The Mystery RevealedSample

Day 13: Alzavian + Olivia Jones, Bravehearts

Ephesians 2

Read Ephesians 2 out loud and remember where you were before God came into your life.

Our thoughts about the book of Ephesians are that it is about GRACE and, more importantly, His GREAT MERCY for us. Without MERCY, we could not receive His beautiful GRACE to be transformed into His kind of race!

Paul starts by saying that Jesus made us alive. At one point, we were dead in our trespasses and our sins; that being so, we walked in the course of this world. We were fashioned and stuck and under the sway of the “prince of the power of the air”. We conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh and fulfilling the desires of what it wanted.

Take a moment and think about where you once were. Paul starts by saying, "In which you once walked following the course of this world" (vs.2). This would be attitudes, tendencies, atmospheres, and would be anti-God. It is the transgressions and the act of violating the law of God. Sin is what happens when we break or violate God's law. Note that when Paul references The “prince of the power of the air" at the end of verse 2, he is making us aware that the spirit of the world moves people whom God has not redeemed yet. In doing so, they conduct themselves in ways that are fulfilling the desires of the flesh and mind, which then puts them under the wrath of God.

We were, by nature, children of wrath. We love how Paul states in his letter, "BUT GOD!", who is rich in MERCY. God is rich in mercy because of His love for us. He loves us so much that He desires our record to be so clean so that we can continue our journey of growing up in His likeness. He goes on to say that even when we were dead, He made us alive together with Christ! "By grace, you have been saved" (vs. 5). We need His mercy to grow in Christ to receive more of His present grace. So, what does it mean that God is rich in mercy? He is rich in mercy because He is rich in love - when one loves, He covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8).

As we read the second half of chapter two, we are invited into a deep knowing of the humanity of Jesus and the work of the cross – chapter 2 verse 6 says, "...and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross.” Jesus died a gruesome death with nails in His hands to bring us near to the Father. His Father and our Father are the same, which is HOLY. The same Father that loves Jesus, loves us the same. Perhaps for many of us, we've spent parts of our lives living in what feels like separation from Him. The good news is that He was there all along and as we are in Jesus and near to Him, we are able to live in perfect peace according to the reconciliation of the cross. We have full access to our Father.

Prayer: Father, thank You for Your great mercy that has washed, canceled, and destroyed my sin and my disobedience. Thank you for Your grace that has saved me from my old ways, my old man. Thank You that You are no longer keeping a record of my wrongdoings, but instead, You are continually transforming me into your likeness from grace to grace. Thank you, Father, for your desire to be near to me. Thank you for your desire to have oneness with me. I ask that You would open my heart daily to the remembrance of the point of everything - to be near to You. Thank you, Lord, for bringing me near. Continue to refine me so that I may be a dwelling place for You.