TUESDAY
Our phrase for this week is “I need you.”
Today and tomorrow we will consider our desperate need for God. Then the last two days of this week we will consider our desperate need for one another in the church.
In reality we need God for pretty much everything, the Psalms regularly point to these things, but we most desperately need God for salvation.
Ephesians 2:1–10 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.
Note the desperate plight of humanity prior to salvation in verses 1-3. We were spiritually dead in our trespasses and sins. We were following Satan and his demons. We were slaves to our sinful natures. God’s wrath was justly directed towards us. That’s not a great situation and one that we cannot help ourselves out of.
Now look at what God has done in vv. 4-10. He has made us alive with Christ. He has saved us. He has raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly places. Why did he do this? He did this because of his great love, his mercy, and his grace, ie. because he loved us he took pity on us and gave us his unmerited favor. This salvation is a gift in Christ. We are then his workmanship created anew in Christ to do good works. Paul only uses this word here and in Romans 1:20 referring to God’s creation of everything. So God created and now in Christ he is recreating and making all things new, beginning with his people. Even these good works God has prepared in advance for us to live out.
Not only are we in desperate need for God to save us, but we are also in need of him to keep us.
1 Peter 1:3–5 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Romans 8:38–39 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Additional Content
Reflection
Pray, “God, I am so desperately in need of you to save me and preserve me. What I could not do in my own power you have done in Christ. Thank you, Lord!”