We’re in Ephesians 2:1-10 this morning.

Let’s pray.

Father in heaven, you so generously gave life to us. Lord, we know we did nothing to earn this enormous blessing called life. But we receive it out of your good grace. God, I ask that the truth of your overwhelming love be illuminated in our lives. Continue to pour out your kindness toward us so we can become your masterpieces, put on this earth to glorify you. Move us by your spirit to fulfill the good works you prepared before us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

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. (Ephesians 2:1-10 ESV)

In 1917, Franz Kafka wrote a short story titled, “A Report to an Academy.” The story is about a monkey named Red Peter who gives a report about his former life as an ape to an academic board. Red’s story begins in a West African jungle, in which a hunting expedition captures him. Then, caged on a ship to Europe, he finds himself without the freedom to move as he will. Needing to escape, he studies the habits of the crew, and imitates them with the hopes of being freed.

He quickly learns to spit, smoke a pipe, drink alcohol, and even exact petty revenge with small acts of cruelty. Throughout the story, Red Peter reiterates that he learned human behavior not out of desire to be human, but to provide himself with a means of escape; of freedom.

Arriving in Europe, Red Peter realizes that his imitation of human behavior was good enough to become an actor. In conclusion, he reports to the academy that his transformation is so complete that he can no longer properly describe his emotions and experiences as an ape.

This fictional account mirrors real life in the 21^st century. In fact, it’s actually a sublime reflection of unexamined lives. Three big takeaways from this story that serve as warnings to us to examine our lives:

1. First takeaway is that if you imitate something or someone for long enough, you wouldn’t even know how to begin to describe your life previously.
2. Second takeaway is that human behavior is very much learned. Just look at your kids. Both the good AND the bad your kids embody comes from somewhere, and the best place to start looking is the mirror.
3. Third takeaway is that the standards for humanity in our culture is pitifully abysmal, that a monkey learned how to be human by mimicking pirates and then became an entertainer parroting them.

I think all of us would agree that our lives are journeying somewhere, from point A to point B. And to a certain degree, I think all of us would agree that our journey of life is really a pursuit to be free – to live like we were created to live. I think, this may even be a stretch, we mimic things and people out of some sort of necessity, whether it’s psychological or physical, to learn how to survive or thrive in light of what we believe is freedom. The big question for all of us is: what will you do with your freedom?

Let’s go to Ephesians 2:1.

¹And 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.

Let me summarize these three verses simply:

Point 1. We were once dead in sin (vv1-3)

Our natural human behaviors and actions caused us to be dead. Notice it’s not an impending death. It’s something that already happened. Our sins and trespasses already caused us to die. This death is not physical. Obviously because sinners and trespassers are still physically alive. This death is spiritual. Spiritual death is separation from the life of God and according to this passage there are three root causes of spiritual death:

The first cause of death is “following the course of this world.” The controlling narrative and overarching mode of our humanity are the values of the culture we live in. Remember my story about Red Peter, he mimicked a bunch of pirates and made a living as an entertainer!

Family, what are we mimicking and following as our way of life? Is it the “course of this world”? Because if it is, it causes you to die. And if the world’s ways cause death, it becomes important for us to know what lifestyles, habits, and attitudes are of the world’s culture. The Apostle Paul writes this in 2 Timothy 3.

² For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³ heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, ⁴ treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵ having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power… (2 Timothy 3:2-5 ESV)

He continues to say in 2 Timothy, “Avoid such people…” These are exactly the type of people your parents tell you not to be friends with. But let’s be real, most of the entertainment we consume, the social media posts we swipe through, and news we scroll through are precisely people engaging in or highlighting these activities Paul mentions here. You can’t tell me that you’re not even the in the slightest influenced to mimic some of that. Come on: greed, pride, arrogance, lack of self-control, hypocrisy.

The lifestyles, habits, and attitudes of the world cause death because they are contrary to God’s values.

Second cause of death: “following the prince of the power of the air.” The Apostle Paul is referring to Satan as “the prince of power of the air” and he is “spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.” The “sons of disobedience” are people who stand at odds with God because their allegiance is to Satan. When we follow Satan, because he leads people to be at odds with God, we die spiritually.

Here’s where some of you start scoffing at me because nobody goes out of their way to follow Satan. We may once in a while slip up and follow the culture of the world, but to follow Satan, that’s a definite no-no.

CS Lewis, the author of “The Chronicles of Narnia” wrote a book titled “The Screwtape Letters,” which is about a senior demon, Screwtape, teaching his nephew, Woodworm, also a demon, on how to best do his job to get his assignment to hell. I’m going to read three quotes from this book explaining how people are led to follow Satan. This is Screwtape writing this:

1. Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.
2. A moderated religion is as good for us as no religion at all – and more amusing
3. There are things for humans to do all day long without His minding in the least – sleeping, washing, eating, drinking, making love, playing, praying, working. Everything has to be twisted before it’s any use to us.

You see, the way of Satan isn’t about mass murders and psychopaths; it’s about quietly marching away from God because we haven’t examined our lives. That’s what makes Satan so dangerous, he twists things without us realizing. That’s what happened in the garden of Eden.

Third cause of death is actions motived by the “passions of the flesh.” The Apostle Paul writes about these passions in Galatians 5:

¹⁹ Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, ²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, ²¹ envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19-21 ESV)

The Apostle says acting on the instinctive desires of our flesh causes spiritual death. Here’s the type of thing the Apostle is talking about: porn, sleeping around, hatred, fear-mongering, demonizing people, getting drunk or high. You see, the flesh, twists pleasures God made for good into activities that are opposed to the way God made them.

These three causes of death in Ephesians 2 make us “by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” Most of us hate hearing that because, well, we’re not all that bad, we’re not like everybody else. You see:

• we go to church.
• We donate our old, gently used clothes from last season to the closet.
• We sponsor a Compassion child.
• When we curse somebody out it’s because we were justifiably made angry.
• We don’t lie, except to spare somebody’s feelings.

We’re not perfect, but all things considered, we’re definitely not following satan, the world, or acting on our flesh. So how can we still be spiritually dead?

The theological term for what Paul is describing here is a concept known as “total depravity.” That term basically means that as long as we live without a relationship with God, we live for death.

Now, I want you to notice this about the three verses we just read: it’s all in past tense. Paul writes these things so that we would reflect on them and realize that this is how we once were. That’s good news. Verse 4.

⁴ But God [Circle those words in your Bibles: “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.

Point 2. In faith, Jesus saves us by grace (vv4-9)

We were once dead BUT God intervened. God is merciful to us because he loves us and makes us alive with Christ. We have a new life with Jesus Christ as a free gift from God!

The most beautiful part of a free gift: we did nothing. We did nothing to earn it; we did nothing to deserve it; and for that matter, even what we think we did was actually a gift from God. God gifts us the faith to accept the grace of new life with his son. God did all the work. Salvation isn’t a transaction in which God provides grace and we provide faith (Stott, Ephesians, 83). No. It is all God’s grace. We were already dead remember!!!

The implication of receiving life while dead is tremendous because that means we are never beyond God’s regenerating grace.

In the faith God gave us, God’s grace through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are given new life no matter what. Do you believe that?! Family, this has huge implications for the lives we are currently living. Having a new life with Christ put’s a period on our former lives, meaning those things that once cursed our lives to death before God’s intervention through Jesus comes to an end. Those trespasses against God are no longer attributed to us because they were forgiven by Jesus’ death on the cross.

Some of us here, we need to let that truth sink in because you’re struggling with sins and you believe those sins will always define you, but I’m telling you right now that the moment God gave you new life with Jesus, addiction, porn, infidelity, idolatry, greed, pride that died with your previous life. Don’t let your new life be defined by sins and trespasses from your previous life. Those things may have made you dead BUT God intervenes on death. God butts in because:

• He is the God of mercy. You see that in verse 4
• He is the God of love. Also in verse 4
• He is the God of grace. In verse 5.
• He is the God of kindness. In verse 7.

We were dead BUT God gives us life by grace alone, through faith alone.

God gives us the life we were never able to have because he wants to bestow us with the “immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” Now as we live resurrected lives with Jesus in this world, we have a blank slate to live within the vision of humanity God wants to bless us with. Don’t squander this brand new life with old habits, with old lifestyles, with old values – they only lead to death.

Our humanity with Jesus needs to be different than the humanity we once mimicked and died to. Our humanity with Jesus must be different than the humanity that follows the course of the world, the prince of the power of the air, or the passions of the flesh.

Ask yourselves: is your resurrected life any different than the dead person who has not been saved by God’s grace in faith?

If you answered, “no”, why not? Why are you still living the same way you did that caused death? Why aren’t you living in a way that reflects the life God frees you to have.

• You are not defined by your past.
• You are not defined by your limitations.
• You are made alive with Christ.
• You have victory and are seated with Christ.

Big Idea: God’s grace frees us to find our purpose

Live free as God created you to live, with the purpose you were created for! The reason God’s grace frees us to find purpose is because we are his workmanship. Let’s go to verse 10.

¹⁰ For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

“Workmanship” or poiema in Greek is where the English word “poem” comes from. The word was originally used to refer to any work of art, statues, sculptures, song, paintings, or a poems (Hughes, Ephesians, 82). When we are called God’s workmanship, it means our lives are his art.

Every artisan has a purpose for the masterpiece he or she is creating. In fact, an artisan has a vision for work his or her masterpieces are going to accomplish, it’s the purpose an artist creates them for.

Our new lives with Christ are gifted to us so that God’s glory would be on display through his workmanship. As God’s workmanship, we must live full of purpose everywhere we do life: at home, at work, and the relationships we have with others in between. God has “prepared ahead of time” good works wherever we do life.

You have been brought back from the dead to this resurrected life for that reason. So we live boldly in that purpose now until we all sit at King Jesus’ table as he rules in heaven because that’s how the story ends. Family, that’s when our work as God’s masterpieces is complete: when Jesus reigns and rules.

Point 3. Good works are the fruit of our salvation (v10)

Now that we have been made alive with Christ and are God’s masterpieces, our purpose is to do good works already envisioned for our new lives.

Let me be very clear: Good works are not the root of our salvation. Salvation is the root of our good works. We can only do good works because God gives us a new life to live in them. So, what are the good works of your new life?

• Is it to serve in promiseland, students, or our creative arts team?
  • Don’t hesitate to commit. You have new life as God’s masterpiece. Let your life be filled serving to worship God and pointing the world toward God’s glory.
• Is it to model business that is God-honoring and profit generating?
  • Those two things are not opposed to one another. You can have a hyper-successful business that honor’s God and generate profits. You don’t have to lead business as usual, following the course of the world, you can glorify God by living according to his standards.
• Is it to set the captives free through works of gospel justice?
  • I know we talk a lot about serving in church and church ministries, but that’s not the only place you can serve.
  • In fact, you may be called to serve with one of our social service partners, our crisis pregnancy partners, or our housing partners, or even with our closet to enact gospel justice right here in Montgomery, Fredrick, Howard County or DC.
• Is it to pray and intercede on people who are dead and in need of new life?
  • We have little cards you should have received that has around the Brook and our July prayer focus. Pray through those things every single day.
• Is your good work this summer to BLESS your neighbors, friends, families?
  • On around the brook card you can see which food trucks will be at our dinner on the lawns and which bands will be there. In addition, you received two 4×6 cards with the dinner on the lawn info printed on one side and a blank writeable space on the back.
  • Perhaps your good work is to host a get together with people at our dinner on the lawns. Write a quick note to invite people to your family’s get together on the lawn.
  • We have 5 events this summer, you have two invite cards each, purposefully host people you want to BLESS at two of them

I just mentioned a few things. But really, what we need to do is live out the good work God’s Spirit moves us to in all of our life’s environments and circumstances. Ask yourself: are your actions and intentions glorifying God as his masterpiece when:

• you’re at home with the kids over dinner
• you’re with friends at bar or a restaurant
• you’re at the office, hanging at the water cooler
• you’re at the beach on vacation
• you’re on social media posting things or scrolling through them, or commenting,

Family, we have new life with Christ. It’s time to live the life God prepared for us – free to walk in the good works he prepared for us, as his masterpieces. So, whatever we do, whatever you eat, do it for the glory of God. Our lives are God’s work of art.

If you’re here today, know that the free gift of salvation from God is yours today. You have peace with God. You are adopted into his family by the imputed righteousness of Christ’s life. You are washed clean of the penalties of your sin by his blood poured out as a sin offering for you. It doesn’t matter what your sins are or were. You are raised to new life with Jesus in his resurrection. God’s grace frees you to live with the purpose he designed specifically for you.

If you want to know what’s next, make sure you stop by our prayer station on my left after the service, so you can pray with somebody and get pointed in the right direction.

Let’s pray.

Father, we were dead. But you intervene on our behalf, changing our eternity. You sent your one and only son to live the life we could not live. Jesus died the death we should have died for our sins. And then you raised us up to new life with Jesus. Thank you for that ultimate gift. We did nothing to deserve it. We did nothing to receive it. All we can do is live as your masterpieces, reflecting the glory and honor you deserve. Let the fruit of our salvation be manifested in the good works that you ordained for us. Let our new lives in Christ be the work of art that draws the world to your love. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.