As we look further into this passage today and see the movement of ourselves from death to life we will notice that at the center of it all is God. When we see that God wanted us, “Dead to Alive” we will discover our amazing purpose in living for Him. And this is the key idea of the passage that we will actually come to next week in discussing verses 8-10. So if we stated the key idea it would sound like this: we must look forward to accomplishing the good works that God has prepared us to do because of the great transformation that He has brought about in making us alive from the dead.
2. The reason we followed
Last week we looked at the pattern we followed. Paul described the pattern we followed was that of the world system (the anti-God and pro-self structure) and we followed the leader of the world system, the world ruler, Satan. We followed this pattern. That was the first way that Paul describes the path we took in walking in our sin. The second way that Paul describes the path that we took in walking in our sin is the reason we followed. Again we are looking at what Paul notes as our previous condition. We were dead in our trespasses and sins. That is we were separated from God. And we were walking in our sin. Why did we follow the world system? Why did we follow the world ruler? Why didn’t we stand against them and say I will not follow you? Paul gives us two reasons we followed this system and ruler.
a. Our desires
The first reason that Paul gives us for following this world system and ruler is our desires. Look at verse 3. “Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind.”
Our desires are what drew us to follow the world system. James says in his letter that, “Each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.” Our own desires carried us down the road in following the world system and world ruler. We all had desires that drew us from coming to Christ. There were things that were more important to us than following Christ. Some of us had desire for sexual fulfillment. Some of us had desire for a good appearance. That is, that others would see us as a good person and honor us, whether or not we were good. We may have had secret sins in our minds. We may have had sins we practiced away from the gaze of those around us. Some of us may have had desires for power or prestige obtaining it in whatever Machiavellian way we needed. Some of us had a desire to receive honor from God and so we worked harder than anyone else to legalistically try to please God so He would accept us. Yet this was all part of the world system. The Apostle Paul was this very way. He said that his desire was to receive a righteousness from God based on his effort (based on the law). And yet this very effort was part of the world system in defying God’s way of salvation. Paul in expending so much effort to please God was denying God’s very way of salvation. Look at Paul’s own words in Philippians 3. Starting in verse four he says, “although I myself might even have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more: circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless. But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith.”
Paul’s lusts (desires) were bound up in proving himself to God. Regardless, of what kind of desires in which were engaged, they were not forced on us. We pursued them. Paul says that we conducted our lives following them. He says that we were indulging our desires. And He declares that they were desires of the flesh and desires of the mind. They were sins which we acted out and sins that we merely thought about. They didn’t necessarily have to be carried out by the body for them to be sin. Jesus broke down that false dichotomy in the Sermon on the Mount. He said that if you have hatred in your heart against someone you are a murderer. Just because you haven’t plunged the knife doesn’t mean you wouldn’t do it if you knew you could get away with it. Jesus also said, if you have lust (desire) in your heart for another you have committed adultery. And don’t think that this lust has to be of necessity thinking about having sex with someone. Desiring someone in place of your husband or wife is adultery. I wish my husband was like that. What about lying? If you have a handy lie ready but never use it (though it is available if you need to) is that not the same thing as lying?
Regardless, Paul describes the reason we followed the world system wasn’t because we were forced. It wasn’t because anyone made us do. The devil made me do it is not a valid excuse. Though demonic hosts may encourage or urge us in a particular way they cannot force us beyond our will. We followed the world system and the world ruler because we wanted to. The devil and the world put out the bait and the desires of our mind and flesh take it.
b. Our nature
The first reason we followed the world system and the world ruler was our desires. The second reason Paul gives us is our nature. At the end of verse 3 Paul says, “[We] were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.” Our nature is what has caused us to follow the world system. Our nature causes us to cry, “I did it my way.” And as we discussed earlier, we may make this cry in our wickedness or in our religion.”
Because of our very nature we were born sinners. We were corrupted. King David in Psalm 51 says, “In sin my mother conceived me.” David isn’t saying that the act of conception was sin. He also says “I was brought forth in iniquity.” David was completely, through and through, a sinner from birth. It wasn’t his deeds that condemned him. It was who he was. He only sinned as a consequence of the fact that he was a sinner. By nature he deserved God’s wrath.
This is what Paul declares also in 1 Corinthians 15. There he says that by one man came death. And in Adam all die. Death passed to all because Adam our father has passed along his sin nature. And so likewise are all born dead. There is nothing that we can do to eradicate this nature. Baptism does not remove this sin nature. Attempts at good deeds cannot change our nature. It is the way we are born. To think that accomplishing certain good works will change our nature is like thinking you can staple apples onto a pear tree and the pear tree will become an apple tree. No the nature of the tree needs to be changed. And in the same way it is foolish to think that doing some good things, will remove from us the wrath of God which is upon us because the core of our being has been corrupted from birth.
Ephesians 2:10 clearly speaks of good works. And we will get to that. But we get the cart before the horse if we think that fruit stap-ling is the same as fruit producing. It is not. They are worlds apart. And so by logical order, Paul foregoes speaking about good works until he has discussed the necessity of a change of one’s nature.
So from Paul’s words you must understand that to have a relationship with God you don’t need a makeover, or a revamping of your soul. You don’t need to reform or turn over a new leaf. You need a new birth. You are dead and corrupt walking in your own ways. And unless God imparts life to you, you are simply awaiting God’s wrath. This is what is due you because of your thoughts and your actions that spring from your nature.
II. Our New Position (vv. 4-7)
Paul has discussed our previous condition in verses 1-3. He says that we were separated from God. We were dead in our sin and we walked in our sin because our nature was corrupt. Now Paul turns to our new position. And this is where it becomes encouraging for those of us who have already been given this new position before God. And Paul relates three characteristics of this new position.
But before we look at these three characteristics we must note what our new position is. Our new position is that we are in Christ. What this means is so important. It is just two words, “In Christ” but it means so much. And if you miss this you miss the entire scope of living the Christian life.
I just said that we needed our nature changed in order to have a relationship with God. This is what being in Christ means. When we put our trust in Christ to save us God makes us alive with a right-eous nature patterned after Christ. And because He has done this in us we are now able to bear righteous fruit. And only in that way can we be righteous. We are not righteous because we do righteous things we have been made righteous and now can do righteous things.
Remember, as I have said from the beginning of chapter 1, these first three chapters are going to be the basis for living the Christian life described in chapters 4-6. If you miss the point here you will miss the point there. So let’s look at these three characteristics and hopefully, this all-important concept will become clearer to you.
A. Its source (provenance)
The first characteristic of our new position in Christ is its source or provenance. Where does it come from? Is our new position in Christ due to some moral excellence on our behalf? Does it spring from some special spiritual exercise that we have practiced from childhood? Is our new position in Christ based even on the kind intentions and goodness of our heart? Paul notes the source in verse 4. Here he says, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us.
The source of our new position in Christ is God’s rich mercy and love. Out of God’s own kindness and love for mankind He has sent forth His Son. God’s justice demands that His wrath be poured out upon those who have sinned against Him. And yet His rich mercy and love has caused Him to provide the solution for our sure and inevitable judgment.
Because God is just He cannot simply overlook or wink at sin. We ourselves would rage against a judge who let someone who robbed us go free simply because he felt sorry for the guy. We can understand in those terms that justice cannot be served in our lives unless the punishment for all our wrong is carried out.
This is where God’s love comes in. In His love He took upon Himself the wrath that was due you and me. He humbled Himself even to the point of death as a criminal on a cross and allowed all the wrath of heaven to be emptied upon Him. How great a love is this that our sovereign King should do this on behalf of wicked sinners?
The source of our new position in Christ is not due to anything in us but it is found completely in the mercy and love of God.
B. Its progression
The next characteristic of our new position in Christ is its progression. Paul describes this in verses 5&6. Here he says, “Even when we were dead in our transgressions, [God] 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.”
What is this progression? First, we are separated. We looked in detail at this last week. But Paul puts this in the progression to remind us that our current position wasn’t a as seeker of God, it wasn’t as a searcher for God but it was as a sinner against God. You must first understand that we all start-off dead. We don’t get some advantage because we were brought up in some special family. There is no benefit because we might be smarter than someone else. Dead is dead. There is no mostly dead. There is no slightly alive. Either you are alive or dead. And our condition of death (that is our separation from God) was complete. Paul describes this in Romans 5:8. “But God demonstrates His own love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” When we were dead in our sins, Christ died. He took our punishment of separation from the Father for us. He paid the penalty.
Now the second part of this progression is that “He made us alive together with Christ.” God removed that wall of separation. He took it away and brought us to Him. But what was it that took this wall of separation between God and us? Was it our good works? We already proclaimed that good works weren’t adequate. Paul tells us right here in the middle of the verse so that we won’t miss it. “For by grace you are saved.” It is the free gift of God that brings us life. It is not by effort for our nature must be changed. And this is it. When we recognize our hopeless condition before God and call out to Him to give to us what we could never earn He grants it to us through Christ’s death and resurrection. And now Christ’s life becomes ours.
The word that Paul uses here translated “to make alive” means to make alive together. Our new life is transfused life from Christ. Isn’t this what Paul describes in Colossians 3? “When Christ who is our life . . .” Understand this. The spiritual life that we possess is not ours. It is Christ’s! The life that I now possess, the communion that I have with my Creator and my Father is because of my trust in Christ’s death and resurrection. It is nothing more and nothing less. It is Christ alone in whom I have eternal life with the Father. This is why Paul is so adamant in Galatians when he says, “If any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be eternally condemned!” Oh this is so important. Without Him you are dead and lost. Without Him ALONE you are dead and lost. To take anything away from the Gospel is to remove its life giving character. And to add anything to the Gospel is to remove its life giving character. This is the only mathematical equation of which I know that anything plus or minus infinity equals zero. If you add or take away anything from the infinite gift of God’s grace you are left with nothing! By God’s grace alone we have been made alive together with Christ.
Now we come to the next step in this progression. We are raised together with Christ. Paul says in Romans 6 “As Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.” This being raised with Christ is the power we have to live righteously. Now that God has made me alive in Christ do I therefore use my own ability to live in a manner pleasing to God? No. Again the word, “Raised up with Christ” signifies that we are walking in His strength alone. I think Jesus’ discussion of the vine and branches in John 15 should make it abundantly clear to us that our strength to live righteously comes from Christ. He is our life. He is our source of living righteously. In John 15, Jesus said, “I am the vine you are the branches He who abides in me and I in Him, he bears much fruit for apart from Me you can do nothing.” This is the error of the WordFaith movement. They claim that you are all little gods and able to bring to pass what you would by speaking the right words. Jesus said, you can do nothing if you are not drawing your sustenance from Me. And when you do draw sustenance from me it is not so that you can be healthy and rich but so that you may bear spiritual fruit and bring glory to our Father.
So we must continue to remain humble and recognize that without looking to Christ moment by moment we cannot live a life that is pleasing in the sight of God.
Finally, Paul completes the progression by saying that God has “seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ.” We have been seated with Christ in heaven. Paul wants us to understand that we have a share in the victory of heaven. The surety of our place in heaven has been given to us in Christ because of the nature of which we partake. I would say it in this way. God has seated us in heaven with Christ and we are simply waiting for our bodies to catch up.
So understand here that Paul is not speaking of actuality. We are not literally in heaven yet. But God sees the event as having already taken place. This is why Paul says in the book of Colossians that God has transferred us into the kingdom of His beloved Son. What is yet to take place God has already accomplished and what can turn back the power of His hand to complete it? For this same reason we see God speaking in the Old Testament concerning events about to take place as if they were already accomplished. Though these events didn’t actually take place for another 100 or 200 or more years God described them in the past tense. He did this because He was sure of the outcome. What God says will happen takes place. And the hundreds of Old Testament prophecies that have been fulfilled in exactly the way God said they would take place are a monument to the faithfulness of His Word.
Clearly God’s description of having seated us in the heavenly places in Christ is the depiction of this coming exaltation when we shall worship God in His very throne room. And it means that today we have access to the Father because He has brought us into His presence through Christ. Our access to God in not based on our effort or performance. It is based on the fact that God has seated us with Christ in the heavenly places.
What is the point of this progression? We are brought from death to life. We are made alive with Christ, we are raised with Christ and we are seated with Christ. Our identification with Christ in our salvation is so complete that we are seen by God to be in union with Christ. And it is this union with Christ that keeps us from being separated from God. Paul notes in Romans 8:38 & 39 that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
You did not bring yourself to life. You do not keep yourself alive. The life of Christ that now lives in you by faith in our risen Savior is what sustains your spiritual life.
C. Its product (or result)
We have noted the provenance (or source) of our new position in Christ. We have discussed the progression of our new position in Christ. And now we will see its product (or result). Paul describes this in verse 7. “So that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” What is the product of God making us alive in Christ? It is so that God would be praised in the coming ages, forever and ever. When His amazing plan in taking great sinners and turning them into saints is fully understood God will receive all the praise and honor and glory that is due His name.
Throughout eternity we will marvel that God has saved us through Christ. And as we reflect on God’s work in us we can only say, “To God be the glory, great things He has done!” Who will say that they have deserved God’s great kindness toward us? When we recognize, as Paul has said, that we were completely cut off from God, that we were walking in our sin and pride, how can we not be awed at the fact that the Father still loved us and sent His Son for us to take away our sin by dying in our place?
In all of this work that God has done it is not because any of us have been special in any way. Actually it is in spite of who we were and what we were like. No praise goes to us, it goes all to God. One commentator says (And I love this), The overall effect of this (passage) is to leave its readers wondering NOT at their own exalted position but at the immensity of God’s grace which produced it.”
Paul describes this as the surpassing riches of God’s grace. He has shown us His kindness in Christ Jesus through the surpassing riches of His grace. Why would God do something as wonderful as this for us? Why would He save us from our course of destruction and hell and give to us eternal life? The surpassing riches of His grace! His grace overflows like a spring blessing whomever it touches. And Paul says that the endless ages will not be long enough to fathom God’s greatness in what He has done for us in Christ. Yet beginning to grasp what God has done for us in Christ will prepare us to look at verses 8-10 and act on them.
But just what is it that we should be internalizing from this message today? What truth will transform us in the way we view God, ourselves and those to whom God has called us to serve?
First, remember that our separated condition before God caused us to be without hope. Yet that same condition was no barrier for God to work in us. And we must praise God for His amazing work in us to reconcile us to Himself through the death and resurrection of Christ. And we must understand that all our life is wrapped up in Christ. And apart from Him with have no life. And this brings great hope for us because we could never get it right on our own anyway. Our life in Christ demands complete dependence on Him. And as we carry that focus into next week’s message we can understand and accomplish that to which God has called us.