Memory verse for third week of March: Ephesians 2:1-3 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. This week’s memory verse is only a part of a single sentence (Eph 2:1-7) that focuses on God’s grace and mercy that was given to us who were hopelessly dead in trespasses and sins. It tells us we deserve nothing but God’s wrath and yet through Jesus Christ He mercifully makes us alive; raises us up; and promises us blessings both now and in the future. Our memory verse (v1-3) specifically focuses on our past, showing us how we were before we trusted Jesus as Savior. We were Spiritually Dead-v1 Before we put our trust in Jesus as Savior we were spiritually dead in (the sphere) of sin. That is, we were spiritually unresponsive to God and relationally separated from Him. Just as a human corpse cannot respond to physical stimuli, so we were unable to properly respond to God. Being dead in sin meant we were “slaves of sin” and “hostile” toward the things of God (cf. Rom 6:17; 8:7). We were Arrogantly Defiant-v2 Before we put our trust in Christ as Redeemer we lived from a mindset whose values and attitudes were shaped by a fallen world system that stands in complete defiance of God. Satan, “the prince of the power of the air,” is the originator and ruler of this defiant world system (1 Jn 5:19). Ever since his own rebellion against God, he has been deceptively working in our world to create a universal “zeitgeist” (i.e. a spirit characteristic of the age) that would draw all peoples everywhere to arrogantly defy God’s rightful authority as over their lives. By subtly weaving this “zeitgeist” into human culture Satan seeks to condition the human mind to conform to its God-defiant values and attitudes (cf. Rom. 12:2). We were Hopelessly Doomed-v3 Before we put our trust in Jesus as Deliverer we, like everyone else in this world, were energized by our flesh to instinctively follow after sinful “desires” and corrupt “thinking,” which worked together to direct our choices and behavior in bad ways (cf. Rom 1:21). The “flesh” is the term Paul uses to refer to our sinful and unregenerate nature, which is best understood as an inborn allergic reaction to God. It’s this inborn “God-allergy” that Paul says specifically makes us “children of wrath.” The term “child” speaks of someone who has a close relationship with a parent. As “children of wrath” we had a close relationship, not with God, but with His wrath and just condemnation (cf. Jn 3:18, 36)! This is the horrible condition into which all people are born. It was the condition into which we were born and lived for years of our lives. We were spiritually dead to God; naturally defiant of God; and hopelessly doomed before God. “BUT GOD… intervened! Next week’s memory verse tells us how….
Posted on: Tue, 18 Mar 2014 10:57:08 +0000
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