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Series Code: IIWSS
Program Code: IIWSS023029S
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00:16 >>Welcome to "Sabbath School," 00:17 brought to you by It Is Written. 00:20 We're taking a look this quarter at the book of Ephesians, 00:24 and this week we're looking 00:25 at lesson number four entitled "How God Rescues Us." 00:31 It's an interesting introduction to a 14 week study 00:34 that we are doing, and we're well on our way. 00:37 Let's begin today with prayer. 00:40 Father, we ask that You will bless our study this week 00:42 as we continue our journey through the book of Ephesians. 00:46 We ask that You'll help us to understand not 00:48 just the grand themes that Paul shares in this book 00:51 but also how these wonderful truths apply 00:55 to our lives today. 00:57 We ask that You'll bless our time together 00:58 and we thank You in Jesus' name, amen. 01:02 Well, we're glad that you're here today 01:03 and we're also glad that our special guest is here, 01:06 and that is Dr. John McVay. 01:07 He is the president 01:09 of Walla Walla University, and of course 01:11 the author of this quarter's Sabbath school lesson. 01:13 John, good to see you again. 01:15 >>Good to be here. 01:16 Good to be back at it, studying a great epistle. 01:19 >>It is, it's a phenomenal epistle. 01:21 And we're in lesson number four, week number four. 01:24 We've got a ways to go. 01:25 >>Yes. >>But we are laying 01:26 quite a substantial foundation 01:29 which we've done for the first three weeks 01:31 and now here we are looking at "How God Rescues Us." 01:34 >>Yes. >>In this passage 01:35 that we're looking at today in Ephesians, chapter two, 01:39 has a lot of meat in it. 01:41 There's a lot to digest, 01:43 as it were. >>Yeah. 01:44 >>We're looking at essentially 10 verses 01:46 this week-- >>Mm hmm, mm hmm. 01:47 >>..and Paul takes us 01:49 on a little journey through these verses. 01:52 You might say that this section or this passage is divided 01:57 up into three different segments. 01:59 What are those different segments 02:01 and the significance of each one of them? 02:03 >>Yeah, if we were to divide it three ways, and by the way, 02:07 the whole passage is about these believers 02:11 in Ephesians and what they were like before they met Jesus, 02:17 the profound transformation that Jesus makes 02:19 in their experience, 02:20 and then celebrating what God has done for them, 02:23 and those really are three parts. 02:25 The first part is the pre-conversion existence 02:28 of the addressees, 02:30 they're spiritually dead, 02:32 they're practicing trespasses and sins 02:35 as the regular pattern of their lives. 02:39 And so the sad pre-conversion existence 02:44 of the now believers 02:46 in Ephesus is the subject of verses one through three. 02:49 And then comes part two, God's intervention to redeem them, 02:56 hallelujah, and His plans for them, verses four to seven. 03:00 And then finally comes a kind of celebration 03:02 of the gospel as it is exhibited in their story. 03:07 Ephesians, chapter 2, verses 8-10, 03:09 a very famous passage, 03:11 "For by grace 03:12 "you [are] saved through faith, 03:14 and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God," 03:16 and so on. 03:18 It's easy for us to forget that that celebration, 03:24 that wonderful summation of the gospel is rooted 03:26 in the actual stories of once pagans, 03:30 now Christians, 03:32 believers who live in Ephesus. 03:34 >>And I imagine that we could see, 03:37 we should see ourselves also 03:39 in this progression that we're seeing here. 03:42 >>Yes, I think that's the key to applying it 03:45 to our own hearts and lives, is this isn't just a story 03:49 about some people way back in the first century, 03:52 but their story exhibits the patterns 03:56 by which God relates to all of us, 03:58 and we can see that in some sense, 04:00 their conversion story is ours too. 04:03 >>Yep, and perhaps we're getting the cart a little bit ahead 04:06 of the horse, we're getting there. 04:07 But let's take a look at these individuals. 04:11 What was their life like, this pre-conversion experience? 04:15 Where were they? Where did God bring them from? 04:19 >>Well, it doesn't sound like a very happy existence, 04:22 does it? 04:24 Dead, it's not good to be dead generally, 04:27 but they're spiritually "dead in trespasses and sins." 04:31 Chapter two, verse one. 04:34 They're following the course of this world 04:38 which is a little difficult for us to get a handle on, 04:42 but the patterns of behavior, the usual expectations 04:45 of this world which were negative and damning. 04:52 They're following along in those, 04:53 they're following "the prince of the power of the air," 04:56 which is a way that Paul is referring to Satan, right? 05:00 They're under his command, they're following him, 05:04 and he further identifies "the prince of the power 05:08 of the air," Satan, 05:09 as "the spirit that is now at work in sons of disobedience." 05:12 So they are already possessed by a spirit 05:16 but it's an evil spirit, right? 05:19 And that spirit has trained them to do evil, 05:23 not to do good. 05:26 And then in verse three, he talks 05:29 about that all of us were once in the same condition, 05:33 and he summarized that condition 05:35 as we once lived in the past passions 05:37 of our flesh just carrying out whatever our body says 05:41 to do, whatever your appetite says, you do it, 05:44 and he sees that that is an unhelpful existence, 05:48 and that it points us--points to the fact 05:51 that everybody who's in that state is, by nature, 05:55 children of wrath. 05:58 That means that they have nothing to look forward 06:01 to in the future, at the end of time, 06:04 except the judgment of God's wrath, 06:07 and that's a very sad state to be in. 06:09 >>You know, if we were left to our own devices 06:13 and there was no intervention, 06:14 we tend, by nature, to be selfish beings. 06:19 We like the things that we like, 06:21 we enjoy the things that we enjoy, 06:24 and that doesn't lead in a positive direction. 06:28 But then we get to verse number four, 06:30 and in verse number four, I would say it takes a sharp left 06:34 but it's really not a sharp left, it's a 180. 06:37 >>Yes, it is a 180. 06:38 >>So it's completely turned around with two words. 06:41 Those two words are, "But God." 06:44 >>Yes. >>So here we are headed 06:45 in one direction and then, "But God," and there's a 180. 06:50 What about those two words? 06:52 >>Well, those are two of the most hope filled, 06:56 resonant words in Scripture, aren't they? 06:59 Because as you suggested, left to our own devices, 07:01 left on our own, we are children of wrath. 07:04 We are destined for eternal darkness, "But God," 07:09 and God enters into their story dramatically, 07:14 a lightning bolt of grace, and the story changes 07:18 with the intervention of God, "But God," yeah. 07:21 It's grand words, two of the grandest words in Scripture. 07:25 >>So what happens now, we get to this turn, 07:30 and, "But God," 07:31 and it's interesting the way that He's described here, 07:33 "But God, who is rich in mercy, 07:36 because of His great love with which He loved us." 07:40 There's a black to white, left to right, 07:45 darkness to light. >>Utter transformation. 07:47 >>Complete transformation here, what happens with this? 07:50 >>Yeah, well, it's a resurrection story, isn't it? 07:54 "Even when we were dead in our trespasses," 07:57 >> -looking at verse five-- 07:59 "[God] made us alive together with Christ-- 08:04 by grace you have been saved"--inserts that remark-- 08:08 "and raised us up with Him 08:10 and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ." 08:15 Now, there's wonder packed into those words. 08:18 There's grand spiritual blessing stuffed in there. 08:24 And let's unpack that just a little bit 08:26 because three things happened to Jesus, 08:31 three grand events focused on Him: 08:34 Jesus is resurrected from the dead, right? 08:38 He is ascended to heaven, 08:40 and He is exalted or crowned in heaven, 08:44 those three things, 08:47 and Paul seems to allude to those three. 08:50 It's as though Christ scribes an arc across the cosmos 08:56 and in some way that's really rather difficult 08:58 for us to get our hands on and understand concretely, 09:01 but we can know it's great news, right? 09:03 In some way, we as believers track 09:06 on that glorious cosmic arc of Jesus. 09:10 We were dead in our sins, 09:13 through the grace of God expressed in Jesus 09:16 we are raised to newness of life, right? 09:20 And then the next phrase is a little bit different, 09:23 "Made us alive together with Christ 09:25 and raised us up with Him." 09:28 That sounds like resurrection language 09:30 but it's probably actually referring 09:31 to the raising of Jesus to heaven, the exaltation of Jesus, 09:36 because we have the beginning endpoint, "Made us alive," 09:39 and the ending endpoint, "Seated us 09:41 with Him in the heavenly places." 09:43 And if it's a sequence of three events, you'd expect 09:45 that middle one to be referring to the ascension of Jesus. 09:49 So we are resurrected with Jesus, 09:53 we are ascended with Jesus, and we are exalted with Jesus. 09:58 Hallelujah, right? 10:00 Hallelujah. 10:01 We somehow participate 10:03 in these three central events in the career of Christ. 10:07 >>So we're seeing a progression 10:10 from being, not just-- 10:12 well, from being dead-- >>Yes. 10:13 >>...it's tough to be in a worse shape 10:15 than dead. >>Little tough. 10:17 >>That's about as bad a shape as you can be in. 10:19 But then we see, as you said, the resurrection-- 10:23 >>Yes. >>...and then 10:25 the ascension-- >>Right. 10:26 >>...and that's something that He wants us 10:29 to experience as well. 10:30 >>Exactly. >>Typically, if you think 10:31 about people getting their act together 10:33 in this world, in this life, 10:35 yeah, you end up in a better position, a better place. 10:38 But being exalted to heaven, 10:40 that kind of takes the wind out of the sails 10:43 of anything that 10:44 falls short of that. >>Yes. 10:45 >>And yet that's the picture that Paul gives us here. 10:48 >>It's a very similar thought in Colossians. 10:50 We've noted sometimes that Colossians 10:52 and Ephesians are rather similar 10:54 in their basic pattern and much of their content. 10:57 And Paul, in Colossians three, verse one, puts it this way, 11:00 "If then you have been raised with Christ, 11:04 "seek the things that are above, where Christ is, 11:08 "seated at the right hand of God. 11:10 "Set your mind on things that are above, 11:13 not on things that are on the earth." 11:16 Wonderful. 11:17 It says, in some sense, 11:19 believers are called to dwell in heavenly places, 11:23 to dwell in heaven with God and with Christ 11:26 and with the Spirit, to find our true identity 11:29 and our true place there. 11:32 And that's an awe inspiring task to try 11:36 to figure out just what Paul means by all of that. 11:40 >>I think it really is. 11:41 And yet, in these few verses, 11:44 Paul helps us to at least get a glimpse of that. 11:47 He gives us a keyhole view, as it were, 11:52 to let us know what's possible. 11:53 >>Yes. 11:54 >>And there are great many people today who-- 11:57 well, the vast majority are dead in trespasses and sins, 12:00 some recognize it, others don't. 12:03 And for those who do recognize it, sometimes there's 12:05 that feeling of helplessness, a feeling of, 12:09 "Well, yeah, this is my state, 12:12 "but what kind of hope is there? 12:14 "I've tried my best, 12:16 I've done my best." >>Right. 12:18 >>"I want to do the right thing." 12:20 I seem to remember Paul saying something 12:22 along those lines 12:23 in another book-- >>Yes. 12:25 >>...wanting to do the right thing and yet failing to do it. 12:28 And yet here Paul gives genuine hope 12:32 about what the future holds. 12:35 >>Yes, he does. 12:36 They have experienced this conversion, 12:38 they have responded to the call, 12:41 the Spirit has entered them, 12:43 has encouraged them to practice faith, 12:45 and Jesus has given them the right and the ability to do so. 12:49 They have done that, 12:51 and it has been a complete transformation 12:54 from being in this growling, dark place 12:57 of their lives, to spiritually moving 13:02 to be seated in heavenly places with Christ. 13:04 That's an expanse, 13:05 that's a huge transformation, a great difference. 13:08 >>An enormous one. 13:09 And of course that's what God wants us 13:11 to experience as well. 13:12 And we're going to continue looking 13:14 at how we can indeed experience that as Christians. 13:18 We're going to take a break 13:19 in just a moment, but before we do, 13:21 I want to encourage you to pick up the companion book 13:23 to this quarter's Sabbath school lesson. 13:26 It is called "Ephesians" by John McVay. 13:29 You can find this at itiswritten.shop. 13:33 If you're enjoying this study on Ephesians 13:35 and you want to learn more about it, 13:38 this is the place that you need to go. 13:41 Pick up the companion book at itiswritten.shop 13:44 and you'll gain additional insights, depth, more stories, 13:49 more Bible verses, more reference material 13:52 to really add some significant depth and substance 13:56 to your study of the book of Ephesians. 13:58 We're going to come back in just a moment 14:00 as we continue our study here this week, 14:03 you don't want to miss a moment of it. 14:05 We'll see back in just a moment. 14:08 (upbeat music) 14:12 >>With superheroes being big business, 14:15 we ask ourselves what heroes really look like. 14:19 A man in a fast food restaurant wrestles a gun out 14:22 of the hands of a killer. 14:23 A man in Canada risks his life to save a woman 14:26 being attacked by a polar bear. 14:28 A young man attempts to run 14:30 across a continent to raise money for cancer research. 14:33 The Medal of Honor is awarded to United States servicemen 14:36 and women who've committed acts of uncommon valor, heroes. 14:42 But what's a hero, really? 14:45 And who is the greatest hero of them all? 14:49 Join me for "The Hero." 14:52 Learn that real greatness, true heroism is found in service. 14:56 And discover the identity 14:58 of the real hero who has saved more lives 15:01 than anyone else in history. 15:03 Don't miss "The Hero," brought to you by It Is Written TV. 15:11 (upbeat music) 15:16 >>Welcome back to "Sabbath School," 15:17 brought to you by It Is Written. 15:19 We are looking at lesson number four 15:22 on the book of Ephesians. 15:24 And John, just a few moments ago, 15:26 we talked about this grand transformation 15:30 that God brings people through, 15:33 wants to bring people through. 15:36 And it's interesting in verses six and seven here, 15:39 there is an interesting passage 15:44 or an interesting phrase that Paul uses. 15:47 He says that, "[He] raises us up... 15:49 "together, and made us sit together 15:52 in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus." 15:55 What are these heavenly places 15:57 that God wants us to sit in with Christ Jesus? 16:03 >>Well, it's an important question to ask, 16:04 a helpful question, 16:06 because Paul uses this phrase, "heavenly places," 16:08 several times in Ephesians, it's his principal way 16:13 of referring to heaven, if you will. 16:16 But it's a little bit more complicated 16:19 than we might think, because when we think of heaven 16:23 we tend to think of a place of utter safety, 16:26 a place that's free of all sin 16:28 and temptation and grief and pain and so on. 16:32 Paul's perspective 16:34 on the heavenly places is a little different than that. 16:36 The reason we know that is that we have a reference 16:40 in chapter six, verse 12, 16:45 and it lists the various authorities, 16:49 cosmic powers, 16:52 spiritual forces of evil, 16:54 and then comes the phrase, "In the heavenly places," 16:58 and we go, "Oh no, 17:00 "that's just the crowd we would like 17:02 to see excluded from heaven," right? 17:05 "We don't want them there." 17:06 But in Paul's view here, 17:10 heaven is--the heavenly places 17:12 are this amazing space 17:16 where the throne of God is, 17:19 where the important decisions about the future 17:21 of humankind are crafted and made and lodged, 17:27 and it's a place decisively marked 17:29 by Christ's redemptive work. 17:31 It's the place where Christ's rulership over the cosmos 17:35 has been inaugurated at the very throne of God Himself. 17:39 All of that is true. 17:43 But the challenge, of course, 17:45 is that there is something going on in these heavenly places 17:51 because evil powers are in some sense said to live there, 17:55 that's their place too. 17:59 One author has talked a little bit about this. 18:03 He writes, "Clearly Paul thinks 18:06 "about [these heavenly places] 18:07 "as a battlefield: 18:10 "on one side is Christ the field marshal, 18:12 "standing at the king's right hand, and we with him; 18:15 "on the other side are the principalities 18:17 "and powers, which are alienated from God 18:20 "and opposed to him, 18:21 "in their utter disarray, 18:23 exercising their limited influence." 18:26 So we'd like it to be a pure and peaceful place, 18:28 but in some sense, 18:30 these heavenly places are themselves a battlefield, 18:34 not unlike a certain passage in Revelation, right? 18:37 >>Very true. >>You remember that passage, 18:39 there was war in heaven. >>War in heaven. 18:42 >>Michael and his angels fought against the dragon 18:44 and so on. 18:45 So in some sense, this is a place 18:48 where the great controversy is in contest. 18:53 And it leads us to think perhaps a little bit differently 18:57 about heavenly places than we have tended to think 18:59 about heaven. 19:01 In heavenly places, 19:03 believers do not so much experience peace, 19:06 as they gain perspective. 19:08 They gain understanding 19:10 that their stories are part of the grandest story of all, 19:14 the story of the great controversy 19:16 or the story of the cosmic conflict. 19:18 >>So a little deeper, more fleshed out idea 19:22 of heavenly places. 19:24 Not--he's not talking about clouds flitting through the sky. 19:27 This is real stuff. 19:30 >>We might wish to pick and choose amongst his mentions 19:33 of the heavenly places, but we really can't, can we? 19:35 We have to take all of this together 19:38 and try to make sense of it. 19:40 It's a little bit more complex than the puffy clouds. 19:42 Yes, it is. >>Very true. 19:44 Now, that kind of brings us down to some 19:47 of the perhaps more familiar verses 19:49 in this passage that we're looking at. 19:52 And verses eight through 10, 19:54 we hear these quoted with some regularity. 19:57 Paul says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, 20:00 "and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 20:03 not of works, lest anyone should boast." 20:06 Then he says in verse 10, "For we are His workmanship, 20:09 "created in Christ Jesus for good works, 20:12 which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." 20:17 What's the significance of these verses? 20:19 I mean, we could go in a hundred different directions-- 20:21 >>Sure, sure. >>...the significance of them. 20:22 But as Paul is writing here in Ephesians two, 20:24 how does this all fit into his train of thought, as it were? 20:30 >>Well, again, it's part of the the narrative 20:31 that he's providing 20:33 of the conversion experience of these once pagans, 20:36 but now Christian believers 20:38 in Ephesus, to whom he's writing. 20:40 And so he's telling their story. 20:43 And in this segment, of course, he's telling 20:46 about how they are saved and experienced salvation. 20:49 In the process of telling their story, though, 20:52 he provides one of the grand summaries 20:54 of the gospel from the pen of any biblical author. 20:59 One does think of Paul's own summary 21:01 in Romans 1, verses 16 and 17, where he writes, 21:05 "For I am not ashamed of the gospel,...it is the power 21:08 "of God for salvation to everyone who believes, 21:12 "to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it 21:15 "the righteousness of God is revealed from faith [to] faith, 21:20 as it is written, 'The righteous shall live by faith.'" 21:23 And you hear some 21:25 of those themes in that summary re-echoing, echoing afresh 21:31 in Ephesians, chapter 2, verses 8-10, don't you? 21:34 And it's a wonderful celebration of the conversion 21:38 and transformation of those saints at Ephesus. 21:41 It's a wonderful summary of Paul's gospel in any era. 21:47 >>So, speaking of God's grace, 21:48 and that's the only way any of us are saved, 21:50 we're saved by God's grace through faith in Christ. 21:53 How expansive is that grace? 21:56 How can we begin to wrap our minds 21:59 around that grace when we recognize 22:02 how far short we fall of, 22:07 well, of perfection, 22:08 of what it takes to be saved from a certain perspective? 22:12 We're not perfect. 22:13 >>Yes, correct. 22:15 >>We can't save ourselves-- >>No. 22:18 >>...no matter how much we try 22:20 or how good we happen to be able to be 22:24 from this point forward-- >>Right. 22:26 >>...our past condemns us. 22:28 >>Right. 22:29 >>And in walks grace. >>Yes. 22:32 >>Elaborate on grace. 22:34 >>Paul has mentioned in the first part 22:36 of the conversion story that these ones in Ephesus, 22:39 all of us as human beings, 22:41 are, by nature, children of wrath. 22:44 And what I take him to mean there is 22:47 that we are in our natural state, bent against God, 22:53 bent toward sin, bent toward self-destruction, 22:56 bent toward domination by demonic powers and so on. 23:00 That's where we would naturally be, 23:05 that's plan A, that's the one everybody falls into, 23:08 that's the natural place to go. 23:10 "But God," but God shifts us to plan C, 23:15 the Christ-saturated, Christ-blessed plan 23:20 of salvation and redemption. 23:22 And we hear that word in our dark, lost state, 23:28 and the Spirit comes into our lives 23:32 and tells us about this salvation that we can have in Jesus. 23:36 And it sounds too good to be true 23:38 because we think we have to earn it, 23:41 we have to figure out a way to manufacture it, 23:44 and then comes that word "grace" into our lives. 23:46 This is the free gift of God, this is grace. 23:53 We often have defined that term as "unmerited favor," 23:57 but this is something a little beyond simply unmerited favor 24:00 because these ones in Ephesus, ourselves, are children 24:05 of wrath destined for punishment 24:08 and destruction, right? 24:11 That's what we deserve. 24:13 So it's not just unmerited favor, 24:16 it's that He pours out His grace upon ones 24:19 who deserve, fully deserve, the entire opposite. 24:24 And that's what makes the message 24:26 of the gospel shine, doesn't it? 24:28 >>It really does. 24:29 And in this passage, just 10 short verses, 24:32 Paul takes us from children 24:35 of wrath to this opportunity to receive this grace 24:40 which we don't deserve. 24:42 As you said, we deserve the opposite. 24:44 And yet He gives it to us. 24:46 If there were somebody who was watching this program 24:51 right now who says, "Yeah, 24:53 "the children of wrath, I identify with that. 24:55 I've wanted to do the right thing, I keep failing." 24:58 >>Sure. >>"I keep tripping up. 25:00 "And in fact, 'tripping up' is probably not strong enough. 25:04 "I fall flat on my face over and over again. 25:06 "I want the grace. 25:08 "I don't know if I can believe 25:10 that I can have that grace." >>Sure. 25:12 >>What words of encouragement would you give 25:14 to someone who is struggling with something like that? 25:19 >>You know, I would probably 25:21 look into the eyes of such a one, 25:24 and I would first of all identify with them, 25:27 their experience is the experience of all humankind. 25:32 If you find yourself in that space today, 25:34 you don't need to think that your experience is 25:37 somehow strange or unusual, 25:40 that you are unusually left out 25:44 of God's equation of grace. 25:46 This blackness and darkness that you may be experiencing 25:49 in your heart and your mind are very, very real. 25:53 It is the common human experience. 25:56 But into that darkness, and into your darkness, 25:59 God speaks the message of His love and His grace. 26:04 And I would ask you, 26:06 can you find it in your heart to hear the good news today? 26:11 Can you find it in your heart 26:13 to allow the Holy Spirit to breathe 26:16 into your life the understanding that God is love, 26:20 not in some abstract sense, 26:22 but God Himself loves you this day, 26:26 and could you begin, by God's grace and by the power 26:30 of His Spirit, to sense your life being transformed 26:34 by the realization that you are not outside the framework 26:38 of God's goodness and His grace, but in fact, 26:40 He's drawing you right into His heart. 26:43 He is pouring out His grace on you just now. 26:47 >>John, thanks for helping us to remember those two words, 26:51 "But God, but God." 26:54 And don't you forget those two words either, "But God." 26:59 He wants you to experience that grace. 27:01 He wants you to experience freedom that comes 27:05 from being in Christ, freedom from guilt, 27:08 freedom from pain, freedom from condemnation. 27:11 It's an experience that He wants you to have. 27:14 That's what Paul was writing to the Ephesians about, 27:17 is that experience of understanding God's grace, His power, 27:23 and the brand new life and experience 27:25 that He wants them to have and He wants us to have as well. 27:29 We are studying the book of Ephesians, 27:31 and we are just getting started, 27:34 and it only gets better from here. 27:36 So I wanna encourage you to join us again next week 27:39 as John and I are gonna be continuing to delve 27:42 into this incredible subject and we look forward 27:45 to seeing you again when we again look at "Sabbath School," 27:48 brought to you by It Is Written. 27:52 (upbeat music) 28:25 (music ends) |
Revised 2023-07-14