*Ephesians 2:1–10
2 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Personal Profile: Who am I?
*Ephesians 2:1-3 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
When we read over this passage it begs the question, “Who am I really?” Paul goes to great length to tell us just who we really are. You know, you can tell a lot from someone’s Facebook profile. Many of my friends from living in Africa, or friends in college are acquainted with me on Facebook. Over time you see their real personalities come to life on their profiles.
One of my good friends had some seriously goofy stuff on his information page. He said different things like how he was a superhero that could fly, but was sometimes scared of heights.
Social networking can be a great way to keep up with people, start new friendships, and a lot of other things, but it can just as easily show us who we really are. Just like my friend who allowed his goofy nature to come across the internet you can quickly find posers, or people that talk the talk but don’t walk the walk.
The sad thing is that many of my college group friends are in this group. They still have the “religious” things posted on their page. “I am a Christian, a follower of Christ, The Bible is my “favorite book”. Whatever. When you see their posts, they are full of profanity. When you look at their pictures all you see are the crazy parties they go to and how much they can drink.
So who are we really? Are we who we portray, or are we the person that we try to hide from everyone else?
When Paul says that we “were” dead in our trespasses and sins, that we “used” to follow the prince who is at work in the sons of disobedience, that we used to carry out the desires of our flesh, what is he saying? That we USED to do those things. But who is this pointed towards? Those who are found IN Christ. Otherwise you are still, by nature, children of wrath like the rest of mankind.
This isn’t talking about how you cause destruction everywhere you go. This is talking about how you are under God’s wrath because of the sin in your life. You are condemned because of your actions.
So who are you? What is your profile like? Is it a mask that you hide behind, saying that you are following Christ? Or an outlet to get with the “in” crowd? Where you allow your heart to pour itself out and show it’s true nature?
Defining moment: Who does God say I am?
Who does God say I am? After all, that is the most important thing isn’t it? It doesn’t matter what other people think, it just matters what God thinks. You may wonder, well, if God was going to judge me by my profile I am in pretty good shape. I have a lot of Bible quotes, I “like” good Christian music (None of that hard rock stuff) and movies. So there is nothing to worry about.
Here is the main issue. God looks at the heart, not your Facebook status.
*1 Sa 16:7 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”[1]
The Lord looks at who we are, directly at the source. Not how we portray ourselves. When God sees you for who you really are, what do you think He sees?
The hard truth is this, we are sinners without hope. It’s pretty cut and dry. When you join up with Facebook your profiles really should automatically say, “Sinner from birth.” “Condemned by God.” Only after you have proved yourself to be a true follower of Christ should it allow you to upgrade to “Disciple” status.
A change in identity: Now found in Christ.
There are some updates you have to do your status. You see, Christ doesn’t just leave us in that situation. We have no way to get ourselves out from under God’s judgment. That is why Christ came in the first place. Let’s read the rest of this passage in Ephesians:
*Ephesians 2:5-7 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Even when we were dead. While we were still lifeless beings that could only sin before God and bring His judgment upon ourselves, Christ made us alive in Him. Through Christ we have a new identity. Our profile can be changed to say that we are “in Christ”. We are made whole with Him. If you turn to Christ you have that same opportunity.
But what does it mean to be alive in Christ? Our very nature is changed. When God looks at us, He sees His perfect Son. Not Kevin the sinner who can do nothing but bring wrath upon himself. We have truly been “Altered” by Christ.
Being alive in Christ means that we are right with God. This Scripture says it in a powerful way:
*Eze 36:25–27 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
Christ will cause us to walk in His ways. He will help us to be obedient to God’s call on our lives through the Holy Spirit. This is such a change in our lives that our fleshly passions will no longer hold us down!
Will we still sin? Yes. Unfortunately we are still sinners, but now we have the forgiveness of Christ that covers us. With a profile change this big though, you can count on sinning less and on being made more like Christ every day. That is if you allow the Spirit to continue a work in you.
Now Who Am I?
If we have truly turned to God as a follower of Him our lives should be “Altered”. Everything should be different. Not only our attitudes here at Church, but our actions outside of church. Among our non-Christian classmates or work friends. We should be so different that when people see your Facebook profile years from now, they won’t say, “Wow, that person used to follow God, now look at them.”
The thing about real change is that it stands the test of time. Several other friends of mine truly have the mark of Christ on their lives. When you look at their Facebook profiles, you see status updates about what God has taught them through their Bible study that day. You see plans for missions trips or how they lift up and encourage other people.
Being “Altered” means that you are different. Not just today. Not tomorrow. But for eternity.
*Ephesians 2:9-10 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
We are God’s workmanship. God’s artwork. Who are we created in? In Christ Jesus so that we can now go forward and accomplish good works that God has prepared beforehand for us.
What does that tell me? That being “Altered” means a whole lot more than just an attitude change. It means that our very nature is bent towards doing God’s will and accomplishing what He has planned for us. Part of that is good works and serving those in need. We will get a chance to do that tomorrow. Take some time to pray and ask God who you really are. If you haven’t made the conscious choice to follow Him as Lord and Savior, you are still a child of wrath. Make that decision today and get “Altered”!
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