“The Greatest Gift, pt.1 (Ephesians 2:1-10)" | 12/24/23
Ephesians 2:1-10| 12/24/23 | Will DuVal
What’s the best Christmas gift YOU’VE ever been given? I’ve been blessed to receive MANY great gifts throughout the years, but I have to say that THIS year’s gift of this TRIP we just got back from - the CRUISE that my mom GIFTED us with - it was up there for me! Delicious, all-you-can-eat food, 3 meals a day…
There was basically an AMUSEMENT park on the ship - with water slides, boogie-boarding, putt-putt, a big rock wall…
But my favorite part were the SHORE excursions - we got to snorkel with sea turtles in Costa Maya, play with monkeys in Roatan, and enjoy a relaxing day at the beach in Cozumel. It was AMAZING.
And as I think about what made the cruise such a great GIFT, why I’m so GRATEFUL we got to enjoy it together as a family, 4 reasons come to mind:
First, the trip was a much NEEDED break. Now, I know “need” is a relative term - that there are folks out there who don’t know where their next MEAL is coming from, and a cruise is of course a LUXURY. But I don’t know about you: I start to get really TIRED this time of year; I get the “winter blues”, a little Seasonal Affectiveness, SAD-ness. So it was such a GAME-changer for me this year to actually have something to look FORWARD to, heading into the winter. Beyond that, lately I feel like I’ve been blinking and YEARS of my kids’ lives have been flying by - like when did my baby girl become an (almost) EIGHT-year old?! So I just needed that extended TIME with them, MEMORIES with them.
Second, and I can fully appreciate this now: a cruise is really quite an EXTRAORDINARY gift - over the top, in every way. It’s COSTLY, VERY costly. It requires a TON of planning and coordination; I thought “Oh, they’ll take care of all the details for us”; FALSE! - my mom spent MONTHS planning this thing out. But the reason people still GOon them, despite the exceptional cost and effort, is for the exceptionalFUN - we had a BLAST! ExtraordinaryJOY.
-
But third: all that time, effort, money, and fun - it doesn’t just grow on trees; someone had to foot the BILL, NAMELY, my MOM. If we had just won some random cruise sweepstakes, and gotten to vacation on Royal Caribbean’s dime, I still would’ve enjoyed the trip. But the fact that my mother LOVED us so much that she sacrificed to make this trip possible - to enjoy it with HER - that made it EXTRA special.
And finally, 1) my NEED of the gift, 2) the extravagant NATURE of the gift, 3) my mother’s GENEROSITY, in GIVING us the gift, and fourthly, I trust that the joy of the cruise didn’t end when we walked off the SHIP - we will be talking about, laughing, looking back at pictures, sharing memories of that trip for YEARS to come. It’s the kind of gift that keeps on giving.
Well, last week while I was sailing, I trust your HEARTS were sailing as you finished the book of HEBREWS together, this glorious book we spent all fall unpacking together. So as I considered a two-part Christmas Eve message for this morning and evening, I thought, “Well, we’ve had this recurring theme now, all fall: “Jesus the Greater Word,” “Jesus the Greater Savior,” “Jesus the Greater Sacrifice”... what if we just tacked on a Christmas-themed sermon at the end to cap it off: “Jesus the Greater GIFT”?!” So I started thinking and researching, and of all the wonderful passages of Scripture I could preach from, this message that Jesus is God’s greatest GIFT to us, there were two texts that stood out in particular. So you get one this morning, Ephesians 2, and the other - Romans 6:23 - this evening.
And I gave away the outline already: as we read Ephesians 2 in just a moment, we’re gonna see FOUR THINGS that make God’s gift of His Son JESUS that we celebrate here at Christmas, and in particular the SALVATION that we now have IN Christ, so amazing:
1) Our NEED of the gift.
2) The GLORIOUSNESS of the gift itself.
3) The GIVER of the gift, the One BEHIND it, who makes it POSSIBLE.
And finally, 4) All of the ADDITIONAL benefits that accompany this gift of salvation. It’s like those infomercials: “But WAIT, there’s MORE!” Except THIS gift is WORTH the “4 easy payments of $19.99” - it’s worth your whole LIFE!
And while I could preach ALL DAY LONG on this passage we’re about to read - it is GLORIOUS! - I do want to leave you hopefully wanting MORE, so you’ll come back TONIGHT for part 2; and I ALSO don’t want to cut into too much of your family time here on Christmas Eve; and I ALSO realize we’ve got the KIDS in with us this morning: KIDS! WELCOME! We’re so glad you’re here! You are welcome with us EVERY Sunday, by the way kids. Ask your parents to start attending their OWN Adult Sunday school class while you’re down in kids min so y’all can attend “big church” together as a family at the other hour.
But KIDS: since it’s CHRISTMAS, and I’m in the gift-giving spirit, I know Ms. Ally has some coloring sheets and activities for you, but here’s the deal - after the service, if you come find me in the foyer and you can answer just ONE EASY QUESTION about the sermon; if you pay attention even a LITTLE this morning - shorter sermon - if you can answer it, I’ve got a little Christmas GIFT for ya. Okay? Alright…
Would you STAND… Ephesians ch2, vv1-10; the word of the Lord:
“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, 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 coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not 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, that we should walk in them.”
[This is the word of God… SEATED…]
This is one of the most POWERFUL passages in all of Scripture. And it reveals 4 massively important truths about God’s gift of His Son Jesus:
#1 - It shows us Our NEED of the gift. (1-3)
Friends: You and I desperately NEED the gift of Jesus Christ, and the gift of SALVATION that he came to OFFER us; 1 Timothy 1 says “Jesus Christ came into the world to SAVE SINNERS” (v15).
THAT is what Christmas is all about! Not the PRESENTS, not the LIGHTS, not Santa… even more than the MANGER with its shepherds and wise men and angels - more than ANY of it, what we celebrate here at CHRISTMAS is Christ’s coming to earth, God made flesh, to “seek and to SAVE THE LOST”! (Lk 19:10)
And that’s precisely WHY we needed Him - cuz we were LOST! Matthew 4 says “the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light” (v16).
And the picture painted for us here in Ephesians 2 is even bleaker than THAT, even more dire than a bunch of lost people stumbling around in the pitch BLACK; No - right out of the gate, he says “you were DEAD”!
I was trying to think of a compelling illustration of this, of urgently needed RESCUE… before we LEFT on our cruise, a friend told me about a news story he’d recently heard about a guy who actually fell OFF a cruise ship and had to tread water in the middle of the ocean for nearly 24 hours before he was finally discovered by the Coast Guard. But alas, even THAT example isn’t DRASTIC enough, because OUR situation, spiritually speaking, was far more CRITICAL: we were DEAD when Christ found us! He had to pull completely LIFELESS bodies out of the water!
Why? V1 explains: “you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked”. Ephesians 2 lists THREE reasons why we needed God’s gift of salvation so bad, and the FIRST is: we were DEAD IN SIN.
This is what sin DOES - it KILLS. Our verse for tonight’s message, Romans 6:23, will explain that the “WAGES of sin” - what is OWED to those who sin - “is DEATH”.
In Genesis 2, God warned Adam that if he disobeyed God - and SINNED - that “in the day that you eat of [the fruit] you shall surely DIE.”
1 Corinthians 15: “The STING of death IS sin.”
So sin always RESULTS in death.
But not only were we spiritually DEAD, because of our SINFULNESS, but secondly, God says, “you were ENSLAVED BY”... THREE things, actually: the WORLD, the FLESH, and the DEVIL. Those are the Christian’s 3 greatest enemies. And before JESUS, those 3 enemies had complete MASTERY over our lives.
First of all, we were enslaved by THE WORLD - “following the course of this world”. We live in a confused and chaotic world, don’t we? When calling a girl a girl, and a boy a boy can get you FIRED from many of our *“top”* universities, but it’s okay (in SOME contexts, anyway) to call for the genocide of the Jews - THIS is the kind of world that we’re living in. But the Bible reminds us here: “But for the grace of GOD, YOU would be just as LOST, just as BLIND to the truth, just as UPSIDE DOWN in your thinking and in your LIVING - the “COURSE that you follow”.
Second, we were formerly enslaved by the DEVIL - “following the prince of the power of the air”. Jesus called Satan the “ruler of this world” (Jn 12:31). 2 Corinthians 4 goes so far as to call him the “GOD (lower case “g” - “god”) of this world”. And we all know the story - when Adam and Eve DID make that fateful choice, to eat the fruit, they not only invited DEATH into the world; they invited SATAN in as well. God had given humanity DOMINION over the earth in Genesis 1 - the “keys to the kingdom”, so to speak - and just about the first thing we DID with them in Genesis 3 was to hand those keys over to SATAN. Now, we know he only rules this world as a “vassal”, under the infinitely higher authority of THE LORD - Satan had to get God’s permission, for instance, to afflict Job. But Satan does now possess a degree of authority here on earth, nevertheless. Authority to DECEIVE and DESTROY - that same passage that called Satan the “god of this world” says he “has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ”. Not only were we once LOST in the DARK; we were BLINDED and unable to even SEE the LIGHT switch.
And third, we were enslaved by the WORLD, the DEVIL, and THE FLESH - “we lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind”. The tragic reality of our former situation was that sin ran so DEEP down within our spiritual DNA, we didn’t even NEED those EXTERNAL enemies - the world’s temptations, the devil’s lies - because there was enough SIN already living INSIDE of us to keep us enslaved and DAMNED without ANY outside intervention!
And BECAUSE of it, we were not only dead in our sins, and enslaved by our enemies - the world, the flesh and the devil - but we were therefore, MOST grievously, ESTRANGED from GOD.
V3 reminds us of our former identity: we “were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind”.
WHO’S wrath? Cuz you could interpret that phrase - “children of wrath” - in 2 different ways, couldn’t you? It COULD mean “children FULL OF wrath”, where the wrath is coming from the children. Or it COULD mean “children UNDER wrath”, where the wrath is directed AT the children. And I think Paul is intentionally vague with his wording here because we know that BIBLICALLY speaking, BOTH are true!
Elsewhere, in Romans 1, Paul gives us one of his lengthiest descriptions of what it’s like to BE dead in sin, enslaved by the enemy, to be “filled with all manner of unrighteousness”. He calls such people “HATERS of God” (Rom 1:30).
People who are estranged from God don’t THINK about themselves that way, do they? Every once in a while, you might find someone really ANGRY at God, but MOST folks are just apathetic; they certainly wouldn’t say they HATE God - perhaps they’re even grateful that he bothered to create all this, create THEM, even if they can’t really see how RELEVANT God is these days.
But the Bible is clear: there is no neutrality when it comes to God. And every time a sinner SINS, they PROVE which side they’re really on. They prove, by their ACTIONS, that they are in fact a “HATER of God”, and his righteous Law.
But Romans 1 doesn’t STOP there. It also tells us that, “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men” (1:18). Not only are sinners “haters of GOD”, but God HIMSELF is a “hater of SIN”.
Therefore, when we’re dead in our sin, we are BOTH children FULL OF wrath, and we’re ALSO children who are rightfully UNDER the wrath of a holy God.
We were ESTRANGED from God. A few verses later, in v12, Paul reminds us that “you were at that time separated from Christ… having no hope and without God”; later in ch4, he describes those who are STILL dead in their sins as being “alienated from the life of God” (4:18).
Friends: Unforgiven sin SEPARATES us from relationship with a HOLY God. THAT is why we needed God’s GIFT of salvation!
And praise God: he has GIVEN it. We have, #2 - God’s PROVISION of the gift… of his Son. And vv4-7 now reveal the Who, What, Where, When, Why & HOW of this amazing gift.
First: WHO? Who’s the GIVER? V4: “But GOD”. vv1-3 were all about US: “YOU were dead… YOU walked in sin… YOU followed the world, the flesh, and the devil… YOU were children of wrath…”
But now the subject CHANGES in v4 with the two greatest words anywhere in the BIBLE: “BUT GOD”.
You were a sinner… BUT GOD.
You were a “HATER of God”... BUT GOD.
Aren’t you grateful we worship a “BUT GOD”. Not an “AND God”. Not a “SO God”. You REBELLED against God… THUS God… THEREFORE God gave you exactly what you DESERVED. No, friends. The Bible says, “While we were YET sinners, Christ died for us.”
We were actively REBELLING against God, BUT GOD so LOVED the world, in SPITE of our world-LINESS, that He gave his only Son, for US.
And WHY did he do it? God “being rich in MERCY, because of the great LOVE with which he loved us”. He didn’t do it because of who WE were - not because there was anything lovable ABOUT us; No - God DID it because of who HE is - because He’s RICH in mercy, ABOUNDING in steadfast love. Micah 7:18 says God DELIGHTS to show us mercy, to show off just how compassionate and faithful He is.
And BECAUSE he’s “a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness”, what exactly HAS he given us? What IS this gift he’s provided?
V5: that “even when we were dead in our trespasses, [God] made us alive together with Christ”. He’s given us LIFE! The same God who gave us PHYSICAL life, when he knit us together fearfully and wonderfully inside our mother’s womb, now gives us SPIRITUAL life as well - Jesus said, “Unless you are BORN AGAIN, you cannot see the Kingdom of God”. And that is the amazing gift that God now offers us in Christ: spiritual REBIRTH. LIFE. We who were once were DEAD have been made ALIVE together with Christ - the same Spirit that brought JESUS back from the dead physically, now awakens US to new life spiritually as well.
And HOW does he do it? What’s the catalyst for God’s generosity? Is he like SANTA? Does God keep a “Nice” list and a “Naughty” list, and only the NICE little boys and girls get the gifts?
No! According to the Bible, we were ALL on the “Naughty” list! “ALL we like sheep had gone astray”... we’ve “ALL sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”... we were ALL DEAD in our sins.
So our “goodness”, our “NICE-ness” couldn’t be the catalyst. No, he REVEALS the impetus for God’s generosity there in v5: “by grace you have been saved”.
And what IS grace? Grace is a FREE, and undeserved GIFT.
If you BOUGHT it, it’s not a gift; it’s a purchase.
If you EARNED it, it’s not a gift; it’s a payment.
But grace is a free and undeserved GIFT. It is GOD’S gift - of SALVATION - from sin and death.
How about the WHERE? Cuz we know where we were SUPPOSED to be: “the wages of sin is DEATH” - eternal SEPARATION from God.
“BUT GOD… has raised us up with [Christ] and seated us with him in the heavenly places” instead! We DESERVE Hell and Death; but by GRACE we RECEIVE eternal LIFE in HEAVEN!
For how LONG? WHEN will it END? NEVER! V7 says God saved us “so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” His grace and kindness toward us are IMMEASURABLE - they’re INFINITE. That means God could spend the rest of ETERNITY - coming AGE after AGE after AGE - showing off the MERCY and the COMPASSION he has given us in Christ, and NEVER exhaust his supply; we’ll never reach the bottom of his grace.
Friends: this is God’s gift to you, the most EXTRAORDINARY gift you could ever be GIVEN: the FREE gift of ETERNAL life in the HEAVENLY places with a richly MERCIFUL, greatly LOVING God for the rest of ETERNITY!
And how do we GET it? Life, heaven, forgiveness, salvation, mercy, love - how do we get ALL of it?
Only through JESUS! HE is God’s great gift to us! We are “made alive WITH Christ… raised up to heaven IN Christ… shown God’s immeasurable grace and kindness IN CHRIST”. Friends: God has provided everything we need and MORE in the gift of his Son, JESUS. THIS is what we celebrate - WHO we celebrate - at Christmas.
But not only do we celebrate the GIFT - JESUS; we celebrate the GIVER as well - God the FATHER. Who as we heard and SANG earlier, so LOVED the world, that he GAVE his only Son.
And if vv4-7 emphasized the GIFT, God’s PROVISION for us, in Christ, then vv8 & 9 emphasize the GIVER; #3 - that is was GOD’S provision.
God’s agency is emphasized, FIVE TIMES in these 2 verses; these 2 INDELIBLE verses. After John 3:16, Ephesians 2:8 & 9 may be the most well-known and well-LOVED verses in the entire BIBLE, and for good reason! But when we read them in context here, we see that what they’re emphasizing for us is GOD’S AGENCY in our salvation:
1) “For by grace you have been saved”
2) “this is not your own doing”
3) “it is the gift of God”
4) “not a result of works”
5) “so that no one may boast.”
WHO does the saving? GOD!
HOW does he do it? By GRACE… as a GIFT!
Who DOESN’T do the saving? US!
How DOESN’T it happen? By our WORKS!
Why NOT? Because then WE’D get the CREDIT - WE’D have reason to BOAST! Cuz we were morally SUPERIOR to the folks who didn’t make the cut.
But that’s how most people think the Afterlife works - they think it’s like Santa’s list. And when they die, and they’re standing in the back of the line, waiting to appear before God’s judgment throne and give an account for their life, and they see person after person being cast OUT of God’s presence - they’ll be thinking to themselves, “I guess I’m a better person than HIM… I’m better than HER…”, feeling more and more self-assured, more and more self-RIGHTEOUS, with each new condemnation. They’re like the PHARISEE, in Jesus’ parable of “The Pharisee and the Tax Collector”. The person who thinks they can earn a spot in heaven by their “own doing”, their “good works”, is like that Pharisee. They’ll be PRAYING from the back of the line: “God, I thank you that I did not live like these other people, SINNERS!” “I thank you that I was a “good person”.”
But how does the parable END? Why did Jesus say the TAX collector went home “JUSTIFIED”, FORGIVEN of his sins? What did HE pray? What will those who truly GET it - who understand GRACE - be praying from the back of the Judgment waiting line?
“God, have MERCY on me, a SINNER!”
“Jesus, I NEED you! Cuz there’s no WAY I’m making the cut on my OWN merit!” And instead of feeling more and more self-righteous, those who HAVE truly been saved will feel more and more HUMBLED and HELPLESS, more DEPENDENT, on JESUS and his GIFT of grace.
That’s why this TRUTH - salvation by grace - is so FREEING; be honest with yourself this morning about all the things you CAN’T manage: Polly and I have just come to accept, heading into a week-long vacation, with kids - there is a 100% chance that we WILL forget to pack SOMETHING. The question isn’t “IF”, but “WHAT”? And another guarantee that we left SOMETHING on the ship - we’re still unpacking our luggage, just waiting for it, “What’d we leave THIS time?”
Now do you REALLY want to leave your ETERNAL SECURITY in your own hands?!
Friends: the good news of the gospel is: you don’t HAVE to! Because it is by God’s GRACE ALONE that you are saved.
But please don’t miss those two little, all-important words that come next: “THROUGH FAITH”! And if GRACE is God giving us the extraordinary GIFT of salvation - eternal life - in his Son, Jesus, then FAITH is saying “YES!” to that gift; it’s OPENING God’s gift.
Kids: imagine you wake up tomorrow morning, and you RUSH into the living room, to find just ONE big present under the tree. You’re thinking, “Woah, this has gotta be GOOD!” Right?
Your parents come in, “Alright, ready to OPEN it??”
But you’re too busy admiring the gift - the wrapping paper, the size, the weight, checking it out from different angles.
“Don’t you want to UNWRAP it, Sweetie?”
But you just keep observing it, inspecting it.
Eventually you get BORED and go play with your other toys.
Kids: how SILLY would that be?! And yet that’s what so MANY people do with God’s gift of JESUS. Perhaps some of YOU. You come to church every week, you do family devotionals every DAY, and you hear all about JESUS. You know all about him; you’ve inspected him from every angle. But you’ve never actually UNWRAPPED the gift for yourself. You’ve never actually said, “YES!” to Jesus, through FAITH. By admitting your NEED of the gift - “God, I know I’m a sinner and I don’t deserve to have a relationship with you” - but then recognizing God’s PROVISION of salvation, in Jesus - “But God, I believe you sent your Son JESUS to live the life of perfect obedience that I should have but failed to in my place, and then die the death that I deserve in my place on the cross, to pay the punishment for all my sins, but then be RAISED from the dead in order to raise ME to new life WITH him. And NOW, God, I want to OPEN that gift, I am RECEIVING the gift of Jesus, and eternal life, through FAITH. By simply trusting in Him. “Jesus: I believe you ARE who you say you are - you are LORD - I believe you DID what you say you did - you are SAVIOR - and now I’m asking you to be MY Lord and Savior. To come into MY life, forgive my sins, and lead me; I want to follow you the rest of my days.”
Kids… ADULTS… if you will confess that with your mouth, and believe it in your heart, God says YOU WILL BE SAVED. “To all who receive [Jesus], who believe in his name - by FAITH - he gives the right to become children of God” (Jn 1:12). You can have the greatest gift of ALL this Christmas. But you have to OPEN it. Will you receive JESUS, by FAITH?
Lastly, #4- It is The gift that keeps on GIVING. (10)
Because when we get JESUS, not ONLY do we get forgiveness of sins, salvation, restored relationship with God, eternal life, HEAVEN. But according to verse 10 here, we receive an additional blessing in THIS life as well, in the here and now.
V10 says, “we are [God’s] workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
In other words, you and I were CREATED for God’s glory, for “good works” of obedience to him. But just a few weeks ago in Hebrews we learned that “without faith, it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God” (11:6). Only those who HAVE by faith RECEIVED God’s gift of salvation in Christ, then, can actually “please God” by carrying OUT these “good works” for which we were created in the FIRST place.
In other words, when we RECEIVE new life in Christ, we ALSO receive our PURPOSE - the reason for which God created us - we receive Christ’s righteousness - we now have the ability, by faith, to actually carry OUT those good works, and BRING God glory, to PLEASE him, by living lives of obedience, because we now have Christ’s power at work in us - and we receive our COMMISSION. Right before he went to his death, Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do…. greater works than [I’ve done], because I am going to the Father” (Jn 14:12). The ONLY “work” that you and I can now do that Jesus was never ABLE to, while he was on earth, is to proclaim the full and full-FILLED gospel - Christ’s life, death AND resurrection.
And friends, that’s exactly what he has CALLED us to do. To go and preach this gospel to the whole WORLD.
What a responsibility. But what a JOY, what a GIFT. That you and I now get to play a part in God’s great plan of salvation to others.
Who knows: that might include YOUR family, YOUR friends this Christmas. Let’s GO, and tell them the good news.