Let’s get one thing straight: Life doesn’t just work better with Jesus, without Him, there is no life at all. This week in our “Rooted and Ready” series, we hit one of the most honest, humbling, and hope-filled passages in the Bible. Ephesians 2 doesn’t sugarcoat anything. Paul starts with a punch:
“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins…” (Ephesians 2:1)
Dead. Not hurting. Not confused. Not limping. Spiritually DEAD.
That’s the state we were all in, walking corpses, following the world’s chaos, giving in to the devil’s whispers, driven by our inner selfish cravings. We weren’t “mostly good” with some bad behavior. We were rotten. Like that forgotten takeout container in the back of your fridge, sealed up and festering, and when you finally crack it open… the stench hits you. That’s not something you clean up. That’s something you throw out.
Paul says that was us. Pretty on the outside, moldy and dead on the inside. “Children of wrath,” he says. Not misguided. Not slightly off track. Under judgment. That’s a bold, painful truth, but we need to hear it. Because only when we understand how far gone we were can we fully grasp what God has done.
Then come the best two words in the whole Bible:
“But God…”
“…being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us… made us alive together with Christ…” (vv. 4–5)
But God. Not but you prayed harder. Not but you finally cleaned up your act. No. You were dead. But God acted. But God moved. But God resurrected.
Because of His mercy. Because of His love. Because of His grace.
You see, life works best with Jesus because life without Him isn’t life at all, it’s death. But Jesus didn’t wait for you to get your life together. He came to you when you were a spiritual corpse, and by grace, He made you alive.
This is more than inspiration. It’s resurrection.
And now?
You’ve been raised. You’ve been seated with Christ in the heavenly places. You’ve been saved by grace through faith, not by your doing, but by His gift.
You are now God’s workmanship. Not a project to be ashamed of, but a masterpiece with purpose, created in Christ Jesus for good works He’s already prepared for you to walk in.
So here’s the invitation today: Stop trying to look alive on your own. Stop pretending that sin is just a bad habit. Own the truth. You were dead. But God rich in mercy made you alive.
So now? Live like it. Walk in the works He’s prepared. Stay rooted in His Word. Be ready for what’s next.
Because life doesn’t just work better with Jesus—it only works with Him.
Printed that one out to perhaps give to a young neighbor man who feels he is probably an agnostic. Wife is Salvation Army person. Praying for him and for me that I will have the right words to say to him as he does some work for us and wants to talk. God please draw Michael’s heart to yours.