The Miracle Story Worth Sharing
To listen to today’s Deeper Devo click HERE.
Devotional Scripture: Ephesians 2:1-3
Key Verse: “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked…” Ephesians 2:1-2a
I don’t think we should be surprised by the ways of the world today. The lack of respect across the board in just about everything from athletes who won’t stand for the American flag to kids who won’t give their teacher the time of day, saddens me, but doesn’t shock me.
Add to that the entitlement attitude taking our country by storm, the ever-present deception of the media, the sex crazed acceptance deeply rooted in our society, and it’s not surprising to me that a pride filled youth would take a gun to school to shoot his fellow classmates. It makes my stomach hurt, but I’m not surprised. It’s simply the way of the world; the outward workings of those “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,” as Ephesians 2:2 mentions.
And if it weren’t for Christ, we’d be there too, following the course of this world. All of us. The Apostle Paul is not mincing words as we jump into chapter two of Ephesians. If you haven’t noticed, he’s not a beat around the bush kind of guy. So after naming the incredible blessings believers have in Christ in chapter 1, he wastes no time reminding us what we were apart from Christ.
Here, I’ll summarize. “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked…children of wrath, like the rest of mankind” (Eph. 2:1-3).
We were not born good people. We were born sinners condemned to hell. We were born spiritually dead, with every inclination of our hearts desiring sin and not God. (Humanity is not getting better either. Sorry, but that’s a bunch of bologna.)
In a nutshell, the human race is a bunch of walking dead people. Thus, I find it ironic how popular TV shows are like “Waking the Dead” or “Zombies” or “The Walking Dead.” (Whatever they’re called.) There are even weekend conferences dedicated to just these shows. Perhaps the allure is an unbeknownst kindred spirit, for apart from Christ we are all dead.
This is why Christ told Nicodemus, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Or we could say unless one is born from above he will not see the kingdom of God because even with physical life, apart from Christ we are spiritually dead.
So how do you know if someone has been born again? Well, really, we can’t know for sure. Only God knows, but John put it this way, “If you know that he [Christ] is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him” (1 John 2:29). The key word there being “practices.”
Then John goes on… “No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother” (1 John 3:9-10). (I didn’t make this stuff up. Go see for yourself; it’s in the Bible.)
So you see there are really only two camps. You are either alive in Christ and a child of God or you are spiritually dead and a child of the devil. There is no in between, no “free zone” as Satan would like us to think. We are either slaves to sin or servants of righteousness. We are either spiritually alive or we are spiritually dead.
John 3:18 says, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” You are either condemned or you are not, for there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:1).
And if you are a child of God you will obey Him. Not perfectly, mind you, the flesh is weak. We are not free of the sin nature until heaven. But indwelt with the Holy Spirit of God, the born-again believer at least tries in some way, shape, or form to please the Father.
In contrast, look what Paul calls unbelievers in Ephesians 2:2. He calls them “sons of disobedience” because they don’t obey the Father. They follow “the prince of the power of the air,” though most do not even realize it. They think they are free, but they are not.
It’s how we all start life, by nature hostile to God, and “children of wrath” (Eph. 2:3). Even if we’re born into Christian families we are not saved by association. Nor are we saved by a sprinkling or a baptism. Salvation is by grace through faith in Christ alone.
Neither do good works save us. In fact, they mean nothing to God apart from being done in and through Jesus Christ. Why? Because we are born spiritually dead. (Yes we’re back to that again.) And someone who is dead can do nothing to bring themselves to life.
A dead person has no ability to bring themselves out of the grave, right? Nor can they even try. They are dead. If life is going to fill them it’s going to have to come from some outside source. Like the Lord Jesus Christ perhaps? Who just so happens to be the way, the truth, and the life! (John 14:6)
Meaning every believer, saved by grace through faith, has been brought from death to life. Whether you were saved at a young age or saved out of some serious muck and mire farther down the road of life, both situations are a miracle. Both are by the power of God and both display God’s glorious grace.
Yet most of us keep quiet thinking with the notion our story isn’t all that exciting. But when has raising someone from the dead ever not been exciting? (Hello TV ratings for “The Walking Dead.”) People eat this stuff up.
“Therefore remember” (says Paul), “that you were at that time separated from Christ…having no hope and without God in the world” (Eph. 2:11-12). Is that the problem? Did we forget? The fact that we were once dead and now we are alive is worth mentioning to well, everyone, don’t you think?
A true miracle no matter what family you were or weren’t born into; no matter how early you started going to church; no matter how clean or unclean your backstory is, because salvation is the power of God for everyone who believes (Rom. 1:16).
We were once dead in our trespasses and sins, but God (two of my favorite words) has “made us alive together with Christ.” At one time we followed the prince of the air, but now we follow God, by no doing of our own and that’s amazing.
So don’t be shy with your story. Remember, you were once dead. You did nothing to save yourself. It’s Christ in you who did the saving. To think your story isn’t anything special is a lie of the devil meant to keep you quiet. Don’t let him silence you. Share the miracle; share the story. You who were once dead are now alive in Jesus Christ.
Contemplate and Evaluate:
How does the course of this world differ from the course of God?
How is the goodness of God highlighted in the wake of realizing we have gone from death to life?
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