<html><head></head><body><div><div><div><div><br></div>Ephesians 2; 3-7<div><br></div><div><b>3. &nbsp;Among these </b>(the sons of disobedience) <b>we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of body and mind, and so we were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.</b></div><div><b>4. &nbsp;But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us,</b></div><div><b>5. &nbsp;even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, (by grace you have been saved),&nbsp;</b></div><div><b>6. &nbsp;and raised us up with him, and made us sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,</b></div><div><b>7. &nbsp;that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.</b></div><div><b><br></b></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>Our text today says, <i>“God”…”made us alive <u>together with</u>&nbsp;Christ.” &nbsp;&nbsp;</i></div><div><i><br></i></div><div>We do not receive true Life unless we are together with Christ.</div><div><br></div><div>The Church speaks of ‘faith’ and ‘forgiveness’, but, these are ours ONLY in and with Christ.</div><div><br></div><div>That is why Paul uses the language of being, <i>“baptized <u>into</u>&nbsp;Christ”.</i></div><div><i><br></i></div><div>We are not just poor, miserable, sinners who have been forgiven, but are yet feeble and helpless, waiting&nbsp;to be joined with Jesus.&nbsp;We are a new creation, born anew <i>“</i><i>in and with Christ” </i>now<i>. &nbsp; </i>It is our very presence <u>in Christ</u>&nbsp;which brings us into the presence of the Father, to <i>“sit with him in the heavenly places </i><u>in Christ”</u>&nbsp;. &nbsp; &nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>Please recognize we <i>“sit”</i>&nbsp;with him! &nbsp;To <i>“sit, with him”</i>&nbsp;is to ‘rest’ and to ‘rule’ with him. &nbsp;We no long work to make ourselves righteous by our own efforts. &nbsp;We now <i>“Together&nbsp;with Christ” </i>are partakers of the very righteousness of God. &nbsp;</div><div><br></div>Paul does not say we will ‘some day’ be joined into Christ. &nbsp;He says, <i>“God…&nbsp;made us alive together with Christ”. &nbsp; </i>Paul uses the ‘past-tense’. &nbsp;We are <i>“in and with Christ”</i>&nbsp;now, resting from dead works.<div>(see, Matthew 11;28)<br><div><br></div><div>The good works Believes do, they do because of who they are in Christ. &nbsp;It is our new nature to be sacrificially loving others. &nbsp;We do not do them because we ‘ought to’, or ‘should do them’ as some burdensome&nbsp;obligation. &nbsp;We do them because it is our new desire to do them. &nbsp;The new man in Christ&nbsp;loves to read and meditate upon&nbsp;God’s Word, he loves to give sacrificially, he loves to serve unconditionally, all because we are now&nbsp;<i>“together with Christ.”</i></div><div><i><br></i></div><div>Prayer: &nbsp;Merciful Father, grant us faith to know who we are and whose we are. &nbsp;Bless us to walk by the Spirit and not live as the miserable&nbsp;old man. &nbsp;In Jesus we pray, Amen.</div><div><br></div><div>Love,</div><div>Dad/Baba/Eric</div><div>Grandpa Pickle Pastor</div><div>“A chapter a day, every day, progressively, be transformed, ‘soak” in the living Word. &nbsp;God’s Word is our habitation, and we are His.”</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br><br><br><div><a></a><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>


Ephesians 2; 3-7
3.  Among these (the sons of disobedience) we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of body and mind, and so we were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.4.  But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us,5.  even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, (by grace you have been saved), 6.  and raised us up with him, and made us sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,7.  that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.


Our text today says, “God”…”made us alive together with Christ.”   
We do not receive true Life unless we are together with Christ.
The Church speaks of ‘faith’ and ‘forgiveness’, but, these are ours ONLY in and with Christ.
That is why Paul uses the language of being, “baptized into Christ”.
We are not just poor, miserable, sinners who have been forgiven, but are yet feeble and helpless, waiting to be joined with Jesus. We are a new creation, born anew “in and with Christ” now.   It is our very presence in Christ which brings us into the presence of the Father, to “sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ” .    
Please recognize we “sit” with him!  To “sit, with him” is to ‘rest’ and to ‘rule’ with him.  We no long work to make ourselves righteous by our own efforts.  We now “Together with Christ” are partakers of the very righteousness of God.  
Paul does not say we will ‘some day’ be joined into Christ.  He says, “God… made us alive together with Christ”.   Paul uses the ‘past-tense’.  We are “in and with Christ” now, resting from dead works.(see, Matthew 11;28)

The good works Believes do, they do because of who they are in Christ.  It is our new nature to be sacrificially loving others.  We do not do them because we ‘ought to’, or ‘should do them’ as some burdensome obligation.  We do them because it is our new desire to do them.  The new man in Christ loves to read and meditate upon God’s Word, he loves to give sacrificially, he loves to serve unconditionally, all because we are now “together with Christ.”
Prayer:  Merciful Father, grant us faith to know who we are and whose we are.  Bless us to walk by the Spirit and not live as the miserable old man.  In Jesus we pray, Amen.
Love,Dad/Baba/EricGrandpa Pickle Pastor“A chapter a day, every day, progressively, be transformed, ‘soak” in the living Word.  God’s Word is our habitation, and we are His.”








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