EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

THURSDAY JULY 01, 2021.

SUBJECT : WHO WE WERE BEFORE REDEMPTION!

Memory verse: "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light." (Ephesians 5 vs 8.) 

READ: Ephesians 2 vs 1 - 3 & 12: 

2:1: And You He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 

2:2: in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 

2:3: among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

2:12: That at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of Promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

INTIMATION:

From the passage we read today in the Scripture, we can see the condition from which Jesus saved us. The natural man is spiritually dead. He is subject to the prince of the powers of the air. He is a child of disobedience. He is by nature a child of wrath. He is without God and without hope in the world. He has no covenant claims on God. He was a stranger to the covenant of promise. He was hopeless, Godless, spiritually dead, a child of the devil. That is the condition of the lost man. 

I know we do not like to have that told to us, but if we are not told, then we will never see the need of confession of Christ and Eternal Life. These memories are the best fuel for our gratitude to Christ for all He has done in our behalf.

Now let us look at Ephesians 2 vs 4 - 5 to appreciate God's plan and work: "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 

The natural man, before redemption, was dead in sin, and utterly separated from God, but God came to our rescue. We were dead in our sins, but God.....We were rebels against God, but God......We were enslaved by the devil and our sinful nature, but God.....These may be the two most welcome words in all of Scripture: “But God.” He had the option of leaving us spiritually dead, in rebellion against Him, and in bondage to our sins. But He didn’t. 

It is noteworthy that He didn’t save us because of our good nature, but rather in spite of our hopelessness and unworthiness. We should ever remain thankful for what He has done for us, and should also show humble patience and tolerance for others who seem unworthy or undeserving of our love and compassion. They may be spiritually dull, rebellious, and even antagonistic toward God. So were we; but God loved us anyway. We shouldn’t do less for fellow sinners.

We have been redeemed, and do not need to live any longer under sin’s power. God paid man's penalty on legal grounds and met the demands of justice absolutely. It is not a problem of pity. It is not a problem of a mother's love that overlooks a son's disobedience and rebellion, but it is the Supreme Court of the Universe dealing with our rebellion and our sin, dealing with it so effectually that it can never become an issue again. 

The penalty of sin and its power over us were miraculously destroyed by Christ on the cross. Through faith in Christ we stand acquitted, or no longer guilty, before God (See Romans 3 vs 21 - 22.) God does not take us out of the world or make us robots—we will still feel like sinning, and sometimes we will sin. The difference is that before we became Believers, we were dead in sin and were slaves to our sinful nature. But now we are alive with Christ.

God works on us In redemption; “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2 vs 10). We are now made light in the Lord, therefore, we should walk as children of light.

By faith God recreated us in the recreation of Christ when He was made alive after He had been made sin; in that recreation was our recreation. The apostle Paul gives a clear picture in himself thus: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Galatians 2 vs 20.) All we have to do is accept it.  The moment we accept it, it becomes a reality to us in the mind of the Father.

Prayer: Abba Father, You displayed Your exceedingly great and unparalleled love for me in redemption.Give me the grace, O Lord,  to love You in like manner, in Jesus’ Name I prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!