UNITY WITH CHRIST: PART 2

Sermon Notes, July 22, 2018

Rev. Garry McGlinchy

            Pastor Garry's sermon, the second in a new series from the book of Ephesians, was titled "Unity with Christ, Part 2."  It was based on Ephesians 2:1-11.  Paul repeats himself in his writings.  In this passage, he reminds them of their personal sins before they met Christ.  He reminds them that their past sin should not be forgotten, because it was while they were steeped in sin that Christ saved them.  In Christianity, the Holy Spirit is wooing us toward God. He looks for us before we look for Him. 

Paul starts off chapter 2 with “Remember.  You were sinners before you met Christ.  You were on your way not just to physical death but to spiritual death.”  The things that happened to us in the past, whether we brought them upon ourselves or whether they were inflicted on us, are not to be forgotten.  It is in those moments that we can reach out to someone else who is going through those same things. Some daredevils like to show their scars and tell how they got them—and the story gets bigger every time they tell it.  Others want to hide their scars.  They don’t want anyone to know they went through those things.  But there will come a time when someone pours out their heart to you, and you will know that the time has come to share your experience with them.  Senior saints, be willing to share your stories, your scars.  Younger people need to hear it.  The dates might have changed, but the things that happen to people today aren’t much different than the things that happened to you.

In verse 2 Paul describes Satan as the ruler of the kingdom of the air.  The Living New Testament says “the commander of the powers in the unseen world.”   The truth is that when Christ was resurrected, He was victorious over Satan and his powers.  “Victory” means we win!  Jesus is the permanent ruler over the whole world.  Satan is a temporary ruler, and only rules over those who follow him.

In verse 3, the fact that no person is without sin is proof that without Christ we all have a sinful nature.  We are lost in sin, and we are not able to save ourselves.  Does this mean that Christians are the only ones who can do good?  No, that’s not true.  Lots of people who are not Christ-followers do lots of good things.  But no one is good enough to earn salvation.  It is only through being united with Christ that we can become good in God’s sight.

In verse 4, we see that God could’ve left us in our sin, but He didn’t.  Throughout the Bible we see the phrase but God: but God saved, but God led, but God fed.  We were rebels against him, but God.  We were enslaved by the devil and our sinful nature, but God.  He could have easily left us in our sin, but He didn’t.  He saved us because He saw what was in us.  Isn’t that the same love, mercy and grace we should extend to others who are still dead in their sin, rebellious against God, and enslaved by the devil and their sinful nature?   Absolutely!  We should extend that grace, mercy and love to them

We no longer need to live under the power of our sinful nature.  When Jesus hung on the cross, the penalty for our sin, which is death, and the power sin has over us, was absolutely obliterated.  Obliterated.  That means gone; we can’t recognize it any more.  With the sacrifice of Christ, the faithful are acquitted before God.  This is not to say we will not be tempted, or that we will never sin again.  We are no longer dead in our sin.  The good news is that we are now ALIVE in Christ. 

In verse 6 we see that because of His sacrifice, and His resurrection, we will be raised from the dead, and we have been given the power to live as Christ-followers right now.  We are given all that we need to live holy lives right here and right now.  We don’t have to wait until we get to heaven.  One day we will take our place with Him in heaven.  We can take stake in this claim because we are united with Him.

Some people seem to think that they have to earn this gift or salvation.  When you receive a gift from someone, do you say, “Thank you.  How much do I owe you?” No!  We should respond with gratitude and pure joy.  Our salvation isn’t dependent on anything we did.  It is a gift, given freely.  We are saved not just for our benefit, but for the benefit of the world.   Our gratitude, praise and joy helps to turn our hard-hearted actions into kindness, acts of service.