God made us alive

This morning, I went to church with my siblings to hear a message about Ephesians 2:1-10 from the speaking brother. My sister now serves as an usher in the church.

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, 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. 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), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 2:1-10

The book of Ephesians is not about us, but others and our relationship to them, as the church, and the relationship between Christ and the church.

We used to be:

• Dead in trespasses in sin
• Sons of disobedience
• Children of wrath

Then God loved us and gave:

• Rich mercy and grace of God
• His great love and kindness
• Raised us up/seated together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus

Baptism demonstrates this concept, the old man in the water as one emerges a new man. Having the old man even out of baptism is a problem.

How are we made alive in Christ Jesus?

• Salvation, the gift of God.
• It is not based on our own works, so we should not boast about it. Before being saved by Jesus Christ, all of our works, even good ones, are not pleasing to God
• We are God’s workmanship

We do not make ourselves alive. It is God who makes us alive!

So there are three things we must apply:

Praise and worship

What is man that God is mindful of him? Yet Christians must praise the Lord.

O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.

Psalm 95:6 (KJV)

We must praise God for His:

• Kindness
• Great Love
• Rich mercy and Abundant grace

When do we praise Him? As a student, do you praise him before an exam? After the exam? When you get your results? You can praise God even before the results come out. We must praise the Lord in both good and bad times, and we must praise more than worry, for worry brings you nowhere.

Worship is to surrender yourself to God, giving yourself to Him. Romans 12:1 speaks of offering your bodies as living sacrifices. And the Christian worships God for the rest of his life

Remember Our God

We don’t remember God because we are forgetful. It is because we are too busy.

Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;

Ecclesiastes 12:1 (KJV)

Solomon wrote a vivid metaphoric collection on the experience of aging after the above verse. Do not wait until you are old to remember God. You don’t know if you will live that long. The speaking brother spoke about eating out and hearing a waiter exclaim loudly about hope in the morning and being disappointed when evening comes. Near the place is a lottery shop, where many senior citizens go to. But its prizes are temporary. We have Hope, an inheritance and power, that will never fade away and are from God the Father and Jesus Christ.

There are gamblers, addicts and those with bad habits who, after receiving the gospel of Jesus, become free from their sins, not by themselves, but by the power of Christ Jesus. In war, the soldiers need the best technology, and in Singapore, the SAF researches on whatever that it is that they need to be the best for their soldiers. No one goes to war wielding sticks and butter knives. In Ephesians 6, we learn that the armor of God is all He gave us to fight the wiles of the enemy.

Born Anew in Christ to walk in Good Deeds/Works

We are not saved by good works, but for good works. We are His workmanship after all. God does not make useless things. Think of a jigsaw puzzle. Each one is a different shape and color, yet when they are all put together, it testifies to how good the person putting the puzzle together is. When Christians are together, God has made a masterpiece.

If you think little of what God has done for you, you will do very little for
Him; but if you have a great notion of His great mercy (grace & love) to
you, you will be greatly grateful to your gracious God.

Charles Spurgeon

In conclusion, God made us alive for us to praise and worship Him, to be remembered by us, and to walk in good deeds in Christ Jesus.

I had lunch at United Square and walked round Esplanade. As Mom is coming soon, I got a haircut and some snacks. March is coming to an end, and I hope that Mom and Judd are safe.