”We Are Positioned In Heavenly Places To Fulfill God’s Work On Earth” Ephesians 2: 1-10 Sermon Notes June 2 2019

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1. Message map Ephesians 2: 1-10

Ephesians lesson #4 “We Are Positioned in Heavenly Places To Fulfill God’s Work on Earth”

Eph 2: 1 ¹The disobedient ²walk after the world & are ¹dead in their trespasses

1. Eph 2: 2-3 We face 3 enemies: I) The World, II) The Prince of the Power of The Air, & III) Our Flesh
2. Eph 2: 4-5 ⁴God’s Rich Mercy ⁵Made Us Alive With & in Christ
3. Eph 2: 6-7 God Positions us in His heavenly places
4. Eph 2: 8-9 We are gifted ⁸God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense Christ
5. Eph 2: 10 As God’s workmanship, We Walk In His Works

• Eph 2: 1-2 the disobedient are dead

¹And you were dead (unresponsive to God’s life-giving influences) in the trespasses (deviation from truth & righteousness) and sins (missing the mark, fault, failure) ²in 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—

Dead =  lacking life & not able to respond to God’s impulses, or perform functions (“unable, ineffective, dead, powerless, ; unresponsive to life-giving influences (opportunities); inoperative to the things of God.

Trespass = paraptóma, Phonetic Spelling: (par-ap’-to-mah), Definition: a false step, a trespass

Usage: a lapse or deviation from truth and uprightness; an error, “slip up”; wrong doing that can be (relatively) unconscious, “non-deliberate.”  a sin, misdeed

Colossians 2:13 — When you were dead in your trespasses and in the uncircumcision (uncovenanted, not in covenant with God, and does not belong to the Seed of Christ, the Messiah) of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our trespasses,

Uncircumcision is a metaphor for a person who is outside of God’s covenant, and who does not belong to the Seed (Christ, the Messiah).

Physical circumcision is the visible sign of God’s covenant, representing the opportunity from God to belong to Him by personally receiving His offer of salvation – through the Seed (Jesus Christ, the Messiah).

[203 /akrobystía literally means “what covers the extreme end,” referring to the part of the male foreskin not removed by circumcision. The duty of physical circumcision of course did not relate to women.]

Rom 6:33 The wages (divine recompense, reward,  payment, wages, salary, reward) of sin are death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

• Eph 1: 15 Our Faith Motivates A Love of God’s People/Saints

²in which you once walked, following (conforming to) the course (conformably to the ways of the age to which this (wicked) world belongs) of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit of the prince of the power of the air is now at work in the sons of disobedience (willful unbelief, obstinacy,)

disobedience (willful unbelief, obstinacy,) 543 apeítheia (from 1 /A “not” and 3982 /peíthō, “persuaded”) – properly, someone not persuaded, referring to their willful unbelief, i.e. the refusal to be convinced by God’s voice. This is the core-meaning of the entire word-family: 543 (apeítheia), 544 (apeithéō), 545 (apeithḗs). All these cognates focus on man’s decision to reject God’s offers of faith, i.e. refusal to be persuaded in their heart concerning obeying His will (Word).

So to be dead in disobedience means which of the following:

1. unresponsive to the Holy Spirit’s proddings
2. insensitive to the things of God
3. lifeless to the Holy Spirit’s move
4. powerless to take advantage of the opportunities God provides

(5) Eph 2: 2 The disobedient are dead   

²in which you once walked, following (conforming to) the course (conformably to the ways of the age to which this (wicked) world belongs) of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit of the prince of the power of the air is now at work in the sons of disobedience (willful unbelief, obstinacy,)

disobedience (willful unbelief, obstinacy,) 543 apeítheia (from 1 /A “not” and 3982 /peíthō, “persuaded”) – properly, someone not persuaded, referring to their willful unbelief, i.e. the refusal to be convinced by God’s voice. This is the core-meaning of the entire word-family: 543 (apeítheia), 544 (apeithéō), 545 (apeithḗs). All these cognates focus on man’s decision to reject God’s offers of faith, i.e. refusal to be persuaded in their heart concerning obeying His will (Word).

So to be dead in disobedience means which of the following:

1. unresponsive to the Holy Spirit’s proddings
2. insensitive to the things of God
3. lifeless to the Holy Spirit’s move
4. powerless to take advantage of the opportunities God provides

Thus, regeneration through the BORN-AGAIN experience is necessary to be able to comprehend and act upon the things of God 

• Eph 2: 2-3 There Are 3 Enemies of Our Godly Walk In Christ

3 Enemies challenge our Workmanship in Christ

Eph 2: 2-3 We face 3 enemies:

• The world, (a) the world, universe; worldly affairs; the inhabitants of the world; adornment. b) ”cosmetic” is derived from 2889 /kósmos, of evils coming into existence among men and beginning to exert their power: of sin and death; c) ”the ungodly multitude; the whole mass of men alienated from God, and therefore hostile to the cause of Christ”)
• satan = The prince (the ruler) of the Power of The Air, (‘the ruler of the spirit powers in the air,’ i. e. the devil, the prince of the demons that according to Jewish opinion fill the realm of air (cf. Meyer at the passage; )
• Air = psucho
• psuchikos = that which is natural, of the soul or mind. relating to the human spirit, or rational soul, as the part of man which can relate to God and serves as his instrument or organ, opposed to
• Thus the worldly, Satanic, atmospheric influence produces a pressure and influence that our natural, earthbound, Adamic natures and souls gravitate towards, find affinity with and latch onto, producing within us, a state of Spiritual deadness from which God has to liberate us starting with the born-again experience.
• Strong’s word # 4152 pneumatikós = an adjective, derived from 4151 pneúma, “spirit”, means spiritual; what relates to the realm of spirit, i.e. the invisible sphere in which the Holy Spirit imparts faith, reveals Christ, etc.
• 4152 pneumatikós (an adjective, derived from 4151 /pneúma, “spirit”) – spiritual; relating to the realm of spirit, i.e. the invisible sphere in which the Holy Spirit imparts faith, reveals Christ, etc. the body which is animated and controlled only by the rational soul and by means of which the rational life, of life of the πενυμα, is lived; opposed to
• Consider Lazarus in John 11: 38 38Jesus was still angry as he arrived at the tomb, a cave with a stone rolled across its entrance. 39“Roll the stone aside,” Jesus told them. But Martha, the dead man’s sister, protested, “Lord, he has been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible.” 40Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe?” 41So they rolled the stone aside.
• So in vs. 43 we see Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” and Lazarus is risen — born again —but in vs. 44 though the “dead man” is up and came out, his hands and feet bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go!”  Our walks into the workmanship God prepares for us is the process of God unwrapping us from our grave clothes.
• Our passions (cravings, inordinate desire, lust) from Our Fleshly/Carnal nature

³At one time we all lived among them, fulfilling the cravings of our flesh and indulging its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature children of wrath.

Walking in carnal passions starts with walking by sight. the eyes are the entry way into sin.  

• Even After 1,000 Years The Flesh is Vulnerable to Sin:

Revelation  20: 7-10  (ESV)

⁷And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison ⁸and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. ⁹And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, ¹⁰and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

• Eph 1: 3 — The Carnally Passionate Are Children of Wrath

1 Cor. 2:14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

Doing what comes natural (in 1Cor 2:14 = (“psuchikos” = soulish, emotional, living by feelings; of the principle of animal life,” which men have in common with the brutes makes us children of wrath … (subjected to the punishments inflicted by Christ, the Supreme Magistrate) (John 5:22 & Rev 6:16)

properly, soulish, i.e. what is natural, as it relates to physical (tangible) life alone (i.e. apart from God’s inworking of faith).

ESV — ³among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out (manufacturing) the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

BSB — …we all lived among them, fulfilling the cravings of our flesh and indulging its desires and thoughts.

KJB — …we all had our conversation … in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; …

NAS — …we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, …

NIV — All of us also lived … gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. …

NLT — All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature.

Our natural disposition toward carnality, which gives us an affinity with Satan’s influence through the demonic atmosphere with which we are surrounded positions us as children of wrath, subject to God’s judgement.  [bctt tweet=”Doing what comes natural (in 1Cor 2:14 = (“psuchikos” = soulish, emotional, living by feelings; of the principle of animal life,” which men have in common with the brutes makes us children of wrath … (subjected to the punishments inflicted by Christ, the Supreme Magistrate) (John 5:22 & Rev 6:16)” username=”LibertyCF3″]

John 5: 22-24 ²²For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment (decisions to sentence) to the Son, ²³that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. ²⁴Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

Rev. 6: 12-  ¹²When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, ¹³and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. ¹⁴The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. ¹⁵Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slaved and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, ¹⁶calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, ¹⁷for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”

John 1: 12-13 ESV ¹²But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, ¹³who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

• Eph 2: 4-5 4God’s Rich Mercy Made Us Alive With Christ

Eph 2: 4-5 ⁴But God, being rich (abounding muchness) in mercy, (pity, mercy, compassion, activated by “covenant-loyalty, covenant-love”) because of the great love with which he loved us, ⁵even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—

M-E-R-C-Y is  God’s …

M__________  E_________ by R_________ thru C____ to Y__

Manifested  Exoneration by Repentance thru Christ to You

M-E-R-C-Y is  God’s …

M__________  E_________ by R_________ thru C____ to Y__

Multiplied Exemption from Retribution thru Christ to You

• Eph 2: 6-7 God Positions us in the heavenly places

— ⁶and raised (resurrected us in company with Christ) us up with him and seated  (caused us to sit down in company with) us with him in the Heavenly places, (the celestial sphere/realms from where divine spiritual activities emanate and are administered) in Christ Jesus,7so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

• Eph 2: 8-9 We are gifted ⁸God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense Christ

⁸For by G-R-A-C-E (god’s riches at christ’s expense) you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift (a present given by “un-coerced” sacrifice) of God, ⁹not a result of works (human employment, deed or action), so that no one may boast (personally exult in or take credit).

• Eph 2: 8-9 Salvation is a gift not a reward!

What gives us merit and favor with God unto salvation is …

1. Baptism
2. Church membership
3. Confirmation
4. Communion
5. Keeping the 10 Commandments
6. Living by the Sermon on The Mount
7. Tithing
8. FAITH (taking God at His Word – (John 3:16)

Do not sin against God’s Gracious Character, by adding to what He did through Christ on the Cross to work out our salvation!

Christ Finished The Work of Salvation (John 17:1-4 & 19:30)

John 17: 1-4 ¹When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, ²since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. ³And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. ⁴I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do

John 19:30 ²⁸After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said …(to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” ²⁹A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. ³⁰When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

We can’t contribute nor add anything to it (Heb. 10: 11-23)

Heb 10: 11-23 11And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

15And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying,

16“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,”

17then he adds,

“I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”

18Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

19Therefore, brothers since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful

Eph 2: 8

• Psalm 100:3 Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
• Ephesians 2: 10 Christ Is Raise Above All Things & Seated AT God’s Right Hand

²⁰that 10For we are his workmanship (“Poiema” = is the root of our word “poem. the works of God as Creator, Maker, product Manufacturer, Constructor, Cause), created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Workmanship = Poem, A metrical composition in verse, written in certain measures, whether in blank verse or in rhyme, and characterized by imagination and poetic diction; uniquely creative, as distinguished from prose.

Here’s What God Works In Us…

• Psalm 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
• Colossians 3:10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
• Galatians 6:15 For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything. What counts is a new creation.
• Matthew 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
• 2 Cor. 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.
• Ephesians 3:20 Now to Him who is able to do infinitely more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us,
• Philippians 4:11 I am not saying this out of need, for I have learned to be content regardless of my circumstances.
• Philippians 4:19 And my God will supply all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
• 2 Timothy 2:21 So if anyone cleanses himself of what is unfit, he will be a vessel for honor: sanctified, useful to the Master, and prepared for every good work.
• Col 1:10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
• 2Tim 3:16-17 God gives us esteem for the Scriptures ¹⁶All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness, ¹⁷so that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work.
• Titus 2:14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
• Heb 13:16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

Final Words:

James 2: 14 & 17  ¹⁴ if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? ¹⁷Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead…

Works are the fruit and the LIVING WATERS that grows and flows out of our salvation.  They are not the root of our salvation from which it grows!

We obey God who leads us into certain good works, not because we think we are earning our salvation, but because we are demonstrating our love for God, and the people of His Kingdom.

 We must keep in mind that Phil 2: 12-13       ¹²… work out your salvation with fear and trembling; ¹³for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

Let’s Pray: Thank You, LORD For Making Us Your Workmanship!  [email-download-link namefield=”YES” id=”386″]

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