Ephesians 4
Last time we were thinking of Paul’s prayer at the end of chapter 1 of this letter to the Ephesians. You remember that he was praying that they might have true knowledge of the lord Jesus Christ and might be enjoying to the full all the blessings God has for them in Christ.
Now he goes back over the same idea again. He traces the grace of God working in their lives from what they were before they became Christians to what God wants them to become through his grace. This is all in the first part of chapter 2; so let’s go through the first ten verses and see what Paul has to say.
In the first three verses he speaks about what they used to be. Note that he says very little about outrageous sins. They were not necessarily the kind of people whom others would look upon and say, “What a desperately wicked lot they are!” What does he say, though? They were spiritually dead, cut off from the life of God and in no way sharing it. This does not mean that they could not hear God when He tried to reach them. By God’s grace they could and were able to turn to Him so that He could give them eternal life. Then he says they were living according to the ways and attitudes of the world. They lives to satisfy themselves and to please men and left Jesus Christ out of their lives. He also called them “sons of disobedience”. This means that they had within them the spirit that did not want God to rule in their lives, but they wanted to please themselves. Finally, they are called “children of wrath.” In other words they were under God’s condemnation. They were guilty before God and condemned to everlasting death.
This is the kind of people they used to be, but then come these wonderful words at the beginning of verse 4, “But God.” What a glorious “but” this is! In spite of all their sin, godlessness and rebellion God still loved them and wanted them for Himself. Right from the start, God in his love and mercy made his wonderful plan of redemption for them to forgive them, bring them back to Himself and make them like Himself. The same plan is still at work for us today; God’s love and mercy go on and on.
Verse 5 tells us just what God’s love and mercy had done for them. He had quickened them and made them alive together with Christ. Through Christ He had imparted his life to them and made them one with Himself. This is exactly what He does for us when we put our faith in Him. But what does it mean for us to have the life of God? It means at least four things. It is very much like physical life. First, we begin to breathe. Prayer is just like breathing physically. Prayer is our spiritual breath. We talk to God and have fellowship with Him and He talks to us. Then life means appetite and this is also true of our spiritual life., We begin to want God, to learn of Him, and we want to read his word, the Bible. Life also means activity and so it is spiritually. We begin to live for the Lord, serve Him and witness for Him. Lastly, life means reality. To be truly alive is a real experience. It is a real experience to have the life of God. Something has happened to us; our lives have changed and are changing; we now want God and we hate sin; we begin to like what He likes; we are alive to Him.
But there is something more that Paul says here. He goes on to say that God “has raised us up with Christ and made us sit with Him (that is God) in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” This is surely what Jesus meant when He said that He had come not only to give life, but to give it abundantly. You will find this in John’s Gospel chapter 10. It is not only that God gives us his life, but He can give us the kind of life and power that raised Jesus from the dead. Being raised up to sit with Him gives us the idea of authority and rest or confidence. In fellowship with God we are able to live above the vexations and annoyances of life so that they do not rob us of our peace and fellowship with God. We may live above envy and jealousy, above other’s treatment of us, and above national and international conflict and bitterness. In this realm of the “heavenly places” we are in a kind of circle of blessing in Christ. I wonder if you are living there today? Not only alive in Christ, but sharing in his resurrection life and authority.
There are two more things we must think of in this passage. Paul glories in the fact that all this is God’s gift received by faith. All that results from it in the changed lives of believers is for God’s glory. First, then, about the way this wonderful blessing comes to us. Again and again, Paul says it is God’s gift, it is by grace, it is through faith. Salvation, forgiveness, eternal life, all is the gift of God. There is nothing we can possibly do to merit it or earn it. It is all of God, planned and made real by God. Therefore all that God does for us comes because of his grace alone. His free grace and goodness brings it all to us. We do, though, have to accept this gift. It is no less a gift because we have to take it. This is where faith comes in. One bible version reads like this: “By grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God.” This means that the whole plan of salvation and the provision for it is all of God and by his gift. But it is by faith we receive the gift. Faith is recognising that we are lost and that there is no hope for us apart from Christ. It also means casting ourselves on Christ to bring us forgiveness and eternal life because of what He has done for us on the cross. This step of faith leads to an attitude of faith, trusting Jesus for all the strength and help we need in temptations and trials.
Then there is that other point that Paul makes. Read what he says in verse 7: “in order that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in his kindness towards us in Christ Jesus.” You see what Paul is saying - we who are believers in Jesus are sort of show pieces for God to let coming ages know his greatness and mercy.
How wonderful is our God! I wonder whether you have received the life of God and are also allowing Him to make you the kind of person He wants you to be?