I want to begin with a personal note: I confess that the lack of blog content of late frustrates me. I feel like I haven’t had the chance to spend time with a friend. I have lots of things I want to talk about (for one thing, I didn’t even say a word about the Super Bowl), but my life is always so busy. I’m hoping that I can get back into a rhythm of consistent blog posts.
As I transition to the main part of the blog now, let me share that Ephesians 2 has been on my mind recently. Over the course of the next few blogs, I want to look at some verses from this chapter. The beginning verses have a rather grim note: “And you were once dead in the trespasses and sins…following the course of this world” (English Standard Version). Verse 3: “among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind.”
These verses are difficult to take in and digest, but the assessment is undeniable. Every man, woman, boy and girl is infected with the curse of sin. For example, have you ever seen a child emphatically declare that they didn’t eat the doughnut when the chocolate is right on their chin for all to see? We may laugh at that, but it demonstrates that even a child isn’t perfect or without sin. The Bible says a child is known by his actions (Proverbs 20:11). In 1 Kings 8:46 we read, “For there is no one who does not sin” (New King James Version).
The text shifts in verse 4 with these glorious words: “But God”. Humanity was immersed in sin, carrying out all sorts of sordid passions, guilty before a holy God, and we didn’t even know or care. “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us…made us alive together in Christ” (verses 4-5). In her helpful devotional book titled “Contentment: Seeing God’s goodness” Megan Hill writes, “Because of the work of Christ on our behalf – his life of perfect obedience, his death on the cross, his resurrection and ascension – we are no longer dead. We are wonderfully alive!”
That’s what God did for me. As a young boy, the Lord, by His Spirit, quickened my heart to show me that I was a sinner in need of a Savior, and that Savior’s name is Jesus Christ. He shed His blood to atone for my sin. I just needed to accept what He did by placing my faith, belief, and trust in Jesus. When I was putting all of this together, I was reminded of a college paper that I wrote back in 2011. We were instructed to write our own Psalm, like David did all those centuries ago. In part, this is what I wrote:
“O Lord my God, I praise and thank You for all the marvelous works that You have done in my life. Were I to try to recount them all it would take me hours upon hours. I was a dead man and You resurrected me. I was ill and sickly and You gave me my health back. I was a guilty [lawbreaker] condemned to execution, because of my repugnant sin, but You took my place.
O Lord, what else is there for me to say in response but thank You? All the glory goes to You and You alone. I lift up my voice with a song of celebration to You, O God, because You have been so merciful, gracious, kind and benevolent to me in my life.” All these years later, I can only add that God has been faithful, even to this very day.
O Lord, what else is there for me to say in response but thank You? All the glory goes to You and You alone. I lift up my voice with a song of celebration to You, O God, because You have been so merciful, gracious, kind and benevolent to me in my life.” All these years later, I can only add that God has been faithful, even to this very day.
Kevin
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together in Christ Jesus” – Ephesians 2:4-5
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