NEW TESTAMENT READING PLAN: Luke 5-7
SCRIPTURE READING
Eph 2: 4-7 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved
us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by
grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in
the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the
immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
In the first three verses of chapter two, we see the sordid picture of man as a result of sin.
BUT, in the next verses we see that GOD, who is rich in mercy, in His great love, raised
us from the dead with CHRIST, and has made us to sit together with CHRIST in heavenly
places for the singular purpose of displaying the exceeding riches of GOD’s grace in the
ages that lie ahead. God acted in mercy towards us and was motivated by love when we
were spiritually dead, the salvation that we enjoy is the result of God’s grace or unmerited
favour, and it’s not because of anything that we deserve or could earn. Because of Christ
we are no longer dead but have been made alive. Alive together with Christ refers to being
made one alive together - our spiritual life results from our union with Christ. By grace you
have been saved! But it gets better than that, we are not just alive, we have been raised up
with Him and seated with Him in the heavenly place (the dwelling place of God Himself) in
Christ Jesus. This means that Christians have been raised up to reign together with Christ.
This is spoken by way of anticipation. Believers are not yet possessed of their seats in
heaven; but each of them has a place prepared for him.
PRAYER and MEDITATION
1. Think back to the pictures that God gave you yesterday, spends some time thanking God
that because of His mercy, you no longer have to remain in that condition. Thank Him for
salvation, for the life He offers you in Christ.
2. When we continue living in sin, instead of battling and warring against it, we show lack
of reverence toward what God has done for us. Confess that we have done this individually
and corporately as a church.
3. Pray that God would impart a holy reverence for Him, that we would have an authentic
view of grace and not cheapen it by living in sin. Pray that many would respond to His gift
by living lives of holiness.
