Grateful: Giving Thanks to God in All ThingsSample

Alive with Christ

By Christina Zimmerman

Paul’s letter to the Ephesians provides readers with a bird’s-eye view of God’s grace at work in humanity. It shows that through Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection, we have been redeemed of past, present, and future sins. Also, Paul made clear what we were before we came to Christ, what we have in the present, and what we will have in the future.

In Ephesians 2, Paul described the way we walked in the world before Jesus came into our hearts. In verse 1, he said we were dead in trespasses and sins. Before you became a Christian, you may have experienced many difficult circumstances—financial, physical, or relational. But the greatest adversity in your life at that time was that you were dead. Your body may have been alive, but you were spiritually dead.

Not only were we spiritually dead, but we were walking and living in sin. Without Christ, we were living in the realm of Satan, “the ruler of the power of the air,” who influenced us to walk contrary to the ways of God. We lived according to our own sinful desires (v. 3).

Verses 1-3 present a description of our dark and hopeless past. “But God” (v. 4) intervened in our hopeless and sinful condition. Paul shared that God, who is “rich in mercy,” made us alive. He did this “because of His great love . . . for us” (v. 4).

That’s the miracle of salvation. The same power that raised Christ from the dead has made us spiritually alive. Because we have been granted a new spiritual life, we can have a relationship with God.

In verse 6, Paul stated that we have been raised together with Christ; that is, we have been united with Christ in His resurrected life. Paul wanted believers to know that our citizenship is in heaven (Phil. 3:20).

In verses 8-10, Paul focused on three themes: grace, salvation, and faith. The word grace was used here to describe the utter generosity God showed to sinners even though we didn’t (and still don’t) deserve it. Paul used the word saved to indicate the salvation that was accomplished in the past continues to impact our lives in the present. In other words, salvation is a permanent condition. And, as Paul emphasized in verses 8-9, salvation is not something given because of good works. It is not an accomplishment; it is a gift. The word faith refers to a total openness to receiving God and the benefits of salvation into our lives. Our faith does not save us. God’s grace saves us.

Finally, God has a purpose for saving us. We are His workmanship (v. 10). We are a work of art that God is in the process of designing. Day by day, He is changing us into the image of His dear Son. God’s transforming grace will increasingly result in our doing works that are pleasing to Him.

All the glory for our salvation goes to God. We were born spiritually dead into a sinful world, destined to spend eternity separated from the God who loves us. But God, who is rich in grace, sent His Son to be punished in our place. This truth should move us to live lives of gratefulness, extending thanks to God not just with our words but by the way we live. It is the right response for all God has done.

Read Ephesians 2:1-10, and thank the Lord for His gift of salvation.