Eph 2:1-10  But God

1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,

2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.

3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.

4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,

5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, 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 ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in 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 as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

The champion of run-on sentences, verses 1-14 stand as one sentence in the greek.

this is Paul’s introduction to the point of his entire epistle

(it’s a classic before and after idea)

generally speaking, Paul is saying:

You used to be here, but now, you are here

you were dead in sin, but now you are alive in Christ.

you were walking according to the course of this fallen world,

but now you walk in the good works God has prepared for you beforehand

(good works that you were actually created for because you are God’s workmanship)

The difference between each of these contrasts 

The before and after …

Is caused by the entry of two words…

But God

(A phrase used approx 44 times in the Bible) 

Each time used , it means God, the Creator of the universe, is about to intervene in the path taken by His off course creation

• A supernatural intervention
• A miracle 
• A course correction 

Some people think of miracles as God interfering in the natural order of things 

I think it’s more (as a brother has said) it’s God restoring the natural order of something (putting a train back on the tracks He meant it to travel on)

1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,

We were dead

in our trespasses and sins

2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.

Where were we dead

walking according to the course of this world, 

Under who’s authority as dead

under the authority of the prince of the power of the air (satan)

3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.

How were we dead

 indulging the lusts and desires of our flesh

4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,

Each person who is saved should have their “but God” statement in their testimony. 

If you don’t , then how do you know you are saved (you can’t say you were always saved)

But God, Rich in mercy, Because of His great love, is going to do something …

5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),

dead  νεκρός, nekros, a.  [root of: 3739, 3740]. dead (can be used physically or fig., of both persons and things); (n.) dead person, corpse

this is why reformed theology teaches that no one freely chooses to be saved, to come to Christ entirely on their own.

John 6:44 no one comes to me except the Father call him.

this is why Jesus taught that only those whom the Father wants to understand the gospel will comprehend it

Matt. 13:9 “The one who has ears, let him hear.”

Matt. 13:10 ¶ And the disciples came up and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?”

Matt. 13:11 And Jesus answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted.

Made us alive together in Christ 

(Was the result of but God)

made us alive together is one word in greek (354x)  G4806 (6x)

it is a compound word made from three words

5188   [4806]   συζωοποιέω, syzōopoieō, v.  [5250 + 2409 + 4472]. to make alive with (someone)

KJV uses quicken to often translate this word from greek

• soo comes from sun = together (with another)
• zoopoieio = compound word from 
  • zoo = alive
  • poieo  make

Word means reanimated with

 but this is a special type of reanimation

We are not reanimated/brought to life as a stand alone unit.

we are reanimated with/in Christ Himself.

Paul uses the phrase with Christ/in Christ over 80 times in his letters

(10 of them are here in this epistle alone)

This reanimation is the first “but God” stage in the believers life

(A dead person cannot reanimate themselves )

6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

“raised us up with” is also one word in greek

συνεγείρω, synegeirō, v.  [5250 + 1586]. to raise up with, to waken with

• soo comes from sun = together (with another)
• egeirō = to raise or awaken 

again the soo not only implies with another, but requires the “other” the “with” who is Christ 

seated us with Him follows the same compound construction

συγκαθίζω, sygkathizō, v.  [5250 + 2767]. to sit down together; to be seated together

• soo comes from sun = together (with another)
• kathizō = to be seated, to be appointed

again the soo not only implies with another, but requires the “other” the “with” who is Christ 

so right after the BUT GOD:

• made alive with Christ
• raised with Christ
• seated/appointed with Christ in the heavenly places

why ? Why does God do this for us ?

7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

God is going to spend/use up all of eternity to unfold before our eyes His surpassing grace and kindness towards us, in Christ

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;

9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

combining the ideas 

• of ages to come to see the grace of God in Christ
• good works prepared for us by God beforehand for us to walk in

one begins to get the idea that this world 

(that we once walked) in is no longer our home

(the world we still eat and breath in seems to become more and more apposed to the very walk of good works prepared for us

Gal 5:17 and Rom 8:7 

tell us the flesh is opposed to God and the Spirit

James 4:4 

friendship with the world is hostility towards God

John 15:19

If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.

John 3:19-20

This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.

But God, 

after making us alive with Christ

after raising us up with Christ

after seating us in heavenly place with Christ

is still not done

Vs 10 says we are His workmanship prepared for good works 

The word is poema

(Work of art)

I think of a painting on canvas

(Needing to be whitewashed before colors can be applied)

I think of a marble carving of David by Michaelangelo

(Who created it by simply removing the stone that did not belong to the final piece

I think of a poem being written to express the desires and passion of the writer so that others may come to know the glory of the writer 

Do you see yourself as a masterpiece of God ?

Is it no ?

Do you think more of this world and less of the kingdom you are meant to live in ?

Do you focus on what you do wrong and less upon what God is doing in you and through you ?

Have you forgotten that this world is not your home ?

The more you live for the kingdom, the good works we were made for (which included formost loving God) the more we keep ourselves on the tracks that He put us into when He saved us in that first “but God” in our lives 

we start out learning about the Father’s love (as spiritual infants)

once we begin to see what we are meant to be;

we begin to compare two goals:

1. what the world wants to conform us into
2. what God is working to transform us into

we have the choice to engage in the conflict between the two, or not.

we can resist, in Christ, or surrender, and never grow to the second stage

that John referred to as the young adults  in 1 John 2

1John 2:12 I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you on account of His name.

13 I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know the Father.

14 I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God remains in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

Do you see the cosmic contrast between:

• what you were in the world
• what God desires for you as His work of art

are you willing to fight for it ?

resist the enemies lies, know the truth