WE ARE MADE ALIVE!

"And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins." (Ephesians 2:1, NKJV)

A PROPER ASSESSMENT of salvation requires a correct evaluation of where we were when the Lord found us. And, make no mistake about it, we were "found." Our blessed Lord said, "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Lk 19:10). Of old time, God affirmed seeking the lost is a Divine attribute. "I will seek that which was lost" (Ezek 34:16). In what condition did He find us? It is essential to know this if we are to appreciate where we have been brought in Christ Jesus.

OUR TEXT WILL AFFIRM we were all in the same category. While men are prone to classify flesh, assigning various grades to it, from the standpoint of our text, it all falls into the same class. Salvation is common because it addresses a people in a common condition: "for there is no difference: for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Rom 3:22b-23).

WE WERE MADE ALIVE. "And you HE made alive . . . " Before a change of location could be realized, we had to be "made alive." This involved making us sensitive to the Lord, aware of His provisions, and desirous of His blessing. This is life deep within men, in their heart and spirit. It brings with it a discontent with life in this world and a deep sense of sin. We are awakened, as it were, by the convicting power of the Holy Spirit, who works through the Gospel of Christ, and in strict concert with the purpose of God.

LIFE BEGAN TO EVIDENCE ITSELF with the conviction of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:7-11). This is the kind of life that must eventually be "born" – delivered from one realm into another realm. When I speak of being "made alive," I am referring to a process that begins with conviction, has its official beginning in the new birth, and is maintained in, what the Spirit calls, "heavenly places" or realms. True life requires all of these.

WE WERE NOT "QUICKENED" OR "MADE ALIVE" INDEPENDENTLY OF JESUS. Rather, by Divine purpose, as well as in our experience, we were "made alive together with Him," the resurrected Christ (Col 2:13). In fact, our text strongly affirms this to be the case. After proclaiming the power that is "toward" us was primarily authenticated in the resurrection of Christ (Eph 1:20-23), the Spirit begins the next phrase with "And YOU . . . " That is, God raised Christ AND those accepted in Him.

THE LIFE OF WHICH WE SPEAK, therefore, is resurrection life – the life of the resurrected Jesus. It is not institutional life or fleshly excitement. It is not mere religious animation, so common in our day. This is the kind of life found in the risen and enthroned Son of God.

WE WERE DEAD. " . . . who were dead in trespasses and sins . . . " Our condition before being made alive was a dreadful one. We were "dead," destitute of life and separated from God. We were the opposite of Jesus, Who is "the Life," and is "alive forevermore" (John 14:6; Rev 1:18).

THE REALM, OR DOMAIN, of our death was "trespasses and sins." This involved alienation from God, and placed us under the wrath of Almighty God. "Trespasses and sins" are a realm that is both personal and collective. Individually we had sinned and were thus dead toward God. We also occupied a realm that was characterized by death and cursed by God. It was an utterly hopeless situation requiring Divine intervention. Although men debate about the extent of this death, nothing could have been done about it if God did not do it. Far better to acknowledge that "salvation is of the Lord" than to wrangle over the degree to which we were dead.

WHEN JESUS RAISED Lazarus from the dead, he had been dead for four days, and was especially repulsive with a noxious odor. When He raised the son of the widow of Nain, he has been dead for a while, but was not as repugnant in appearance as Lazarus. When He raised Jairus' daughter, she had just died, and no doubt retained some of her youthful attractiveness. Yet, all three had this in common: they were dead! It is also so with sinners.

THERE CAME A POINT IN TIME when we, as those who were dead, heard the voice of the Son of God. With shattering power, it penetrated the dark domain in which we found ourselves. Jesus referred to this awakening when He said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live" (John 5:25, NKJV). Jesus was speaking of a spiritual resurrection, for He later refers to another resurrection which would also be accomplished by His voice – the resurrection of the body from the grave (John 5:28). The first prepares for the second.

PRIOR TO BEING "MADE ALIVE," our state was most dreadful. It is described in words that put the accent on the grace of God. WE WERE UNDER SATAN'S DOMINION. " . . . you once walked . . . according to the prince of the power of the air . . . " Satan controlled us, and worked at will within us.

WE WERE CHARACTERIZED BY DISOBEDIENCE. " . . .the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves . . . " Disobeying God was our nature. "Disobedience" was the epitaph over the entirety of our lives. We Were Children of Wrath. ". . . and were by nature children of wrath, just like others." . . . " Our destiny was to be immersed into the wrath of Almighty God. Apart from Divine intervention, there was no possible way for this to be avoided.

BEING":MADE ALIVE" involves deliverance from all of those dreadful conditions. There is a change in our nature and our destiny when we are "made alive." Praise the Lord!

– Given O. Blakely