Day of the Living Dead

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, in order that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:1-7)

We’ve probably all seen “before and after” photos at one time or another. They are very common in those extreme make over shows, or on commercials for diet products or plans. The “before” picture is always about as bad as it can be, and the “after” is a dramatic change – whether it’s a man, woman, car or house.

In Ephesians chapter 2, Paul does the same thing – he gives us a “before and after” snapshot of what it means to be a believer in Jesus Christ – and the picture is as dramatic as any you have ever seen. John Stott, in his amazing commentary on Ephesians, says this about these verses, "Paul first plumbs the depths of pessimism about man, and then rises to the heights of optimism about God. It is this combination of pessimism and optimism, of despair and faith, which constitutes the refreshing realism of the Bible. For what Paul does in this passage is to paint a vivid contrast between what man is by nature and what he can become by grace."[i]

The “Before” Picture (2:1-3)

Have you ever noticed that when you remember the past, much of the time we remember the good, and not the bad? Carol and I spent the first five summers after we were married working at a resort city in western North Dakota. The days were long and hot, and the work was hard. There were times we just hated it there – but whenever we think back on it now, we smile, and we remember the friends, and the fun, and the great times.

A number of years ago there was popular movie entitled The Way We Were. It was a movie designed to take a nostalgic look at the past. That is the way most people want to remember the past. We want to remember fondly all of the wonderful times. We try to forget the negative and hurtful things of the past.

Paul wants us to face the harsh reality of how we really were before Christ. It is not a nostalgic look, to say the least. It is a realistic look.

We read first that, “you were dead in your trespasses and sins.” This is the condition into which all of us were born. We were born dead! This is what has been called original sin. We all come into the world with this nature of sin. Beautiful little Haley Marie was born this week and she is beautiful, but she has a sin nature built in her. And before you think that it would only be some cruel theologian who would say such a thing, let me share something with you.

Several years ago the MINNESOTA CRIME COMMISSION released a statement that is surprisingly in line with what the Bible teaches about man’s basic nature. It read,

Every baby starts life as a little savage. He is completely selfish, and self-centered. He wants what he wants when he wants it – his bottle, his mother’s attention, his playmate’s toys, his uncles’ watch. Deny him these once, and he seethes with rage and aggressiveness, which would be murderous were he not so helpless.

He is, in fact, dirty. He has no morality, no knowledge, no skills. This means that all children – not just certain children – are born delinquent. If permitted to continue in the self-centered world of his infancy, given free reign to his impulsive actions, to satisfy his wants, every child would grow up a criminal – a thief, a killer, or a rapist.[ii]

That is a startling portrait of human beings isn’t it? And notice that this did not come from some preacher bent on exaggerating the situation – this came from a group of social workers, correctional officials and psychologists working to determine the truth. The state of Minnesota could have saved themselves a lot of money by just opening their Bibles!

“You were dead in your trespasses and sins.” The word for trespasses in Greek means "to slip, fall, stumble, deviate, or go in the wrong direction." The word for sins in the original language means, "to miss the mark, to fall short." So in Romans 3:23 we have the statement, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." This falling short of the glory of God is what it means to be “dead in . . . trespasses and sins.” And it describes every human being in their “before” picture.

Our past state is not only described as being “dead” but also as being disobedient. It says, “You formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.” Deadness and disobedience characterize a life before Christ. And to walk as “sons of disobedience” means to walk “according to the course of this world.” The world's course is the world's system of values.

The world will tell you that it’s OK to live together before marriage, or to engage in some “alternative lifestyle,” or to lie in order to save face, or cheat on your spouse if it makes you happy. This week I was home working on our kitchen, and I took a break for lunch – I turned on the tube and caught a few minutes of one of those afternoon talk shows – a young couple was just thrilled with their “hetero-flexible” marriage – they openly had boyfriends or girlfriends on the side in their marriage – this is the direction the world is taking – but it’s NOT OK! It is disobedient to the Word of God – it violates the guidelines God has given us for life – and there is a price to be paid for that disobedience.

This system of values is inspired by the prince of the power of the air, who is Satan. He is the “spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.” To fall in line with "the spirit of the times" is to align yourself with the philosophy of Satan. This is what describes the life of an unbeliever. It describes our life before Christ. It should not, and it cannot describe the life of a believer…

We are not only described as dead, and disobedient, we are described as depraved. In verse 3 we read that we all “formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh.” This is not simply referring to sexual desires. Lusts refer to any selfish desires we may have. We are described as people who lived a lifestyle of indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind. We were self-indulgent. And a self-indulgent person who is driven by his or her desires can be described as depraved, and it is the state of being for a person who does not know Christ.

Paul further describes our before picture as “doomed.” In the last phrase of verse 3 it says we “were by nature children of wrath.” Those who do not receive Jesus Christ are objects of God's condemning judgment. They are objects of God's wrath. They are doomed.

No one is doomed by some desire on the part of God. God is holy and just and righteous and fair. In reality, God doesn't send anyone to hell, people send themselves there. By rejecting Jesus Christ, people bring upon themselves judgment and condemnation. Most people know John 3:16, but few pay attention to the following two verses. We read in John 3:17-18: "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." Jesus came into the world to save us from our sins. But if we persist in willfully rejecting the salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ, we will be condemned by our own actions.

That’s the “before” picture. It’s an accurate picture of each of us before Christ, or anyone here today who is without Christ. What a picture of lost humanity it is! It is the picture of every lost man and woman. It’s a picture no human being should be comfortable with – it is a picture of absolute devastation and despair. But there is an “after picture!” Notice something about this first three verses…what do you notice about them? They are written in the past tense! It says “you WERE dead,” and “you used to live,” “all of us LIVED among them at one time,” and “we WERE objects of wrath.”

That is the beauty of the Christian faith! It is the religion of starting over – the past can be put behind us – no matter how dead, disobedient, depraved, and doomed it was – it doesn’t have to stay that way! No matter what you’ve done, no matter how bad you’ve been, there is hope!

I’ve mentioned several times that there are some great phrases in this letter Paul wrote to the Ephesians – Paul was a great writer, and he really does a great job of turning a phrase – “the eyes of your heart would be opened…” “the riches of God’s grace that He has lavished upon us…” and others. But of all the words in this incredible letter, the first two words of verse 4 are the most important. In the Greek, as in the English it’s just two short words - de qeoV - ”But God…”

Here’s the before – a depressing, despairing, desperate portrait of our lives – “BUT GOD!” The world has no hope, no possibility of redemption, no way out of the death and destruction around us - “BUT GOD!”

Delivered!

As bad as our situation is, God has intervened. When we hit the bottom, God reached down to pick us up. When we needed deliverance the most, deliverance is precisely what God provided for us. He delivered us because He is rich in mercy. He delivered us because of His great love with which He loved us. He delivered us even when we were dead in our transgressions. At the time of our greatest need, God came through with our deliverance. This is the “after picture!” It is a reflection of our present position in Christ.

This deliverance is through love. Our text says that God . . . because of His great love has provided salvation for us. His deliverance has come because He loved us. The love with which He loved us is the motivation for His being rich in mercy toward us. We must never forget this. God is, by nature, love. His love makes Him compassionate toward us. Never think that God hates you. God has nothing but love for you. God does hate sin. But God doesn't hate the sinner. God loves you, and me.

Deliverance is also for life. By "for life" I do not mean that deliverance is forever. It is that. But that is not what I mean. I mean that deliverance is for the purpose of life. We have been delivered so that we can be alive. We are told that God has made us alive together with Christ. Christ has given us new life. We no longer exist, we now really live. He is not merely referring to life eternal, He is also referring to life abundant. The life of Christ lives in us, and we live in Him.

Deliverance is also by grace. The parentheses at the end of verse 5 is an important one. There it reveals that by grace you have been saved. The grace of God is His unmerited favor. Our salvation comes as something we do not deserve. It is given to us as a gift based on what Jesus Christ did for us on the Cross of Calvary. We have been given an unconditional pardon from the prison of our sin. We are not pardoned because we are not guilty, we are pardoned in spite of the fact we are guilty.

And finally, we find that deliverance is with purpose. That purpose is in order that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing richness of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. In other words, we are now His trophies. We are an example of His love and grace and kindness. It is God's purpose to display us in the ages to come as an example of what He can do to deliver a human life from the bondage of sin. God doesn’t want to display me as his “trophy” because of how good I look! He wants to display me because it demonstrates that he can even make a schmuck like me into a trophy believer! God’s amazing power is shown to all creation for all eternity not only in His power to raise Jesus Christ from the dead – but also to transform dead, disobedient, depraved, doomed humans into Children of God!

If Niagara could suddenly be made to leap upward instead of forever dashing downward from it's rocky height, it were not such a miracle as to change the perverse will and raging passions of men. To remove the leopard's spots is proverbially a difficulty, yet that is but surface work; to renew the very core of manhood, and tear sin from it's hold upon man's heart, this is not alone the finger of God, but the baring of His arm. Conversion is a work comparable to the making of a world. Only He who fashioned the heavens and the earth could create a new nature in a man.[iii]

In bringing us from a position of death and depravity to one of deliverance, God has performed a miracle of the magnitude of creating the world. He has totally transformed us at the core of our being by giving us a new nature. However moral and upright we might have been before we surrendered to Christ, we were trapped in a prison of spiritual death which separated us from God and made us unresponsive to His love. But God did something that only God could do. He delivered us in spite of us. And God has given us the resurrection life of His Son Jesus. The same power that raised Christ from the dead now works in us.

As we end this morning, I need to ask is whether your spiritual life is the “before” picture or the “after” picture. If it is before, I want to challenge you to read these verses, every day this week. If you don’t have a Bible, take one from the seats around you, find these words, and read them every day. My prayer is that God’s Holy Spirit would reveal to you what they mean in a practical way. I pray that God will do His greatest work of creation in your life.

If you have experienced the transforming work of God’s grace in you life, then I want to challenge you, too to read these words this week – because there is an amazing source of joy in these words – there is no better news you could receive than to be told that you are free from the wrath of God – and welcomed into His family. Dwell there this week!

In closing, we are going to hear a song that was written by Stuart Townend and Keith Getty entitled In Christ Alone, and performed by The Newsboys. Pay particular attention to the lyrics of the last couple of verses…

[i] John R. W. Stott, God's New Society: The Message Of Ephesians (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1979), p. 69.

[ii] (Minnesota Crime Commission, cited in You And Your Child, Charles Swindoll [Nelson Publishers, 1977], pp. 33,34)

[iii] C. H. Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, (Pasadena, TX: Pilgrim Publications, 1970), p. 290.