Chapter 2, Verses 4, 5 “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–“
God in his mercy and great love raised Jesus from the dead. Jesus had died with our transgressions. They were the cause of Jesus’s death, His separation from God. The death of Jesus was the act of God’s mercy and great love for us. He saved us by taking the life of Jesus. Not just his physical life but His oneness with the Godhead. Death is a separation. Physical death is the separation of spirit and body. Spiritual death is the separation of spirit and God.
Physical death is decreed to all men because of Adam’s sin in the garden. Spiritual death is decreed to all men because all men sin. There is no substitute for physical death but there is for spiritual death. Jesus died that death for us. He died Adam’s death and He died our death.
We deserve spiritual death. We are sinners and we know we are sinners. We know we lack righteousness of our own. We know how we walked in the former life. We know about our lusts, desires, and sinful nature. The Ephesians knew it too, but Paul reminds them why they can walk as living souls rather than as dead ones.
It is the rich mercy of God. It is the great love of God. It is the grace of God. These things were the reasons why God resurrected us from the dead just like He did His only begotten Son. We are his adopted sons and daughters and as such we too are given life in Christ. We were raised from the dead along with Jesus. Just as He died, was buried and rose again so we too died to sin, were buried with Jesus and rose to newness of life with Jesus.
Paul explains the process to the Romans in 6:3, 4: “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”
Task for Today: Why die in your sins when God wants to take them away in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus? Do what Ananias told Saul to do, “And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins calling on his name” (Acts 22:16). The Ephesian letter, the letter to the Romans, and Acts are all in agreement as are other books in the Bible. The change from old man to new man takes place in the grave.
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