FROM RAGS TO RICHES 2

A saint is someone who has been made holy by God. When we become children of God, we are called saints and our lives also change. But we know that we were not always like this.   We saw how saints used to be DEAD in their sins (Eph 2:1), DEPRAVED and DISOBEDIENT (Eph 2:2), and DESTINED to go to hell and be punished (Eph 2:3). We were separated from God and with no hope (Eph 2:12). These verses are dark and depressing and we must cry out like Isaiah did, saying “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips (Isa 6:5)”.   ||||THE FOUR ATTRIBUTES OF GOD THAT CHANGE EVERYTHING Then we see those two beautiful words BUT GOD (Eph 2:4). Paul uses four of the many attributes of God to change everything.   1. GOD DIRECTS HIS MERCY TOWARDS SINFUL MANKIND Vs 4 ( But God, being rich in mercy): The word Mercy is a beautiful word. It means ‘Goodwill towards the miserable and the afflicted, joined with the desire to help them.’ The dictionary meaning is ‘Compassion shown towards someone whom it is within one’s power to punish.’ Here we see Adam’s race exposed to the eternal wrath and judgement of God. And God comes to them and shows them His mercy.   2. GOD DEMONSTRATES HIS LOVE TO AND FOR THEM Vs 4 ( because of the great love with which he loved us): If Mercy is beautiful, then the world Love is even more beautiful. It is another attribute of God. The mercy of God comes from the deep deep love of God. Paul in Rom 5:7-8 that God showed His great love by sending His Son to die for us while we were yet sinners. Like the hymn expresses it, “The love of God is greater far / Than tongue or pen can ever tell / . . . To write the love of God above / Would drain the ocean dry; / Nor could the scroll contain the whole, / Though stretched from sky to sky.”  3 GOD DISPLAYS HIS GRACE FOR THESE SINNERS Vs 5-8 ( by grace you have been saved): What is grace? It is God’s unmerited favour or undeserved favour. These words—By grace you have been saved—have thrilled the hearts of millions of people down through the ages. One of the most well known hymns in the world today is ‘Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me . . .’ John Newton penned that hymn, and the truth of that hymn came from the very depths of his heart and experience. What unmerited favour our God has given to us! In 1 Cor 6:9-11, Paul gives us a list of sins that God hates and then in Vs 11, he says, “And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” We deserve to go to hell. And if we end up there, we will know that we deserve it. But He loved us and washed us in Christ Jesus. 4 GOD DELIVERS TO THEM THE GIFT OF FAITH Vs 8 (you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God): If we are to be saved, God must come to us, dead sinners, and give us the faith that we need to be saved. People think that anyone can have faith. Remember, if you have saving faith, it did not come from you, it came from God. It is the gift of God. We cannot take the credit for this faith. We cannot boast about it. It is wholly from God. For those brought up in Christian homes, there is a great danger that we may assume that we are saved when we are not. This is because we have heard the gospel again and again and we may have said as a child that we believe and we may not have believed. We know that many come to faith in childhood and are genuinely saved, but we must not assume that it is so and we need to ensure that we do have a true living faith.   ||||HOW CAN A JUST AND HOLY GOD SIMPLY FORGIVE PEOPLE WITHOUT PUNISHING THEM?  How can God show such blessings upon a sinful rebellious people? If God is a just and holy God, how can He simply forgive people without punishing people? Four times in Ephesians 2, we see the phrase “In Christ Jesus.” It is only in Christ Jesus that we get all these spiritual blessings and forgiveness. In 1 Tim 2:5, we read, “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”  Then in 1 Corinthians 15:20-24, we see that at any given point in time we are either in Adam or in Christ Jesus. If you are in Adam, after this life is over, you are lost eternally. But if you are in Christ Jesus you will live with Him eternally. When we become His, we are brought from death to life. When believers are baptised they are saying that they have died in Christ and that they have been raised with Him in newness of life. Through the faith that God has given them, they have been enabled to flee to Jesus. They are now no longer in Adam as children of the devil. Now they are in Christ and children of God. They are joint heirs with Jesus. Are you in Adam? Or are you in Christ?