Ephesians 2:1-3

So many people, they were hiding from the militia, and all of them were brutally murdered.

And in the basement of this memorial, the guide didn't even go down to the basement.

She just said, you're welcome to go downstairs.

So I did.

And in this narrow pathway, in either side of me, there were stacks and stacks of human bones, skulls.

I think they said they found 40,000 body parts at that site.

So just like, you know, the dry bones cannot come back to life on its own, I wondered, I'm sure, you know, the families, the friends, the siblings of these victims, wouldn't they give anything to see them just once again living?

And with all the advance in modern medicine and science, there's nothing anyone can do to bring these dead bones back to life.

And that is what we are going to look into tonight.

We are dead in sin.

And next week, we're going to look into our life in Christ.

Let us pray.

Lord Jesus, we thank you for gathering us here tonight, Lord.

Lord, as we worship you and praise you, and now, as we read your words, Lord God.

Open our ears and prepare our hearts to hear your words and be moved, touched by your life-giving words, Lord God.

And Lord, thank you for giving us this life through your son, Jesus Christ.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Let's turn to Ephesians.

I'm going to actually read the last week's passage as well.

So we'll start from Ephesians chapter 1, verse 20, and we'll go to chapter 2, verse 6.

Ephesians 1:20

If somebody has a page number, just shout it out.

976.

Ephesians chapter 1, starting from verse 20.

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

That he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,

far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named,

not only in this age but also in the one to come.

And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church,

which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

And you are dead in the trespasses and sins 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 Jesus Christ.

So last Sunday evening, you know, Dan preached from Ephesians chapter 1 verses 20 to 23.

Ephesians 1:20–23

And it's about God's power raising, you know, Jesus from dead.

And in his glory he is seated at the right hand of God.

And in chapter 2 verse 4,

God tells us that now we are alive together in Christ.

Between these two glorious passages,

why does Paul talk about a gloomy spiritual assessment?

Of us.

We were dead.

First one says,

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins.

Some of you may say,

I'm not dead.

I'm breathing.

My lungs are exchanging carbon dioxide and oxygen.

My heart is pumping.

What do you mean I'm dead?

I'm alive.

But the death that Apostle Paul is talking about here is our spiritual death.

Now,

when Adam and Eve,

now we're going all the way back to Genesis.

God told Adam and Eve,

you can eat from every tree except from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

But Satan deceived Eve.

Satan said to Eve,

did God tell you not to eat from any of these trees?

And Eve said,

no,

we shouldn't be eating from tree of knowledge and evil.

Because God said,

if we do,

it will surely die.

And Satan said to Eve,

no,

you're not going to die.

Matter of fact,

you're going to be like God.

You are going to know good and evil.

And you're going to become like God.

Through Satan's deception,

Eve gives in to the temptation.

And Eve eats the fruit of knowledge and evil.

And at that moment,

the sin enter the world.

So in Romans,

it says,

through one man,

sin enter the world.

Adam.

So through Adam,

sin enter the world.

And sin brought death

to human race.

So,

death became a certainty.

And also,

we were separated from God

because of the sin.

And that is the spiritual death.

and

this

rebellion

because

God said,

do not eat from this tree.

but what our humans are saying is,

hey,

we

don't need to hear that from you.

We

know

what is good

and what is evil.

evil.

And this,

as the sin entered,

brought death,

and look what happens

immediately after.

the very next chapter,

Adam's son,

Cain,

murders

his brother Abel

out of jealousy.

And then,

a few chapters later,

in chapters,

Genesis chapter 6,

Genesis 6 · chapter mention

the

earth was just

filled

with

wickedness

of man.

It says,

the Lord

saw that the wickedness

of man

was great

in the earth

and that

every

intention

of the thoughts

of his heart

was only

evil

continually.

And as we

read

the next

verse,

verse 2,

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.

So,

following the

course of the

world,

so,

we humans

became

continually

rejecting

God.

And the

world

world

that we

live in

have this

ungodly

attitude

and ungodly

practices.

And

as you

read

the Bible,

I mean,

nobody told

them or

nobody taught

them how

to, you

know,

build idols.

but with

our fallen

nature,

we start,

human beings

start worshipping

idols.

Human beings

start,

stop looking

into God

and looking

for other

things,

calling these

lifeless things,

things that's

made out of

stones and

metals and

other things,

and they

start worshipping

idols.

and

this trend

of,

you know,

ungodly

attitude and

ungodly

practices,

it continued

and

one of the

things that

we see

today

in America,

I'm

going to

read

an excerpt

from

David

Platt's

book called

Counterculture.

Here it

says,

noted

atheist

Richard Dawkins

writes,

in a

universe of

blind

physical

forces and

genetic

replication,

some

people are

going to

get hurt,

other

people are

going to

get lucky,

and you

won't find

any rhyme

or reason

in it,

nor any

justice.

The universe

we observe

has precisely

the properties

we should

expect if

there is.

At the

bottom,

no design,

no purpose,

no evil,

and no other

good.

Nothing but

blind,

pitiless

indifference.

DNA

neither knows

nor cares.

DNA

just is,

and we

dance to

its music.

Godless

worldviews

thus leave

us with a

hopeless

subjectivity

concerning

good and

evil that

is wholly

dependent

on social

constructs.

Whatever a

culture deems

right is

right,

and whatever

a culture

deems wrong

is wrong.

This is

precisely

the worldview

that prevails

in American

culture today.

Where rapid

shifts in the

moral landscape

clearly communicate

that we no

longer believe

certain things

are inherently

right or

wrong.

Instead,

rightness

and wrongness

is determined

by social

developments

around us.

And isn't

this true?

When we

look at our

culture today,

whether it's

in entertainment,

in education,

they're trying

to get

rid of

the notion

of

absolute

truth.

God

is

absolute

truth.

But what

the society,

the culture,

is telling

us is

there is

no absolute

truth.

Whatever

culture

decides,

that's what

it is.

And this

kind of

ungodly

attitude

and ungodly

practice

is also

one of the

components

that makes

us

spiritually

dead.

in

1994,

in

Rwanda,

800,000

people

were

killed

in a

three-month

time.

So if

you do

the math,

the rate

of killing

is just

unthinkable.

General

Romeo

Dallaire,

who was

in charge

of the

UN

peacekeeping

force

during that

time,

he wrote

in his

book called

Shake

Hands

with the

Devil.

Now,

this man,

in his book,

he says,

he was not

particularly a

religious man,

but when he

met the

leaders of

this militia

group who

started this

genocide,

died,

and when he

shook their

hands,

and then when

he saw

in their

eyes,

he said,

I saw

the devil.

This

cannot

come from

a human

being.

so,

the devil

stirs

things

in human

hearts

to do

violence,

commit

atrocities,

and we

see this

all over

the world,

whether

in human

trafficking,

child

soldiers

get forced

to,

you know,

commit

these

atrocities,

you see,

the prince

of air,

which is

the devil,

that spirit

is now

at work

in the

sons of

disobedience.

So,

first,

we saw

the world

trend.

Ever

since Adam

and Eve

disobeyed

God and

we became

a fallen

world,

the world,

it starts

to reject

God,

start to

stop

recognizing

God

as the

creator.

And then

Satan,

who

deceived

Eve

and

attempting

people to

fall,

continues

to

work

in the

sons of

disobedience.

And then

verse 3,

it says,

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.

time.

So,

what is

passion of

our flesh?

Passion of

our flesh

is described

in Galatians

Galatians 5:19

chapter 5,

verse 19.

Here it

says,

now the

works of

the flesh

are evident.

Sexual

immorality,

impurity,

sensuality,

idolatry,

sorcery,

enmity,

strife,

jealousy,

fits of

anger,

rivalries,

dissensions,

divisions,

envy,

drunkenness,

orgies,

and things

like these.

So,

when you

put all

these three

forces together,

that is

the dominion

of sin.

Ungodly

attitudes and

practices of

this world,

the social

force,

the Satan's

deception,

Satan's

spiritual

force that

keep

unbelievers

in bondage

to sin.

And then,

our fleshly

nature to

pursue

after such

things.

All these

three things

work together

and keep

unbelievers

in the state

of

spiritual

death.

death.

And in

that state,

we are

by nature

children of

wrath.

We deserve

God's

holy anger

and his

judgment.

Now,

some of

you may

say,

I am

by no

means like

that.

I mean,

how insulting.

Orgies,

sexual immorality,

fits of

anger.

I'm a

good person.

How dare

you to

put me in

the same

category

as these

people?

I don't

do that.

I'm a

good person.

I give

money to

charity.

I meditate.

Then,

well,

the question

to you

is this.

Have you

put your

faith in

Jesus?

Jesus?

Do you

believe Jesus

died for

your sins?

And is

Jesus your

only hope

and savior?

If you

did not

put your

faith in

Jesus or

have been

and still

rejecting

him,

then the

Bible tells

us that

you are

spiritually

dead.

Let me

give you an

analogy of

these two

teenagers.

So,

there's this

teenager

who gets

into trouble.

Doesn't like

to study,

cut classes,

sometimes you

get a phone

call from

the principal,

sometimes you

get a phone

call from

the police

officer saying,

come and

get your

son.

But,

his heart

towards his

parents,

he loves

his parents.

Even though

he does

these stupid

things,

gets him

in trouble,

he still

at the

bottom of

his heart,

he loves

his parents.

He enjoys

spending time

with his

parents.

Let's look

at another

teenager.

Straight A

student,

never gets

into any

kind of

trouble,

and he

has a

bright future,

but deep

inside in

his heart,

he just

cannot wait

until he

becomes

independent.

Why?

Because he

does not

want to do

anything with

his parents

anymore.

He doesn't

want to see

them anymore.

He just

cannot wait

until he

doesn't have to

associate with

his parents

anymore.

Now,

if you

think you

are a good

person,

righteous,

righteous,

but if you

don't have

Jesus as

your savior,

you are

rejecting

God.

You are

rejecting

his gift.

So,

you are

still

under the

wrath of

God.

God.

So,

why does

Paul

gives us

this,

you know,

we talked

about the

valley of

the dry

bone,

and I

told you

about the

genocide

memorial.

Why does

Paul give

us this

dark and

gloomy

assessment of

our, you

know,

spiritual

status?

first,

I think

he wants

us to

remain

humble.

Nobody

is holier

than,

you know,

anyone.

Holier than

thou,

that kind

of attitude.

We were

all,

we are all

sinners,

and we

were once

all dead

because of

our sin

and trespasses.

So,

Paul wants

us to have

this

gratitude.

Be thankful

to God.

Like I

said to

you,

what good

is

defibrillator

to the

dry bone?

You know,

when you

watch the

hospital shows,

you know,

and clear,

and then zap,

and then person

comes back to

life.

What good

is it?

What good

is if I

bring 200

defibrillator

to the

stacks of

dry bone?

can dry

bones come

back to

life on

its own?

So,

what Apostle

Paul is

telling us

is,

you were

all like

that before

Christ.

So,

don't feel

that,

oh,

I am

much better

than that

person.

It is

because what

I did,

I am

alive,

and I'm

a Christian

today.

He does

not want

you to

have that

kind of

attitude.

He wants

you to

be grateful

to God

and remain

humble

and remind

ourselves

that

we were

once dead

like these

dry bones.

And then

also,

Apostle

Paul reminds

us that

in that

dry bone

condition,

we were

utterly

hopeless

and helpless.

and he

wants us

to know

that

until

Jesus

died

for us

and he

came for

our rescue,

we had

no hope.

And we

certainly

couldn't

help

ourselves.

Some

other

religions,

you know,

aren't they

basically

teaching you,

well,

if you do

this much,

if you do

this much,

if you pray

this much,

if you

meditate

this much,

if you

give this

much,

then you

will earn

favor of

God.

Right?

But

Jesus is

not like

that.

Coming

to life

in Christ,

we have

no contribution

whatsoever.

It is what

Jesus did

on the cross,

that is it.

So,

Apostle Paul

doesn't want

us to

boast,

oh yeah,

I read

this many

books,

I pray

this much,

and you

know,

I do

this,

I give

this much,

I think

that's how

I got

my salvation.

No,

Apostle Paul

doesn't want

you to

ever have

that kind

of attitude

in you.

It is

purely

through God's

grace.

It is

purely

through what

Jesus did

on the cross.

So,

if you're

going to

boast,

boast about

Jesus.

That's why

before he

goes into

the next

verses

where,

you know,

we are now

alive in

Christ,

he reminds

us,

telling us

our former

condition,

that we

were once

all dead.

Don't think

the Ephesians

were a lot

worse sinners

than us.

It's not

because of

that.

This message

that we

were once

dead in

sin

applies

to

everybody,

every region.

It transcends

time and

place.

Whether,

you know,

you were

believers 500

years ago,

whether this

message continues

to the next

four or five

generations,

it's the

message is

the same.

Ephesians

were not

particularly

bad people.

Apostle

Paul wants

us to

know that

you were,

we were

all dead

once.

Until

Christ

came into

your life,

then we

were all

made alive

together

with Christ.

And

third,

the reason

why Apostle

Paul brings

this gloomy

assessment,

I think it's

because of

the urgency.

Urgency.

Now,

if you're a

believer,

knowing that

people are

spiritually

dead,

it gives

you a

sense of

urgency.

And what

do we do

with that

urgency?

The Great

Commission.

in

chapter 1,

verse 20,

it says,

21,

far over

all rule

and authority

and power

and dominion

and above

all every

name that

is named,

not only in

this age,

but also in

the age to

come.

So,

Jesus was

given

authority

in

this age

and also

age to

come.

So,

when you

look at

the Great

Commission,

it's in

Matthew 28,

Matthew 28:18

verse 18,

it says,

all authority

in heaven

and earth

has been

given to

me.

Go,

therefore,

and make

disciples

of all

nations,

baptizing

them in

the name

of the

Father

and of

the Son

and of

the Holy

Spirit,

teaching

them to

observe

all that

I have

commanded

you.

And

behold,

I am

with you

always

to the

end

of the

age.

So,

there is

a sense

of urgency

for the

believers.

Jesus

is telling

us,

go.

I have

the authority

and I'm

going to

give you

power

to break

the power

of sin.

The gospel

has power

to break

the power

of sin,

power of

death,

and it

will set

people free

and it

will bring

people back

to life.

So,

we are

agents

bringing

that

life-giving

news

to the

people

who are

still

spiritually

dead.

So,

there is a

sense of

urgency.

And also

for the

non-believers,

there is

also a

sense of

urgency.

Spiritual

death,

because we

can't see

it with

our human

eyes.

When I

went to

Rwanda,

someone told

me there

are 15

species of

poisonous

snakes.

I said,

great,

including

black

mamba.

If you

are bitten

by

poisonous

snakes,

the signs

are very

obvious.

Either you

stop breathing,

either you

start to

bleed through

every pore

of your

body,

or the

site where

it is

bitten,

it swells

up.

So,

when something

is that

obvious,

what do

you do?

You rush

to the

hospital,

right?

You're

fighting

time,

you're

hoping the

hospital will

have

antivenom

and start

putting

antivenom

into your

body so

you don't

die.

But

spiritual

death,

because we

don't really

see it with

our human

eyes,

we kind

of,

you know,

relax about it.

You're like,

well,

I'll give you

another picture.

one of the

sounds that

people don't

like to hear

in the

hospital is

the sound

of the

flat line.

You know

the monitor

that monitors

your heart?

It goes

usually beep,

beep,

beep,

beep,

but when

somebody is

about to

die,

it goes

beep,

beep,

beep,

beep,

beep,

beep,

beep,

beep,

beep,

beep,

that's the

flat line.

If you

haven't put

your faith

in Jesus

yet,

do you

hear the

sound of

the flat

line of

your spirit?

Do you

hear the

voice of

Jesus

inviting you?

Come.

can you

hear these

two things?

Jesus

calling your

name.

I came

and I

die for

you.

Come

and live.

Do you

hear your

spirit

saying,

don't you

hear that

flat line

sound?

Going

beep.

What are

you waiting

for?

If you

have not

put your

faith in

Jesus yet,

what are

you waiting

for?

Now,

next week,

we're going

to continue

Ephesians

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2.

And I

promise you,

it's not

going to be

gloomy.

The passage

will not

talk about

dead bones,

dry bones,

or dead,

you know,

we will

actually

celebrate.

Because

we are

made alive

in Christ.

Not

because of

what we

did,

not because

how hard

we worked

towards it,

but because

God

loved us.

So,

let me just

read,

I'm just

kind of like

giving you a

preview.

verse,

chapter 2,

verse 4.

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

Jesus Christ.

How amazing

is this?

Last week,

we learned

that Jesus

in His glory

is seated

at the right

hand of God

and He

will do

the same

for us.

when you

put your

faith in

Jesus,

when you

receive Jesus

as your

only

Savior,

that we

are made

alive

together

with Him

and seated

in heavenly

places

with Jesus

Christ.

So,

I do hope

you come back

for the sequel

next week

and

let me

close

in prayer.

Lord Jesus,

we are

humbled

by what

You did

for us,

Lord God.

And we

are

grateful

that

You gave

us life,

that we

humans

did everything

we can

to reject

God,

to reject

Your

gift,

pursuing

our

passions,

living,

blinded

in sin,

not even

knowing that

we were

dead.

But Lord,

because of

Your love,

Your mercy,

and Your

grace,

now we are

no longer

dead,

but we are

alive in

Christ.

So,

Lord Jesus,

we thank

You,

and we

praise You

for what

You did.

And in

Your holy

name we

pray,

Amen.

Amen.

Please stand

with us.

ingen