“An amazing transformation”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Sunday, March 10, 2024
Ephesians 2:1-10 (Forward, p. 41) CEV p. 1222
Here, in today’s Scripture passage, the apostle Paul speaks of an incredible, amazing transformation, a transformation that takes place in our lives when we put our faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is none other than a transformation from death to life. We, unknowingly, had been subject to death for several reasons:
-we had sinned and fought against God.
-we had followed the ways of this world and obeyed the devil.
-we had been ruled by the selfish desires of our bodies and minds.
But God was merciful and loved us, so much so that He made us alive with Christ. God raised us from death to life with Christ Jesus and has given us a place beside Christ in heaven. All of this is based upon what Christ Jesus has done.
This is much better than we ever deserved, and is, indeed, a gift from God. It isn’t anything that we could have done on our own or could have earned or merited.
And yet, much of the world is in darkness about this matter. Firstly, it is not aware that due to their choices and their lifestyle they are destined to death—perhaps not in this life, but certainly eternally. They do not realize that they are on a one-way street to destruction and futility.
And certainly, given that they are ignorant about the above, they don’t realize that there is ‘a way out’, that they aren’t inevitably on that ‘one-way street’, that God has made provision for how they might have life, both now and forever.
But then, is there hope for those who have thus been blinded, ignorant of their fate? That is, is there a way that they might, after all, be enabled to see and understand their predicament? Yes, indeed, there is. I have noted three phenomenon, three situations, where this can happen. (There may well be others as well, but these are the ones that I am familiar with):
a) There may be a sense that their world is ‘spiralling out of control’ through addictions or such like. They may, in AA’s words, feel powerless to help themselves, and reach out to ‘a higher power.’
b) There may be a realization that they have ‘put all their eggs in the one basket’, and the wrong basket at that. They have worked and
sweated for success or achievement, or for worldly goods, and now that they have it, it seems empty and meaningless.
c) They may have been open, searching for something and have a sudden insight, a sudden realization, brought about by some new experience or by the words of someone else.
And so, they too can experience and know for themselves that amazing transformation. And should it not be our calculated and deliberate intention to help them discover this for themselves, whether by our words, our actions, or our examples. May God bless us and use us in this fashion. Thanks be to God.
Forward notes: “For my grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God” (verse 8).
“Often, the church portrays Lent as a time when we are supposed to do more for God. Yet, the reality is that Lent asks us to stop and see what God is doing for us in our lives.
“A few years ago, I visited the Iona Community in Scotland. At the beginning of each week, new residents draw cards that give them a work assignment for their stay. The wardens of the community explain the experience of work to newcomers by saying, ‘In every day of our lives here, we devote a least an hour of our day to work. We do this work as an offering to God. We do this work out of full recognition that during the other 23 hours of the day, God is working on our behalf’.
“Most of what fulfills us in life ultimately comes from God’s abundant love. It’s a gift. God works in tireless ways for us. Our response is to let God’s grace fill every part of us. In that way, we encounter true and everlasting salvation.”
Moving Forward: “What is God doing in your life?”