Ephesians 2:1-5 (NIV):
1As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. 4But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved.
I was dead and an object of wrath when I followed the ways of the world and of the devil. God, in his mercy, brought me to life in Christ. This also is part of remembering who I am: I am a man who was dead in sin, and who is now alive in Christ, because of God’s grace to me.
The resurrection is not just about Jesus; it is also about me. I have been raised from death to life, not by any merit of mine, but solely by God’s infinite love and grace. No wonder Paul in Romans 8 says that we are more than conquerors! I have already been raised from the dead. What reason could I possibly have for fear? If God is for me, who cares who stands against me? It doesn’t even matter!
But 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 (v. 4-5).
It’s not even that I’m destined to win, as DeGarmo and Key sang. No, I’ve already won. God will not take away what he sacrificed his son to give me, and there is no other power or authority, in Heaven or on Earth or under the Earth, that can take it away either.
If I had earned this, I would have to worry whether or not I am still worthy to keep what I earned. But I didn’t earn it! God has, in his grace, included me in the resurrection of Christ. Jesus is worthy, not me.
Jesus did not come into the world to make bad men good. He came into the world to make dead men live! – Leonard Ravenhill
