In Christ - Made New

In “Made New,” part of the In Christ series, Tyler Lynde opens Ephesians 2:10–13 and traces the journey from “far off” to “brought near.” He celebrates signs of spiritual hunger in our day, yet he presses beyond headlines to the heart of true renewal. Drawing on Jonathan Edwards, Tyler names the marks of a God-breathed awakening: deep conviction of sin, genuine repentance, a growing love for Jesus, and lives aligned with Scripture. That kind of grace doesn’t just stir a moment; it reshapes a life.

Tyler lingers over Paul’s claim that we are God’s workmanship—His poema—created in Christ Jesus for good works prepared beforehand. Grace comes first, then works follow. Saved by grace through faith, not by works; yet grace produces obedience and the fruit of the Spirit. This newness is not private inspiration but public transformation: peace that steadies us in trial, kindness that softens neighborhoods, integrity that changes workplaces, and mercy that meets needs in our city. A church alive doesn’t outsource love; it lives it.

He also highlights the first command in Ephesians: remember. Remember being separated from Christ, alienated from God’s people, strangers to the covenants, without hope and without God. Remembering keeps humility fresh and gratitude loud. Then comes the hinge of history—“But now in Christ Jesus…”—and the distance closes. Not by hustle or religion, but by the blood of Christ. Jesus bridges the divide we could never cross, makes enemies family, and seats believers with Him so they can walk in the works already on their path.

With pastoral clarity, Tyler urges both comfort and action: if you feel far, Christ draws near; if you’ve been in church for years, don’t forget what you were saved from; if you’re asking what to do next, begin with prayer, worship, remembering, and simple obedience. Good works are not the ground of salvation, but its consequence and evidence—fruit that remains across generations.

This message offers a clear map for anyone longing for renewal: receive grace, remember your rescue, and walk as a living poem of God’s craftsmanship. Watch and be encouraged to let revival begin where pride ends—at the cross—and to let personal renewal become public witness for the good of your family, your neighborhood, and your city.

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Episode Transcript

Tyler Lynde (00:03):
Are you ready for the Word of God this morning?
Good.
It's ready for you too.
So you're in good company.
Let's look at Ephesians chapter2, verses 10 through 13 this
morning.
We're in a sermon series calledIn Christ, and it's the study
of the book of Ephesians, andwe're breaking it into two
parts.
So the first part is about ouridentity in Christ, and then the

(00:24):
second part we'll look at nextyear, which is the second half
of Ephesians, which is all aboutour purpose in Christ.
But today we're going to befocusing, like I said, on
Ephesians 2.
Um, last week Kelly did a greatjob of helping us to understand
the blessed fact that we whowere dead in our sins and
trespasses have been made aliveunto God by grace through faith.

(00:46):
Is that your story?
Amen.
We can be thankful for that.
Today we're going to look atthe fact that in Christ we've
been made new.
We've been made new.
So let's read these verses.
For we are his workmanshipcreated in Christ Jesus for good
works, which God preparedbeforehand, that we should walk
in them.

(01:07):
Therefore, remember that at onetime you Gentiles in the flesh,
called the uncircumcision bywhat is called the circumcision,
which is made in the flesh byhands, remember that you were at
that time separated fromChrist, alienated from the
commonwealth of Israel, andstrangers to the covenant of

(01:28):
promise, having no hope andwithout God in the world.
But now in Christ Jesus, youwho once were far off have been
brought near by the blood ofChrist.
Let's pray.
Father, we are so grateful forthis wonderful word.
Lord, we are so excited alwaysto encounter what it is that you

(01:54):
want to say to us through theword that you caused your Holy
Spirit to uh to be placed uponmen who would write these words
down.
Jesus, we thank you that youare the word of God.
And so we ask that these wordswould come alive to us today.
We ask that you would help usto process them, that we would

(02:14):
understand them in better waysthan we have before, and that we
would uh implement them in ourlives so that our lives would be
changed forever because ofthese powerful words.
We thank you for it in Jesus'name.
Amen.
So I want to start off thismorning by giving you some
really good news, someencouraging news.
Are you ready for that?

(02:35):
That I'm sure there's lots oflots of other kinds of news that
you've heard recently, butyou've probably heard some of
this already.
But I'm excited to tell youthat it looks like we could be
worldwide looking at a thebeginning of a possible revival.
And I I I've used my wordscarefully, I'm using my words

(02:57):
carefully, but it looks likethere are some key indicators
that are helping us to see thatit seems like the Lord is moving
in powerful ways and that he'sdrawing people to himself.
And some of the indicators ofthat are that this last year
Bible sales are up by about 40%,4-0% worldwide.
That's a massive change.

(03:19):
Come on, amen.
Also, Christian app downloads,and I'm kind of mixed on this
one, depends on which app it is,right?
But they're up by 80% yearafter year over year.
Christian music streams are up50%.
Thousands of college studentsare being reached with the
gospel of Jesus Christ recently.

(03:39):
There was an event at UT wherethousands of young people
proclaimed the name of Jesustogether in praise and worship
and praying out and crying outto God for this nation.
People, especially younger,younger people, look, all you
folks over there, thank you forfor all of them.
People, especially youngerpeople, are going to church for

(04:00):
the first time or coming back tochurch after they've been gone
for some time.
Amen.
These are good things.
And there's a heightenedemphasis on prayer and worship.
We're seeing a heightenedemphasis on prayer and worship.
We even heard it in some of thethings that were spoken this
morning that God is telling usthat these two things are

(04:22):
vitally important when it comesto uh preparing the atmosphere
for God to move in a way that hedesires to move when it comes
to revival.
But as good as all of thissounds, it's not quite good
enough.
And I'm gonna tell you why.
It's not quite good enough.
Jonathan Edwards, one of theministers that God used in the

(04:42):
first great awakening here inthe United States in the 1740s,
described true revival as asovereign work of God that was
marked by deepened conviction ofsin.
There was a deepened convictionof sin that led to repentance
for sin, realizing that all ofus, if we get what we deserve,

(05:06):
we deserve the wrath of God.
We deserve punishment from God,and yet God in Christ Jesus
made a way for us to be madenew.
Amen.
So we must see on the heels ofall of the other great
indicators, which I'm so excitedabout, and I want more of them,
but we will know that we'reseeing true revival when we

(05:28):
begin to see people confessingtheir sin, repenting of their
sin, turning away from theirsin.
We will also see a heightenedlove for Christ, a heightened
love for him and all thingsrelated to him.
It won't be about us.
It will be about him.

(05:48):
To him will be all of the gloryand the honor and the power and
the praise.
This is what true revival lookslike.
It looks like repentance ofsin.
It looks like a heightened lovefor Christ.
And it also looks liketransformed lives that are
aligned with scripture, not withjust what somebody says on the
internet or what somebody thinksis a good idea, lives that are

(06:12):
transformed to the point thatthey are lived, the lives are
lived based on what scriptureteaches us.
These are true signs of revivalthat brings about the kind of
transformation that changesnations.
My friends, these are thethings that I'm asking that each
of us as a part of this churchthat we begin to pray and ask

(06:36):
God to begin to move in suchways that these things will be
preeminent.
Does that make sense?
It's not enough just to getaround Christianity, it's not
enough just to listen toChristian music, it's not enough
even just to go to church.
We want lives changed by thegospel of Jesus Christ.

(06:56):
And the Holy Spirit wants iteven more than we do.
Aren't you glad?
And so we have the privilege ofwalking with him and working
with him as he desires to bringabout this kind of
transformational moment in theculture in this generation.
He also noted, Jonathan Edwardsalso noted that personal

(07:17):
transformation that people wereexperiencing poured out into
society.
In other words, it was notcontained within the four walls
of the church.
It began to change andtransform the culture and the
society around the people whowere being influenced and
transformed by the gospel ofJesus Christ.
Bars who once thrived andtaverns who were once well

(07:41):
visited began to close down, notjust because of business, but
because the hearts of those whowere owning these places of
business were beginning tochange.
Crime began to diminish inlocations where the Spirit of
God was moving in ways thatcaused people to repent of their
sins, to put their faith, hope,and trust in a living Christ

(08:03):
and began to live out the valuesof Scripture.
Things began to change.
Poverty was alleviated inregions that experienced true
revival.
You know, we're hearing allkinds of things in the news
about the government's role whenit comes to taking care of
those who are in need.
And we're not here to arguethat, but I want you to I want
to tell you that a church alivewith the power of God and filled

(08:25):
with the Spirit of God and thatis experiencing revival will be
able to care for the needs ofthe community.
And that's the way that Godintends it, and that's the way
that He designed it.
Amen.
And I just want to say to you,if you know of people who
through this time in our countryend up with not having enough

(08:47):
food in their cupboards, we wantyou to tell us about it.
We want you to let us knowbecause we as a church want to
be able to step up and helphowever we can.
So please let us know.
Come to one of the elders, sendus an email, let us know, okay,
if there are needs that come upthat need to be met.
We, Trinity Community Church,want to be a part of the
solution and not a part of theproblem.

(09:09):
Amen?
So going back to our passagenow, I hope that was a good
intro for us.
Paul in this passage highlightsthe fact that God is doing an
amazing work among the Gentiles.
You got to think about howradical this was, how amazing
this was, that God had bustedout of Jerusalem that the Holy

(09:33):
Spirit that had come on the dayof Pentecost, and everybody was
there together and they loved itso much that actually God
allowed persecution to come toJerusalem for what reason?
Not just not to cause harm tothe church, but to cause the
church to do his work, which wasto be spread out throughout the
nation, Jerusalem, Judea,Samaria, and to the ends of the

(09:54):
earth.
So there's an amazing workbeing done among the Gentiles.
And this Ephesian church is noexception to that.
In fact, they're experiencing afull-on revival.
All of the things that wetalked about in the beginning of
this talk, they wereexperiencing firsthand.
But he gives them some keys onhow to keep things in the proper

(10:15):
perspective so that the workthat God is doing in them and
through them will produce fruitthat remains in their lives and
in the lives of others.
How many of you know thatthat's what God judges?
He's the judge of fruit.
He's not the judge just ofwords, he's not the judge just
of heart.

(10:35):
He's the judge of fruit.
And we want fruit that remains.
Amen.
We want generational fruit.
And that's what I'm so excitedabout this morning.
Having having uh, you know, uhNoelle's grandmother and and
Jordan's grandfather herestanding on the stage with us
and celebrating togethergenerations.

(10:56):
I don't even know how manygenerations that is.
Now I can think of it, is itthree, four, four generations
representing?
That's what we want.
Fruit that remains in thekingdom of God.
So let's look close moreclosely at this passage.
The first thing I want you tolook at is we've been made new
on purpose.
It says, for we are hisworkmanship.

(11:17):
We are his workmanship.
Now that word in the Greek ispoema.
Poema.
Can you think of what Englishword we get from that?
Poem.
Yeah, we get the word poem frompoema.
And so um scripture isn't justtalking here about literary art
primarily, right?
But highlighting God's amazingworks of art when it comes to

(11:40):
those that he has brought fromdeath to life.
How many of you know God is thecreator?
He's a workman, he is ahandyman, he's a his handiworks
are amazing.
The work that he does isliterally out of this world,
right?
And his amazing works of art hewants to display.
For those who may be strugglingwith believing that you have

(12:01):
any intrinsic value, we heardsome of those words this
morning.
Some of you dealing withdepression, fear, anxiety,
worry, self-doubt, all of thosethings, I'm here to tell you,
God doesn't make mistakes.
And God is a mastercraftsman,he's a workman.
We are his workmanship, right?
So um, if you're dealing withthose things, God has

(12:23):
handcrafted each and every oneof us.
We are his workmanship.
We have not been mass-produced.
But I heard that you could geta robot to come to your house to
do your chores, you know, tofold your laundry and all of
that.
But the problem is that therobot has to be controlled by
somebody in an office that isliterally like doing the action

(12:47):
that the robot has to follow.
So it's like if somebody'salready having to do the action
to make the robot do the actionin my house, can't we just take
the middleman out and let thatperson leave the office and come
to my house and fold theclothes?
I don't know, it's worked forcenturies, but we feel like we
need to make a change, right?

(13:08):
But God didn't mass produce us.
We are not mass produced, weare individually made, and we
are fearfully and wonderfullymade.
You see, we are God's newcreation.
We are God's new creation.
It says that we were created inChrist Jesus.
We are his new creation.
Paul uses similar language indescribing this newness of life

(13:31):
as we find in the originalcreation account found in
Genesis.
In fact, in another one ofPaul's letters, the book of
Romans, he uses the same word,poema, in Romans chapter 1,
verse 20.
For his invisible attributes,namely his eternal power and
divine nature, have been clearlyperceived ever since the

(13:51):
creation of the world in thethings that have been made.
That word made is that sameword, poema, that we read in
Ephesians.
So they are without excuse.
So Paul is speaking here inRomans 1 of the original
creation.
God said, Let there be light,and there was light, and on and

(14:12):
on and on, right?
So all of those things weregood.
All of those things wereexamples of his handiwork on
display.
The same God who spoke galaxiesinto existence also regenerates
dead sinners.
That's the good news.
The same God, the same spiritthat breathed life into Adam as

(14:35):
he was a pile of mud on theground and caused him to be a
living person, breathes lifeinto the unregenerate person,
making them alive unto God.
We are his new creation inChrist Jesus.
We have been born again.
We have been made new.

(14:56):
And the the verse that I'm suremany of us are thinking of is 2
Corinthians 5, 17.
It says, Therefore, if anyoneis in Christ, he is a new
creation.
The old has passed away, andbehold, the new has come.
How many of you know thatyou're not who you once were if
you are a follower of JesusChrist?
You once were this, and nowyou're this.

(15:19):
And how did that happen?
It didn't happen because youwilled it so, or because you
fought hard enough, or becauseyou were strong enough in your
own power and might to cause itto be done.
How many of you know you youbecame that way because the
Spirit of God breathed on youand caused you who were dead to
God to be made alive unto him?

(15:40):
This is good news.
This is good news.
See, we are new, we are God'snew creation, and God intends
for his new creation to do goodworks.
To do good works.
It goes on in verse 10,Ephesians 2, 10, for good works
which God prepared beforehandthat we should walk in them.

(16:00):
That God prepared beforehandthat we should walk in them.
Now make no mistake, the versesimmediately following, verse
10, make it clear to us thatgood works don't save us.
Right?
Let's just remind ourselves ofthose two verses, eight and
nine.
For by grace you have beensaved through faith, and this is

(16:22):
not your own doing.
It is the gift of God, not aresult of works, so that no one
may boast.
So we didn't save ourselves, wecouldn't save ourselves.
We could there are not enoughgood works that we could do to
please a perfect holy God, andto to to uh build a bridge

(16:43):
across the divide that wascaused between us and our
heavenly Father because of sin.
We couldn't do it, we couldn'taccomplish it, we couldn't make
it happen.
But this verse speaks to thefact that those who have been
transformed by God's grace willperform good works.
We will perform good works,such as living obedient lives.

(17:08):
Children, obey your parents inthe Lord, for this is right.
Followers of Jesus will obeythe Lord, and we will obey those
who are in authority over us.
How about living fruitfullives?
Love, joy, peace, patience,kindness, goodness, gentleness,
faithfulness, self-control.
Thank you on them all.
Right?
We will live those kinds oflives.

(17:30):
Good works that we do based onthe fact of what Christ did for
us and our faith in what Christdid for us, good works will come
from that.
Does that make sense?
The purpose of God's creativeactivity is not merely to have a
people.
It's great to have a people.

(17:51):
As if he were constructing awork of art.
Like if he just had a bunch ofpeople and he just put us on a
wall and said, just hang therenicely.
Would you smile for me?
You know, you're just hangingon the wall and he just points
to, you know, he's far removed,but he just points to us and
says, Hey, look at my work ofart.
Aren't they wonderful?
Aren't they amazing?

(18:11):
They're just hanging around.
They're just hanging around,they're just they're just there,
they're just displayed, they'rejust, I want you to see who I
am by what I did, right?
He could he could have donethat.
It would have been maybe rightfor him to do that, and yet he
chose not to do that.
This new creation, the newcreation that he's created

(18:32):
within us, is to be active andproductive like the creator
himself.
He created us in his image andlikeness.
We are called to be like him bythe grace of God and through
the work of the Holy Spirit, andnot perfectly until Jesus
returns.
It's like I have to give allthese caveats, right?

(18:55):
But it's true, it's absolutelytrue.
We are created in God's imageto be like him, to act like him,
to talk like him, to walk likehim, to work like him, right?
To rest like him.
Usually get a few amens on therest one at least, right?
By the way, he doesn't rest, hedoesn't have Cheeto stained

(19:19):
hands while he's resting.
Oh my goodness, anyway, I don'tknow where that came from, but
we'll move on.
John Stott's words are not toostrong.
Listen to the words of JohnStott.
Good works are indispensable tosalvation, not as its ground or
means, but as its consequenceand evidence.

(19:41):
Salvation should create goodworks.
True conversion in a person'slife will be seen by the fruit
that is that is produced.
And the fruit that is producedis not really for our own
consumption.
How many of you know we benefitwhen we produce love?

(20:03):
But who else benefits?
Everybody.
How about joy, peace, all ofthose things that we talked
about?
When we produce the fruits ofrighteousness, the fruits of
repentance, when we do thethings that Jesus asks us to do
and commands us to do inscripture, by the grace of God,
through the empowerment of theHoly Spirit, revival comes,

(20:27):
change happens, people takenotice.
I know that some of you haveexperienced this when you're
going through something verydifficult in life, and you show
up in work and at work, andpeople know what you're going
through, and yet somebody comesto you and says, How is it that
you're so peaceful in the middleof what you're going through?
What do you say when somebodysays something like that?

(20:53):
Jesus, sometimes that's all youcan say.
Jesus.
Because we're so grateful forwhat Christ has accomplished for

(21:18):
us.
This should be our naturaldisposition.
As much as being disobedientwas the natural disposition of
our lives before Christ,obedience should be the natural
disposition of our lives sinceChrist.
We have been changed, we havebeen transformed by the power of

(21:38):
God.
Paul goes on to encourage hisreaders, we should never forget
who we were without Christ.
We should never forget who wewere without Christ.
We've been made new on purpose,but we should never forget who
we were without Christ.
It says, therefore, rememberthat at one time you Gentiles in

(21:59):
the flesh called theuncircumcision by what is called
the circumcision, which is madein the flesh by hands.
Paul had this unique ministryvantage point, didn't he?
He was a Jewish man who grew upin a Roman province.
He was from Tarsus, and so heknew both sides of the coin.
He knew what it was like togrow up under Roman law and

(22:21):
Roman rule, and yet still be astudent of Scripture and student
of the Old Testament.
And he he grew up being trainedto be an attorney, a law
attorney based on the OldTestament.
But how many of you know all ofthat changed one day on the
road to Damascus when all of asudden Jesus appeared to him and

(22:42):
called him to change, to betransformed by the power of God
and to be made new.
So Paul is, God is calling Paulto reach the Gentile people,
and yet his heart is still sodrawn to his brothers and
sisters who are Jewish.
We see this in the book ofRomans in such beautiful ways.

(23:02):
Paul takes entire chapters ofthe book of Romans to explain to
each group how they are reallynot advantaged when it comes to
uh to being right, being maderight with God, that there still
has to be this element of gracethat comes through faith in
order for them to betransformed, to be changed, to
be made right with God.

(23:24):
Right?
And so he's doing that here inthis passage as well.
He's talking to the Gentilepeople and talking about this
this gap that they face.
And the Holy Spirit uses thisdiversity between Gentile and
Jew to allow Paul to bridge thegap between them.
And we're gonna learn next weekthat we're all called to be one

(23:46):
new man in Christ Jesus.
And I'm not gonna linger there,although I'd like to.
Remember who they once were sothat they could appreciate who

(24:28):
they are now.
And he uses this word,therefore.
This is so old.
My dad used to say this, butI'm gonna borrow it.
When you see the wordtherefore, you have to ask
yourself, what is it?
See, I'm not the only one.
Generations, will you pick thatup and run with it for us?
They're all like, nope.
That's so dumb.

(24:51):
Anyway, there's a connect, it'sa connecting word, right?
So it's connecting the formerthought to the new thought,
right?
So therefore, there's a reasonwhy that this is placed here.
The first command, I want youto catch this.
The first command, up untilthis point in time in the book
of Ephesians, it's all beenabout what Jesus did and who we

(25:11):
are because of what Jesus did.
Hasn't that been good?
Haven't you been amazed at thewords of God that have that were
given to Paul by the HolySpirit to write in the book of
Ephesians?
Haven't you been changed andtransformed by realizing that
you have an identity in Christthat's far different than maybe
what you imagined?
Far greater for sure than whatwe could know up to this point.

(25:35):
But now the corner turns just alittle bit.
And the first command in thebook of Ephesians is to
remember.
To remember.
Interesting.
It wasn't yet to go out and dogreat exploits, although they
were called to good works.
Before you perform these goodworks, you must remember.

(25:56):
Remember, Paul spent all of histime, like I said, speaking to
them, establishing the fact thatthey have a new identity in
Christ.
And these Gentile believerswere encouraged to remember the
desperate condition they foundthemselves in before grace came
calling.
How many of you have been inthe church for 30 years or

(26:17):
longer?
Raise your hand.
I don't mean Trinity, I'm justsaying in the church.
Raise them again.
Look around you.
Folks, we need to remember.
We are called to remember.
We're no less called toremember than the Gentiles were
in this passage in Ephesianschapter 2, right?

(26:37):
So let's look at this.
They should remember how farthey were away from Christ.
We're going to see fivedifferent categories of things
that they were called toremember.
Remember that you were at thattime separated from Christ.
They had no claim to Christ,they had no connection to him,
they had no interest in him.
This was their story.

(27:00):
This was the reality of theircondition.
There was nothing of Christthat they were drawn to before
God opened their hearts.
And how many of you know thatthat is not just their story,
but that is all of our stories,as we as we were once fully
surrendered to the God of thisworld.

(27:23):
That was the first thing.
And then secondly, they shouldremember how far they were away
from God's people.
It says that they werealienated from the Commonwealth
of Israel.
They were excluded fromcitizenship in Israel, even if
they lived within that land,they were excluded from Israel.
And so they had no naturalpathway to be considered the

(27:43):
people of God or from being apart of God's purposes.
They were on the outsidelooking in.
This was the condition of theGentiles.
And these were the things thatPaul is telling them that they
need to remember.
The third thing is that theyshould remember how far they
were away from God's promises.
It says that they werestrangers to the covenants of

(28:06):
promise.
They were excluded from thecovenants that God had made with
his Jewish covenant people inthe Old Testament.
As proof of this, Pauldescribes the fact that they
were called the uncircumcised bythose who were circumcised
because they shared no signs ofthe covenant in their flesh.
There was not even a mark onthem that made them even appear

(28:30):
as if they could be consideredpart of this other group.
They were completely separate.
They were completely isolated.
They were completely outsidelooking in.
Paul is speaking here of thecovenants that God made with
Abraham and Isaac and Jacob andDavid and others.

(28:52):
These many covenants that hemade with his people.
And what was the singularpromise?
You notice it says thecovenants of promise.
What's the singular promisethat all of those things had in
common?
That there would be a king whowould sit one day on the throne
of David and that he would ruleand reign forever and ever and

(29:12):
ever.
And that king's name is.
Boy, one Sunday I'm going toask you that question.
You're going to yell it out.
And I'm going to be like blownback.
It's going to be like one ofthose commercials where
somebody's surprised and theirhair goes back on them.
You know.
Yeah, exactly.

(29:33):
Some of you grew up in a churchlike that where there's some
hair flying around.
Last we learned at ServantsHeart that Mark baptized the
hair off of somebody.
So you gotta be careful.
Watch out.
When a revival comes, all betsare off.
Things happen.
Not enough hairspray in thebuilding.
So the singular promise is theMessiah that Jesus would come

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and in whom all the covenantsfind their fulfillment.
In Him, He fulfills all ofthem.
Thank God.
And Gentiles up to this pointhave not shared in these
covenants, nor have they beenincluded in God's special
relationship to Israel.
And as we dig down deeper intothis place of realization

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concerning what their conditionwas, the next one is they should
remember how far they were awayfrom the Christian hope.
It says that they had no hope.
They had no hope of escapingeternal punishment by which a
holy God sends those who areunholy away from his presence

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forever.
They had no hope that therewould ever be a moment of change
or transformation where theywould be included instead of
excluded.
They had no hope in the fleshor in the some formula that they
could follow.
They were hopeless.
How many of you know that welive in a world that is

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hopeless?
Hopeless breeds contempt andanger and rage and division.
People without hope live likethat.
And that's exactly the way theGentiles lived.
That was their MO.
How many of you know that 1Thessalonians 4 13 tells us that

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we don't need to live likethat?
But we do not want you to beuninformed, brothers, about
those who are asleep, that youmay not grieve as others who
have no hope.
I'm tempted to jump in therenow, but I'm going to wait.

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I'm going to wait because thescripture waits.
Next, it says that they shouldremember how far they were away
from God Himself.
Not only did they have no hope,they were without God in this
world.
Does not mean that they wereatheists.
If you know anything aboutEphesus, you know they were not

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atheists.
They served a lot of littlegods made of stone and different
things.
They were all giant templesthat were built to the different
gods that they worshiped.
And yet they were without Godin this world because there's
only one capital G.
And that's the one that theywere without.

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They did not have the God ofthe universe.
The culture of the world inwhich they lived was isolated
from God and what he was doing.
Completely isolated, completelyforeign to them, like something
they had never known or neverexperienced.
And then this realization hitme.

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This is me.
This is my story.
And I even thought a littledeeper than that because to be
honest with you, and I thank Godfor this, I don't remember my
life without Jesus.
I was born again at the age offive years old in my bathroom,

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brushing my teeth.
My mom asked me, Tyler, you'vebeen going to church with me,
you've been going to Sundayschool.
Jesus is real.
Do you want to put do you wantto believe in him?
And I said, Yes, mom, I want tobelieve.
I want to put my trust in him.
And I prayed and I acceptedJesus into my life.
But I'm here to tell you that Ihave tasted of the forbidden

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fruit of disobedience andrebellion in my life.
And I want you to know this.
I want no part in it.
I know enough.
I've tasted enough.
I've experienced enough.
I've fallen from grace enoughto understand that I do not want

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that stuff to have control overme.
And that's my encouragement toall of us who have been churched
our whole lives.
We read stories like this, weread passages like this, and we
have a hard time connecting withthem because all we remember is
being in church and beingChristians and being followers
of Jesus.
But I'm here to tell you butbut for the grace of God, there

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go I.
Because I've been bought withthe price, and I'm a new

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creature in Christ Jesus.
I understand what the scripturemeans when it says that like a
dog returning to its vomit issomeone who returns to their
sin.
I don't know about you, but thepromise of sin never delivers.
It never delivers what it tellsyou it's going to deliver.

(35:17):
Lust is never satisfied.
One lie always leads toanother.
This is our memory.
This should be our remembrance.
This should be the things thatwe are focused on when it comes

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to making sure that ourattitudes stay right, that our
heart stays focused, that wecontinue to do the things that
we believe that God wants to seehappen in the culture as well.
You see, we were all far offfrom Christ.
We were far from his church.
We were far from the promises.
We were far from the Christianhope and from God Himself.

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And therefore, we were far fromeverything that's good.
Every good and perfect giftthat comes from God.
We were removed from.
We were far away from thosethings.
And even if we've onlyexperienced that in moments in
time where we've fallen and hadto run to our Father and say,
Father, I've sinned.

(36:24):
Would you please forgive me?
We still know what it's like.
We should know what it's liketo be able to remember and to
say to ourselves, I don't wantto leave my father's house.
You see, we've been made new onpurpose and we should never
forget who we once were, andwe've been bought, that's not

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the right word, we've beenbrought near in Christ Jesus.
We've been brought near inChrist Jesus.
It says, but now in ChristJesus, you who once were far off
have been brought near by theblood of Christ.
This is a magnificent bookendthat Paul provides to this
little snippet, these three orfour verses here in Ephesians

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chapter 2.
He's communicating to theGentiles something very
powerful, and he's communicatingit to us as well through all of
the centuries and generations.
The plight that they hadsuffered of estrangement and
distance has been solved becausethey'd been brought near and
now they belong.
They'd been brought those whohad been far away and had no

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place to belong, have now beenbrought near and given a place
to belong.
The human plight, like I said,is caused by sin, which
separates us from God, and reallife only comes from Him and is
to be enjoyed in His presence.

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The only solution, the onlysolution to this problem is not
religion, it's not trying to begood enough, it's not anything
that this world has to offer.
The only solution to thisproblem is to be close to God.
Sin has separated us from aholy God, and there has to be a

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bridge that's placed so that wecan cross the great divide.
And how many of you know wedidn't cross it first because he
came to us?
He came to us in the person ofJesus Christ, who in the
carnation incarnation left thebeauty of heaven and came to
this earth and put on flesh andbone and moved into the
neighborhood so that he could beone of us and yet without sin.

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And through all of his lifebeing obedient and doing the
things that we don't do, he didthat on our behalf, he did that
in our place.
And then that would have beengreat enough, but it wasn't
enough because the sin of thisworld was too much, and there
had to be punishment because ofthe sin that had been committed.
And so the same Jesus, who haddone everything perfectly his

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whole life, took upon himselfall of the horrors of sin and
disease and death and hell andthe grave, and was nailed to a
rugged cross that you and Ishould have been nailed to.
Can you hear the pounding ofthe hammer on the nails as Jesus
is hung on a cross and in hisdying breaths prays that we

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would be forgiven?
What kind of God does this?
Only ours.
Only one.
There's only one God that doesthis.
Don't let the world lie to you.
Don't let the world say to you,oh, we're just Christianity,
it's just one of many, myfriends.

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Christianity is the only onewhere God came down from heaven
and did everything that Jesusdid so that we could be reunited
in our relationship with ourHeavenly Father.
He's the only one.
He, the incredible cost of hisown blood, which he shed in our

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place, was for our benefit.
God's grace overcame our plightof sin and established us who
would believe firmly in theheavenly realms with Christ.
Not only are we left here toour own devices after we're

(40:37):
saved, but positionally we areseated with Christ in heavenly
places, and everything thatheaven has to offer is at our
disposal.
Not for us to command God or totry to tell him what to do, but
to empower us to be hisdisciples here in this life and

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to tell other people this merry,glad, great news of the gospel
of Jesus Christ.
Those are the good works thatwe're called to.
In conclusion, my time's out.
Bless the Lord, oh my soul, andall that is within me.

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Bless his holy name.
Bless the Lord, oh my soul, andforget not all his benefits.
There's something else thatwe're not supposed to forget.
There's something else thatwe're supposed to remember, not
just where we came from, notjust who we were without Christ,
but who we are now that we'vebeen made alive by Christ and

(41:48):
with Christ.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, andforget not all his benefits, who
forgives all your iniquity, whoheals all your diseases, who
redeems your life from the pit,who crowns you with steadfast
love and mercy, who satisfiesyou with good so that your youth

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is renewed like the eagles.
Bless the Lord, O my soul.
Let's stand to our feet.
Father God, my first prayerthis morning is for those who
recognize their lives currentlyare just like the Gentiles were.

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And they are far from you.
Father, I pray that in thisvery moment that you would
awaken them to the truth thatmakes them free.
Father, I pray that by yourHoly Spirit that you would open
their eyes of understanding.

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They could see clearly thatJesus is the savior of the
world.
And not only is it the saviorof the world, but he can be
their savior.
Father, I pray that you givethem the ability by your grace
to speak to you right now, toacknowledge their need, to

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confess their sin before you,and to ask you to be gracious
and merciful to them because ofJesus Christ, and to forgive
them of their sins.
Father, help them to put theirfaith, hope, and trust in Jesus
Christ, who is not among thedead any longer, but on the

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third day rose again and isalive forevermore.
Lord, I pray that that would betheir story even today.
And for the rest of us, Father,we pray that you would cause
revival to happen in our hearts,Lord.
That we would truly be thosewho understand that God doesn't
make mistakes, God's not in theaccident business, but God, what

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you do, you do well.
Every act of creation inGenesis, you said it is good.
And then when you createdmankind, you said it's very
good.
This is your heart, this isyour desire.
We're your people.
So, Father, I ask that youwould help us in Jesus' name to

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do the good works that you'vecalled us to do.
And in so doing, that we wouldfirst remember, remember the
state of our lives without you.
Remember what it was like to bedistant from you, even if we've
only experienced it frommoments in time when we have

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sinned and fallen from you.
Father, we ask that you changeus.

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Change us, O God.
Convict us of sin so that wemight repent.
Help us to honor Jesus assupreme above all, Lord God, as
the sovereign authority in ourlives.
And help us, Father, to beconcerned about what scripture

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teaches above everything else.
Help our our our ears to beopen to truth that's based on
the scripture, what's in theword of God.
And Lord, in doing these thingsand remembering these things
and walking as people who areaware of the good work that
Jesus has done, would you helpus to glorify you among the

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nations?
The people would see the goodworks that you enable us to
perform and glorify our Fatherwhich is in heaven.
This is our prayer.
This is our humble prayertoday, Lord.
And we come to you with allsincerity, asking you to meet us

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where we're at.
We pray these things in Jesus'mighty name.
I pray that the Lord wouldbless you and keep you and cause
his face to shine upon you andbe gracious to you, that he
would lift up his countenanceupon you and give you peace in
Jesus' holy name.

(46:57):
Amen.