Ephesians 2:1-7
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved - 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
The first step in any healing is admitting the problem. Beyond the problem of the behaviors that we want to change, there is the spiritual problem that "you were dead in the trespasses and sins" (verse 1). This may seem a bit crazy, as we don't feel "dead", but the point is that spiritually we were dead in the sense that we were separate from God and His life. That is the root of our problems! Note also that this is not something that applies only to a few really bad people. Rather, Paul says that this is true of all of us, for "we all once lived in the passions of our flesh" (verse 3). Sometimes we think our sin is somehow unique, and everyone else is so much better than us. But the truth is that we are all broken, which is why we all need a savior. The good news is "the great love with which [God] loved us" (verse 4) such that "even when we were dead in our trespasses, [God] made us alive together with Christ" (verse 5).
Lord, thank you for your mercy and your new life.
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved - 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
The first step in any healing is admitting the problem. Beyond the problem of the behaviors that we want to change, there is the spiritual problem that "you were dead in the trespasses and sins" (verse 1). This may seem a bit crazy, as we don't feel "dead", but the point is that spiritually we were dead in the sense that we were separate from God and His life. That is the root of our problems! Note also that this is not something that applies only to a few really bad people. Rather, Paul says that this is true of all of us, for "we all once lived in the passions of our flesh" (verse 3). Sometimes we think our sin is somehow unique, and everyone else is so much better than us. But the truth is that we are all broken, which is why we all need a savior. The good news is "the great love with which [God] loved us" (verse 4) such that "even when we were dead in our trespasses, [God] made us alive together with Christ" (verse 5).
Lord, thank you for your mercy and your new life.