Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians | Ephesians 2:4-7 | ”But God...” - Part 2 | J. Allen Mashburn

Verse 4 describes a Divine Intervention. It describes God intervening in our lives to bring us to Jesus Christ by His grace. When God intervened in our lives, He brought us out of spiritual death, spiritual deception, spiritual depravity and spiritual doom. He literally took us out of Adam and placed us in Jesus. Col. 1:13 says it this way, “Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.” Thank God He has because, “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive,” 1 Cor. 15:22. When we are placed “in Christ”, we become the exact opposite of what we were before. Everything changes, and it changes forever. These verses we will consider today describe the wonderful changes that are suggested in the word “but”. That word is a word of contrasts. Here, Paul contrasts what we have become “in Christ” with what we were before we met Christ. Not only has God intervened in the lives of the redeemed by loving them and saving them from their lost condition, He also identifies those who are redeemed with His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, when God looks upon His redeemed ones, He never again sees us like we are. He sees us just as we are in Jesus. He does not see our sins, but He sees the righteousness of His Son. He does not see us as we are, but He sees us as He is!

When God interrupted our march toward Hell and saved us by His grace, He changed our relationship with Jesus Christ. In our sins, we were separated from Him. In grace, we are placed into a vital relationship with Him. Notice these verses: “with Christ”, v. 5; “in Christ”, v. 6; “through Christ”, v. 7.