The final words of Jesus before dying on the cross were “It is finished.” The finished work of the cross has completed everything we need as Christians to live an overcoming, fruitful life.
“For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)” (Romans 5:17)
The death and resurrection of Jesus undid what Adam did by sinning. No longer do we have to live under the curse of Adam. By grace we can now live under the blessings of the resurrection of Jesus. To this point we will be looking in depth at the end of Ephesians 1 and the beginning of Ephesians 2. These verses offer us two options – live under the judgment and influence of sin or live a life under the power of the resurrection. The choice is ours and ours alone.
At the end of Ephesians chapter 1 Paul prays a wonderful prayer. In the prayer he asks that the church’s eyes would be enlightened, that they would have the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of God. The last part of enlightenment Paul asked for related to resurrection power in our lives. See it. “and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.” (Eph 1:19-21)
Paul prayed that we would know personally the “greatness of His power toward us who believe.” This is the resurrection power “which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places.” Think of it! The resurrection power of Jesus is toward (heading in our direction to empower us) us who believe. This is the desire of God that our lives would be empowered by the resurrection of Jesus.
Paul continues and we pick up in chapter 2 of Ephesians. Remember this was originally a letter without chapters. Continuing his thought Paul writes:
“And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins.” (Eph 2:1)
We have been made alive by the power of the resurrection. We must never lose sight of this. It is not that we simply decided to live a good life. We have been raised from the dead. In the next portion of verses Paul points out the life we have been saved from. It is important to understand this for a few reasons. First, we can understand how the enemy operates. Secondly, we are able to see where he gets his power to operate. Lastly, we see the great contrast to living under the rule of Satan or the rule of Jesus.
This was our standing before Jesus came and rescued us. It is also our standing if we decide to live in the flesh rather than the Spirit. “In which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.” (Eph 2:2-3)
Pay attention to the words “according” in these verses. According is a preposition and means “down from, throughout.” According to Strongs the word is “a preposition denoting motion or diffusion or direction from the higher to the lower.” You see, when we are living in the flesh the power of Satan is coming from above us, influencing us, empowering us. Just as God strengthens us we are empowered by Satan when we live in rebellion.
“the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience.” The Greek word for “works” is a powerful one and means “to be operative, be at work, put forth power.” It can be likened to an engine that powers a ship. It is not seen but propels the ship forward. The end result of walking according to the power of the enemy is being “children of wrath.” Friends, this is not our destiny. Or I should say it doesn’t have to be. We have been raised with Jesus, who has been raised “far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.” (Eph 1:21)
I believe Paul added these verses to give us warning. We have a choice between living a life influenced by the powers of Satan or empowered by the Holy Spirit through the resurrection of Jesus. Right after Paul described the life of wrath those have under the sway of Satan He said “But God…” We all have a but God! Let’s take a look at his full, powerful statement. “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus…” (Eph 2:4-6)
We must never lose sight of why God gave up His one and only Son. It is “because of His great love.” I pray you get a deep, profound revelation of this. Knowing His love for you will transform you deep on the inside. It will have profound impacts on the way you think, every relationship you have and so on.
Now, see the three powerful actions that God performed on our half. We will look more deeply at these in a future article.
1. “made us alive together with Christ.” Just as Adam had the breath of life breathed in Him, God has made us alive spiritually.
2. “and raised us up together.” The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead has raised us up with Him. Think of it! This is the resurrection power in our lives.
3. “and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” To sit refers to ruling with Christ. We have been made alive, raised with Jesus and made to rule with Him.
Remember with all of the actions taken on our behalf, the key word is “together.” Everything is done with him. Would we want it any other way? Certainly not. All of these key words “made alive,” “raised up together,” and “made sit together” are all found in the aorist tense and in the active voice in the Greek.
The aorist tense means the action has been completed. The active voice means the action continues. In other words, those three actions that God performed on our behalf have been completed. But! The completed work of those actions continues to be active in our lives. When Jesus breathed His last breath and said “it is finished” He was talking about the finished work or redemption. The world had been lost and was under the sway of the wicked one. But! God in His great love for us sent us His Son and completed the work in our lives. The power of the resurrection continues and is very active in the lives that allow Him to work.
Paul finished his thought with this: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Eph 2:10 Do you see the progression? First we are made alive. Then we are raised to an upright position. Then we are seated, ruling with Jesus. Finally, we are on our feet walking in “good works.” Good works are what is done by those that by grace receive the three actions on their behalf.
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Posted: January 15, 2025 by I am a VOICE Ministries
Living in the Finished Work of the Cross
The final words of Jesus before dying on the cross were “It is finished.” The finished work of the cross has completed everything we need as Christians to live an overcoming, fruitful life.
“For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)” (Romans 5:17)
The death and resurrection of Jesus undid what Adam did by sinning. No longer do we have to live under the curse of Adam. By grace we can now live under the blessings of the resurrection of Jesus. To this point we will be looking in depth at the end of Ephesians 1 and the beginning of Ephesians 2. These verses offer us two options – live under the judgment and influence of sin or live a life under the power of the resurrection. The choice is ours and ours alone.
At the end of Ephesians chapter 1 Paul prays a wonderful prayer. In the prayer he asks that the church’s eyes would be enlightened, that they would have the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of God. The last part of enlightenment Paul asked for related to resurrection power in our lives. See it. “and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.” (Eph 1:19-21)
Paul prayed that we would know personally the “greatness of His power toward us who believe.” This is the resurrection power “which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places.” Think of it! The resurrection power of Jesus is toward (heading in our direction to empower us) us who believe. This is the desire of God that our lives would be empowered by the resurrection of Jesus.
Paul continues and we pick up in chapter 2 of Ephesians. Remember this was originally a letter without chapters. Continuing his thought Paul writes:
“And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins.” (Eph 2:1)
We have been made alive by the power of the resurrection. We must never lose sight of this. It is not that we simply decided to live a good life. We have been raised from the dead. In the next portion of verses Paul points out the life we have been saved from. It is important to understand this for a few reasons. First, we can understand how the enemy operates. Secondly, we are able to see where he gets his power to operate. Lastly, we see the great contrast to living under the rule of Satan or the rule of Jesus.
This was our standing before Jesus came and rescued us. It is also our standing if we decide to live in the flesh rather than the Spirit. “In which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.” (Eph 2:2-3)
Pay attention to the words “according” in these verses. According is a preposition and means “down from, throughout.” According to Strongs the word is “a preposition denoting motion or diffusion or direction from the higher to the lower.” You see, when we are living in the flesh the power of Satan is coming from above us, influencing us, empowering us. Just as God strengthens us we are empowered by Satan when we live in rebellion.
“the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience.” The Greek word for “works” is a powerful one and means “to be operative, be at work, put forth power.” It can be likened to an engine that powers a ship. It is not seen but propels the ship forward. The end result of walking according to the power of the enemy is being “children of wrath.” Friends, this is not our destiny. Or I should say it doesn’t have to be. We have been raised with Jesus, who has been raised “far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.” (Eph 1:21)
I believe Paul added these verses to give us warning. We have a choice between living a life influenced by the powers of Satan or empowered by the Holy Spirit through the resurrection of Jesus. Right after Paul described the life of wrath those have under the sway of Satan He said “But God…” We all have a but God! Let’s take a look at his full, powerful statement. “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus…” (Eph 2:4-6)
We must never lose sight of why God gave up His one and only Son. It is “because of His great love.” I pray you get a deep, profound revelation of this. Knowing His love for you will transform you deep on the inside. It will have profound impacts on the way you think, every relationship you have and so on.
Now, see the three powerful actions that God performed on our half. We will look more deeply at these in a future article.
1. “made us alive together with Christ.” Just as Adam had the breath of life breathed in Him, God has made us alive spiritually.
2. “and raised us up together.” The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead has raised us up with Him. Think of it! This is the resurrection power in our lives.
3. “and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” To sit refers to ruling with Christ. We have been made alive, raised with Jesus and made to rule with Him.
Remember with all of the actions taken on our behalf, the key word is “together.” Everything is done with him. Would we want it any other way? Certainly not. All of these key words “made alive,” “raised up together,” and “made sit together” are all found in the aorist tense and in the active voice in the Greek.
The aorist tense means the action has been completed. The active voice means the action continues. In other words, those three actions that God performed on our behalf have been completed. But! The completed work of those actions continues to be active in our lives. When Jesus breathed His last breath and said “it is finished” He was talking about the finished work or redemption. The world had been lost and was under the sway of the wicked one. But! God in His great love for us sent us His Son and completed the work in our lives. The power of the resurrection continues and is very active in the lives that allow Him to work.
Paul finished his thought with this: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Eph 2:10 Do you see the progression? First we are made alive. Then we are raised to an upright position. Then we are seated, ruling with Jesus. Finally, we are on our feet walking in “good works.” Good works are what is done by those that by grace receive the three actions on their behalf.
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