When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ.
Summary: Paul, himself, provides the summary for this meditation. In fact, this passage summarizes the entire Bible!
In this passage, Paul captures the heart of the entire Bible.
• Genesis chapters 1–3 describe how we became “dead” in our sins.
• Genesis 4 through the end of the Old Testament (Malachi 4) describe the uncircumcised life of the flesh.
• The New Testament is all about God making us alive with Christ.Is this an oversimplification? Yes, of course. Yet, it is remarkable how well Paul’s statement describes the Bible we know today—even as Paul himself was writing it!
The first three chapters of Genesis describe the creation of the physical universe and the beginning of life. In the beginning, Adam and Eve were alive, both physically and spiritually. By the end of chapter three, they are still alive physically, but they are dead spiritually because their sin has separated them from God. God illustrates this by booting them out of the Garden of Eden, just as we are separated from his presence to this very day.
Life after the Garden, until the time of Christ, was a spiritual struggle. People wandered through life, hobbled by their spiritual depravity. The ugliness of our uncircumcised hearts resulted in untold suffering and death. During this time, God showed himself faithful by allowing humanity to live and by choosing a people to carry the light of his Word.
Then came Jesus.
In this third part of the Bible, known as the “New Testament,” God reveals his love for us. His Son, Jesus, lives to teach us about God and then allows himself to be killed as a sacrifice for our sin. Generations of humans, condemned to die, are given hope. The physical life comes and goes. Our spirits were dead—eternally separated from God—until Jesus.
When Jesus came, everything changed.
In a single lifetime, all the work of Satan to destroy God’s creation was undone. Jesus redeemed it all. Putting our faith in Jesus opens the door to his Word and his Spirit. By the power of his name, we are restored to the spiritual life that Adam and Eve had in the Garden of Eden before there was sin.
Now, each life is a miniature model of the Bible. We are created in God’s image (Genesis 1:26–27). We live a life of sin apart from God (Romans 3:23), and through Jesus, we are given new life in him (2 Corinthians 5:17). Of all the gifts a person could ever receive, this is the greatest gift of all.
Application: Praise God for this gift of life!
Food for Thought: What does it say about God that he did not give up on his creation even after we rejected him?
What does it say about God that he did not give up on his creation even after we rejected him?
God is good. Always, and forever.
Amen, Tim. Well said!
I agree T, it does show that God is good. It shows that He is faithful even when we are not. His goodness and faithfulness does not depend on our actions and remains unaltered by our actions. It is His actions and righteousness and not our own that we depend upon.
1 John 1: 9: If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Thank you, Brother!
It is the “if we confess our sins” part that keeps us humble!
🙂
I have thought a lot about this. I’ll share where I always land in my thoughts.
The main one, that really is to me both understandable and unfathomable at the same time is that He is the giver of life, all life, and in His righteousness, He will not take back that which He gives freely. Understanding this means that our position with Him does not depend on ourselves, our worthiness (or unworthiness) does not change His heart. Despite our rebellion, He sent His Son to die in our place, so that through Him we can be counted as righteous. In accepting this gift, we can be reconciled to Him, and live a life more abundant through Christ. His love for us is demonstrated through His faithfulness, through His Son, and through His Holy Spirit that lives within us. His love is demonstrated to us in that, even as He gave us life, His desire is to give us more life, more and more, so that we may be completely filled with His Spirit. It also means that, if one rejects Christ, they will live in eternity in rebellion against Him. But in His grace He gave us not only life, but the free will to choose how one will spend eternity.
John 14:6: Jesus says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”.
John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life”.
Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”.
John 10:28: “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand”.
Thank you, Chris!
That is a very interesting thought. God is the “life giver”!
What does it say about God that He did not give up on His creation even after we rejected Him?
He is not finished!
“For God so loved the world, that He gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
God is Omniscient, All Knowing. There are no limits to God’s knowledge. Isaiah 40:28; Psalm 148:5
Jesus tells us, “Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” Luke 12:7.
God knows everything about our lives—and cares! His knowledge extends to each individual man and woman who has, who are, and will live in the future. Psalm 139:6
God calls all created beings to of their own free will, receive Him in faith. His desire is for all people to be saved as they come to the knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:4
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 2 Peter 3:9
Our God knows the name of the very last person to receive Jesus Christ by faith, and will not bring a halt to the increasing chaos and insanity surrounding us until this very last person gets on the bus. Remember Sodom.
Ron,
What a great point! He is not finished, indeed!!
That should encourage all of us that there is always hope and that God is always guiding us towards his Light.
Thank you!