Dead or Alive (not a question)

Ephesians 2:1-11 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Dead or alive; that is not a question, but the truth of mankind; we will either remain dead in our sins for eternity, or alive through the Gospel in heaven for eternity. Do you see every Christian’s testimony in this passage above? Do you see the before Christ, the present Christ, and the future Christ? Do you see how Paul writes of how we all were dead in our sins, living for the world and the pleasures of it? Of how we will die in it without the mercy of God? “God who is rich in mercy,” mercy is God withholding the punishment of sin that we deserve. God’s grace is giving us something that we do no deserve; his gift of Jesus to rescue us, to pay for the due punishment of our sins. 2 Corinthians 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. In this passage of Ephesians is one of the most beautiful of the Apostle Paul’s writings, the depth of God’s love for us, wrapped up in the simplicity of the Gospel to us; we can never earn heaven, but accept the ultimate gift of love with a humble hearts understanding of it. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.

In the middle of this passage is the life of a Christian, the present Christ in you. The process of sanctification is God’s work for your time here, to wring out the sin of your life, and to make you more like Jesus. Sanctification is not a single act, but a daily obedience for the remainder of your life. It is God’s way lessening sin, and gaining glory. It is how God changes you from the inside out; how he speaks to you through his Spirit living inside of you. It is a daily roller-coaster of life’s struggles, the battle of good and evil, the spiritual warfare that plays out daily in our lives. The closer a Christian draws to God, the greater the warfare for his soul. The life of a Christian is sometimes falsely proclaimed as a life of blessing and ease, but Paul also wrote in 2 Timothy 3:12 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.

The future that is promised you lies in this passage; the promise of remaining with Jesus for eternity, to show the riches of eternity. We must understand that we only have this lifetime, one shot of an undetermined amount of time, to determine where we spend all of time. A Godly friend of mine once said, “Anderson, it is Heaven or Hell; pick a side.” You must understand your choices today affect your eternity. You must understand that your decision to deny those tugs God is placing on your heart, could prove deadly for eternity. You must understand after your time here, you will have eternity to understand the statement, not the question, dead or alive.