Author: Jim_Sharp

Ephesians 2:4-5 (Final post)

Today we finish Ephesians 2:4-5 with the final part of verse 5 – “IT IS BY GRACE YOU HAVE BEEN SAVED.” We can’t see it. We can’t touch it. We can’t comprehend the magnitude of God’s grace! Here’s a video produced by Elevation Church that may help. I posted the words below, along with a final video I hope you will watch and use in your prayer time on this verse:

This thing that is
but we often cannot see.
Too close for us to see the magnitude,
the glory of this structure.
We often see the detail
But not the stretching, sweeping scale of the thing.
It wraps us up.
Holds us.
So we consider it gentle. Warm. Kind.
We do not see, though, the violent nature.
The wrath and hate for the converse: our sin.
We do not see the scale.
We touch what is visible through our tunnel eyes and say “grace.”
But we see only a fragment of the grand, scandalous tapestry
That God has woven together over time.
The fabric of the world itself.
The very reason the stars are strung together.
When we choose to put one foot in front of the next, it’s grace.
This gracious glory buried within us,
Beating on our ribs to speak of his wonder.
With this touch, life is given.
The giver’s love is this cloak.
This sea of blue green forgetfulness. This face of majesty.
The crackling, roaring thunder.
Grace, his sound.
Glory, his bright display.
Breaks and creates. And finds us. And we’re found.
The split curtain. The opened back.
The mingling blood and water.
The flood that destroys the world we’ve built.
All the earth submitting to his power.
The Cross.
Grace wrapped in triumphant glory.
He is the eyes-shut embrace. The driving rain.
The wind blows, but only at his word.
And this same fury, this sin-thrashing storm,
Is the tempest that bows to wash our feet.
And this same fury, this sin-thrashing storm,
Is the tempest that bows to wash our feet.

And I leave you with this:

 

Weekend Post – The Truth

John 14:6 – “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

If you were at church today and heard Pastor Kirk’s message, you saw reference to this verse, which was one of our verses we studied a few weeks back. I hope when you heard and read the verse today in the notes, you said, “Wow! I know this verse.”

I also hope you realized both the truth and the hope in Pastor Kirk’s message today that despite the world’s view that ‘it doesn’t matter what I believe,’ we not only know the truth, but we find our hope in the truth of Jesus and his response to Thomas, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” As Pastor Kirk pointed out, Christianity isn’t an exclusive faith. Jesus, knowing that the world would provide many false truths and false hopes, provides everyone the open door and clear path to finding the way, the truth, and the life everlasting.

Tying back to our current verse, Ephesians 2:4-5 “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved,” when we were saved, when we confessed our sins and believed in our heart that He was raised from the dead, we were made alive with Christ! His grace saved us. His grace continues to save us! His grace is not a free pass to continue to sin. It is His amazing gift to overcome our brokenness and to die to our selfish nature. I leave you a song by All Sons and Daughters that speaks to His grace for you and me:

 

 

 

Ephesians 2:4-5

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”

Transgression – an act that goes against a law, rule, or code of conduct; an offense. Transgression is one of those “church words” we’ve heard all of our lives, but do we really understand? We know in our gut that transgression must be bad, but have we given much thought to the meaning? I looked up the etymology (history) of transgression. The word originates from Late Latin transgressionem (nominative transgressio) “a transgression of the law,” in classical Latin, “a going over, a going across,” the law. In other words, when we sin, we “go over” or “step over” the moral boundary God has established for us. Paul says, “we were dead in transgressions”. What does that mean to you? How is our life dead when we live in sin?

 

Ephesians 2:4-5 “Alive with Christ”

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”

It was apparent last night at Fuel that most of you are reading the text each day, which is awesome! However, it was also apparent that the verses are not sinking in with many of you, as no one could tell me the scripture reference for our current verse. So, this is what I call an OTI (Opportunity to Improve). Please read the following and let’s start a dialogue on how we make this better for all of us:

  1. Timing of the text – Is there a better time of the day/night to send the text? Some of you said you don’t have time to read in the morning and then forget about it later in the day.
  2. Repeating the verse – Would it help to repeat the whole verse each day, or every other day?
  3. Reading the posts – I also realize most of you are not reading the posts. The reason for these posts is that I can a) repeat the verse here each day, b) pose some thoughts and questions that may help all of us connect better with the meaning of the verse and thus be able to memorize it.

Please reply and comment, so we can all make this a more meaningful experience!

Ephesians 2:4-5

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,  made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”

“MADE US ALIVE WITH CHRIST” We know that we were dead in our sin, and that by His grace we are saved and have eternal life. But I want you to think beyond just the salvation aspect of being alive in Christ. Once we become one with Jesus and begin the transformational process of dying to ourself, HE fills us with His Spirit. The more we die to our own ways and the pattern of the world, Christ fills our heart with His joy. Have you noticed this? Our joy is made complete through Him and though we still have struggles and people that upset us or do us wrong, we still have His joy in our heart.

What does being “alive with Christ” mean for you? Reflect on this today… I hope to see you tonight at Fuel! Jim

Ephesians 2:4-5

“God, who is rich in mercy”

Rich synonyms include; plentiful, abundant, lavish, generous, bountiful.

Mercy – compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one’s power to punish or harm.

When I put the synonyms for rich and the definition of mercy together, what jumps out to me is “abundant compassion”, “lavish forgiveness”! We have a Father in heaven who cares deeply about us. I hope you will allow this to permeate your heart today.

Ephesians 2:4-5 “Alive in Christ”

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”

Okay, you are going to find that I have a personal fondness for the Book of Ephesians. As we leave our study of 2 Corinthians 5:17 where we learned we are a New Creation, now we turn to a verse in Ephesians that reinforces the fact that being a new creation isn’t a singular event. Jesus is alive in us! As we live in Him, He lives in us. He is ACTIVE in our daily lives! I love the opening of Ephesians 2 and have shared it with you below to give you the full context of our study this week:

“1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Today we begin our focus on the opening words of Ephesians 2:4 – “BUT BECAUSE OF HIS GREAT LOVE FOR US”. Let’s pray on these words today. How great is His love for you?

2 Corinthians 5:17 (Final Post)

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, they are a  new creation: The old has gone, the new is here!”

We finalize 2 Corinthians 5:17 with the final statement – “THE OLD HAS GONE, THE NEW IS HERE!” Now you may not have noticed, but the end of this statement has an exclamation point. In spite of my personal excitement, I didn’t add that exclamation point, it was already there. Paul had the same excitement when he penned them and we should too!

The common problem I see with many Christians is that they have a hard time letting go of the old. I hope you will reflect on these words today.

Have a great weekend! Jim

2 Corinthians 5:17

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”

I hope this next part of the verse gets you fired up! “THE NEW CREATION HAS COME”. You are a New Creation in Christ Jesus! Are you connecting the pieces together yet through the verses we’ve studied thus far? In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Then the Word became flesh, and He made His dwelling among us. John said they saw His Glory, the glory of the one and only Son, sent by the Father, and full of grace and truth. Because He is the way, and truth and life, we no longer lean on our own understanding but allow the Good Shepherd to guide our path. And because we have experienced Christ, and the fullness of His Love, we are in Him, we are a New Creation!

Have you experienced the love of Christ and know you have been transformed and are a New Creation? Pray over this today! Walk in the knowledge that you are a New Creation! If you haven’t felt that depth of Christ’s love yet, that’s okay. I didn’t find the love of Jesus until I was in my 30’s. BUT, if that is you, talk with Pastor Joe or me or one of the youth leaders. You don’t have to wait until your 30’s to experience the love of Christ and believe me, you don’t want to wait.

2 Corinthians 5:17

“THEREFORE IF ANYONE IS IN CHRIST”

Are you ONE ?  Remember John 15:5? Jesus said, “I AM THE VINE; YOU ARE THE BRANCHES. IF YOU REMAIN IN ME AND I REMAIN IN YOU, YOU WILL BEAR MUCH FRUIT. APART FROM ME YOU CAN DO NOTHING.” As we learned in Proverbs 3:5, we TRUST IN THE LORD and lean not on our understanding. And the reason we trust in the Lord? The reason is because we ARE IN CHRIST,

My hope is that God speaks to each of us about being in Christ. That being in Christ makes us a NEW CREATION. Today, please reflect on being in Christ.