◄ Quickened by Grace ►

Even when we were dead in sins, God has quickened us together with Christ, (by grace you are saved)
Ephesians 2:5  

The Staggering Cross

I wonder if we will ever really appreciate what the Lord has undertaken for us. I wonder if we have even started to really comprehend the enormity of our salvation. It seems that the more we gaze at the cross the more staggering it becomes.

Deceitful Man

One very important step is to come to terms with the baseness of what we were. We need to acknowledge the deceitfulness of our hearts and what we were by nature. It is not a very pretty sight and one we all prefer to sweep away under the carpet.

Carnal Creatures

We were rotten through and through – at enmity with our Creator God and Saviour. We were carnal creatures with degrading desires – with fleshly propensity to filth. We were sin-soaked in trespasses and on the way to an eternal separation from God. We were hopeless and helpless and sick – condemned to a loveless, Godless eternity.

Deserving of Wrath

We were sinners by our actions and attitudes – imputed with sin and inherently sinful. We were dead in our sins, disobedient to God and deserving of wrath and judgement. This is an ugly view of what we were but it’s God’s assessment of our condition.

Reality of Sin

Isaiah’s description of backsliding Israel is equally illustrative of what we used to be: "From the sole of your foot to the top of your head, there’s no soundness evident — only bruises, sores, and festering wounds, that haven’t been cleaned out, or bandaged, or treated with oil.” Isaiah 1:6  No! – this is not nice, and it is not how we like to think of ourselves, but it is true.  And at times it’s good to be brought face to face with the reality of what we were..

Redeemed Sinners

We were disabled in every way – morally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. We were under God’s wrath and condemnation and there was no available remedy.. but when we place our trust in Jesus, God pardons every one of our iniquities. He heals all our disabilities – every bleeding sore – every festering wound. He redeemed us from the pit of hell and has showered us with loving-kindness. He provides us with every spiritual blessing and renews our youth like the eagle.

Faithful God

No wonder the sweet Psalmist of Israel wrote of our great God: "the LORD is compassionate and gracious, patient, and abundantly rich in gracious love. He will not always accuse us and will not stay angry forever. He has not dealt with us as our sins deserve, or repaid us according to our offences, for as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His faithful love toward those who fear Him". Psalm 103

Hidden Mystery

But these words of David fall far short of the mysteries that were hid in the past ages. A combination of love, mercy, and grace has been showered on us in great abundance. He has not only in His mercy forgiven us of our ugly filth and died to accomplish it, but He organised that we died with Him – so that we could never be hurt by death.

Walking Dead

Before we were saved I suppose you could call us the walking dead. We were physically alive, but living in dying bodies and separated from God. We were physically alive but dead in our sins – spiritually separated from God. Before we were saved we were under condemnation – under the wrath of God.

Changed Perspective

This is a terrible place to be, and this is the position of all unsaved humanity. We can do nothing to alter this shocking state of affairs, other than believe in Christ. BUT... the minute we place our trust in Him the whole perspective of our universe changes.  We are made alive by God’s grace – spiritually alive – simply because we believe.

Eternally saved

After we were saved, we moved from being the walking dead to eternally saved. We were made physically and spiritually alive – in eternal union with Christ and God. "There is therefore now – no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus". What a glorious place to be and this is the position of all saved believers in Christ. We can do nothing to change this wonderful position in Him, for it is eternal.

Saved by Grace

Even when we were dead in trespasses and sins God quickened us; He made us alive; He gave us spiritual life together with Christ, and raised us up to heavenly places and gave us every spiritual blessing. Never forget, you are saved by grace and all you did was trust Jesus as Saviour.

Enormity of Salvation

I doubt we will ever truly appreciate what the Lord has undertaken for us. I doubt we will have even started to comprehend the enormity of our salvation,  but the more we reflect on all He has done the more staggering it becomes. The more we understand His grace –  the more we are filled with wonder love and praise.