Some kids in a Sunday school class were once asked to write down what they liked best about Sunday school. There was one young boy in the class who happened to be the pastor's son. He thought for a moment as to what was the thing he liked best, and then he remembered how he loved to sing all the songs with everyone else during the year. The one problem for this young fella was that his spelling was quite as good as his memory because he wrote down, "The thing I like best about Sunday school is all the sinning."

Well, my hope is that this isn't the case for our Sunday school kids, that instead of sinning, they enjoy singing.

Now believe it or not, this does have a relevance to the passage we are speaking about today. The passage we are looking at today contrasts two ways of living: the former way of life, which is sin; and the new present way of life, which is life in Christ. In other words, this passage we are going to look at highlights the comparison between the plight of all humanity without God against the privilege of humanity with God - and we will see that there is a huge distinction between the two. If the signal God has given is ignored, then the result is disastrous. If the signal is obeyed, then the blessings reaped are insurmountable.

The sad thing about humanity is that there is sin that leaves us distant before a righteous God.

Verse 1 describes how we are dead to our transgressions and sin.

Paul sees us, in this passage, living in two spheres of life. One sphere is that we are living dead to sin, the other being that we are living alive in Christ. Essentially what Paul is suggesting in this passage is that before Christ, life was spiritually dead, it was a life without God. It is a life that has ignored the signal from the lighthouse.

Paul is saying that it was death that controls life. Without God it is non-relational - it is corrupt. He is saying that the consequence of sin is that people have no relationship with God and therefore they have distorted relationships with each other.

So what is meant when we talk about ‘sin’?

Sin, basically means, doing or living out that which is opposite to what God desires or wants. It means actions through which people rebel against God, they miss His purpose for their life, instead they surrender to the power of evil in this world rather than to God.

Another term for sin is a "trespass" or "transgression," - means to step across the line. It is similar to a person who steps over a property line - they have trespassed on another person’s land; in the same way a person who steps across God’s standard of righteousness has committed a trespass or transgression. It is an involvement in any action that is in opposition to God’s standards.

As we look at these few verses it encourages us to look at sin for what it is. Sin is something that we can sometimes take too lightly, especially in a society that is becoming increasingly loose in its moral standards.

Our modern society may listen to the things that I am speaking about this morning, and say that it is a load of rubbish, or too harsh, but the fact is, we cannot escape the evil that is within our society that mankind has brought upon themselves. We only need to look at around us into our community and see this at work. The divorce rate continues to climb. We have legalized murder through abortion while childless couples long to be able to have their own child. Problems or loneliness in life pushes people to attempt to drown out their problems with drugs and alcohol. We see an increase in crime in Qld - in fact in 1997 Queensland recorded the highest crime rate per capita in Australia.

I think the worst of all this is that many Christians have become attracted to and deceived by the corruption of this world. On Tuesday night I saw how many Christians in India were turning back to Muslim faith due to threats from Muslims to their families if they did not turn back and recant their Christianity. It would almost seem as though a relationship with God is an optional extra - something we put on when we want or need it, and something we put off when we don't want or need it. Almost like choosing the clothing we wear for the day. But Christ calls us to a consistent, obedient life to Him - if we don't live this way and live in the lifestyle of changing our relationship with God like we change our clothing, then that is sin.

How is it that we live in sin?

If we look at the world as a whole, and as I described before, it is not difficult to pinpoint many injustices. Why is it that we argue over colour and race? Why is it that materialism, even for the Christian, has such a deep grip on modern societies? How does sexual practice, something created by God as a special expression of intimacy between a husband and wife, have become so distorted in society to be little different to the two towns of Sodom and Gomorrah which god destroyed because of their sin.

It seems to me, that the good things that God has created have become distorted by a world that is selfish and intent on appeasing its own wants. The world, and many Christians describe these things as needs, even as rights for to be expressed if we so desire. It appears we don't seem to care much about those people who suffer as a direct result of these so called rights - instead, mankind has successfully turned to God pointing our finger at Him saying, "If your such a loving God why do you allow suffering and evil". Well, God doesn't want suffering and evil - that's the point of this sin thing. We are simply suffering the consequences of living in sin.

This world, by its own choice has pushed God out of the picture, which is what sin always does. Isaiah, in Isa.6:5, realised honestly his own involvement in pushing God out of the picture. I believe his words are also descriptive for us when he said, "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips."

Sin and the effects of sin, affect us all. It is personal, but it is also corporate, and this passage says that because of sin, we have attracted God’s wrath.

Now many people struggle with this thought, asking, "How can a loving God get angry?

I guess a return question could be, "Should we expect God to be some kind of naive parent who sees His children through rose coloured glasses, therefore allowing them to run amok ignoring their wrongdoing?"

The obvious answer is no. Any loving parent will discipline their children towards what is right and proper.

From Genesis 3 right through to the book of Revelation we see time after time God’s reaction to disobedience and sin which has attracted His anger and His discipline.

Sometimes we have a misconception about what God’s wrath or anger is. We sometimes misconceive it to be God’s anger at humans, when in reality, it is God’s anger towards the behaviour and selfishness of humans - and there is a difference between the two.

The fact is God loves us - we are His children. He desires us to love Him, listen to Him, and obey Him. Romans 5:8 reminds us of the extent of God’s love when it reminds us that God demonstrated His love to us in sending His son Jesus Christ - while we were still trapped in sin.

A fellow in the 3^rd century said "he who does not get angry does not care". God’s anger, as difficult as it is for some of us to understand, is an expression of His love - it is not opposite to His love. He cares for us.

If we were to put the Bible in a nut shell it can be described as the story of God Himself taking the action to keep His anger from destroying humanity. Yes, God does get angry. He cares deeply, and his anger is both an expression of his love and the context in which his love is demonstrated.

Now, in what we have looked at, we can wonder if there is any hope or we can ask, "Is it really that bad?" Yes it is - but that is not the end of the story because God demonstrated to us a way out, and we see this in verses 4-8 of Ephesians.

These verses indicate that God is not some kind of onlooker in the salvation process. He isn’t someone who is in an angry 'huff' waiting to be appeased like some kind of Greek rain god. He is the primary actor. He is the one who by his love deals with his own wrath and shows mercy to his people - to us - you and me.

The extent of this truth is described through the use of words like love, mercy, grace, kindness, and gift. Each of these elements of God’s nature are not separated from one another, instead they combine together to fill in the whole picture. They describe the extent of God's care for and commitment to us human beings, which is expressed through His action in His son Jesus.

In Eph. 2:4 the emphasis is on God. The picture was bleak for us, but God acted because of his love and mercy. Mercy and love are elements of God's being, not a response to something that merits love in the individual. God acts in mercy because he is that kind of God. Apart from god's mercy no hope is present for mankind.

Sadly, some Christians struggle with the thought of God’s unconditional love saying, "how could God love someone as sinful and/or insignificant as me". Others though act as though they take His mercy for granted by the way they live out their lives resulting as no significant impact in a life changing process to allowing God to mould us to be the person He desires us to be.

In spite of these factors, the good news is that God knows how bad things are, but He still works in our lives to bring about change - positive change, He just asks us to let Him have the steering wheel of our lives.

The result of God’s love and mercy is that in Christ we experience a transition from death in sin, to life in Christ -this is the change of life I just hinted at.

In verse 5 Paul reiterates 'even when we were dead in our transgressions' (from v.1) - it’s as if he can't believe it. Earlier I posed the question a person might ask in, "could it be as bad as this?" referring to our death in sin. But here Paul is almost saying, "Can it really be this good?"

Rm 5:6-10 - speaks of God demonstrating his love even while we were weak, while we were sinners, while we were His enemies. So we can understand then that salvation exists because God created life in the midst of death eg. 'Made alive with Christ', raised with Christ', 'seated with Christ "With' is significant and underscores Paul's emphasis on our participation with Christ. To enjoy salvation requires being joined to the Saviour (cf. Rm 7:4). The Gift cannot be separated from the giver. So conversion is a transfer from a sphere of death into a new sphere of life. It is a question of serving sin, or serving Christ. Conversion is a transfer from one sphere of influence to another, a change of lordships.

All of what I’ve described is not as a result of our own endeavours to get right with God - they can and are only a part of God’s incredible grace.

3. Saved By Grace

Now, as much as grace comes only as a result of God's love for us, and not through our

works, as I have mentioned before, many people still find it hard to believe or accept that a life with Christ is only a result through God's grace. We find this a difficult concept to come to terms with because our experience of life tells us that we have to earn acceptance, we have to earn love, and we have to earn respect. We spend our lives searching for significance and standing in society and amongst our peers. We try to climb corporate ladders; we try to gain respect from neighbours by keeping up with the latest temptations stemming from the fashion industry. We try to please our families and friends by doing the things they think are important. BUT for some reason unknown to us, God gives Himself to us, attaches himself to us, and acts to rescue us through His son Jesus Christ. Although His wrath should have come, saving grace comes instead. God says - 1 love you as you are, just come to me.

I guess a question can still remain for some though, which is, "does this lead us to some sought of cheap grace, some kind of, "all for me", religion to some people or a do-nothing religion for others?"

Well, unfortunately so have taken it this way, which is a distortion of the gospel. You see, when Paul spoke of a salvation without works, he was arguing against some religious practices of the day, that people were told they had to follow in order to be accepted by God (one that all religions but Christianity teach today). But, Paul never speaks against working for God - in fact he encourages it. So, Paul speaks about grace and faith without works but He doesn’t say that our relationship in Christ is without work.

Basically, Paul is saying that God’s love for him inspired him to work all the more harder. Not for acceptance from God, but as a result of his love for God. Paul lived out a life that was reflective of God‘s love.

My guess is that one of Paul's philosophies was, "a faith worth having is worth sharing."

I want to share two final points in this area:

Unfortunately there are many people in churches today who have attitudes that the church is to be offered as a personal service to them, leaving the work of ministry to be limited to a few. Our society is a me first society which unfortunately has been transferred into the church. We receive with gladness the salvation and love and grace and mercy that God offers to us, but we can neglect the side that is serving God and serving others. I am not speaking of a legalism here encouraging people to perform and earn their worth, because your worth is already found in Christ in abundance. What I do want to do, is to encourage you to be a part of the team playing on the field. God’s gift to us is His love; as a result of our receipt of that love He empowers us and gifts us to do good works - His work. So please, don’t just warn the seats on a Sunday but discover with us what God has prepared for you to do in serving His Body.

The second area of service I believe is urged through Ephesians 2:4-10 is evangelism.

As God’s people, we have experienced the transformation from the old way of life to the new in Christ. We cannot afford to hold on to this experience as our own possession when there are people still living lives without God who are missing out on God’s mercy, grace and love. What we have experienced cannot be hidden, and God never intended us to hide it - it is something that must be revealed through both our lives and through our words - that is what God always intended.

Often, we as Christians, are not sure how to do evangelism nor do some of us want to do evangelism. My hope for all of us through this series during this term is that you become encouraged and motivated to reach out more to those yet to know Christ, and that you will become more equipped in the areas of personal evangelism, ministry, and service.

If you want or need equipping, then there are a number of resources available to you….

So please take advantage of the things we are offering so that you are better equipped and encouraged in the areas of evangelism, ministry, and service. I encourage you to see what God has done in and through your life. I also encourage you to see what God wants for you in the areas of serving Him in our local church, and those in our local community - your neighbors, friends and family - who are yet to experience the wonderful joy that comes through a relationship with Jesus Christ.

• Paul viewed life before Christ as being spiritually dead, a life without God, or a meaningless life hardly worth living.
• Death controls life, it is non-relational, powerless and corrupting.
• Consequence of sin = people have no relationship with God and have distorted relationships with others.
• Rm 5:12-21 - death is the result of sin. Phrase "dead to your transgressions and sins" suggests that sins both cause death and are evidence of death.

• Word translated 'live' actually means 'walk'. Words describe the path in which people walked and the boundaries that shape their lives.
• Paul describes two spheres of influence or environments of influence.

1. Transgressions and sins are the former sphere or environment of influence

• Living in sins is also living in conformity with 'the ruler of the kingdom of the air'. Christ is exalted over all the powers and fills all things (1:21-23) but another is also at work.
• Disobedience and unbelief are often equated in the NT. Disobedience and life in sins are contrasted with living in good works prepared by God in Eph 2:10.

• Paul affirms, in the personal pronoun, that all of us at one time lived among the disobedient.
• Paul's concern not that we once lived among the disobedient, but that we lived like them, determined by the old order.
• Blame is cast upon the sinful nature (flesh). Means keeping God out of the picture. That which is merely human is left to its own devices.
• Implicit is that without God, desires are the lord of control. They must be gratified and followed. In former life we lived by our sinful desires, doing whatever they told us.
• 'Cravings' and 'desires' refer to legitimate human needs that are distorted, subverted, and heightened to produce an irrational self-centredness. Therefore, sin causes a distortion of the mind (cf. Rm 1:21-22, 28).
• Result = that we are by nature objects of wrath. That is, all people are headed for an encounter with God's wrath.
• Wrath isn't uncontrolled outbursts of angry passion on God's part nor of some impersonal wrath, rather, wrath points to God's constant displeasure and reaction against sin.

• ‘Separation form the world’ is not to be taken lightly, but that teaching does not mean disrespect for or distancing ourselves from unbelievers (1Cor. 5:9-10). .
• The attitude that God’s people take toward unbelievers must mirror the love described in Eph. 2:4-10

• 2:4 emphasis is on God.
• The picture was bleak but God acted because of his love and mercy.
• Mercy and love are relations of God's being, not a response to something that merits love in the individual. God acts in mercy because he is that kind of God.
• Apart from god's mercy no hope is present for mankind.
• Love = God is not an onlooker in the salvation process or in an angry 'huff' waiting to be appeased. But, he is the primary actor, the one who by his love deals with his own wrath and shows mercy to his people.
• Words - love, mercy, grace, kindness, and gift meld into one another. Attempt to describe the grandeur of God's care for and commitment to human beings expressed in his action in Jesus.
• Ephesians uses this language more than any other letter emphasising the riches of God's grace (1:7; 2:7), his mercy (2:4), his glory (1:18; 3:16) and the riches of Christ (3:8). God's 'wealth' is his resources for caring for his people and for revealing his nature.

• Paul reiterates 'even when we were dead in our transgressions' (from v.1) - as if he can't believe it.
• "With' is significant and underscores the Pauline emphasis on participation with Christ. To enjoy salvation requires being joined to the Saviour (cf. Rm 7:4). The Gift cannot be separated from the giver.
• Cf. Rm 5:6-10 - speaks of God demonstrating his love even while we were weak, sinners, and his enemies. Salvation exists because God created life in the midst of death. Without the resurrection there would be no salvation eg. 'made alive with Christ', raised with Christ', 'seated with Christ '.
• Being raised with Christ requires one to be 'in' Christ. In Paul's mind, Christ's death and resurrection are not merely events that produce benefits for believers, they are events in which believers are included.
• Conversion is a transfer from a sphere of death to a sphere of life. It is a question of serving sin, or serving Christ. Conversion is a transfer from one sphere of influence to another, a change of lordships.

• Salvation is akin to being rescued from danger.
• Grace is the key ingredient and by necessity comes first; everything else flows from and builds on a theology of grace.
• For some reason unknown to us, but which is rooted in his nature, God gives Himself to us, attaches himself to us, and acts to rescue us.
• Though wrath should have come, saving grace comes instead.
• The action always remains with God, no human action could remove us from the plight in which we were found.
• Grace connects us to Christ.

• Indicates a persons reception of the gospel (1:13)
• Means by which salvation is appropriated - Christians are saved through God's grace, not by their faith. Faith is only the means by which grace is received.
• Faith is not limited to mental assent or to believing certain ideas. Therefore, faith is relational - deemed as reliance on a reliable God. It is also a covenant word - expressing commitment and trust that binds two parties together.
• To say 'I have faith' does not say anything about oneself, but it says 'God is a trustworthy God'.
• People who believe do not merely assent to certain ideas; they are bound to God and live in response to Him.

• Works refers to any human condition or accomplishment by which one thinks to gain status or privilege before God. In reality, nothing we do grants us standing before God.
• Boasting - the only legitimate boasting is in what God has done (1 Cor. 1:31).
• These are not meant to entail a rejection of human competence, but an insistence that all we are and do comes as a gift from God.

• Paul views God's salvation as God's new creation. Emphasis is on God's direct work.
• 'We are God's workmanship' can be translated 'We are the result of His activity'.
• The new creation is based in Christ's resurrection, the creation of life in the midst of death.

• Purpose of God's creativity is not merely to have a people, as if he were constructing a work of art. This new creation is to be active and productive like the Creator.
• Christians are to do Good Works. Salvation is not from works, but is for works, that is, living obediently and productively.
• In keeping with 1:3-14 on God's planning, choosing, and acting, this verse shows God planned and acted not only to save, but also to mark out the way we should live.

By Scott Douglas, Burdekin Baptist Church, 17 January 1999