Ephesians 2:1-10 Common English Bible
Saved from sin to life
2 At one time you were like a dead person because of the things you did wrong and your offenses against God. 2 You used to live like people of this world. You followed the rule of a destructive spiritual power. This is the spirit of disobedience to God’s will that is now at work in persons whose lives are characterized by disobedience. 3 At one time you were like those persons. All of you used to do whatever felt good and whatever you thought you wanted so that you were children headed for punishment just like everyone else.
4-5 However, God is rich in mercy. He brought us to life with Christ while we were dead as a result of those things that we did wrong. He did this because of the great love that he has for us. You are saved by God’s grace! 6 And God raised us up and seated us in the heavens with Christ Jesus. 7 God did this to show future generations the greatness of his grace by the goodness that God has shown us in Christ Jesus.
8 You are saved by God’s grace because of your faith.[a] This salvation is God’s gift. It’s not something you possessed. 9 It’s not something you did that you can be proud of. 10 Instead, we are God’s accomplishment, created in Christ Jesus to do good things. God planned for these good things to be the way that we live our lives.
Word of God for the Children of God
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
No Longer Dead, but Alive!
From Death to Life
2 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the age of this world and according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,
Nothing is more basic and universal to humanity than the desire to live.
But we don’t want merely to exist.
We want a life that is long in years and rich in quality.
No wonder!
We are told in Genesis that God created human beings in his own image and likeness (Genesis 1:27).
Since God is the source of true life, people created in his image are naturally inclined toward desiring life.
The alternative to life is death, and we go to great lengths to avoid it.
Most observers recognize that increasing healthcare costs are putting immense strain on our households, governments, insurers and our healthcare providers – and too that the money spent is not translating into better health outcomes.
In 2021 alone, global spending on health reached a staggering $9.8 trillion, accounting for 10.3% of global Global Domestic Product.
Yet, last decade, life expectancy has stagnated in too many countries, including the United States (US), which alone spends over $4 trillion annually on health.
Understanding the True Cost of End-of-Life Care …
When someone receives a diagnosis of serious or terminal illness, the most immediate focus naturally centers on medical treatment, quality of life, and time with loved ones. Yet lurking beneath these urgent concerns is a question many families will mightily struggle to address: how will we pay for this?
For many people with terminal illnesses, hospital care represents the largest single expense. The final year of life often involves multiple hospitalizations, emergency room visits, intensive care stays, each carrying substantial costs.
The cost of end-of-life care represents most significant financial challenges families face, yet it’s a topic often shrouded in confusion, shame, and silence.
How Much Does Hospice Cost Without Insurance?
Hospice care without insurance can range anywhere from $150–$500 per day, or $5,000–$15,000 per month, depending on the level(s) of care you agree to.
What is the overall average cost of death?
Among the eye-opening facts discovered: The average total expense of a loved one’s death is a hefty $12,70o –$15,000 or more depending on arrangements.
But Paul understood that there’s another kind of death that’s just as real as physical death but not as obvious. When the apostle Paul writes, “You were dead in your transgressions and sins,” he is referring to spiritual death.
In the Bible, spiritual death is caused by people’s separation from, and rejection of, fellowship with God, their Creator.
Because every person is created in God’s image, we all share a desire for life.
Because every person is trapped in rebellion against God, we all are alienated from the God of life.
Spiritual death is universal.
The Bible says every person without Christ is spiritually dead.
But when we look around us, this doesn’t seem to ring true. Some people might look totally corrupt, but many others look like decent people and appear very much alive. Isn’t it extreme to say that all people without Jesus are dead in sin?
Well, a carefully embalmed body may appear to be less shocking than a mangled or decaying corpse, a corpse is still a corpse, no matter what cosmetics are used.
In the same way, one person’s sinful condition may be much less offensive than another’s.
There may be different degrees of spiritual decay, but all are equally dead in sin.
Once a person is dead, the degree of decay makes little difference.
Dead is dead.
That’s why believers talk like this:
“On my own, I would ignore the Bible and be indifferent to Christ. But because God’s Spirit has breathed new life into my soul, I trust in Jesus and believe his Word. It is by grace I have been saved.”
“At just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly… While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6-8).
When we were dead and decaying, Jesus overcame sin and death.
Then he breathed the life of his Spirit into our souls and created in us the faith to believe in him.
We did nothing.
God has done it all.
But that’s not the end of the story.
The book of Ephesians introduces us to the answer to death in all its forms.
This is good news …
Embracing the good-news message of Jesus means life for all who believe.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
Praying ….
The Lord’s Glory and Mankind’s Dignity.
For the music director; on the Gittith. A Psalm of David.
8 Lord, our Lord,
How majestic is Your name in all the earth,
You who have [a]displayed Your splendor above the heavens!
2 From the mouths of infants and nursing babies You have established [b]strength
Because of Your enemies,
To do away with the enemy and the revengeful.
3 When I [c]consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have set in place;
4 What is man that You think of him,
And a son of man that You are concerned about him?
5 Yet You have made him a little lower than [d]God,
And You crown him with glory and majesty!
6 You have him rule over the works of Your hands;
You have put everything under his feet,
7 All sheep and oxen,
And also the animals of the field,
8 The birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea,
Whatever passes through the paths of the seas.
9 Lord, our Lord,
How majestic is Your name in all the earth!
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 