1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. (Ephesians 2:1–3)
Praise God for the past tense. I was dead. I existed, or better, wallowed in my trespasses and sins as a swine in his swill. To think that I took my marching orders from the “prince of the power of the air,” the same sinister character who attempted to throw Jesus off his game in the wilderness, who possessed Judas, and who presides today causing murder and mayhem, breaking marriages asunder, and opposing anything that is good. It makes me shudder to think that I was counted amongst the “sons of disobedience.” Peter vividly describes this vile condition:
14 having eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, having a heart trained in greed, accursed children; 15 forsaking the right way, they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness. (2 Peter 2:14–15)
But we need this vivid contrast to set the stage for grace. We need to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we are where we are now due to God’s unmerited favor, and that the grace in which we now strand is matchless in its intensity and effectiveness. In order to contradict our “trespasses and sins” there needed to be the ultimate trump card.
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, 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 ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:4–7)
Are we not thankful for the “but God’s” in the Word, especially here? Being “rich in mercy” and because of his “great love with which he loved us” (past tense), he “made us alive,” he “raised us up,” and he “seated us with him in the heavenly places.” It’s one thing to get a promotion, but this action can not be surpassed in any way, shape, or form. It is mind blowing, not so much in its scope, permanence and resilience (“in the ages to come”), but in view of the heavy weight of our wretchedness hanging in the balance.
16 Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. 17 For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, 18 while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:16–18)
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