Ephesians Series Being In Christ Jesus Week # 12 Ephesians 2:6-7 & 8-9

Transcription

1 Ephesians Series Being In Christ Jesus Week # 12 Ephesians 2:6-7 & 8-9 I. Introduction and review A. Dinner at my house two weeks ago was to be special. 1. The boys were coming over for their Bible study and I had found steaks on sale 2. I had also found two different recipes for a special sauce to serve with the meat 3. The first was the prime steak sauce that they serve in Mesa Grill in NYC a restaurant owned and operated by Bobby Flay 4. The second came from the Saddle Ranch Chop House, a restaurant that I didn t know anything about but it sounded real good smokey bacon, port sauce 5. One of the ingredients their sauce was green peppercorns 6. Now most of us do not have green peppercorns around our homes, but I had used some in a recipe not long ago and had the best part of a jar and so I decided to make the second sauce 7. When we sat down to eat, Barrett smelled of the sauce and asked what those green things were in there 8. At first I responded that they were flavor enhancers, but he doesn t fall for that anymore and so I had to tell him what they were Page 1 of 9

2 9. Barrett decided he didn t want to ruin a perfectly good steak with a green peepercorn sauce and passed, but Brooks decided he would try it and covered his first bite with the sauce 10. Upon eating that bite he raced for the kitchen and the trash can, all the while making sounds of regurgitation 11. To this day I don t know whether the sounds he made were real or fake 12. But sometimes, things just don t turn out as you planned them B. We are in the second chapter of Ephesians, verses We have learned how God brought the possiblity of salvation into fruition a. Motivated by love, carried out by way of His great mercy and grace b. Then we spoke of his plan fro propitiation through Jesus, His Son 2. Now when we consider God s plans, they always culminate in the results that He intended II. The results of salvation [2:6-7] A. Resurrection: sunegei,rw sunegeiro {soon-eg-i'-ro} Meaning: to raise together, to cause to raise together B. Seated us with Him: sugkaqi,zw sugkathizo {soong-kath-id'-zo} Meaning: 1) to cause to sit down together, place together 2) to sit down together C. In Christ Jesus 1. Christ Jesus is dative 2. evn prep. w. dat., most common prep. in N.T., used with greatest variety Page 2 of 9

3 of meanings, of which the following are typical: a. Dative of place b. Dative of time c. Dative causal (1) expressing means or instrument [with in or by] (2) expressing kind and manner [e.g. with power] (3) expressing cause or reason [because of or on account of] 3. Consider 1:3... in Christ. Dative with en 4. And 1:4... in Him... Dative with en 5. These things are lost on an English audience but not on a Greek one 6. To the English we tend to see with Him which is used twice in this verse and as a result, the phrase in Christ Jesus appears to us to be redundant, but it is not, and carries great meaning 7. We are resurrected in Christ and seated in the heavenly places in Christ, that is being a part of His body D. Resurrection in verse 6 speaks of two types: 1. A present, moral or spiritual resurrection 2. A future, physical resurrection E. The purpose for which God saved us [2:7] 1. So that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 2. But what does that mean? a. The word translated so that speaks of result or purpose Page 3 of 9

4 b. In the ages to come (1) aivw,n aion {ahee-ohn'} Meaning: 1) for ever, an unbroken age, perpetuity of time, eternity 2) the worlds, universe 3) period of time, age (2) dative of time (3) ages or periods of time that come one after the other in continuous succession c. He might show (1) evndei,knumi endeiknumi {en-dike'-noo-mee} Meaning: 1) to point out 1a) to show, demonstrate, prove, whether by arguments or by acts (2) this verb is in the middle voice (3) The middle voice indicates the subject performing an action upon himself (reflexive action) or for his own benefit. (4) as a result we can know that our salvation is not only about our benefit but benefits God Himself 3. The satisfaction of God s love was the motive for God to raise us up with Christ and seat us with Him F. We tend to think about the results of salvation purely from a human perspective, but there are also results that benefit God 1. The believer was dead in his sins 2. But now he has become alive in righteousness through his resurrection Page 4 of 9

5 with Christ G. The results for God: 1. His love is satisfied: a. If you love someone who does not accept your love and then love you in return, your love will never be satisfied b. But if the one you love, allows you to love them, receives your love for them and in return responds in love to you, your love for them will be satisfied 2. Each believer is a trophy of God s grace, one that He wants to display a. That is the grace that was manifested in Him saving us be declared and understood in all the grandeur of its exceeding riches 3. He will spend eternity with us and that greatly pleases Him H. For us 1. Our citizenship has changed, we are now citizens of heaven [Phil 3:20] 2. Seated with Christ in heavenly places a. Seated is in the aorist tense b. That refers to action done in the past c. How can that be? I m not in heaven d. It speaks of our future, but God s present e. And it is confirming of our citizenship and a place of authority 3. It is now in the heavenly places that we are storing up God s blessings 4. And where we will have fellowship with our husband forever III. The justification of the believer [2:8-9] Page 5 of 9

6 A. We have seen already in verse 8, that the foundation of our salvation was grace B. Secondly, salvation was by means of faith 1. That faith was a non-meritorious process 2. It transfers the merit from the one exercising the faith to the object of the faith 3. Maybe these principles are best understood such that salvation was effected by grace and was apprehended by faith C. The verb have been saved is perfect tense which refers to action which occurred in the past 1. The reason being that our salvation occurred in the past 2. Not when we received Jesus, but when Christ died on the cross and rose again, completing His perfect work of salvation D. When Paul says that not of yourselves he is referring to salvation generally and not to our faith, for our faith is our means for receiving God s gift of salvation E. And that it was the gift of God 1. Not earned 2. Not paid for 3. But it must be received or accepted 4. The word gift refers to God s salvation, not our faith F. Now in verse 9 he will reiterate [to say again or repeat frequently] some of these principles 1. Not as a result of works Page 6 of 9

7 a. Works: e;rgon ergon {er'-gon} Meaning: 1) business, employment, that which any one is occupied 1a) that which one undertakes to do, enterprise, undertaking 2) any product whatever, any thing accomplished by hand, art, industry, or mind 3) an act, deed, thing done: the idea of working is emphasized in opp. to that which is less than work 2. No one can boast a. kauca,omai kauchaomai {kow-khah'-om-ahee} Meaning: 1) to glory (whether with reason or without) 2) to glory on account of a thing 3) to glory in a thing [to boast] IV. Lessons to live by A. Question: 1. Why would God go to such lengths to rescue dead, deceived, disobedient and defiled people? 2. It it not because of once we are cleaned up we are so wonderful 3. It is because He is so wonderful B. Our salvation was carried out by God s mercy and His grace 1. But it was motivated by His love 2. God has told us that real love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. [1 Corinthians 13:7] 3. Consider now the picture of that love, as God s Son stretches out His arms to us, on a cross, the thorns, the spittle, the whip torn back, the loss of Page 7 of 9

8 blood, the nails, the spear, the mocking and derision, He bore, and endured, never giving up His hope and belief that He was accomplishing our salvation C. Paul also lived in difficult times 1. Paul identified not only with Jesus life and death, but also with His resurrection and ascension 2. As a result Paul could speak out and lead with boldness 3. He lived and lead off of this paramount truth 4. How do we experience this same kind of authority a. Renew your perspective [Col. 3:1-3] Learn to: (1) Think like God thinks (2) See yourself as God does (3) Fix your mind on Him (4) Base your life on His promises and not your experience b. Release your past [Gal. 2:20] (1) Let go of old patterns of living (2) Let go of: (a) (b) (c) (d) Our old self Our old baggage Our old citizenship We must die to the past c. Remember your purpose [Eph. 1:3-12] (1) We tend to drift when we lose sight of why God left us on Page 8 of 9

9 this earth (2) Our goal must be to participate in God s redemptive plan for this world (3) If we embrace our purpose, we gain His power D. [Fighting back] You know, since the election, it has seemed to me that Satan just keeps on winning. 1. There has not been much to cheer about on the side of the believer. 2. It seems that God is just letting everything go, and allowing Satan to win every match, and just take over. 3. But as I was praying over this lesson He reminded me He is calling out men and women all over not just to salvation, but to intense training and preparation to defending the kingdom of God as times turn more and more wicked Page 9 of 9