I’m Alive!
About this series
Obviously we are always focussed on Jesus, but in our first series - Just Jesus - we’re going to look, over 13 weeks, at some of the high points in the New Testament that show us who Jesus is, why he’s so wonderful, what he’s done for us and what it means to live in the light of all that.
Sinclair Ferguson wrote, ‘We need to expend our energies admiring, exploring, expositing and extolling Jesus Christ’ - that is precisely our aim in the Just Jesus series. The more we see of Jesus, the more we’ll have to be delighted in and the greater will be our motivation to live for him in our everyday lives.
So, come with great expectation that the Holy Spirit will be powerfully at work leading us to know and love our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
About this talk
Scripture: Ephesians 2:1-10
This wonderful explanation of the gospel highlights both the dire predicament of those outside Christ and the remarkable position given to those who are now in Christ. Paul writes, “you were dead in your transgressions and sins” (v 1; cf v 5) and “were by nature deserving of wrath” (v 3), but now God has “made us alive with Christ” (v 5) and “ seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus” (v 6). The contrast could not be greater! The staggering heights of the good news is always seen most clearly against the horrific depths of the bad. The hinge on which this transformation turns is, v 4, “because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy.” It is clearly not of our own doing, not because we merited such treatment - “not from yourselves...not by works” (vs 8-9), but solely “love, mercy, grace, grace, kindness, grace, gift” (vs 4-7). His dealing with us is truly extraordinary! And this grace leads us then “to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (v 10) - we become, in Christ, part of the display of his glory to the world and the blessing of it.
We look further into:
The gospel is such amazingly good news because the bad news from which it rescues us is so exceedingly bad.
“Works” appears twice at the end of this passage. How do we balance not being saved by works (even good ones), v 9, with being “created in Christ Jesus to do good works,” v 10?
What does it mean, in practical terms, to be “made…alive with Christ” (v 5) and “raised…up with Christ and seated…with him” (v 6)?
If you have any questions about this talk, want to find out more about Citygate Church, or want to know more about what it means to be a Christian, please fill in our online Connect form at citygate.church/connect.
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In Revelation 1, John sees a magnificent vision of Jesus. This chapter presents us with the magnificence of Jesus Christ - the Lion, the Lamb, the one of whom all in heaven and earth forever cry “Worthy.”