

of our

lives.

Sin is

putting

our self

where only

God deserves

to be.

Salvation

in Christianity

is God

putting himself

where we

deserve to

be.

It's the

great reversal

of positions.

Jesus

Christ took

the just

and righteous

punishment.

He took

the wrath

of God

that we

deserve

for putting

ourselves

in the

place

where only

God

belongs,

that is

at the

centre,

the throne

and the

ruler of

our lives.

And the

punishment

that he

took on

the cross

was much

more than

the cruel,

the excruciating,

physical

punishment

of a

Roman

crucifixion.

He took

the much

more

excruciating

spiritual

pain

of the

wrath of

God

being poured

out on

him,

what verse

three says

that we

deserve.

The one

whose

very

essence

was

flawless

selflessness

was cut

off from

God,

his

father.

He

experienced

the

agony

that we

would

experience

if we

were cut

off from

God

for all

of

eternity.

You see,

the essence

of sin

is us

substituting

ourselves

for God

while the

essence

of salvation

in Christianity

is God

substituting

himself for

us.

He sat

in our

seat so

that we

can now

sit in

his.

ourselves

where only

God

deserves

to be

and so

God

chooses

to put

himself

where we

deserve

to be.

And

that,

not just

being

intellectually

assented

to or

agreed with

but to

be pushed

down to

the very

centre of

our

heart,

that

and that

alone

is what

blasts us

out of

our

self-centredness

it is to

see Jesus

saved

through the

most,

sorry,

Jesus save

us through

the most

radically

unselfish

thing

in the

history of

humanity

for you,

for me.

Though he

was

equal with

God,

he emptied

himself of

his glory

and he

came down

and took

the place

of a

servant.

Verses

four and

five are

absolutely

startling

but because

of his

great love

for us,

God,

who is

rich in

mercy,

made us

alive with

Christ even

though we

were dead

in transgressions,

it is by

grace,

that you

have been

saved.

We were

dead in

our

transgressions

but God

intervened,

enslaved to

sin,

enslaved to

our

selfishness

but God

intervened,

objects of

wrath,

deserving of

condemnation

but God

intervened.

Verses

eight and

nine

emphasise,

which is

what we

tried to

keep up

with a

minute ago,

emphasises

that this

salvation

is all

God's

grace,

it is

all his

gift,

it is

by grace

you've been

saved,

through faith

and it is

not from

yourself,

it is a

gift of

God,

not by

work so

that no

one can

boast.

God's

gift,

his salvation

is a gift,

new life is a

gift,

every spiritual

blessing we saw

in chapter one

is a gift,

the hope of

the future

is a gift

and even

faith to

believe it

and to

live it

is a

gift.

Now

faith here,

I just need

to unpack

this,

faith here

is not

a mere

intellectual

ascent,

faith means

trust

and the

idea of

trust here

is it

means

resting,

resting

you see

a Christian

is a

person

who

rests

in,

it's a

person

who

trusts

in

the

work

of

Christ,

his

grace

to us

and they

are

characterized

verse

9

gives us

the

characterization

of what

a life

of faith

looks like

verse

9

not

boasting

and we

go,

well,

I'm a

moral

person,

I'm not

like that

proud

person

who

boasts

about

all

their

that's

not

what

this

word

means

because

we

think

I'm

not

a

bragger

let me

say

we all

subtly

do

but

despite

that

this

boasting

here is

a difference

between the

self-centered

and the

selfless

person

you see

boasting

in the

first

century

Roman

world

was

what it

was that

you had

your

confidence

in

and

boasting

was

particularly

confidence

in handling

a

what was

it that

your

confidence

was to

handle

a difficult

scenario

that's

boasting

where is

your

confidence

it's not

bragging

about an

achievement

but where

your

confidence

is

placed

and here

we are

told

that one

of the

great

things

about

the

Christian

life

is it

brings

an

end

to the

boasting

it

brings

an

end

to that

overdrive

of the

computer

placing

our

confidence

in

our

fickle

personal

hope

and

affirmations

that we

build for

ourselves

as I

said

earlier

we're

all

looking

for

something

to boast

in

something

to put

our

confidence

in

something

to trust

in

to rest

in

to pump

up

our

sense

of

worth

and

value

anything

it

can

be

and

this

is

what

C.S.

Lewis

was saying

here

we are

miserable

because

the life

of boasting

is a life

of scrambling

for identity

it's

exhausting

it's

enslaving

because

we are

giving

our

all

to

something

that was

never

designed

to make

us

complete

it was

never

designed

to deliver

us an

identity

and the

new life

that he

gives us

is a life

of a

gift of

his

grace

the

one

worthy

of all

praise

has

denied

himself

and

elevated

us

to the

throne

of

honor

his

selflessness

has

overcome

our

selfishness

and we

have

all

the

acclaim

or the

honor

or the

approval

or the

acceptance

that we

could

possibly

want

and there

is only

one

boast

that

liberates

from the

enslavement

of scrambling

through life

searching

for the

confidence

we need

to face

whatever

life

throws

at us

and

Galatians

6

Paul

says it

very

succinctly

may I

never

boast

in

anything

else

but the

cross

the

cross

of our

Lord

Jesus

Christ

through

which

the

world

has

now

been

crucified

to me

and I

to the

world

in other

words

those

three

things

are

dead

to me

those

three

things

that we

are

craving

after

are

dead

to me

those

three

things

that I'm

enslaved

to are

dead

to me

because

of the

cross

no

longer

searching

for a

boast

to feel

alive

but

made

alive

Jesus

is his

boast

because

he knows

that in

Jesus

he

the

Christian

the

church

is

God's

boast

let me

be honest

with you

I

preach

this

passage

many

times

over

the

last

three

decades

but

I've

never

seen

this

bit

before

I've

talked

about

this

before

but

I've

never

seen

this

bit

before

I've

never

seen

this

bit

particularly

in light

of the

end

of

chapter

one

verse

10

gives

us one

of the

most

exalted

images

of the

Christian

not just

seated

up there

in the

throne room

with

God

the

most

exalted

images

of the

Christian

the

church

in

all

the

Bible

we

are

God's

handiwork

it

literally

means

his

work

of

art

his

masterpiece

I've

been

reflecting

on

this

bit

mostly

in

this

last

week

Genesis

1

sorry

Psalm

19

tells us

that God

made

the

galaxies

he

made

the

stars

he

made

the

solar

systems

he

made

the

oceans

the

mountains

he

made

billions

of

creatures

he

made

it

all

everything

Genesis

1

tells us

that he

made

humanity

in his

very

image

as the

pinnacle

of all

creation

he

made

the

angels

he

made

the

spiritual

realm

and

none

of it

none

of it

is

referred

to

as

his

masterpiece

none

of it

God's

masterpiece

the

thing

that he

sits

back

on

puts

down

the

brush

and

says

that's

that's

it

of

everything

I've

been

doing

in

history

and

humanity

and

time

and

space

this

is

it

this

is

this

is

the

thing

that

sits

at the

entrance

of

humanity

this

is

this

is

the

thing

I

want

to

be

on

display

his

great

masterpiece

is

his

new

humanity

safe

from

condemnation

people

made

alive

set

free

from

slavery

blessed

beyond

comprehension

with a

promise of

getting

just

more

blessing

more

life

beyond

death

and for

all

eternity

that's

his

masterpiece

that

is

if

you

like

his

gift

and

his

masterpiece

his

gift

it's

a

gift

that

none

of us

were

looking

for

it's

a

gift

that

the

human

heart

self

said

the

human

heart

I

don't

need

it

I'm

my

own

masterpiece

and

it's

a

gift

and

I

think

this

is

Paul's

point

it's

a

gift

that

so

many

of

us

have

in

Christ

and

frankly

we

don't

appreciate

enough

I

think

it's

amazing

that

we

are

his

masterpiece

we

are

if you

like

put it

another

way

humanity

saved

in

Christ

is

God's

boast

we're

his

boast

that's

meant

to

break

our

hearts

that's

meant

to

grow

our

affections

it's

meant

to

change

our

lives

order

our

priorities

your

social

media

life

which

is

really

an

indication

of

your

boast

it's

the

things

that

you

get

angry

about

what

other

people

are

boasting

about

on

social

media

it's

the

things

that

you

put

on

social

media

yourself

that'll

give

you

an

indication

to

your

boast

and

it

is

nothing

to

this

which

gets

me

to

the

final

point

and

I'm

going

to be

so

fast

here

let me

tell you

going

to be

so

fast

verse

10

this is

what it

means to

live by

grace

this is

God's

great

purpose

we are

God's

handiwork

created in

Christ Jesus

to do

good works

which God

prepared in

advance for

us to do

prepared

and

advanced

by

God

the

good

works

even

the

good

works

are

a

gift

even

the

good

works

are

by

his

sovereign

grace

and

empowered

by

his

grace

and

what

would

be

really

nice

is

if

Paul

elaborated

on what

those

good

works

were

that

would

be

really

lovely

because

normally

and

I'm

at

fault

here

in

the

past

what

I

would

have

done

is

I

would

have

said

therefore

here's

some

stuff

you

should

do

these

are

the

good

works

but

he

doesn't

do

that

here

he

doesn't

elaborate

on

it

the

tendency

is

to

import

here

a

bunch

of

activities

that

will

really

a list

of

things

that

I'm

happy

to

do

that

I

can

comfortably

manage

I

am

God's

great

masterpiece

and

here's

the

scraps