Why You Should Thank God for Delivering You from Your Ginormous Mess

Every day is a new day to thank God. So, we are again approaching another Thanksgiving week and day. Don’t you love and enjoy this time of the year? We are in the book of Ephesians – in chapter two, and today we will focus and set our sights on being thankful for God’s great deliverance. Two girls one day were acting one day very badly. They were misbehaving. It was on Thanksgiving Day, and their father told them, “Girls, go to your room. You are dismissed from Thanksgiving dinner.” The girls went dejected and sad to their rooms. A few moments later, they heard their mother calling, “Girls, girls, come down to dinner, girls.” A little baffled considering what their father had said, they sheepishly walked down to the dinner table and sat down. But they noticed something. Dad was not there. So, they naturally asked, “Mother, where is Dad?” “Dad went to his room.” “But why, Mom?” “Because Dad loves you so much. He couldn’t change his standard, but he didn’t want to deny you dinner. So, Dad said he would go and pay the price so that you could come and eat the meal. So, while you enjoy the meal, remember that your dad has picked up the tab and is paying the penalty.” Brothers and sisters, when you forget to say thanks this week for everything else, don’t forget to say thanks for Jesus.¹ Why You Should be Thank God for delivering you from Your Ginormous Mess — that’s our focus on this week’s Light On Life.

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Each week’s podcast contains a call to action. The Word of God will not produce in your life unless you put it into operation.

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Thank God today for His great grace in your everyday life. As the songwriter says, ‘Count your blessings — name them one by one./callout]

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Question of the Day: What have you learned that you can share about thanking God regularly? Please share in the comments section below./callout]

Episode Resources

You can find more information on the book of Ephesians by clicking on the links below.

Emery committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ over 42 years ago. He has served as both a full-time pastor and an itinerant minister. Both he and his wife Sharon of 38 years emphasize personal growth and development through the Word of God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is both the focus and the hallmark of their mission. Read more about them here.

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Podcast Notes

Thank God for Deliverance: Vital Pronouns: You, We

We are reading in Ephesians chapter two – listen closely to these verses as they are a magnificent recount of all that Jesus delivered us from.

Ephesians 2:1–10 (ESV) — 1 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. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Thank God: Identifying You and We in Ephesians 2

It’s always helpful to understand who the addressee in any portion of scripture is.
Notice the words ‘you’ and ‘we’ in this passage.
To understand the switches in pronouns here, we need to identify who is ‘you,’ and ‘we,’ if we could say it that way.
As you drill down into this, you will find that when Paul refers to ‘you,’ he refers to the Gentiles.
But, when he switches to ‘we,’ in most cases, he switches references to include both Jew and Gentile.
So now, plug these substitutes for these pronouns back into these verses, reread the passage, and see what you get.

And you [Gentiles] were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you [Gentiles] 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 [Jews and Gentiles] 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. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us [Jew and Gentile], 5 even when we [Jew and Gentile] were dead in our trespasses, made us [Jew and Gentile] alive together with Christ—by grace you [Gentiles] have been saved— 6 and raised us [Jew and Gentile] up with him and seated us [Jew and Gentile] with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us [Jew and Gentile] in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you [Gentiles] have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we [Jew and Gentile] are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we [Jew and Gentile] should walk in them.

Thank God: Identifying You and We in Ephesians 1

Now, this is the same MO in chapter one – apply the same principle.
We’ve covered those verses in previous podcasts.
All the language is ‘us’ and ‘we’ in verses 4–13.

Ephesians 1:4–6 (ESV) — 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

Again, ‘us’ is Jew and Gentile.
But then, drop to verse eleven.

Ephesians 1:11(ESV) — 11 In him we [Jew and Gentile] have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,

In Him, we [Jew and Gentile] have obtained an inheritance.

Ephesians 1:13–14 (ESV) — 13 In him you [Gentiles] also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we [Jew and Gentile] acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

So, you can see how you and we play out in these verses.
Salvation is for Jew and Gentile.
Jesus is for Jew and Gentile.
God delivered us all out of a ginormous mess.

Thank God for God’s Great Plan: No One Left Out

So, what Paul is trying to make sure that we all understand is that the Gentiles are not overlooked in the things of God.
Jesus is a universal Savior — He died for everyone.
No one ever needs to get lost in the conversation.
You, Gentiles, when you heard the Word of truth, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit, and you joined us in the inheritance in God.
You, Jews, when you heard the Word of truth, you received the same experience of being sealed with the Holy Spirit, and you are a vital part of the inheritance in God.
No one is left out.
So, now, we come down to chapter two, where Paul says before you Gentiles came to Jesus, all of you were an unholy mess.
He describes God’s delivering power using another pronoun.
Keep that in mind.

Thank God for the Pronoun ‘With’

Ephesians 2:5–6 (ESV) — 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up WITH him and seated us WITH him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

So, what we have here is a uniting of pronouns.
The ‘you’ and the ‘we’ join as one WITH Jesus.
‘With’ is an essential word in the whole of chapters 1 and 2.
Paul talks about the grand plan of God to unite everyone in Christ – Jew and Gentile.
We, Jew and Gentile, are united WITH the Son of God who loved us and gave Himself for us.
Real unity is not real unity unless Jesus is the center.
There is a fake unity and a counterfeit peace that the world is putting out.
But nothing substitutes for authentic.
So, take note of the words ‘you,’ ‘us,’ and ‘with’ because they speak to the mystery unveiled of unifying everyone in Jesus.

Thank God for Delivering You: The Long List of Sin Designations

As we said at the start, God delivered you from a ginormous mess — a mess that you created because of disobedience to the mind of God.
He, by His great mercy, transformed — totally changed your life.

Ephesians 2:19 (ESV) — 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,

To understand a little more completely why you were a ginormous mess, go ahead and reread verses one through four of Ephesians two.

Thank God for Delivering from Death

Ephesians 2:1 (ESV) — 1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins

So, you were dead – go ahead and mark that in your thinking.
You’re dead, but you’re still breathing – mark that down and don’t let that get away from you.

Ephesians 2:2 (ESV) — 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—

You walked in the course of this world.
That can’t be good — mark that in your thinking.
You followed the devil in disobedience — that indeed is a one-way ticket to no-where’s-ville.

Ephesians 2:3 (ESV) — 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.

This is more bad stuff – you lived in the wrong passions of your flesh.
You executed the urges of those passions — freely carrying them out.
You were a mess, to say the least.
The bottom line is you were an absolute pile of sin and death.

Ephesians 2:4 (ESV) — 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,

‘But God’ — that pronoun ‘but’ is what we ought to thank God for.
‘But’ made all the difference – it delivered you out of the ginormous mess you were in.
You were dead.

Thank God that You Are No Longer Dead in Trespasses and Sins

What does dead mean?
Dead means that you were characterized by a lack of spiritual life or vigor.
Dead means that you were completely indifferent toward the things of God.
Spiritual death is the inability to respond in faith or obedience to matters relating to God.²
And with that thought, here is the Quote of the Day.
This quote is from the Exegetical Summary Series of commentaries.
It is a hugely profitable commentary — I super enjoy it.
Here is the quote.

The comparison is one of a dead body that is unable to respond to any stimulus from its environment. So, the spiritually dead man is unable to respond in a positive manner to God. The point of comparison is insensibility and lack of response. The non-figurative statement would be: you were unable to respond in any way to God.³

That’s what dead means.
Dead means ‘no response.’
Being physically ‘dead’ is a state of being.
We bury the ‘dead’ in a coffin.
You can look at being ‘spiritually dead’ in some ways the same way you look at being physically dead.
Many similarities exist.
Let’s look at a few.

Thank God for Delivering You from Being Unresponsive

Physically dead people are not responsive — you can poke them; you can prod them — they don’t respond.
The same is true with the spiritual dead.
They have flat-lined to the things of God.
You try to talk to them, but they don’t hear, and because they don’t hear, they don’t move.
Yielding is a sign of life.
Moving towards God is a clue that you have a spiritual pulse.
What does it mean to yield? — you may have heard this piece of encouragement in church.
Your pastor may have told you that you need to ‘yield to the Spirit.’
That’s nice, but what does that mean?
Yielding means responding to the promptings and the urges of the Spirit of God in your heart.
We can say it another way: responding to your conscience.
If your conscience pricks your heart and you respond and repent, that’s a sign of spiritual life.
Again, responding to God is a sign of spiritual life.
And with that thought, here is the illustration of the day.

Psychologists say that if you refuse to respond to a stimulus, in time the stimulus goes away. The stimulus may return, but it is usually weaker than before. After several occurrences, the stimulus ceases or else the person becomes hardened and unable to feel it. Thus, the person loses the ability to respond positively. So it is with the convicting power of the Holy Spirit. Persons may reject the Spirit until they become so insensitive that they do not/cannot respond positively.⁴

Dead people don’t respond to stimuli – they just lay there.
They are not just hardened to the point of insensitivity — they are way past that — they are dead.
Spiritually dead people don’t sense things — they are comatose where the things of God are concerned.
I say like comatose, but even a comatose person has a pulse — has some sign of life.
Not so the spiritually dead.
Now, the Lord delivered you out of death to a life of responding to Him.
He delivered you to a life of obedience.

Thank God for Delivering You into a Life of Obedience

John 14:15 (ESV) — 15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

Obedience is a sign of life because obedience is a response to God.
You obey God because of something He said.
You adjust to that.
This kind of response occurs on several levels.
First, there is obedience to God’s written Word.
Second, there is obedience to God’s spoken Word.
You know how the ‘spoken Word’ works:
There is a Bible term for that — it’s called Rhema.
Rhema is Word from God given directly in your heart by the Holy Spirit.
He is the direct agency — direct to your heart.
Obeying that God-given direction is a sign of life.
Your obedience to eternal precepts then leads to life.
The Word of God can come in many ways.

Hebrews 1:1–2 (KJV 1900) — 1 GOD, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;

‘Many times – many ways,’ that’s how the Spirit of God works.
Sometimes he uses other people to get the Word to you.
It is still Holy Spirit directed but, the agency, the vessel that He uses, maybe ministers, family, even individuals who are strangers to you.
But you have a witness in your heart when you hear the truth — the Spirit of God who starts the process prompts you within.
You know it’s right, so you obey that — that’s a response — that’s a sign of life.
Third, the Word can be delivered to you via ministry gifts.

1 Corinthians 14:2–4 (ESV) — 2 For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit. 3 On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. 4 The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church.

Some in your life, in your path, in the church, give out a Holy Spirit-inspired utterance.
You obey that — why? Because you know it’s God.
That scenario is a sign of life.

Thank God that You Are Not Lethargic: The Opposite of Responsiveness

Look at the opposite for a moment.
What if you are lethargic?
You know lethargy is sluggishness.
It’s when you are slow to respond to something you know is God.
If that’s the case, this is also what you want to look at.
When it comes to the Lord, we should be quick and eager to respond.
So, work on your response time.
Now, when I say, ‘work on it,’ I don’t mean a long — ‘I’m going to get there eventually — you all just keep praying for me — I need to grow some more before I can do it,’ kind of thing.
No, I’m talking about pausing, looking into your heart, and making a quick adjustment there.
Look at this other word in 1 Corinthians that indicates a spiritual pulse.

Thank God for Anxiousness: Another Sign of Responsiveness

1 Corinthians 7:32–33 (ESV) — 32 I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord. 33 But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife,

Anxious about the things of the Lord, did you hear those words?
The word ‘anxious’ means to attend to, care for, be concerned about.⁵
Are you concerned about God’s things? — His Word, His ways, His thinking, His great plan.
Do you love what He loves?

Matthew 22:37 (ESV) — 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

Loving God, really loving anybody, involves using your whole being, spirit, soul, and body.

Colossians 3:2 ESV — 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

The mind is part of the soul: the soul being the mind, the will, and the emotions.

Matthew 16:23 ESV — 23 But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

Part of what made the devil the devil is this issue we are talking about — not setting the mind on the things of God.
Can you say ‘Wow?’
Now, what we need to grasp is what this phrase means.
What does it mean to not ‘set your mind on’ the things of God?
With that thought, here is the Definition of the Day.
‘Setting your mind on’ is all one word in Greek.
It is the word here has the meanings, “to be of one’s party, to side with him, to direct one’s mind to a thing, to seek or strive for.”
Paul uses this word in Philippians 2:5, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.”
The idea in the word is “Have a mind for.” ⁶
This is a powerful truth.
The enemy has no mind for the things of God.
‘Having no mind for’ the things of God is a sure sign of spiritual death, and it is one ginormous mess that the Lord God delivered you from.
You are no longer that way.

Romans 8:5 (ESV) — 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.

‘The words’ set their minds on’ is this same word.
Those who have no mind for the things of the Spirit do have a mind for the things of the flesh.
Here is the same word in Colossians.

Colossians 3:2 (ESV) — 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

So, there is a lot that we covered there.

Thank God We No Longer Walk According to the Course of this World

Ephesians 2:2 (ESV) — 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—

So, you were dead — now maybe you understand the concept of spiritual death a little bit better.
The scripture goes on to say that you were dead in trespasses and sins.
Another word for trespasses is transgressions.
Transgressions are the action of going beyond or overstepping some moral boundary or limit.
The same can be said for the word ‘sins.’
Trespasses and sins are synonyms – they mean the same.
Again, Colossians, the sister book to Ephesians, has the exact phrase and concept.

Colossians 2:13–14 (ESV) — 13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

Now, trespasses and sins are part of the ‘course of this world.’
The Greek word ‘course’ means the age we are in or an era.
It’s a period of history having some distinctive features.
The distinct feature is ‘transgressions and sins.’
All of which makes this an ‘evil age – an evil era.’
This era or age is six thousand years old.
You were a ‘follower’ of this age.
A follower is a person who accepts the leadership of another.
You accepted transgressions and sins as your leader.
But it’s even more than that.
You followed someone else — you followed the Prince of the Air — the price of the power of the air — that’s the devil — that’s demons.
You followed a spirit – working spirit – a spirit that’s engaged in disobedience – causing it – encouraging it.
That’s what we all followed when we engaged in transgressions and sins — that’s what we observed when we acted on sinful sexual passions — acted on greed and dishonesty, lying our way across the spectrum of our relationships.
We lied — we stole — we cheated — we committed idolatry — we dishonored parents — we murdered, etc., and the list goes on and on of what we did.
But, above all, what we did was follow.
We followed a wrong spirit.
We weren’t leaders of righteousness but followers of
Now it’s different.
We get to set an example now.
We get to be in the example now, and it’s all because Jesus delivered us out of the ginormous mess that we were in.
So, instead of following the course of this world, we get to chart our course.
Your new course starts with the words of your mouth.
It’s your mouth that’s hooked up to your heart — to your spirit.
A spirit that has been fed and built up by the Word of the Lord.
And now, instead of the tongue setting on fire our bodies with sinful passions — instead of acting on our fleshly impulses — carrying out the desires of the body and the mind — a mind that feeds off the whispers of the enemy, we now chart our path.
It’s a course that has been laid out by the Spirit of God and not the spirit of this age.
I’m telling you that you have choices that you didn’t have before.
You can say no to transgressions and sins and the course of this world.
And it’s all because of Jesus.
Let’s reread verse three of Ephesians two.

Thank God That He Changed Our from Children of Wrath

Did you hear that?
You were, by nature, children of wrath.
What does that mean ‘nature?’
The Greek word ‘nature’ means a condition determined by birth.⁷
This definition is vital to understand.
The reason we need to come to Jesus is not because of sinful acts – sins and transgressions.
Sins and transgressions are by-products of a wrong nature
Men don’t go to hell because of what they do.
They go because of who they are.
When a person says yes to Jesus — God gives him a new nature.
If any man is in Christ Jesus, he is a new creature — he has a new nature.
That’s what we are thanking God for — that’s our deliverance into a new life: a life of peace and joy where the old nature can no longer dominate us.
And now, we conclude the matter — that’s in verse 4.

But God!

We’ve laid out a big ginormous mess that described your life and mine.
You were lost — without God — led a life of transgressions and sins — you were a sinful follower bound by a sinful nature instead of a spiritual leader.
Verse four of Ephesians chapter two is the capstone.

Ephesians 2:4 (ESV) — 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,

But God!
Despite the mess, ‘God’ was rich in mercy, and he spent that mercy on you.
He delivered you — He set you free, and He whom the Son sets free is free indeed.
So, this Thanksgiving season — don’t forget to thank God for His great Mercy.
Don’t forget to thank Him for delivering you out of the ginormous mess that you were in.
You guys have a great God week in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Ten Steps to Becoming a Problem Solving Maven

__________
References:

Tony Evans, Tony Evans’ Book of Illustrations: Stories, Quotes, and Anecdotes from More than 30 Years of Preaching and Public Speaking (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2009), 318–319. ↩
Glenn Graham, An Exegetical Summary of Ephesians, 2nd ed. (Dallas, TX: SIL International, 2008), 105. ↩
Glenn Graham, An Exegetical Summary of Ephesians, 2nd ed. (Dallas, TX: SIL International, 2008), 105. ↩
Herschel H. Hobbs, My Favorite Illustrations (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1990), 80. ↩
William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 632. ↩
Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader, vol. 1 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 170. ↩
William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 1069. ↩

emeryhorvath.com

Equipping people to pursue God's glory

Why You Should Thank God for Delivering You from Your Ginormous Mess

Podcast: Light on Life Season 8 Episode 47

by Emery Horvath

Listen to the Audio

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Accept the Challenge

Join the Conversation

Episode Resources

You can find more information on the book of Ephesians by clicking on the links below.

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Podcast Notes

Thank God for Deliverance: Vital Pronouns: You, We

Thank God: Identifying You and We in Ephesians 2

Thank God: Identifying You and We in Ephesians 1

Thank God for God’s Great Plan: No One Left Out

Thank God for the Pronoun ‘With’

Thank God for Delivering You: The Long List of Sin Designations

Thank God for Delivering from Death

Thank God that You Are No Longer Dead in Trespasses and Sins

Thank God for Delivering You from Being Unresponsive

Thank God for Delivering You into a Life of Obedience

Thank God that You Are Not Lethargic: The Opposite of Responsiveness

Thank God for Anxiousness: Another Sign of Responsiveness

Thank God We No Longer Walk According to the Course of this World

Thank God That He Changed Our from Children of Wrath

But God!

Listen to the Audio

Click Play to Listen | Right Click to Download | Subscribe in Stitcher Radio

Read the Notes

Accept the Challenge

Join the Conversation

Episode Resources

You can find more information on the book of Ephesians by clicking on the links below.

Subscribe to the Podcast

Share the Love

Podcast Notes

Thank God for Deliverance: Vital Pronouns: You, We

Thank God: Identifying You and We in Ephesians 2

Thank God: Identifying You and We in Ephesians 1

Thank God for God’s Great Plan: No One Left Out

Thank God for the Pronoun ‘With’

Thank God for Delivering You: The Long List of Sin Designations

Thank God for Delivering from Death

Thank God that You Are No Longer Dead in Trespasses and Sins

Thank God for Delivering You from Being Unresponsive

Thank God for Delivering You into a Life of Obedience

Thank God that You Are Not Lethargic: The Opposite of Responsiveness

Thank God for Anxiousness: Another Sign of Responsiveness

Thank God We No Longer Walk According to the Course of this World

Thank God That He Changed Our from Children of Wrath

But God!

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