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All Because Of Jesus
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Resurrecting
Please open your bibles to Ephesians chapter 2.
As we continue our way through Ephesians, we're going to skip verses 15 through 23 but we'll come back to it. This morning I want to continue with the topic of our identity in Christ which we began last week.

Many of our problems can be traced back to identity ….

Last week, in verses 3-14 we discovered a list of statements about our identity because of what Christ has done. Remember I said,
We cannot separate our identity from what Jesus accomplished on the cross. What Jesus did is who we are.
For example, on the cross Jesus forgave me of my sins; therefore, I am forgiven - that is part of my identity.
From our list last week, we discovered that we are forgiven, we are redeemed, we are chosen, we are loved, we are united with Christ and on it goes. This is great! He has done all of this for us, this is who we are. This is our identity! We need to believe it - embrace it. We didn’t earn it or work for it . Our circumstances or careers or hardships … don’t change who we are in Christ. Jesus gave us our identity.
Question -
What are you doing with your identity in Christ?

Keep that question at the forefront of your mind as we go through chapter 2. I'm not going to be exegetical this morning. We're going to keep it practical. We’ll probably revisit this passage again a little more thoroughly.

Ephesians 2:1–3 ESV
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in 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— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

We were all spiritually dead - separated from true spiritual life - separated from life in God. Still are if you are not in Christ. Because you have willfully disobeyed God and broken his commands. Do you want to have new life today?
Now if you are in Christ, he has made you alive. He’s given you new life. A new way of living, seeing, thinking, behaving - purpose …. Question -
Are you still living like a dead person?
As if sin doesn’t matter. Holiness doesn’t matter. Just existing.

If you DON’T know Christ, you need Christ. If you DO know Christ, are you still living like a dead person? Or are you living like you've been made alive? Are you living like you've been given a second chance? Are you living like you really do have eternal life coming?

Ephesians 2:4–10 ESV
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

He’s made us alive. Question:
What are you doing with your “aliveness?”
What are you doing that proves you’re not dead - you’ve been brought to life?

I understand that there is a time to grieve, there is a time to rest, there is a time to heal, there's a time for God’s discipline, and there's a time to wander through the desert. I get that, but those moments are different than complacency and existing. So the question remains, what are you doing with your “aliveness?”
In this passage we have been made alive with Christ, that’s our identity. We are seated with Him in the heavenly places, that’s our identity. So same question, just a little different -
What are you doing with your identity in Christ?
What does that mean? When I came back from sabbatical a few years ago I discovered that I am not a pastor. I am a Christian (my identity) who serves as a pastor. Pastoring is what I do because of who I am in Jesus. So, again, what are you doing because of your identity in Christ?
2:10 says we’ve been created for good works - and that we should / live walk in them. General vs. specific.

If you don’t know, I believe God at times gives a blank slate -
What do you want to do because you are a follower of Jesus Christ?

Someday Jesus is coming, and He will ask each one of us, “What did you do?” What would you like to tell Jesus?

A prayer: Psalm 90:17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!

Communion
Video

Luke 22:15–20 ESV
And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

You are called to be a partner with God in bringing good into the world.
- - Ephesians 2:1–3NLT
- - Ephesians 2:4–10NLT
- - Luke 22:15–20NLT
Great Are You Lord
The Stand

Ephesians 2:1–3NLT

Ephesians 2:4–10NLT

Luke 22:15–20NLT