Hard to Reach

You know the hardest thing about preaching to Americans? Is the fact that most of us are pretty decent people. That the system of America, for the most part, rewards you for being upright and moral and kind and compassionate and helpful to other people. And that's what makes it so hard to preach the gospel to Americans. Because most Americans believe they are good enough for God.

And nothing could be further from the truth.

Paul writes to the Ephesians in chapter 2 to remind them of their status before Christ saves them. He says:

Ephesians 2:1-3 (ESV) 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. 

You were "dead ". Not mostly dead as "Miracle Max" might tell you, but fully dead in trespasses and sins. Dead is dead. That means that you, even in your moral goodness, were simply dead moral goodness. It's very hard for Americans to hear this for we are trained from birth to believe that we are Americans and we can do anything if we set our minds to it. If we work hard will make the grade, get in the college, get that job, get the promotion. We even think in our self-righteousness that we can make it to heaven. We are Babel revisited.

But before the gospel saves us it has to be honest with us on just how hopeless we were without Christ.

Even the best of us, noble and good, are hopeless apart from Christ. My proof? Notice the first six words of verse 3: "among whom we all once lived"

"WE ALL"... This is Paul the Apostle. Before he came to Christ he was as strict a Pharisee as you could get. He even writes in another epistle, "as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault." Philippians 3:6 He lived morally upright in every way possible. And yet here he includes himself in the list of all who, apart from Christ, were dead in sin.

So Paul takes a good chunk of chapter 2 to remind the Ephesians that while they are blessed in Christ now they need to remember where they came from. Why? Because Jesus opened his ministry with these words "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

It is the people who realize the abject poverty of their standing before God that gain access into all the resources of heaven. Those resources are only available when you realize the destitute nature of your life apart from Christ.

Good news is truly only good news when we realize the depth of the bad news. The bad news is we were dead because of sin. The good news is that Christ came and made us alive.

John 5:24 (ESV) Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

Prayer:

Father, may I never lose touch with who I was before Christ came. May I never act like I deserve what you've done for me. It is only by your grace. And for that I say thank you. I say thank you Jesus for saving me when I was dead in sins.