Well, good morning. It's great to see you all today. Beautiful sunny day. I hope you had a good day yesterday and that you will enjoy the day today.
Let's open our Bibles then to this passage, Ephesians chapter 2.
Thank you. I'm going to pray and ask for God to help us as we look at his word together. Let's pray again.
Father, thank you for this beautiful day. Thank you for the sun that you created.
And we thank you for your spirit that is now present with us. And we pray that his light would shine in our hearts and warm us afresh to the wonder of your amazing grace.
So help us now, we pray in Jesus name. Amen.
So we're starting a new series today, asking the question, the big question is, what is a Christian?
And over the next few weeks, we're going to take some of the main themes that tell us what a Christian is.
So you can think of it like this. Think of an orange. OK, the orange is the Christian.
And we're going to take a segment of that piece and we're going to look at it week by week to see what it has to say.
And then hopefully we'll have a complete picture of what a Christian is.
So this morning, we're going to see that a Christian is someone who is saved by grace.
So look at the end of verse five with me.
It is by grace you have been saved.
And in case we forget, it's repeated for us in verse eight.
For it is by grace you have been saved.
Now, grace is a word we use quite a bit.
And so I've got a definition here. You can see it on screen.
You can tell me what you think of it later. Maybe you can come up with something better.
But here we go. Grace means God's joyful acceptance of us.
Not because we have earned it or deserved it.
But because he delights to give it to us freely at Christ's expense.
God joyfully accepts us.
He delights to give us his grace.
You see, grace is what makes us a Christian.
We don't become a Christian by birth or our heritage or our tradition.
It's not even my decision that I become a Christian.
It's not by our effort or our performance.
So God looks down and says, oh, well, they've read their Bible.
They've been going to church.
I'll make them a Christian.
It's not by our effort.
Do you see what it says in verse nine?
Thank you, Daniel.
Do you see what it says in verse nine?
Not by works so that no one can boast.
If we're a Christian today, it's because of God's kindness and goodness, which is unearned and undeserved.
So we're going to unpack that this morning by looking at three big themes.
And each of them have a number of points, but we're going to go through them quickly.
So you can follow along on the screen or write in your notes.
So here's the first big idea this morning.
First, we're dead without grace.
But you say, no, I'm quite alive today.
I'm speaking.
I can hear.
No, the writer is describing what life is like before we become a Christian.
OK, so look at verse one.
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins.
It's like we're spiritual zombies.
You've seen some of those films or the programs on TV.
We are literally the walking dead.
Look at what our dead life is like.
We're dead in sin.
And it's described in three ways.
First, we follow the ways of the world.
Let's read verses one and two.
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins in which you used to live when you followed the ways of the world.
The ways of the world is a way, is a path that walks away from God.
It's a life that resists and rejects God's rule.
But not only do we follow the ways of the world.
Keep with me.
We follow the way of the devil.
Look at the rest of verse two.
We follow the ways of this world and we follow the ruler of the kingdom of the air.
You know who that is, the ruler of the kingdom of the air?
It's the devil.
And his work is to tell us lies.
The kind of lies that he's used from the very beginning of time.
A lie that says things like, you can be like God.
You decide what is right and wrong.
And we can't help but listen to him and follow him and live disobedient lives.
So we follow the ways of the world.
We follow the way of the devil.
And third, we follow the way of our desires.
Look at verse three.
All of us also lived among them at one time.
So again, he's talking about a life before you become a Christian.
This is what it's like.
You are gratifying the cravings of your flesh and following its desires and thoughts.
It's very simply saying that we want, we work, we will pursue for whatever we desire.
And the problem is, before we're a Christian, the only thing we desire is what I want for me.
We don't desire God.
Essentially, we live with self at the centre.
We remove God from the centre and put ourselves at the centre.
We feed and we pursue our selfish desires.
Now this is what it means to be spiritually dead.
It's like we've joined humanity's great protest against God.
You've seen protests walking down the streets.
Well, we're part of this great big cosmic march.
And we're all holding up our placard saying,
My way, not God's way.
My will, not God's will.
We're like spiritual zombies.
We're the walking dead.
We don't want or desire to walk any other way.
And without grace, that's me and that's you.
What do you think about that?
Do you like that diagnosis?
Well, there's more to it.
Because that puts us into a very, very difficult situation.
We are deserving of God's wrath.
Did you see that?
The end of verse 3?
For those who follow the ways of the world, the way of the devil and the way of our desires.
Look at the rest of verse 3.
We, like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.
Well, I know we don't like to talk about wrath and God being anger.
Surely God's a God of love.
Yes, he is.
But he's a loving God.
He's not temper-like.
He doesn't lose his control.
You can't press God's buttons by living a certain way and he just responds in an outrage.
No, God's wrath is fair.
It's just.
It's been reasoned.
It's God's response to people like us who follow the way of the world,
who follow the lies of the devil,
and who follow the ways of our own desires.
By our nature, a nature that we're born with and a nature that we live with,
we're all set against God.
And that puts us on a collision course with God.
We're under his justice.
And God can't overlook our sin.
He can't pretend, oh, just live as you want, it's all right.
No, God cannot tolerate our protest forever.
In other words, if we follow the world,
if we follow the devil,
and if we follow our own desires,
it means we're taking a path, we're walking a path,
that will lead us to hell.
A life separated from God and his goodness.
And all that is beautiful forever.
Now, it's going to get worse.
Follow with me.
Because if we're spiritually dead,
that means you and I can't change our predicament,
and nor do we actually want to change.
Just think about this with me for a minute.
Just think of a food,
a particular food that you really don't like.
Okay?
Think of a food you don't like.
Mine is sandwich spread.
Do you ever eat that stuff?
It's a paste with cut up vegetables
and horrible things like celery and peppers
in a detestable sauce.
It says cream sauce.
No, it's not cream sauce.
I hate sandwich spread.
I have no desire for it.
I don't even want to like it.
If there was a course put on and said,
come to this course and we will help you like sandwich spread.
No, I'm not going to like it.
Put it anywhere near me
and I'm going to run in the opposite direction.
I don't want sandwich spread.
Do you believe that truth about ourselves before we are Christians?
Well, if you don't believe what I've tried to say,
I'm going to say,
I have no desire for God.
I do not even want to desire God.
put God anywhere near me
and I'm going to run away.
I don't want it.
Do you believe that truth about ourselves before we are Christians?
Well, if you don't believe what I've tried to illustrate,
go back to Romans chapter 3.
Go back a few pages to Romans chapter 3.
The whole case at the beginning of Romans is showing that everybody,
no matter our background, our religion, our culture,
that we're all guilty before God.
We're going to pick it up in verse 10.
Romans chapter 3 in verse 10.
As it is written,
There is no one righteous,
not even one.
There is no one who understands.
There is no one who seeks God.
Do you believe that?
Before you are a Christian,
you do not seek God.
You've no desire for him.
Let's go back to Ephesians chapter 2.
One writer put it like this.
No one prompted by their own decision and acting
in their own ability
wants to find God.
We say,
no, no, no, no.
I did.
I wanted to find God.
Well, no, no, no, no.
No, no, no, no.
No, no, no, no, no, no.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
More about that later in a minute.
You see, left in our dead state,
we do not seek God.
Dead people cannot make themselves alive again.
Do you know anybody who made themselves rise from the dead?
Just as we can't do that physically,
so we can't make ourselves spiritually alive.
We're dead.
Now the question is,
will you accept God's diagnosis of your life?
I'm dead in my sins,
deserving of God's wrath.
Without grace,
this is who I am.
Well,
doesn't sound great, does it?
But we need to hear
what God says.
Second,
saved by grace,
dead without grace,
saved by grace.
Let's pick it up in verse 4.
But,
so something's changed.
There's an intervention.
Something has happened.
God has done something.
Verse 4.
But,
because of his great love for us,
God,
who is rich in mercy,
made us
alive.
He is
rich
rich in mercy.
God didn't respond
because we were pleading for mercy.
No,
God acted.
God took the initiative.
God moved towards us
because
he
is rich in mercy.
And look at how God intervened in our life.
it's amazing.
It's beautiful.
Three things.
First,
he made us alive
with Christ.
Let's read those couple of verses again.
Verse 4.
Because of his great love for us,
God,
who is rich in mercy,
made us alive with Christ,
even when we were dead
in our transgressions.
We were spiritually dead,
but now he says,
you can be made alive.
Well,
how does that happen?
Well,
when Christ
died on the cross,
something extraordinary
took place.
Christ
took my
dead in sin
kind of life
and he made it his own.
It was as if
Christ,
or not as if,
it was
that Christ
was treated
as someone
who followed
the ways of the world,
followed the way
of the devil,
and followed
his own desires.
He took
my dead
in sin
life
and the wrath
of God,
the judgment
that I deserve,
fell
on Christ
and was absorbed
by him.
My spiritual
dead life
was put
to death
in the death
of Jesus.
My dead
life
was put
to death.
But more
than that,
not only
were we made
alive,
we were
raised
with Christ.
Look at
verse 6.
And God
raised us
up
with Christ.
When Christ
died on the
cross,
physically
he died,
he was raised
from the dead,
so he's saying
you too
had a
spiritual
resurrection
in your life.
We
came alive
to God.
We were
drawn to him.
we had
a desire
for him.
We began
to pursue
him.
God
breathed
new life
into our
spiritual
dead
lives.
He
resurrected
us.
We were
dead in our
sin.
Now we've
been made
alive
with Christ.
But he also
did something
more wonderful
again.
Do you see it
there,
the rest
of verse
6?
We were
raised up
with Christ.
Not just
raised with
him, but
he seated
us with
him in
the heavenly
realms in
Christ Jesus.
When Christ
was raised,
he ascended
into heaven
and was
seated at the
right hand of
the Father.
That's a
position of
all power and
authority.
God
and because
we have
been
spiritually
raised and
given new
life, we
are seated
with him.
In other
words, God
now treats
us as his
own son.
Because my
dead in sin
life was
dealt with,
because I
now have the
life of
Christ, I
am now
welcomed, I
am now
accepted, I
am now
treasured.
That's
what happens
when God,
who is rich
in mercy,
reaches out
and intervenes
into our
life.
God takes
us from the
path of
walking the
way of the
dead.
He makes
us alive
and rises
us up, so
we now walk
a new path.
We now have
desires for
God and
loves for
God.
We seek
him, we
pursue him.
we wonderfully
receive his
grace that
saves us.
We are
recipients of
God's grace.
Look at
verse 7 with
me.
God did
all this.
God did
us making
alive,
resurrecting
us, seating
us with
him.
He did
all of
that work
for us,
verse 7,
in order
that in
the coming
ages, he
might show
the incomparable
riches of
his grace
expressed in
his kindness
to us in
Christ Jesus.
God did
this.
God acts
in grace
towards people
like us
to show
to a
watching
world
how
gracious
God is.
God's
grace.
It's like
we become
a living
display
of God's
grace.
Think of
it like
this.
When an
artist, for
those of
you who
can draw
and paint
and all
that sort
of thing,
when you're
finished your
work,
you hang
it up,
don't you?
A great
artist will
be able to
hang it up
in a
gallery.
They put
their artwork
on display
for people
to be able
to see.
And as
people walk
around and
stop and
sit and
look at
these beautiful
pictures,
they marvel
at the
picture.
But not
just at the
picture,
they marvel
at the
artist.
You see,
when you
look at the
picture,
you celebrate
the artist.
But when
God acts
in grace
towards us,
it's like
he puts
us on
display
before a
watching world.
He hangs
us up and
says,
look!
Not so
that people
would think
how great
we are,
but people
will look
at us
and see
how amazing
and how
rich
God's
grace is
to people
like us.
That God
could change
us and
save us.
that's
worth putting
on display
to the
world.
You see,
the wonder
is,
God delights
in giving
grace to
dead in
sin,
deserving of
wrath,
people like
us.
God
saves us
by grace
so that
we might
praise him.
Now,
this is all
good news.
It's great
news.
Left to
ourselves,
we're never
going to
choose God.
We enter
the world
spiritually
dead.
As one
writer put
it,
you can
see this
on screen,
just as
the physically
dead can't
communicate
with the
living,
so also
those who
are spiritually
dead
cannot
communicate
with the
eternal
living God.
God.
But when
God,
who is
rich in
mercy,
takes the
initiative and
intervenes in
your life,
he makes you
alive to
God.
He gives
you a new
life.
He sparks
off a new
beginning where
you begin to
pursue,
seek,
and desire
God.
God,
who is rich
in mercy,
saves us
by grace.
Now the
big question
here is,
will you
accept what
God has
done for
you?
The empty
wisdom of
the world
says,
no, no,
I don't
need God.
I can do
it alone.
But the
words of
God to
us today
is saying,
Christ is
everything you
need,
and I give
him to you
freely.
so dead
without
grace,
saved
by grace,
and then
third,
experiencing
forever
grace.
So the
question we
want to ask
here is,
as we look
at this
last part,
is how
do we
get to
experience
grace?
How can
this be
amazing
grace for
me?
Well,
look at
verse
8.
For it
is by
grace you
have been
saved,
through
faith,
and this
is not
from
yourself,
it is
the gift
of God.
Experiencing
grace is
a beautiful
gift from
God to
you.
these
gifts
come in
three ways.
We're
going to
just look
at three
here.
First,
the gift
of a
new
faith.
Do you
see it
there in
verse
8?
It is
by grace
you've
been
saved,
through
faith,
and this
is not
from
yourselves,
it is
the gift
of God.
God's
intervening
grace is
a gift,
and the
faith to
believe and
the faith
to trust
is also
a gift.
Look closely
at verse
8.
It says,
this is
not from
yourselves.
Well,
what's not
from
ourselves?
Faith
is not
from
yourself.
Faith
is gift
from God.
It's not
something we
kind of
build up
within
ourselves
or motivate
ourselves
from within.
Faith is
a gift
from God
so that
you can
respond to
him.
When I
was spiritually
dead,
my faith
was in
me,
and in
nobody else
but me.
I depended
on self.
Now I've
been given
a new
faith,
a faith
that enables
me to
trust only
in Christ
and his
grace to
me.
So we've
been given
a gift
of faith.
We've
also been
given a
gift of
a new
status.
Look at
verse 10.
For we
are God's
handiwork.
Can you
consider what
that means?
Literally,
God is saying
to you,
if you're
a Christian,
you are
a work
of art.
You are
my
masterpiece.
God has
taken people
like us
and created
us
and worked
in us
who deserve
God's
wrath
to be
recipients
of his
grace.
And God's
assessment,
because he's
worked in
us,
when he
looks at
us and
inspects
us,
he sees
no flaws,
nothing
wrong,
because you
are his
masterpiece.
You are
loved,
treasured,
accepted,
welcomed,
saved for
other.
In other
words,
you have
been given
the same
status as
the Son,
Jesus Christ.
That means
God treats
you as
his own
dear Son.
No matter
how much
you fail,
no matter
how much
you fall,
that status
will not
change.
What an
incredible
gift.
New faith,
new status,
what we
call the
last one,
a new
purpose.
Read verse
10 with me
again.
for we
are God's
handiwork,
created in
Christ Jesus
to do
good works,
which God
prepared in
advance for
us to do.
We do
good works.
we serve
God,
not to
earn his
favour,
not to
earn his
grace,
not to
get God's
attention and
say,
I'm here,
give me your
grace,
did you see
what I
did?
No,
we serve
because we
have received
grace.
It's a
response.
When we
were spiritually
dead,
we served
self.
Look back
at verse
three if you
need reminded.
we lived
gratifying the
cravings of
our flesh
and following
its desires
and thoughts.
We served
self.
We didn't
serve God,
but now
we've been
given a new
purpose.
We serve
the God
who saved
us.
Because I
am loved,
I now
love him.
Because I've
been accepted,
I now want
to obey
him.
Because I'm
his child,
I want
to hear
his voice
and I
want to
follow his
way.
Because I've
been saved
by grace,
I want to
live for
him.
Now,
if all
this is a
gift from
God,
and it
is,
what's that
going to
mean?
If it's
all a
gift,
what does
that mean
for us?
God's
grace?
Well,
we boast
in Christ
alone.
We boast
in his
grace.
Let's read
verses 8
and 9
and you'll
pick it
up and
you'll
get the
focus here.
For it
is by
grace you
have been
saved,
through
faith,
which is a
gift,
it's not
from yourselves,
it's from
God,
not by
works,
not by
anything we
can do,
by your
performance
or anything
else,
so that
no one
can boast.
You see,
when we
experience
God's
grace,
there is
no longer
any I
or me.
Think this
through with
me as
we try
to capture
what it
means to
boast in
grace.
If somebody
says to
you,
why are
you a
Christian?
what would
you say?
Well,
because I
was searching
or seeking
God,
because I
decided to
follow Jesus.
Well,
if you say
anything like
that,
you know
what,
you're
boasting
in self,
you're
trusting
in self.
If you
seek God,
it's only
because God
sought you
first.
If you
decide to
follow Jesus,
it's
because God
has enabled
you to
follow Jesus.
Or put it
this way,
if someone
says,
why are you
a Christian
and they're
not a
Christian?
And you
answer something
like this,
well,
because I
had faith
or because
I chose
God.
Well,
again,
we're doing
it,
we're boasting
in self.
We're
saying,
we're
basically
saying,
if only
they had
faith like
I had
faith,
if only
they did
what I
did,
they would
be saved
too.
No,
if you
have
faith,
it's
because God
gave you
faith.
It's all
a gift.
We can't
boast in
ourself
for anything.
Now,
I know
that greats
with us,
we don't
like that.
And the
reason is
pride.
But pride
isn't going
to save
you.
It's going
to destroy
you and
crush you.
You see,
when we
experience
grace,
it
humbles
you.
It
changes us
from the
inside out.
It makes
us into
beautiful
and
attractive
people.
Rather than
people who
hide their
sin and
pretend that
sin doesn't
matter,
well,
we now
begin to
admit our
sin and
we begin
to repent.
We run
to God
who is
full of
grace and
is rich
in mercy.
If we
experience
grace,
it will
make us
so humble
that we
will no
longer look
down on
anybody and
say,
they're
undeserving
because God
gave us
what we
don't
deserve
and could
never
earn.
It means
we'll never
ever again
write anybody
off and
say,
you know
what,
their sin
and what
they did,
they're beyond
God's
mercy.
We don't
think like
that because
God didn't
write me
off and
he didn't
write you
off.
he loved
you.
And it
means we
will forgive
those no
matter what
wrong they
do to us
and we
will hold
no grudges
because God
loved you
and forgave
you and
dealt with
your sin
once and
for all.
it'll make
you humble,
beautiful
and attractive.
You will
be filled
with grace
and you
will live
a life
of grace
because God
has been
gracious
to you.
Consider
this,
if you
understand
grace
you will
never boast
in yourself,
you will
only boast
in Christ
who achieved
salvation
for you.
So what
is a
Christian?
It's
someone
who is
saved
by grace.
Let's
pray.
Amen.
Father,
your word
is so
simple
and so
clear.
Help us
to accept
your
diagnosis
of who
we are
and what
we are
like.
Help us
to accept
what God
has done
for us
who is
rich
in mercy
making
making us
alive,
making us
to a
new way
and
seating
us
with
Christ.
Thank you
for the
gift of
faith.
Thank you
for the
new status
we have,
a new
purpose
to live
for you.
and we
pray and
ask that
we would
experience
your grace
more and
more,
that it
would
humble us
and change
us so
that we
become more
beautiful and
attractive,
a display
piece to
the world
of how good
and gracious
you are.
Thank you,
Jesus.
Amen.
Well,
guess what
we're going
to sing?
Amazing
grace,
how sweet
the sound.
Let's stand
together as
we're able
and let's
rejoice and
sing and
remind ourselves
of how
beautiful and
how great
God's grace
to us is.
Amen.