alive. grace. saved.
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—” Ephesians 2:4-5
Alive. It’s something we don’t really think about on a daily basis, but when we are in life-and-death situations, that’s all we’d be thinking about. But what we don’t realize is that we are in life-and-death situations often. Because our fight is not against flesh and blood but against the forces of evil (1). Evil is constantly trying to pull and keep us in a place of death, where sin calls the shots so that instead of really living, we are just going through the motions of life. But that is not what God intended for us! So when sin has kept us captive (2) and made us dead in our trespasses (sin), Jesus took our place to release us. And then he gave us life. Because he was raised from the dead– if we are in him– we can be, too (3). God has made us alive with Christ.
Grace. This is grace. It’s being given something that we don’t deserve. But first, it started with mercy. God being rich in mercy, took away something we did deserve. The place of sin and death and darkness– hell– is what we deserve. But in his great mercy, he took away our doomed fate. David knew that full well when he appealed to God’s mercy after he messed up with adultery and murder. He knew that he had hurt God deeply, yet knew God was the only one he could appeal to (4). But God isn’t only a God of mercy, but a God of grace. Because he didn’t just take away our punishment. He gave us something we didn’t deserve– life. In Christ, we are given freedom from hell (5). Our story is no longer stuck in death, but Jesus allows us to be seen as righteous in him (6), which means we are able to be with God. We are no longer in captivity. By grace, we are saved.
Saved. It’s the other thing we don’t think about unless it’s life-or-death. Just like in so many movies we watch, we expect salvation. We see the main characters back into a corner, all other options exhausted, and as they sit with fear, we wait expectantly for that one last option to save them. It’s nothing new. Because it’s fashioned after the story of good and evil. That Satan backed us into a corner with our sin, told us we’re worthless and that we have no hope of getting ourselves out (7). And he was right. But, that is not who we are depending on. If we are depending on us as mankind, then we’re fooling ourselves. Because we have no strength of our own (8). But if we trust in the One who did everything to save us, we not only have a way out (mercy), we have a new life as heirs of God with Christ (grace). Jesus saved us in death, but he made us alive in his resurrection (9).
We are alive because he is alive. We have grace because of God’s great love and mercy. And because of that, we are saved from an eternity of death to forever with the King– our Savior.
1 - Ephesians 6:12-13
2 - Romans 7:23
3 - Romans 6:5
4 - Psalm 51:1-4
5 - Galatians 5:1
6 - 2 Corinthians 5:21
7 - Ephesians 2:12
8 - Psalm 146:3-4
9 - Galatians 2:20
