"I WAS ..., BUT NOW I AM ...!"

EPHESIANS 2:1-22

A simple, but wise, old man once said of his Christian progress, "I ain't what I oughter be, and I ain't what I'm gonner be, but Praise the Lord, I ain't what I uster be, neither!" How many whose lives have been changed by Jesus Christ could utter that same testimony! All of us have stood in need of our lives being changed by Christ and so did a man named Arthur. He had spent 42 years behind bars but no prison system seemed capable of breaking his spirit or reforming his behavior. Here was a man who was, for all good intents and purposes, dead. Though our offenses are different than his, we are all offenders; and outside of Jesus Christ, dead for all worthy intents and purposes. Consider the text with me as we consider what we were outside of, and what we are in, Christ.

• I WAS DEAD IN SIN, BUT NOW I AM ALIVE IN CHRIST: VV1-7:
• To be dead doesn't mean to be "extinct" or "non-existent." But there are several aspects of "deadness" that apply here.
• To be dead is to be separated. When our life ends the spirit separates from the body.
• To be dead is to insensitive. You could take the most severely addicted drug user and when he is dead you could pump him as full of heroin as you care to; it won't affect him at all.
• To be dead is to be inanimate. You just don't see corpses gallivanting around under their own power.
• To be dead is to deteriorate and experience decay.
• Let's apply that in the spiritual realm:
• To be dead in sin is to be separated from God: "But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear." Isaiah 59:2.
• To be dead in sin is to be insensitive to the things of God. We are not moved by His Spirit not responsive to His Word.
• To be dead in sin is to be inanimate regarding the things of God. We are stubborn, stiffnecked, rebellious and disobedient toward the Word of God. When He says, "Go!" the dead are unmoved. When He says, "Move!" the dead just sit.
• To be dead in sin is to deteriorate morally and to undergo spiritual corruption.
• "For the one who sows to his own flesh shall from the flesh reap corruption,..." Galatians 6:8.
• "But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived." 2 Timothy 3:13.
• If you know Jesus as Lord and Savior, you can say, "I was dead in sin, but now I am alive in Christ." To be alive in Christ means
• That sin will not rule our lives: Romans 6:11-13 "Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God."
• That we are spiritually vital and robust: Romans 8:10 "And if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness."
• That our sins have been forgiven: Colossians 2:13 "And when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,"
• That it is Christ who lives His life through us: Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me."
• Like buds popping out with the return of spring, like a newborn baby emerging from Mother's womb-cradle, like a person waking from a coma, to come into Christ is to come to life!

Arthur, dead to society and all good, served 24 years in solitary confinement. He participated in prison riots, broke a guard's arm, another guard's collar bone, and brought about the death of one sheriff. In prison in Indiana, he stole 40 pounds of cyanide while working in the prison with the idea of poisoning the entire prison staff. He spent 31 months on Devil's Island confined in a 5 x 7 foot cell, chained by his neck. He had to be kept segregated for the safety of those around him. He was separated from others by confinement. Those dead in sin are separated from God by that sin. Look back at the text to see, outside of Christ what we were, and in Christ what we are:

• I WAS SEPARATED FROM GOD, BUT NOW I AM BROUGHT NEAR IN CHRIST: VV11-18:
• To be separated is to live our lives disconnected from God, disassociated with God, and alienated from God. Let's notice again that Isaiah says the cause of that is sin: "But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear." Isaiah 59:2.
• To be separated from God is to be useless, inoperative, dysfunctional, ineffective and impotent. In this separation we are like:
• An unplugged refrigerator: no power flows from the outlet to the appliance.
• An unhitched trailer: the automobile pulls away and the trailer sits in its spot unmoved.
• A ship that breaks from its mooring: and drifts aimlessly in the current.
• A limb that is severed from the tree: the leaves dry up and wither.
• An arm that is detached from the body: it cannot grasp or touch or lift.
• A hose that is removed from the tap: no water flows through it.
• The one and only way to be near God is to be in Christ! You are no nearer God than you are to Jesus. We were separated, but God reconciled us to Himself in Christ. Paul wrote, "... God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation." 2 Corinthians 5:18, 19. The Bible tells us how to get into Christ and thus be reconciled to God:
• Romans 6:3 "Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?"
• Galatians 3:27 "For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ."
• If we are "in Christ," we are reconciled to God. We can say, "I was separated from God, but now I am brought near in Christ."

Arthur was separated from society in prison. But something happened in Arthur's life to dramatically change all of that. It began one day while he was in Leavenworth. A preacher came to visit and brought along his 14-year-old son, Timmy. As Timmy followed his dad down the row of cells, he paused by Arthur's cell, and smiled and winked. Arthur called him back to the cell and began to verbally abuse him; to curse, to swear, to call him everything he could think of. The boy broke down in tears, but he stood his ground. Finally he simply said to Arthur, "I love you." Here was a stranger, treated like a beloved brother. Here was a criminal, treated like family. God did that toward us: while we were enemies, God said, "I love you!" and proved it in that Christ died for us. Consider the text to see our status outside Christ, and in right relationship with Him.

• I WAS A STRANGER, BUT NOW I AM A MEMBER OF GOD'S FAMILY: VV19-22:
• The KJV uses the word "alien" which in this text means, "non-participant, or excluded." The word conveys the idea of being an "outsider."
• Now we are to show hospitality and kindness to strangers, but they are still excluded from many things that belong only to our household. There are some privileges that pertain to family membership.
• For one thing, I will give things to my family I wouldn't give to strangers: I gave a ring I found at the golf course to my son John; I gave things my mother had to my daughter Keri.
• For another thing, I will do things with my family I wouldn't do with strangers: share deep secrets, take special trips, lick the same ice cream cone.
• Again, I will do for my family things I wouldn't so gladly do for strangers: die, for instance. There are very few for whom I would die and none of them are strangers.
• Furthermore, I hold a special affection for my family that goes beyond affection for strangers. I can have compassion for strangers, but not like that for my family.
• And finally, my family can enter my house freely; my children all have keys. But do you think I'm going to give a house key to a stranger?
• If you are in Christ, you can say, "I was a stranger, but now I am a member of God's Family." And you will find that God does for His Children what He doesn't do for strangers. As His family you will be:
• Joint heirs with Christ: that is, what Christ inherits from God, we inherit right along with Him.
• His children: all are his creatures, but those in Christ enjoy the benefit of being His children.
• At peace with Him: all those outside Christ are estranged and excluded, but those in Christ are welcomed, embraced, reconciled and restored to God.
• Filled with His Spirit Who works in us to perfect us and to motive and enable us to will and work for the Lord's good pleasure.
• Welcome to have free access day and night to His Throne: he has given us the key.
• Well, like that prodigal who squandered his father's living, compromised his morals, cheapened his life, but came to his senses and returned, so those who, in Christ, come home will hear the Father's welcome. That's an expression of His tireless love.

Timmy expressed love to Arthur, who said, "That was the first time in all of my life anyone had ever told me that." Arthur began to receive letters from Timmy and Timmy prayed for Arthur. Finally Arthur broke down and later he said, "Every letter was stained with his tears. I couldn't take it anymore. I got on my knees and came to the Lord." Arthur was changed from a hate-filled, violent man into a man of love and grace with the ability to care for others. And he was miraculously released from prison in spite of his background and record. Though he had cancer, he set about proclaiming Christ with the years that he had left. When God changes our lives, may we, too, serve Him like that. You know, it is not what we were, but what we are in Christ; and in a sense, it is not even what we are, but what we can become that matters! Though you may be dead in sin (lust, selfishness, drugs, pornography), He gives new life. Though you may be separated from God (rebellious self-absorbed and indifferent), He provides reconciliation. Though you may be a stranger (lonely, alone and outcast), He will welcome you home if you come to Him through His Son, Jesus Christ. In return for such Mercy and Grace, it is fitting that we determine to serve Him well with whatever life we have left!

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