And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
Ephesians 2:1
While reading Ephesians a few days ago, I couldn't seem to get past this verse. Despite reading on, I was drawn back to its amazing simplicity. The power contained in these twelve words strips us of all our pride and grandiosity, dropping us to our knees in thanksgiving.
The word quickened means to be made alive. Think about that for a second and the deadness of ourselves before Christ. We've been to many funerals and know what dead means. We were dead! This puts our lives now precisely where they should be, at the feet and disposal of Jesus Christ.
When was the last time you walked or drove past a cemetery expecting a raised body to step out of a grave? Never! Not many people in cemeteries wanted to die. Most were saddened or traumatised as they irreversibly advanced into the realm of whatever laid before them. Our graveyard was like that. We were that dead, in the grave, completely unable to be brought to life, with an undesirable ending. We were in a state of hopelessness without the blood of Christ.
But Jesus didn't leave the wild man to remain captive in his sins. (Mark 5:1-16). He didn't leave Jairus' daughter for dead. (Mark 5). He didn't leave the woman with the issue of blood to suffer, and He didn't leave Lazarus in the tomb. Neither did we need to stay in our dead and suffering state. Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we are free from the power, captivity and deadness of our past trespasses and sins, and freed from that inability to do anything about it.
Ephesians 2:4-5 speaks of the miraculous clemency. "But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)"
What do we owe our Saviour for that quickening? Everything.
Today's prayer: Dear Lord, thank you for making me alive when at a time I was completely dead. Lately, I haven't really thought much about my deadness. But I’m now reminded that I was bereft of all hope until you came into my life. Thank You again. Photo by JC Gellidon