Ephesians 2: Your Heavenly Citizenship

Ephesians 2:     Your Heavenly Citizenship

• Overview of this lesson.

·         This chapter describes where we are now, where we once were, and where we will really be going.  This chapter looks at the wealth and walk of the Christian believer.  We have been made alive in Christ by our Christian faith.

·         We begin our life in death when we are born and we are going to the glory of God the Father.

·         Genesis - The creation of man and his fall in the Garden of Eden.

·         The Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ to wash us of our sins.   God’s only begotten son, sacrificing his life for our sin, so that we can be made righteous and holy in the eyes of God.

·         Paul states that in his previous life, he was spiritually dead, he was dead in his trespasses to his sin.

·         King David acknowledged that he was born in sin.

·         We all need a new life, a spiritual birth.

·         It all started with Adam and what Adam did in the Garden of Eden.  (Romans 5:12-14)

·         4 Stages: Sin entered the world, Sin spread through the world, Death entered the world, Death reigned.

·         We are born dead in our sin, we need to be born again (spiritually).

·         Sin is mentioned 173 times in the bible.

·         All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

·         The wages of sin is death.

·         Definitions:

·         Transgressions - Willful sins against God.  

·         Not following the allowed Speed limit.

·         Mercy - Not getting what we deserve.            

·         Not receiving a speeding ticket.

·         Grace - Getting something you do not deserve.

·         Officer giving you a $50 dollar bill.    

·         Transformation - God changes us from what we were to what we are.

·         Wall of Separation - The temple was divided into different courts/rooms: the Gentiles, woman, men, Priest, and Holy of Holies.  Each area was separated by a wall to prevent those who did not belong in that room to enter it.  With Jesus’s death on the cross, the separation walls have been removed and we all have access to God.

·         We are God’s workmanship and created for God’s work.

·         We are God’s greatest work as we are his masterpiece, created in his image.

·         We may only see our flaws in our life, not God’s work in us.

·         God sees the end and he is all knowing and all seeing.  God does finish his work.   (Philippians 1:3)          

• Main Theme

·         Paul was speaking mostly to the Gentiles, but there were also Jews in Ephesus as well because of the trade routes.

·         The Ephesians had no hope, no God, and no Messiah.  Paul’s letter was written to give the Ephesians hope through salvation.

·         We are made alive in Christ and we are made one in Christ.

·         Dead in our transgressions but now made alive in Christ.

·         We were objects of God’s wrath and now we are shown God’s mercy and given salvation.

·         We once followed the ways of the world but we now stand for Christ and the truth.

·         We were God’s enemies and we are now God’s children.

·         We were enslaved to Satan  but we are now free in Christ to love, serve, and sit with him in heaven.

·         We once followed our evil thoughts and desires but now we are raised up with Christ to glory.

• The Free Gift of Resurrection Power.      (v2:1-3)

·         The Jews were near to Christ because they were God’s chosen people in the Old Testament.   The Gentiles were separated from Christ as they did not know him.

·         Neither can hold a heavenly relationship apart from Jesus.   Jesus Christ needs to be our savior regardless of the fact if we are Jewish or Gentile.

·         The Parable of the Prodigal Son.

·         Blind to God’s glory, deaf to God’s voice, unfeeling towards God’s love, and unresponsive to God’s leading.

·         We may have felt that we have worked hard for everything we earned, but Salvation can not be earned, it comes from the God’s grace through the power of Christ’s death and resurrection.

• God’s purpose for your Life.   (v2:4-10)

·         God needs to offer us his grace and mercy to us.  God not only forgave our sinful nature but he sent his one and only begotten Son to die on the Cross for us.  By confessing and repenting of our sin, inviting Jesus into our life, Jesus has now breathed life into our dead spirit.   Our purpose now is to live a life with heaven in mind.  We have been sealed in heaven.

·         God has given us good works to do.   If we are heavenly minded we will be obedient and joyfully fulfill the roles God has placed us in.   We are not saved by our good works but created for good works.   We obey God out of gratitude.

·         Salvation is by grace through faith, it is a gift to us.   God does not owe us anything, so it is not something that can be earned by us.   We know we owe God everything because of his amazing gift.

• A Heavenly Citizenship.      (v2:11-17)

·         We are born separated from God because of our sin.   The Old Testament is filled with promises and the anticipation of the Messiah, which the Jews were familiar with.

·         We can not become a citizen of heaven by our own strength.   Only Jesus can enable the hearts of those who are near to him.

·         Sin can cause strife, hatred, bitterness, and conflict.   Only the shedding of Christ’s blood can remove the disharmony of sin.   If Jesus can not remain supreme in our relationship with him, it can add strife in our life.  It can affect family members, friends, and our marriage.   Only Jesus can break those barriers that divide us.   Jesus becomes our peace and unity.

• A New Kind of Family.      (V2:18-22).

·         Jesus not only abolished the hostility between us and God, he also removed the separation between all men (Jews/Gentiles, Skin Colors, Old/Young, Rich/Poor).   We belong to a new heavenly family with God as our new Father.  We are united with our fellow brothers and sisters through Jesus.   (Matthew 18:15).

·         Jesus has now become the new foundation of our new home.   A foundation must be firm for the house to stand upon it.   Jesus is also the cornerstone as well, which helps support the whole structure as well, so the house can never fall.   The walls and roof are made up of God’s word where truth dwells and reigns.

·         The word of God should reign over our thoughts and emotions.   It reigns over our family and friends, it reigns over our lives.

• Conclusion.

·         The power of God is available to us to gain victory over sin.

·         If we are saved, we will be going to heaven.   It will take God’s eternity to show us the fullness of his grace.

·         We should take an inventory of our life.   (Deuteronomy 8:1-5)

·         What has sin done to our lives?

·         To not lean back on what we used to be, as we were dead in our sin and we have now been resurrected.

·         That was then and this is now.

·         When we deliberately go back to sin and rebellion, we remove ourselves from the protective covering of our heavenly citizenship.  We still remains citizens of heaven, we are still sound eternally, our names are still written in the Book of Life, and we are still satisfied by God.   However, we bring pain upon ourselves and surrender blessings of our citizenship, which requires us to turn from our ways and repent of our sin.