Ephesians 2 Part 2 (7-3-05)

Ephesians 2 Part 2
Bible Study Time 7-3-05

In Ephesians, Chapter 2, Paul says:

Ephesians 2:1-2
1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,
2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,

Paul addressed the Ephesians knowing their background in idolatry, sexual immorality and sorcery. He knew that they knew first hand the powerful forces of Satan. I remember when the Harry Potter movies came out, I heard a Pastor on a TV talk show saying that these movies promoted witchcraft. He reminded the audience that witchcraft is not necessarily Satanism.

However, we see here in Ephesians 2 that Satan is the force behind all of the evils of this world. He is the spirit that now works in the sons of disobedience. Satan is the force behind all sin.

Then Paul says in verse 3:

Ephesians 2:3 (NKJ)
3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

We all acted in times past according to the lusts of the flesh. Paul obviously was including himself in this. As he looked back on his labors in the religion of the Pharisees, Paul could see that his actions were motivated by the devil.

He had actively opposed the Lord Jesus Christ, but on the road to Damascus, the Lord said to Paul, "Is it hard for you to kick against the goads?" God had given Paul a thorn which drove a little deeper with every step, and that thorn was Paul’s conscience.

Every time Paul lied about a believer to put them in prison, that thorn would go a little deeper. Every time Paul paid someone to lie about believers, that thorn would go a little deeper. But Paul kept on doing what he was doing because he was driven, he was energized by Satan.

So Paul said, "We all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath."

Galatians 5:19-21 (NKJ) says:
19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,
20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,
21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like

Paul knew that he was just as guilty of these things as the people in Ephesus, but he gives us the good news in verse 4 which says:

Ephesians 2:4-5 (NKJ)
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),

He says that God stepped in and did for us what we could not do for ourselves. But God,... saved us by His grace and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

As we have seen, there are many distinctions between the prison epistles of Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians and the rest of Paul’s epistles, but when Paul says in verse six that God has raised us up to sit with Christ in heavenly places, that is one of those features that really sets the prison epistles apart. Only in the prison epistles did Paul say that believers are seated in the heavenly places, that our position is in the heavenly places, that our realm of blessing is in the heavenly places.

In the pre-prison epistles, the offer of the kingdom was still being offered and that resulted in an earthly focus. However, after Israel’s kingdom offer was set aside at the end of the book of Acts, Paul began to reveal the blessings which are ours in the heavenly realms.

It is sad but true that some believers today are still content to focus upon the earth. Especially when things are going pretty well down here, we may just want to hang on to these things. In fact, that is one of the stumbling blocks associated with prosperity. It will take our eyes off of the heavenly places where we find the true blessings of God. Paul said to Timothy:

1 Timothy 6:8-9 (KJV)
8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.
9 But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.

The things of this world are but temporary, and they fade like the grass that withers under the sun. The Lord Jesus said,

Matthew 16:26-27 (NKJ)
26 " . . . what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
27 "For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.

The lasting rewards are those which are given by the Lord Jesus Christ to those who are faithful to Him. If we have our eyes focused on Him and on our position in the heavenlies, we will be able to keep right on enjoying our spiritual blessings even when we go through hard times here on the earth.

We are members of the Church which is the Body of Christ, and Jesus Christ, as the Head of the Body, is our source of joy and peace. We live with the full assurance of the truth of Ephesians 2: 8 and 9.

Ephesians 2:8-9 (KJV)
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

These two verses essentially recapture the message of the book of Romans for us. We were living under the death penalty, but God saved us by His grace. Salvation is the gift of God to those who believe. Of coarse, the book of Romans goes into greater detail and reveals that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. It says that all those who try to live by the law, fall short of God’s standard of righteousness.

Romans proves that nobody was ever been saved by the Law for even Abraham was saved by faith before he was circumcised and before the law was given. The righteousness of God came upon Abraham because Abraham believed the promise of God. Man has nothing in which he can boast when it comes to salvation.

But according to verse 10, we are not only saved from the realm of darkness, but we are brought into the light of Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 2:10 (NKJ)
10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

In Vacation Bible School this week we emphasized that we are empowered by the Son of God to live for Jesus Christ. It is God’s power working in us that allows us to walk as children of light.

Obviously, we can not boast in the workmanship of God. If God through His own creative genius turns our lives into a work of art which is admired by all, how are we to boast in that? This is God’s doing, and He deserves all the glory.

When we are burdened down with sin, God’s power can set us free. I was in my front yard the other day when I got into a conversation with a gentleman who was working in my neighborhood. In the coarse of our conversation, he told me that God had set him free from alcohol. He said that alcohol had just about ruined his life when God touched his heart and set him free. He said that from that moment, he never had another craving for alcohol.

We also experience freedom from bitterness as we yield to God’s workmanship. I know a lady who wants a child so much, but it just hasn’t happened. She and her have prayed for a child for years, but God has said no. They have had every medical test imaginable, and every test has shown nothing wrong. The doctors said, "If there’s nothing wrong, we have nothing to fix."

The lady grew angry with God. She thought to herself, "I’m a good person. I deserve a child. I deserve a child more than that person or that person. It’s just not fair."

In the process of working through all of her thoughts and feelings, she got even more angry with God, but she never gave up on God. People would tell her that she just needed to trust the Lord because the Lord knows what’s best. She would respond by saying, "Everyone tells me that, but I’m just not there yet."

Just the other day, it blessed my heart to hear her say that she had learned to trust the Lord. She said that she had to come to grips with the fact that she really did not deserve a child and that everything we have is a gift from God which is given by His grace. She said that she had learned that she needs to give every aspect of her life to God. And trust Him.

Now I’m here to tell you that that is the workmanship of God.

Ephesians 2:11
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

When we get saved, God starts that work of art. He starts making us into something beautiful. He starts shaping us and molding us into the image of His dear Son.

In some ways this lady was fortunate because she did not have anyone to blame but God. Clearly, God was making this call. As a result she was forced to deal directly with God.

I think it is true that when we face a disappointment, the first thing we do is look around for someone to blame. And if we can find someone to blame, we may just live the rest of our lives with bitterness toward that person or those people. But what we really need to do is take the matter to God.

Is God really in charge of all things? Is God really in control of all things? If He is not in control then He’s just waiting like we are to see what’s going to happen next. But the Holy Spirit of God has given countless millions assurance that God is in control and that He knows what He’s doing. We can trust Him. He has a plan for us, and His plan is good.

When God works in our hearts to deliver us from sin, He is putting the mark of His workmanship on our lives. When God works in our hearts to deliver us from bitterness, He is putting His initials on that work of art He is creating in us.

A third aspect of God’s workmanship is seen when He gives us the necessary abilities and talents to do what He has called us to do. Of coarse, when we think of this we have to think of Moses. God told Moses to go down into Egypt and deliver the children of Israel. Moses said, "I can’t do that. I’m not important enough to stand before Pharoah." But God said, "I’ll be with you."

Moses said, "I’m not impressive enough to convince the children of Israel to follow me." God said, "I’ll do miracles to prove that I have sent you."

Moses said, "I still don’t think I can do this because I’m not very eloquent, and I have a speech problem."

Then according to Exodus 4:11 God said:

Exodus 4:11-12 (NKJ)
11 . . . "Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the LORD?
12 "Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say."

When Moses insisted on an assistant who could speak for him, God in His anger agreed to give Moses his brother, Aaron. But when Moses got to Egypt, wouldn’t you know it, Moses did all the talking.

We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works.

Thank you for listening to Bible Study Time this morning. I’ll look forward to being with you again next week.

Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com

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