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13

The Consequences of Our Reconciliation

Eph. 2:5a, 6

Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ . . .

And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

 

In our last study, we discovered that there are three causes that brought about our salvation: mercy, love, and grace. We turn now to the “Consequences” of our reconciliation. By this we mean that there are certain things that result from God’s mercy, love, and grace. In fact, we need to see that the “Consequences” parallel the “Causes:”

 

·        Mercy has made us alive

·        Love has raised us up

·        Grace has placed us in the heavenlies

 

While these overlap to some extent, we still see very clear distinctions between them.

 

I. God’s Mercy Has Made Us Alive (v. 5a)

Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ . . .

 

With a quick stroke of the pen, Paul refers back to verse 1-3 and reminds his readers of what they were before Christ—not just crippled or debilitated, but dead in sins. He then presents one of the most dramatic realities we can know as a believer. Let us look at it in its twofold thrust.

           

What God Did – “Made Us Alive”

 

Our Authorized Version uses the word quickened. This is significant, as Webster tells us that the English word means “to make alive, revive.” As verses 1‑3 plainly show, we were dead outside of Christ; we were dead in trespasses and sins and were dominated by the world, the flesh, and the devil. But now we see that God has made us alive.

The phrase hath quickened us together with translates a single Greek word (suzōopoieō). The literal meaning is “to make one alive together with another.” This verse and Colossians 2:13 are the only two places it is found in the New Testament: “And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses.” We also see that this verb is in the Aorist Tense show­ing that at a once‑for‑all point in the past we were made alive together with Christ, that is, in connection with Him, associated with Him in newness of life. In other words, the same power that raised Him from the grave is the same power that has given us life.

 

One of the most crucial truths we need to see here is the picture of our identification with Christ. We need to see how it progresses in each of our three points. In this first point we see the following:

 

·        We have been crucified with Christ (Ga1.2:20; Rom. 6:6)

·        We died with Christ (Rom. 6:8)

·        We were buried with Christ (Rom. 6:4; Col. 2:12)

·        Now we have been given new life with Christ (our text)

What does it mean to be quickened, to be “made alive?” Put simply, this refers to the doctrine of regeneration. I was truly amazed by the accuracy of the following definition of regeneration in an old edition of Webster’s Dictionary:

 

Spiritual rebirth, renewal, re‑creation, or revi­val; a radical spiritual transformation in which the center of one’s life is shifted under the action of a Divine agency (as the Holy Spirit) from a self‑cen­tered ultimate concern to a God‑centered ultimate con­cern.1

 

That is truly the New Testament picture of regeneration. The Biblical picture then is actually twofold: Not only is regene­ration a new life, but it is a new way of life. Martyn Lloyd-Jones cut the heart of the matter when he spoke:

 

[Regeneration] means that God by His mighty action puts a new disposition into my soul. Notice I say “disposition,” not faculties. What is the difference? . . . The disposition is that which determines the bent and the use of the faculties. [The Christian] is not given a new brain, he is not given a new intelligence, or anything else. He has always had these; they are his servants, his instruments, his “members” as Paul calls them in the sixth of Romans; what is new is a new bent, a new disposition. He has turned in a different direction, there is a new power working in him and guiding his faculties. That is the thing that makes a man a Christian. 2

 

Paul was very clear on this, as he wrote to the Corinthians, who particularly needed the reminder: “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (II Cor. 5:17). This is not emphasized nearly enough in Christianity today. Regeneration means a new way of thinking, a new way of acting, a new way of looking at life, a new value system, a brand new life‑style. Before life was given to us we could act only like dead men, but now we act alive; we manifest the new life that has been placed within us. And, to go a step further, one whose life does not in some way manifest this shows that he is still dead. There has been no regeneration in one whose way of life does not change.

 

In his exposition of Ephesians, Ray Stedman, who pastored Peninsula Bible Church in Palo Alto, California for 40 years, recounts a day when a package arrived at the church office. Upon opening it he discovered, of all things, birth control pills. Wondering who in the world would send birth control pills to a church, he then read the enclosed card:

 

Dear PBC. The prescription for these pills dates to October. They are still good. Use them if you like. I no longer need them because I am reformed. You see, I shouldn’t have been using these pills because I am not married. But praise the Lord! I have made a decision to protect myself with godly chastity and virtue instead of pills—and God is upholding my decision! 3

 

The card was signed humbly, “The little toe of the Body.” While probably the best thing to have done was just throw the pills away, her attitude and action showed that she understood what it meant to be a Christian. Renouncing her sexual sin was evidence of her transformed life.

 

How God Did It – By His “Mercy”

 

Recall that mercy is the withholding of that which is deserved. We deserve the dead state we are in; we deserve eternal death; we deserve all this because of our trespasses and sins. But God’s mercy with­holds the eternal death we deserve. But God’s mercy has made us alive.

 

II. God’s Love Has Raised Us Up (v. 6a)

And hath raised us up together,

 

What God Did ‑ “Raised Us Up”

 

At first glance this seems to be the same as quickening, but there is a clear dis­tinction; this “raising up” is actually an outworking of the quickening. We’ll come back to this in a moment, but notice how this adds to the picture of our identification with Christ: we have been crucified with Christ; we died with Christ and were buried with Him; we were then given new life with Christ; now we see that we have been raised with Christ.

 

What then does raised us up mean? As one commentator writes: “Believers are not only quickened, but they are also raised up; they not only receive life, but they experience a resurrection.” 4

 

Again, the five English words hath hath raised us up together are a single word in the Greek, sunegeiro. The full meaning is “to raise up together from moral death to a new and blessed life devoted to God.” 5  Indeed, what God has done in us through Christ is no less than a resurrection. We have been raised from death to life; but even more, to a life of that is committed to Christ and godliness.

 

A key passage here is Romans 6:1‑10. For lack of space we will not quote it, but I urge you to read it before continuing. As you do, notice three marvelous Truths. First, we are dead to sin; that is, we are no longer dominated by sin. Sin no longer has “the upper hand;” we are freed from sin because we are dead to it. Second, we are no longer in the “old man;” that is, we are no longer under the guilt, penalty, or power of the Adamic man. We still sin, but the reason we do is because of the “flesh” that still dwells within the human nature (Rom. 7). What we were “in Adam” has been changed by what we are “in Christ.” Third, we are no longer dead in sin but alive in Christ.

The focal point of our present study, however, is verse 4:

 

Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. (emphasis added)

 

Why were we baptized (baptizō, placed into, immersed) in Christ? Why has God raised us up in Christ? So we will walk in newness of life. We are no longer on the level of sin; Christ has raised us up to a “new level,” a “new potential.” God has not raised us up so we will live like we are still dead in trespasses and sins. No, indeed! We are dead to sin; we no longer live in it.

 

There is a beautifu1 illustration of all this in the resur­rection of Lazarus (Jn. 11 and 12). We read there:

. . .He [Jesus] cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes . . . Jesus saith unto them, Loose him and let him go (11:43‑44).

 

Even though Lazarus was now alive, he was still wearing the evidences of death—the grave clothes. That is why the Lord Jesus said, “Loose him.” Since Lazarus was alive, he should look like he was alive. Oh, how many Christians there are today who are just like Lazarus before the grave clothes were removed! How silly it would have looked if Lazarus had tried to hop around while still wrapped in the grave clothes. But many Christians do exactly that; many try to hang on to the values, purposes, and goals of the world. Dear Christian, we no longer walk in trespasses and sins, governed by the flesh; rather, we walk according to the new life, the new potential, the new disposition within us.

 

How God Did It – By His “Love”

 

We recall that God’s love is “a self‑emptying self‑sacrifice in which God gave of Himself in the form of His only begotten Son Who gave His life for us.” In the last chapter, we observed that we don’t really know why God loved us from the human perspec­tive; as a spiritual corpse we had nothing to offer God, but God still loved us. But we now learn that there is a reason He loved us from the Divine perspective. The reason God loved us is because He loves His Son, and His Son created us (Jn. 1:1‑3). There­fore, as God raised His Son out of love, He also raises us out of love.

 

III. God’s Grace Has Seated Us In The Heavenlies (v. 6b)

and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

 

What God Did — “Seated Us In The Heavenlies”

 

Not only was Christ raised from the dead, but He also ascended into heaven (Acts 1:10‑11). And, once again, we are identified with Christ in this reality. Back in 1:3, Paul said that God has “blessed us with all spiritual blessings in [the heavenlies].” Then in verse 20 we read that Christ is seated in the heavenlies. But now Paul points out the deeper truth that we are at present enthroned with Christ in heavenly places, (i.e., in the heavenlies]. How thrilling! Even though we are physically situated on earth, we are still spiritually seated in heaven. As Philippians 3:20 declares: “For our conversation [i.e., citizenship] is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.”

 

I have never forgotten a statement I heard Vance Havener make many years ago: “We are not citizens of this world trying to get to heaven; rather we are citizens of heaven just trying to get through this world.” Think of it! Our citizenship is already in the heavenlies! This now completes the picture of our identification with Christ:

 

·        We have been crucified with Christ

·        We died with Christ;

·        We were buried with Christ;

·        We were given new life with Christ

·        We were raised with Christ;

·        Now we see that we have been seated with Christ in heaven.

No, we are not now in heaven literally and physically, but we are there positionally and spiritually. We are already citizens of heaven just trying to get through this world, just being witness of our Lord.

 

To better understand this reality, let us note the words made us sit. We find here the Greek sunkathizo, which means “to cause to sit down together.” The root is kathēmai, “to cause to sit.” This means little to us unless we understand that in sitting was often a mark of honor or authori­ty in the ancient world. For example, a king sat to receive his subjects; members of a court sat and passed judgment on the one who stood before them; a teacher sat and taught his students. 6 So, the idea conveyed by this word is that of honor. In fact, this word is used of Christ in 1:20 to convey the fact that He is “seated with honor in the heaven­lies.” Then, when the prefix is added, we have the meaning, “to cause to sit together in Christ.” Therefore, in the spiri­tual sense, we have already been (Aorist Tense) enthroned and exalted with Christ. Puritan Matthew Henry puts it beautifully:

 

When He raised Christ from the dead, He did in effect raise up all believers together with him, He being their common head; and when He placed him at His right hand in heavenly places, He advanced and glorified them in and with Him . . . Sinners roll themselves in the dust; sanctified souls sit in heavenly places, are raised above the world; the world is as nothing to them, compared with what it has been, and compared with what the other world is . . . They are exalted to reign with Him; they sit upon the throne with Christ.

 

What does all this mean in practice? What is the practical application? The answer is simple: since we are already seated with Christ in heaven, let us now act like it on earth. Meditate on Colossians 3:1‑3:

 

If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

 

How plain Paul makes this in the “sister book” 7 to Ephesians. God has given us new life and new potential; we are now to live like it. There is an old cliché that has been popular for many years. It was first uttered by a famous evangelist in the 19th Century but is nonetheless wrong. The cliché goes, “Some Christians are so heavenly-minded that they are of no earthly good.” How ridiculous that is! It is impossible for a Christian to be “too” heavenly-minded. Oh, yes, there are many who act sanctimonious, self‑righteous, and superior, but that is not heavenly mindedness. Being heavenly-minded means exactly what Paul says here—setting our thoughts, values, words, deeds, and all else on the things of heaven. Moreover, God cannot use us unless we are heavenly minded.

 

How God Did It — By His “Grace”

 

We recall that grace is the bestowing of what is not deserved. Here indeed is a beautiful picture of grace. Do we deserve a place in heaven? Do we deserve to be seated with the Creator, the Master, the Judge? While modern Theology says we have self-worth and deserve exaltation, Scripture says differently. We deserve only death and hell. But not only has God withheld the death we deserve by His mercy, but He also has bestowed a place in heaven by His grace. What a staggering thought!

 

As we close, may we notice the entire picture of these three consequences of our reconciliation. Looking at them together we see:

 

·        God’s Mercy Has Made Us Alive – that is REGENERATION.

·        God’s Love Has Raised Us Up – that is RESURRECTION.

·        God’s Grace Has Seated Us In The Heavenlies – that is EXALTATION.

People today do all sorts of things to be exalted and honored. Many people strive for that so-called “fifteen minutes of fame.” Some will do anything to get on television. Others spend billions of dollars a year to make a great football team so they can compete for a Super Bowl ring, or a hockey team to strive for the Stanley Cup. Others dedicated their lives to acquire an Olympic medal. Actors vie for an Oscar. But such empty honors should be the furthest thing from the believer’s mind because God’s grace has already exalted us far beyond that; we are already exalted in heaven with Christ and will reign with Him throughout eternity. What Earthly honors can compare with that?

 

Oh, how marvelous are the consequences of our reconcilia­tion! But not only do they give much to us, they likewise de­mand much from us. Dear Christian, are you really walking in newness of life? We’ll see later in our study that Paul goes into this in much more detail (4:17‑29), but even in the doc­trinal portion of Ephesians we see that our walk must be accor­ding to our wealth, that our riches dictate our responsibilities.

 

1  Webster’s Third New International Dictionary (Springfield, Massachusetts: G.C. Merriam Company, 1969).

2  God’s Way of Reconciliation, p. 79.

3  Stedman, p. 92.

4  Eadie, p. 145.

5  Thayer.

6  Brown, Vol. III, p. 587‑589.

7  See Section X of the “Introduction And Overview” for an under­standing of the parallels between Ephesians and Colossians.

 

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