Have you ever seen those weight loss or hair growth ads that show a before and after shot?
There is a ‘before/after’ situation in Ephesians chapter 2. The chapter begins by describing life before Christ: ‘You were living in your sins and lawless ways. In fact, you were dead. You used to live as sinners when you followed the ways of this world. You served the one who rules over the spiritual forces of evil. We tried to satisfy what our sinful nature wanted to do. We followed its longings and thoughts. God was angry with us and everyone else because of the kind of people we were.’ (Ephesians 2:1). That’s a pretty bleak ‘before‘ picture!
Then we come to the divine ‘but.’ ‘You were living in your sins. … But God loves us deeply. He is full of mercy. So he made us alive because of what Christ has done. He gave us life even when we were dead in sin. God’s grace has saved you.’ (Ephesians 2:3–5).
Before you were dead. Dead in sin. Disobeying God. Buried in the grave. Dead with Jesus in the dark tomb. But! But God has made you alive. God loves you deeply. He is full of mercy. So God raised you to new live. Just as Jesus rose from the dead, you too have been resurrected. God has saved you and freely given you a new life.
It’s a bit like those people who have a near miss and then they live a different life with their second chance. Imagine you’re in a car at a busy four-way intersection along the Hume highway. The driver looks left and right, but doesn’t see anything. They start to pull out but through your window you see a semi-trailer racing toward the intersection at 110 km/hr. You try to say something, but your mouth won’t work. In less than 2 seconds you’ll be dead, your brain is frozen. Your whole life is flashing before your eyes. Suddenly another passenger shouts out. “Stop!” The driver breaks, the semi swerves, sounding the horn in anger and relief. You should be dead. But now, through a miracle which you had nothing to do with, you are alive. What are you going to do with your second chance? What are you going to do in this after-life? This is the picture St Paul paints for us. Before you were dead. But now you have been made alive because of what Christ has done. Nothing you did saved you, but it was God’s grace has saved you. What are you going to do with your after-life?
The after-life is now
The first thing to realise is this after-life that God offers has already begun. The after-life is now, today, everything from this point forward is your second chance. Christians can sometimes have the wrong view that life with God only begins after our physical death. And here on earth we’re in a waiting room, waiting to be with God in heaven. But that’s not what St Paul says. You have been made alive now. He goes on to say that you have been raised up with Christ and God has ‘seated us with him in the heavenly kingdom.’ (Ephesians 2:6). We’re already in heaven on earth. This was really important for the Ephesians. The Roman city of Ephesus was known for the practice of magic. It was full of magicians and sorcerers. Their before-life would have included some pretty dark stuff. But now all of that is gone. We have been raised up to the heavenly realms. Above the earth. Above magic. Above spiritual evil. Above Satan. As one translation puts it, above ‘the ruler of the kingdom of the air.’ (Ephesians 2:2 NIV). So what are you going to do with your new life? This is the question you are called to answer.
The after-life involves work
Your after-life which begins now is not about sitting in heaven on a white cloud doing nothing. Or being seated with King Jesus and someone cooling you with waving palm branches as you eat grapes. The after-life involves work. St Paul goes on, ‘God made us. He created us to belong to Christ Jesus. Now we can do good things. Long ago God prepared them for us to do.’ (Ephesians 2:10). Another translation says, ‘We are God’s handiwork, [his masterpiece], created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.’ We have work to do in this after-life. Good things, good deeds for God to accomplish through us.
I like to think of this before- and after-life using the image of a tree. Imagine a dead tree. What does a dead tree do? Nothing. No leaves. No fruit. It’s dead. But you have been made alive with Christ. The tree is given new life and is alive. You have been given the work of growing leaves for shade and fruit for others to enjoy. We often wrongly think that such good works, growing fruit, is our work. Or we wrongly think that we must do good works in order to be made alive. But this messes up the order. First you are made alive, then you are called to do good works. Jesus says it best, “A good tree doesn’t bear bad fruit. And a bad tree doesn’t bear good fruit.” (Luke 6:43). We are made alive, made into a good tree, then we are called to bear fruit.
Another way to picture it is that God is a master artist and we are his masterpiece, he is the great author and we his magnum opus. St Paul writes, ‘We are God’s handiwork, [his masterpiece], created in Christ Jesus to do good works.’ (Ephesians 2:10). Handiwork here means a creative piece of work, a work of art or literature. Imagine a story. All good stories need a character and a plot (with beginning, middle, and end). Take the following story: ‘Bob was a farmer. He loved to plow his field. One day as he was plowing, he saw his neighbour bogged in the wet paddock next door. He took his big John Deere and pulled him out. Bob lived for many years on the farm, enjoying sunsets until he died in a tragic accident when his tractor exploded.’ As the author, I have given Bob life. I made him come to life by writing his story. In the story of his life he did many good things, including helping his neighbour in need. So, who did the good works? Did Bob do them? Or did I do them as the author? Well, it’s both. But can Bob boast or brag about the good works he accomplished? No, because I as the author prepared them for him.
It’s exactly the same with God. He is the author and you are his work, his poem, his song, his story. He has created you. He has given you life. He has made you alive. He has written your beginning, middle, and end. And long ago he planned for you to do good things. This is who you are. You are alive in Christ, made to do good things prepared long ago. But you can’t boast or brag about these good works, for it’s only by God’s grace that you’ve been given this after-life. St Paul writes, ‘God’s grace has saved you because of your faith in Christ. Your salvation doesn’t come from anything you do. It is God’s gift. It is not based on anything you have done. No one can brag about earning it.’ (Ephesians 2:8–9).
Challenge: Ask yourself, what are some of the good things you see God doing through your life? Talk with someone about the good things you see in other people and yourself.
Let us pray: heavenly Father, you have made us alive in Jesus to do good things. Help us to see how you are using our lives for your good. Amen.
