From Death to Life

“And you hath He quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.”  Ephesians 2:1-3

Before Paul brought the message of the gospel to Ephesus, the people in that city were like the majority of the world today–lost in their sin.  Scripture defines the lost as “dead in trespasses and sins”.  Matthew Henry wrote that “Sin is the death of the soul”.  There is no spiritual life in the lost because they have no relationship to God.  When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden of Eden, they, in effect, believed the devil’s lie over God’s truth, and in so doing, they disobeyed the one command that He had given them, that is, not to eat of the fruit from the tree in the midst of the garden.

Adam and Eve actually committed two sins–disobeying God’s command and trusting Satan’s lie over remaining faithful to God which is idolatry.  Thus, every person born since Adam’s and Eve’s fall are born with a sin nature, prideful, and unable to be righteous on their own before a holy God, making all people enemies of the sovereign and righteous God.  Adam and Eve sinned physically by seeing the forbidden fruit with their eyes as something to be desired, and they sinned spiritually by allowing their hearts to turn away from God and turn to the devil.  It is an absolutely terrifying fact that every person who has not repented and trusted in Christ belongs to Satan, and judging by how the world is going, Satan has a really big family.

The way of the world is the way of sin, intentional or unintentional, which exhibits itself in disobedience to the commands of God and in not living by the standards which God ordained in His word.  The first commandment states that we are to have no other gods but the LORD God.  People have turned just about anything into a god.  I don’t need to name any of them; whatever one puts before God in worship, reverence, service, and love is a god to them.  People do not realize the seriousness of putting anything ahead of God.

When Satan and his demons were cast out of heaven because of their rebellion (Isaiah 14:12-15), they set up shop on the face of the earth and in its atmosphere just above the ground where people live their lives.  God is still in control but allows Satan to roam the earth “seeking whom he may devour” (I Peter 5:8).  He already has the majority of earth’s inhabitants in the palm of his hand, but he will never be satisfied with the status quo.  He works diligently to prevent any of those whom he possesses to leave the dark side for the light of Christ.  As those who belong to Christ are led by His Holy Spirit, the devil has his own evil spirit which works to keep the lost in his realm and do damage to the witness of the saved.  He can’t possess a true Christ follower, but he can influence their behavior, hurting the cause of Christ, and diminishing their influence upon Satan’s followers.

Everyone on earth, every human who has ever lived on earth, lives or lived to satisfy the flesh.  Life for the lost is about making money, spending money, climbing the corporate ladder, accumulating more and more, bigger and better, having fun, and pleasing themselves with little or no thought of eternity.  They are like the rich man who built bigger barns to store his possessions, but then died and left it all for someone else to enjoy or waste.  He didn’t take any of it with him (Luke 12:16-21).  Jesus told this parable to illustrate how one’s life does not consist of the things which he or she possesses (verse 15).  However, the majority of the world doesn’t believe what Jesus said.  They follow that old saying to “get what they can, can what they get, and sit on the can”.  The thing about cans is that they eventually rust and crumble into dust.  One’s selfish motives will be exposed and then judgment comes.  “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).  It is very obvious, then, that one can earn his or her way to death and hell, but eternal life and heaven is a free gift paid for by Christ.

I just read an example the other day of how Satan works to keep his followers in line, and sometimes it is to the detriment of Christians.  A female state legislator had an abortion after, she claims, she prayed about it and felt that God was OK with her decision.  Another legislator, a male, made a remark to another legislator, stating that abortion is something out of the church of Satan.  Because word got back to her, he was forced to give up his leadership role in the state legislature.  It is true that one of the rituals of the church of Satan is abortion similar to the child sacrifices to Molech in scripture (Leviticus 18:21).  Our society and our government have made it increasingly offensive for any believer in Christ to speak out against abortion, transgender procedures on children, and really anything that is ungodly.  Since there are many who belong to Satan in society and in government, their policies and ideas only indicate to whom they give their allegiance, and it is not God.  However, Christians must stand for truth and pray, pray, pray.