If you have been around Biblical preaching long enough, you know that all of us before we came to Christ were lost. We were considered enemies of God because we committed treason to our creator. It began in the garden with Adam and Eve. Adam's sin was transferred to all of mankind as the Bible says:
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come (Romans 5:12-14).
If you look at Romans 3, you see there is no one who seeks after God, no one who does good for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. We are not people God would want in His heaven.
The message of the gospel is that Jesus Christ has reconciled us to the Father on our behalf. Ephesians 2:1-10 paints a picture of what our spiritual condition was before we received Christ and what it is now.
First, we were dead in our trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1). We were dead, even though living. We were spiritual zombies looking for anything to take the place of God because we wanted nothing to do with Him. Trespass means going beyond the bounds. Sin is missing the mark. We have gone outside the bounds and missed the mark of God's law.
Second, we walked the way of the world (Ephesians 2:2). Remember that world means values and ideals that are against God. We followed those ideals because they looked better than God's and because of that we indirectly follow the devil which works in those who are disobedient.
Third, we are prone to our fallen nature (Ephesians 2:3). Because we have inherited Adam's fallen nature, we are prone to sin and because of that, we are condemned under the wrath of God. Jesus said, "Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God" (John 3:18).
This is does not sound like good news, does it? No. This is all bad news. Remember what the word gospel means? Good news. The gospel is good news. That good news is we have been reconciled to God through the finished work of Christ on the cross. Ephesians 2:4 starts off with the two most beautiful words in this passage, "But God."
God is rich in mercy. Mercy is not giving us what we deserve which was God's righteous punishment yet He made us alive in Christ while we were dead in our trespasses and sins. Many think that you have to clean yourself up before you come to Jesus. That is not true. The gospel is come to Jesus and He will make you clean. That is a lot better news than making yourself clean before coming to faith in Christ.
We have been raised with Christ and seated with Him in the heavenly places. This is a present and future reality. When we come to faith in Christ, we are united in Him. We have been given the right to become children of God. We have been forgiven of our sins. In the future, when depart this world, we will be in the presence of the Father. When Christ returns, our bodies will be resurrected and we will reign with Him forever and ever.
Ephesians 2:8-9 reminds us that this grace and being reconciled to God is by faith alone. If it were by works, we would be boasting how great we are rather than how great God is. Ephesians 2:10 reminds us that we will never be saved by works, but we are saved for works. James 2:14-26 is a beautiful passage that reminds us that faith without works is dead. A Christian should be doing works, not to get God's approval because we already have that in Christ, but in response to the grace God has given us in Christ. 1 John 4:19 reminds us that we love because "he first loved us."
One of the works we can do is to tell everyone this good news. Since we have been reconciled to God, we can share that news with everyone and plead with them to turn from their sins and put their faith in Jesus. The Apostle Paul wrote:
For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5:14-20).
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