Ephesians 2:1-2, 7-10 (NLT)
Once you were dead
because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin, just
like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in
the unseen world…So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the
incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has
done for us who are united with Christ Jesus. God saved you by his grace when you believed.
And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a
reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For
we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do
the good things he planned for us long ago.
Biblically, to be dead is not necessarily
to be physically dead, but to be spiritually dead. To be spiritually dead is to have your soul
separated from God. Some believe that spiritual
death makes one unable to repent and believe in God. In Genesis 2:17, God told Adam that he would
“surely die” if he ate the forbidden fruit and that death meant both physical
eventually and spiritual immediately.
Jesus experienced spiritual death on the cross as He was dying for the
sins of the world. He cried out “My God,
My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? (Mark 15:33-34). This is the only time recorded in the gospels
where Jesus did not refer to God as His Father because during His time on the
cross He was spiritually separated from His Father.
What causes a person whose soul is
separated from God to be reunited with God?
God’s grace! Spiritual death,
even physical death, is not yet eternal death so a person who is separated from
God because of his sinful nature still has hope of seeing the light of Jesus Christ
and having his soul and spirit reborn and saved. A dead spirit is separated from God, but that
spirit can make the decision any time to enter into the presence of God and be
saved.
The disciple Matthew exemplified being dead
in all his sins, yet being saved in Christ.
It is not because of anything Matthew did; it was all because of what
Jesus did. Matthew’s story (including
all those people listed in his genealogy in Matthew 1) is your story and
mine. Salvation is a free gift from
God. This truth is so simple that so
many people refuse to believe it. There
is nothing you can do to earn your salvation, to earn your way to heaven, to
earn God’s favor. Salvation is free and is
a gift from God because of what Jesus came to the earth to do. We celebrate Christmas because:
· “…..it is He who
will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21)
· “…..I did not come
to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” (Matthew 9:13)
· “…..the son of Man
has come to seek and save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10)
· "…..just
as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life
a ransom for many."
(Matthew 20:28)
· “…..Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am
chief.” (I Timothy 1:15).
In my early career I wrote a scientific document that the
vice-president of my division called a “masterpiece”. I didn’t think it was, but someone of
importance for my future thought it was. That simple compliment inspired me to
become a writer within my scientific field and also in the church. Paul writes in Ephesians 2:10 that we are
God’s masterpiece. You may not think of
yourself as God’s masterpiece, but God says that you are. Doesn’t that thought inspire and encourage
you? You are God’s masterpiece because
you have accepted His gift of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, you have
been created anew—reborn into the Kingdom of God---so that you will fulfill His
will for your life. Put a smile on your
face as you meditate upon being a masterpiece of God! Yes, you are!!!
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