Resurrected Life
Ephesians 1:15-20
Jesus Christ has risen from the dead just as he said. And through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God offers us the same power that rose Jesus from the grave and he offers us that same power to enable us to live the resurrected life.
Today, believers all over the world are celebrating the single greatest moment in all of history, the moment Jesus Christ beat sin, death, and the grave, and with resurrection power, he rose from the grave to be the pioneer, the forerunner, of our resurrected life.
We thank God for another Easter morning to celebrate the Resurrection. In this past year, we have lived – and are living – in an unprecedented time (for most of us). Last Easter Sunday, one year ago, was the Sunday we took the church one hundred percent online. The in-person gathering of the church (the most important gathering that exists for believers) was cancelled. And so began the year of the word “cancelled”. We had no idea how many things could be – or would be – cancelled. The list of things and events and people who have been cancelled in this past year is overwhelming, it’s never-ending and in some cases, it seems a little ridiculous.
But here’s one thing we know for sure. Our crazy cancel culture knows nothing of the absolute cancel power of our great God. You want to talk about cancel power? On that first Resurrection morning, God cancelled death. God cancelled the grave. God cancelled the eternal effects of sin for all those who would believe in him. So, today, we celebrate being part of God’s “cancel death” culture. “Cancel the eternal effects of sin” culture. Amen?
And so, today, I just want to look at the power of God to cancel death, and the grave, and the eternal effects of our sin, okay?
We are going to be in Ephesians Chapter 1 if you have a Bible. In Ephesians Chapter 1, Paul is praying for us – for you and me – as we sit here today. The prayer actually begins in verse 15 when Paul says, For this reason. But, since the prayer begins with For this reason we have to look at the previous verses to know the reason that Paul says For this reason. The reason is in Ephesians 1:3-14, “Our Spiritual Blessings in Christ.”
Let me just survey them, and you follow me in your booklet or in your Bible.
Ephesians 1:3–14 (NLT)
3 . . . [God] has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms - because we are united with Christ.
4 . . . before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ . . .
5 . . . [God] adopted us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ . . .
6 . . . [God’s] glorious grace [is] poured out on us who belong to his dear Son (Jesus Christ).
7 [God] purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins (thru faith in Jesus Christ).
8 [God] has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding (thru Christ).
. . .
11 . . . because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God (some translations say here, we have BECOME God’s inheritance) . . .
. . .
13 . . . And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you (sealing you with) the Holy Spirit . . .
14 [Who] is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and (God’s guarantee) that he has purchased us to be his own people (HIS Inheritance) . . .
That is a massive list of eternal spiritual blessings and notice carefully that they all come from us being united with Jesus Christ by faith, and ultimately God did all of this so that we would praise and glorify him, which is how Ephesians 1:14 ends.
Ephesians 1:14(b) (NLT)
14 . . . He did this so we would praise and glorify him.
All of this is what God has done for all those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ.
Then, Ephesians 1:15 begins with,
Ephesians 1:15 (ESV)
15 For this reason . . .
Meaning, because of all these incredible, mind-boggling, spiritual blessings that God has given us through our faith in Christ. Paul begins his prayer, For this reason… And then Paul says in Ephesians 1:16,
Ephesians 1:16 (NLT)
16 I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly,
And now, the Apostle Paul is going to pray for you today. And there are three things in this Resurrected Life Prayer that are God’s prayer for you.
1). That you would KNOW God
2). That you would understand the HOPE God has given you
3). That you would understand the incredible POWER of the Resurrected Life
That is God’s prayer for you today, direct from his Word.
1). That you would KNOW God
Ephesians 1:17 (NLT)
17 (I pray for you constantly) asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God.
And this is so awesome because the word translated “KNOWLEDGE” here means: coming to understand something is true, often through a personal acquaintance (relationship). And that is the prayer for you here. That God would give you the spiritual wisdom and insight to know him better through a personal relationship with him.
2). That you would understand the HOPE God has given you
Ephesians 1:18 (NLT)
18 I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called -his holy people who are HIS rich and glorious inheritance.
This verse is almost too big to grasp. The prayer is that your heart would be flooded with light that you would understand the confident hope he’s given to those who put their faith in him. And we need some confident hope in our world today.
But then, at the end of verse 18, the prayer says (to those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ) You who are his rich and glorious inheritance. Listen, God sees you as his inheritance. It is true – God has given us an inheritance in Jesus Christ, but also, God’s Word makes it clear (twice in these verses) that God sees us as his inheritance in Jesus Christ.
God made you for an eternal relationship with him and to be his inheritance in heaven. And that is why Jesus Christ came to cancel the eternal effects of sin, and death on your behalf so that you can live the resurrected life now and be God’s inheritance in heaven for eternity.
And lastly, in God’s prayer through Paul for you…
3). That you would understand the incredible POWER of the Resurrected Life
Ephesians 1:19-20 (NLT)
19 I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power 20 that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.
There it is! There is the Resurrected Life. Look at the three-way the power of the resurrected life is described here.
1) the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe
2) the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead
3) the same power that seated Jesus Christ in the place of honor at God’s right hand in heaven
God is offering us the same power to live today that he used to raise Jesus Christ from the dead, and we need that same mighty power from God in order to live the resurrected life today and into eternity.
And that is the greatest miracle that we could ever ask God for or see God perform – to take a person who is dead in their sins and raise them to life using the same power that he used to raise Jesus from the grave. This greatest miracle of all is explained just a few verses away in Ephesians 2:4-6.
Ephesians 2:4–6 (NLT)
4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much,
5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead . . .
6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.
That is a description of the greatest miracle you could ever ask God for – or ever see. We can live the Resurrected Life now and for eternity because we are united with Jesus Christ – by faith. And the Bible is crystal clear we can receive the Resurrected Life only by being united with Jesus Christ through faith.
And so, my prayer is that we would pray what God has Paul pray for us here.
1) (verse 17) God, please GIVE ME Spiritual Wisdom & Insight so that I might KNOW YOU – Personally, & Relationally
2) (verse 18) God, please Flood my heart with LIGHT so I can understand the confident HOPE I have in You
3) (verse 19) God, Help me to grasp the greatness of your Resurrection Power available to me - when I put my full Faith in You
And listen, next Sunday we’re going to talk about HOW to actually put this resurrection power to work in our life. So be sure to be back here next Sunday.
But today, God wants to personalize the miracle of the Resurrection for you.
You can see the dead raised today.
You can be the dead raised today.
No matter where you’re at today, no matter how far you feel from God, the Resurrected Life and the same power that raised Jesus from the grave is available to you today.
But I think the one thing that holds people back from receiving this resurrected life from God is the refusal to admit that we need God’s power and we need God’s help.
Have you ever known someone who needs help, who knows they need help and you know they need help, but… they won’t ask for help or accept the help they desperately need? And for that person… Jesus waits. And Jesus waits for you to understand that you need God’s help.
In Mark Chapter 10, a blind man named Bartimaeus was sitting by the side of the road and he heard Jesus was passing by and he yelled out, JESUS, have mercy on me. But Jesus heard him and called for his friends to bring the blind man to him. So, we’ve got Jesus of Nazareth who has literally healed people everywhere he went for the past three years, and we’ve got a blind man crying out to Jesus for help.
So, the situation seems pretty clear.
But still, Jesus says to the blind man in Mark 10:51, What do you want me to do for you? And I think blind Bartimaeus might’ve been taken aback for a second. Like, seriously Jesus, you can’t TELL what I need? You’re the healer. I’m blind. I kind of thought you’d be able to put all that together.
But Jesus wanted this man to confess his need and Jesus waited for him to confess his need and ask Jesus to heal him. And blind Bartimaeus didn’t hesitate for a second and he said, “Jesus, I want to see” and in Mark 10:52 Jesus said to him, “Go, for your faith has healed you.”
And today, Jesus wants us to confess our need for him. You may be here today, knowing that you need healing and transformation in your life, and Jesus is going to call you to himself. And he’s going to say to you, “What do you want me to do for you?” Because part of receiving the Resurrected life is you confessing your need and asking Jesus to save you and freely give you HIS Resurrected Life.
And so, I’m going to give you a chance right now to say to Jesus – the Resurrected Savior – I NEED the miracle of the Resurrected Life. Jesus, I need your resurrection power to be forgiven of my sin, to overcome my addictions, to save my relationships, to save my life. Jesus, I need you as my Savior.
Today, believers all over the world are celebrating the single greatest moment in all of history, the moment Jesus Christ beat sin, death, and the grave, and with resurrection power, he rose from the grave to be the pioneer, the forerunner, of our resurrected life.
We thank God for another Easter morning to celebrate the Resurrection. In this past year, we have lived – and are living – in an unprecedented time (for most of us). Last Easter Sunday, one year ago, was the Sunday we took the church one hundred percent online. The in-person gathering of the church (the most important gathering that exists for believers) was cancelled. And so began the year of the word “cancelled”. We had no idea how many things could be – or would be – cancelled. The list of things and events and people who have been cancelled in this past year is overwhelming, it’s never-ending and in some cases, it seems a little ridiculous.
But here’s one thing we know for sure. Our crazy cancel culture knows nothing of the absolute cancel power of our great God. You want to talk about cancel power? On that first Resurrection morning, God cancelled death. God cancelled the grave. God cancelled the eternal effects of sin for all those who would believe in him. So, today, we celebrate being part of God’s “cancel death” culture. “Cancel the eternal effects of sin” culture. Amen?
And so, today, I just want to look at the power of God to cancel death, and the grave, and the eternal effects of our sin, okay?
We are going to be in Ephesians Chapter 1 if you have a Bible. In Ephesians Chapter 1, Paul is praying for us – for you and me – as we sit here today. The prayer actually begins in verse 15 when Paul says, For this reason. But, since the prayer begins with For this reason we have to look at the previous verses to know the reason that Paul says For this reason. The reason is in Ephesians 1:3-14, “Our Spiritual Blessings in Christ.”
Let me just survey them, and you follow me in your booklet or in your Bible.
Ephesians 1:3–14 (NLT)
3 . . . [God] has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms - because we are united with Christ.
4 . . . before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ . . .
5 . . . [God] adopted us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ . . .
6 . . . [God’s] glorious grace [is] poured out on us who belong to his dear Son (Jesus Christ).
7 [God] purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins (thru faith in Jesus Christ).
8 [God] has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding (thru Christ).
. . .
11 . . . because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God (some translations say here, we have BECOME God’s inheritance) . . .
. . .
13 . . . And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you (sealing you with) the Holy Spirit . . .
14 [Who] is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and (God’s guarantee) that he has purchased us to be his own people (HIS Inheritance) . . .
That is a massive list of eternal spiritual blessings and notice carefully that they all come from us being united with Jesus Christ by faith, and ultimately God did all of this so that we would praise and glorify him, which is how Ephesians 1:14 ends.
Ephesians 1:14(b) (NLT)
14 . . . He did this so we would praise and glorify him.
All of this is what God has done for all those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ.
Then, Ephesians 1:15 begins with,
Ephesians 1:15 (ESV)
15 For this reason . . .
Meaning, because of all these incredible, mind-boggling, spiritual blessings that God has given us through our faith in Christ. Paul begins his prayer, For this reason… And then Paul says in Ephesians 1:16,
Ephesians 1:16 (NLT)
16 I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly,
And now, the Apostle Paul is going to pray for you today. And there are three things in this Resurrected Life Prayer that are God’s prayer for you.
1). That you would KNOW God
2). That you would understand the HOPE God has given you
3). That you would understand the incredible POWER of the Resurrected Life
That is God’s prayer for you today, direct from his Word.
1). That you would KNOW God
Ephesians 1:17 (NLT)
17 (I pray for you constantly) asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God.
And this is so awesome because the word translated “KNOWLEDGE” here means: coming to understand something is true, often through a personal acquaintance (relationship). And that is the prayer for you here. That God would give you the spiritual wisdom and insight to know him better through a personal relationship with him.
2). That you would understand the HOPE God has given you
Ephesians 1:18 (NLT)
18 I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called -his holy people who are HIS rich and glorious inheritance.
This verse is almost too big to grasp. The prayer is that your heart would be flooded with light that you would understand the confident hope he’s given to those who put their faith in him. And we need some confident hope in our world today.
But then, at the end of verse 18, the prayer says (to those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ) You who are his rich and glorious inheritance. Listen, God sees you as his inheritance. It is true – God has given us an inheritance in Jesus Christ, but also, God’s Word makes it clear (twice in these verses) that God sees us as his inheritance in Jesus Christ.
God made you for an eternal relationship with him and to be his inheritance in heaven. And that is why Jesus Christ came to cancel the eternal effects of sin, and death on your behalf so that you can live the resurrected life now and be God’s inheritance in heaven for eternity.
And lastly, in God’s prayer through Paul for you…
3). That you would understand the incredible POWER of the Resurrected Life
Ephesians 1:19-20 (NLT)
19 I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power 20 that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.
There it is! There is the Resurrected Life. Look at the three-way the power of the resurrected life is described here.
1) the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe
2) the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead
3) the same power that seated Jesus Christ in the place of honor at God’s right hand in heaven
God is offering us the same power to live today that he used to raise Jesus Christ from the dead, and we need that same mighty power from God in order to live the resurrected life today and into eternity.
And that is the greatest miracle that we could ever ask God for or see God perform – to take a person who is dead in their sins and raise them to life using the same power that he used to raise Jesus from the grave. This greatest miracle of all is explained just a few verses away in Ephesians 2:4-6.
Ephesians 2:4–6 (NLT)
4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much,
5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead . . .
6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.
That is a description of the greatest miracle you could ever ask God for – or ever see. We can live the Resurrected Life now and for eternity because we are united with Jesus Christ – by faith. And the Bible is crystal clear we can receive the Resurrected Life only by being united with Jesus Christ through faith.
And so, my prayer is that we would pray what God has Paul pray for us here.
1) (verse 17) God, please GIVE ME Spiritual Wisdom & Insight so that I might KNOW YOU – Personally, & Relationally
2) (verse 18) God, please Flood my heart with LIGHT so I can understand the confident HOPE I have in You
3) (verse 19) God, Help me to grasp the greatness of your Resurrection Power available to me - when I put my full Faith in You
And listen, next Sunday we’re going to talk about HOW to actually put this resurrection power to work in our life. So be sure to be back here next Sunday.
But today, God wants to personalize the miracle of the Resurrection for you.
You can see the dead raised today.
You can be the dead raised today.
No matter where you’re at today, no matter how far you feel from God, the Resurrected Life and the same power that raised Jesus from the grave is available to you today.
But I think the one thing that holds people back from receiving this resurrected life from God is the refusal to admit that we need God’s power and we need God’s help.
Have you ever known someone who needs help, who knows they need help and you know they need help, but… they won’t ask for help or accept the help they desperately need? And for that person… Jesus waits. And Jesus waits for you to understand that you need God’s help.
In Mark Chapter 10, a blind man named Bartimaeus was sitting by the side of the road and he heard Jesus was passing by and he yelled out, JESUS, have mercy on me. But Jesus heard him and called for his friends to bring the blind man to him. So, we’ve got Jesus of Nazareth who has literally healed people everywhere he went for the past three years, and we’ve got a blind man crying out to Jesus for help.
So, the situation seems pretty clear.
But still, Jesus says to the blind man in Mark 10:51, What do you want me to do for you? And I think blind Bartimaeus might’ve been taken aback for a second. Like, seriously Jesus, you can’t TELL what I need? You’re the healer. I’m blind. I kind of thought you’d be able to put all that together.
But Jesus wanted this man to confess his need and Jesus waited for him to confess his need and ask Jesus to heal him. And blind Bartimaeus didn’t hesitate for a second and he said, “Jesus, I want to see” and in Mark 10:52 Jesus said to him, “Go, for your faith has healed you.”
And today, Jesus wants us to confess our need for him. You may be here today, knowing that you need healing and transformation in your life, and Jesus is going to call you to himself. And he’s going to say to you, “What do you want me to do for you?” Because part of receiving the Resurrected life is you confessing your need and asking Jesus to save you and freely give you HIS Resurrected Life.
And so, I’m going to give you a chance right now to say to Jesus – the Resurrected Savior – I NEED the miracle of the Resurrected Life. Jesus, I need your resurrection power to be forgiven of my sin, to overcome my addictions, to save my relationships, to save my life. Jesus, I need you as my Savior.