Ephesians 2:1
The scripture for today is Ephesians 2:1
Ephesians 2:1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins.
The apostle Paul, in writing to the church at Ephesus, includes all mankind in the narrative of God’s grace and miracle working power of salvation. All of us, like the Ephesians, were under the condemnation of the law, thus we were dead in trespasses and sins. We were hopelessly condemned to die the eternal death with no avenue or recourse to save ourselves. We were without hope in this world.
But God, in His infinite mercy, looked upon us in our sinful state, being mauled by the evil one with all manner of deception and depravity. He would not abandon His creation, for to do so would be a capitulation to the enemy of the throne of God and against His character of love and mercy. God could not and would not do anything less than His love and mercy required. He did not cast aside His law; He upheld His law; the sentence of death for the transgression of it had to be carried out. He, the Law Giver, determined that in order to save mankind from eternal death, He would take the penalty for transgression upon Himself and would offer Himself as the atonement for sin.
Through Christ Jesus, who is God in the flesh, the penalty for transgression of the law was atoned for and all who accept His sacrifice are freed from the penalty of sin and made into new creations. Thank God for His matchless grace!
“To see a creature naturally filthy, now to delight in purity; to see a sinner that by nature drinks in iniquity like water, now thirsting after righteousness; to see a man that loathed the holy law and holy ways of God, now longing to walk in them, and to come to an exact conformity to God in them; these acts are above nature, contrary to nature, and consequently the God of grace is the author of them.” William Burkitt
It is not because of anything that we have done that we can experience this new life; it is all because of what God has done for us in Christ Jesus. He gave His life for us; let us give our lives for Him.
God bless you as you continue in His service.
Tim