DAY 4 Made Alive by Grace - Ephesians 2:1–10

1. SCRIPTURE: Ephesians 2:1–10
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.


 
2. OBSERVATIONS :
 What does this passage reveal about God?

• God is rich in mercy and great in love. He saved us while we were “dead” in our sin. He didn’t wait for us to try to reform ourselves. He saved us as an act of grace. He made us alive with Christ. This language is consistent with Romans 6:1-10. Because we are united with Christ we have been raised to new life so instead of being dead in our sin we can be dead to sin and alive to God. God has not only saved us by grace he has seated us with him. This means he has placed us in the highest position of honor we could ever occupy.  
  God is also going to show us even more grace and kindness in the “coming ages”. This refers to the eternal inheritance we have awaiting us.
  
  

 What does this passage reveal about people?

•  Outside of Christ mankind is “dead in sin”. He follows Satan even though he is often unaware that he is doing so.  He is a child of disobedience who is destined for God’s wrath. He lives to satisfy his own appetites and desires rather than to please and glorify God.
  
  The fact that we were “spiritually dead” in our sins reveals that we are not sinners because we sin, we sin because we are sinners.
  
  In Christ man becomes a new creation, created for the good works God intended for us to do when He created man in his image.

 3. APPLICATION: What does this passage impact my affections, attitudes and actions?
1. Attitudes — The emphasis on the love, grace, mercy, and kindness of God reminds me that I don’t need to try and earn God’s approval and I don’t need to live with an unhealthy fear of God. The truth that I am created in Christ for good works reminds me that I am able by God’s grace to live a fruitful, productive life for God’s glory. I am not under Satan’s control. I am clay in the hand of the almighty potter who is molding my life into something beautiful

2. Affections — This passage fills my heart with feelings of gratitude and love for God. It also cultivates in me a desire to pursue good works rather than the passions of the flesh.

3. Actions — I will humbly give the glory to God whenever I am praised by man because I know that any good that comes from my life is because of the grace of God. I don’t need to strive to earn God’s favor or prove my worth because I am already loved. I will love God because he first loved me.

4. PRAYER:
God, I thank you for your mercy and grace in my life.  You have honored me by allowing me to be seated with Christ. You have given me a new identity and a hope for the future. I praise you because I am your workmanship. As the old song goes:

Take my heart and form it, Take my mind, transform it,
Take my will, conform it, to Yours, to Yours, O Lord.