Here, in Ephesians 2 there is a counter-cultural proclamation that there is only one thing in all the world that can truly accomplish reconciliation – the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is not merely creating individual saints; he is creating a whole new humanity.

We carry with us a fortune of infinite value, a treasure of lavish grace and eternal glory – and aren’t really aware of it. It often fails to function in our lives. We so easily live as though we were spiritual orphans instead of eternally chosen, blood-bought, dearly beloved children of God.  We are going to further unpack this precious gift as Paul explains the purpose, the principle and the product of grace

To become a Christian is nothing less than being raised from the dead. To be a Christian is to have undergone the most radical, miraculous, and eternity-altering change possible. And it is all due to the mercy of God. Now, why would these believers in Ephesus need to hear this? Well, because when life gets hard, these things are easily forgotten.

The Christian life has a social reality to it – we are united to Christ, brought into the family of God where we share one Lord, one faith, one baptism. Paul prays that the believers in Ephesus might experientially know the hope to which they’ve been called, the riches of God’s glorious inheritance and the greatness of God’s power. That is the intended experience of the Christian life. 

Peter talks about a normal Christian faith in and love for Jesus that results in inexpressible joy filled with glory. Is that how you would describe your Christian life? Is that what people see when they look at you? Do the people who live with you see joy and love and peace as the dominant traits of your life? Shouldn’t they?

Ephesians is a letter written to help believers see themselves in truth – as they really are, by God’s electing love and saving power. Paul planted this church and pastors them for 3 years. He is writing to them from a prison in Rome. And as he writes to this dearly beloved congregation, he wants them to grasp the sheer blessedness of being a Christian. 

The glorious news of Christmas is that God miraculously intervenes. In the birth of Mary’s baby boy God invaded this world of death with the seed of Life. He began a work which would culminate in the death of deaths and lead one day to the overthrowing of every grave. Our text is the wonderful story of an old man who got to see that miracle. 

The miracle of God Himself becoming man in the womb of the virgin Mary is the miracle that makes the Christian faith true. The hope is that, as we revisit this wonderful story, we will be encouraged, emboldened and empowered in our faith. That we will be more deeply convinced and more thoroughly assured in all that God has accomplished for us and promised to us in Jesus Christ, Mary’s son. 

One of the things about the Christmas story is how it thoroughly upends our sentimentalized versions of the event. The real thing was a lot messier, harder and vastly more disruptive than we tend to imagine. We find Mary, both incredibly blessed and with her carefully planned life in shambles.

Do you believe in the story of Christmas? Do you really believe it – in a way that transforms the way that you think and feel and live? Does the fact that God physically invaded the world of fallen man in the person of baby Jesus – does that fact have any real impact on you? Does it change the way you see yourself and this world and God Himself? Because it’s meant to.