Alive Together with Christ Ephesians 2:1-10

Grace, mercy, and peace be with you…

Today we’re going to talk about what it means to be alive together with Christ. Life with Christ is true life, and abundant life, life at its best, and to its fullest.

Jesus said, “I have come that [you] may life; and have it to its fullest.”.

Ironically, though, to give us that kind of life, Jesus had to die.

In our Gospel today, Jesus foreshadowed the way, and the reason he would die.

Nicodemus had come to Jesus in the night to learn more about him. After telling Nicodemus that he must be born again of the water and the Spirit, born in faith by Baptism, Jesus proceeded to tell him why that would save him; because of what Jesus had come into the world to do:  die for the sins of the world.

Think about that for a minute. That’s quite the mission; quite the thing to be sent to do; sent to die. Imagine being sent on a mission, not with the possibility of death, but with the absolute certainty of it. It would take a lot courage to accept and go on that mission.

Because of His love for His father, and for humanity, Jesus was willing and courageous to do this most difficult thing: die for the world.

Jesus revealed this to Nicodemus with an illustration from the Old Testament. The Israelites were wandering through the through the desert, led by Moses, and as so often happened when times got tough, they turned on God, and blamed Moses.

To save their souls, God allowed their bodies to suffer for a time. He withheld his protection and allowed poisonous snakes to come among them.

In the same way, God sometimes allows suffering in our life.

This is a fallen world, and if we’re going to live here, we going to have to suffer at times, in body, and mind, and soul.

But God would have us see these difficulties as reasons to look to Him, and receive His help; receive the healing that can’t be found anywhere else; healing, not just for the body, but also for the mind, and the soul.

Rather than blaming God for the poisonous snakes, the Israelites repented and looked to God for help. They pleaded with Moses. “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord... Pray to the Lord, to take away the serpents.”.

Moses prayed to God for them, and this is how God answered them: He told Moses to cast a bronze serpent, raise it up on a pole, and if they were bitten, they could look to the pole, and be saved.

This from the same God who commanded them: You shall not make any graven images.

It seems like a contradiction. Here’s why it isn’t.

The bronze snake didn’t represent a false god or idol; it wasn’t named; rather it foreshadowed the Son of God, who would die on a pole of sorts, a cross.   

Jesus said, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up.” Crucified.

Isaiah 52 and 53 was the prophecy Jesus took this from: Behold, my servant… shall be high and lifted up.

Then he goes on and says what he means by lifted up: As many were astonished… his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance. That described Jesus on the cross.

In our Gospel, Jesus makes it clear that the Israelites were not magically saved just by looking up at the bronze snake; they were saved by believing that God would save them; saved by faith. They looked up because they believed in Him, and the healing He promised to give them.

Jesus said, “So must the Son of Man be lifted up… For God so loved the world, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”.

During this season of Lent, we intensely and intentionally focus on the cross, for there we see our spiritual healing, our life and salvation.

God has turned that instrument of death into a symbol of life; that instrument of suffering, into a symbol of our healing; that instrument of punishment, into a reminder of our forgiveness.

Our Epistle reminds us why we need to look up to the cross. Because, Paul says, You were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked. We look up to the cross because we need life and forgiveness.

Paul reveals the source of this sin and death to us, following the course of this world, the fallen world, “following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.” 

The prince of the power of the air; that’s an interesting way to describe the devil.

He’s called a prince because of his power and leadership, albeit evil power, and misleading leadership. He rules the demons and hell, a terrible, cruel kingdom.

The devil and all the fallen angels are hard at work in the world, misleading people; trying to corrupt and destroy as much as they can; trying to bring about as much suffering and death as they can.

But Christ came to bring healing and life; to make us alive together with Him.

Without Christ in your life, there’s no way to have this kind of life and healing; the healing of forgiveness, and the life that’s everlasting. Without Christ, there’s no true and abundant life; just a poor and temporary imitation of it.

Without Christ your soul can’t truly live. In Baptism, with faith in Christ, your salvation has already begun; your soul is in a state of eternal living. Without Christ, your soul is in a state of eternally dying, in the end, suffering a fate worse than death: suffering severely and wanting to die, but not being able to.

The suffering of the body on earth can be terrible; severe pain is so hard to endure, as Jesus knows, given his time on the cross.

The suffering of the body, however, doesn’t begin to compare with the suffering of the soul. That’s far worse.

These are not fun things to think and talk about; but sometimes we need to be reminded of them.

Rather than just not think about these unpleasant things, Jesus confronted them. Jesus didn’t deny things; he changed things.

We might be tempted to deny such unpleasant things as the reality and impact of sin, death, and hell, but that doesn’t change anything, and it surely doesn’t help us, or anyone else. It’s better to face these realities, and be saved from them.

Jesus faced the terrible suffering of his soul and the painful death of his body, so that he could conquer them for you.

Sometimes we have to suffer in this fallen life, and that breaks our Father’s heart. It pains our loving Father to see his dear, created children suffer and die; but He knows that we must go through it in this fallen world.

While he can’t keep our bodies from suffering at times now, he can comfort our minds and heal our souls. And he can keep us from the terrible and eternal suffering of body and soul in the world to come.

He so badly wants to save you from that, that He calls you to repent; to look up to the cross and believe in His Son, and be made alive together with Him.

Life with Christ now gives us a taste of how wonderful life we will be with Him forever. This taste of His love and joy now, makes us hungry for it forever. Having life together with Christ now, gives us a beginning experience of the life we will have with him in eternity.

In this world there’s all the sin and evil that dulls the joy and vibrancy of our life with Christ. In heaven there’ll be nothing to diminish our love, or dull our joy.

Since we have so much joy to look forward to; since we’re alive together with Christ and blessed by Him now on earth, let us be a blessing to one another now, until that time when we will be a perfect blessing to one another heaven.

Until that joyful day, let us live and serve God together in the blessing of His supernal peace, which passes our understanding, and guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen