by Jerry Senn
“And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient... But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us, made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace” (Ephesians 2:1-2, 4-5, CSB).
“In the state of Calif, near LA, stands the highest peak in the continental US, Mt Whitney. It rises 14,495 ft. If you travel to the top there’s a panorama of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the Mojave Desert. It is said to be breathtakingly beautiful. The air is clear and you can ‘see forever.’ But only 80 miles away, to the SE, is Death Valley, the lowest spot in the USA, 280 ft below sea level, and the hottest place in the country—134 in the shade.”
—Dan Anders
What a contrast! One place is the top of the world, the other, the bottom. One cool, the other hot. From Mt Whitney you look down on all of life. From Death Valley, you look up to the rest of the world.
In the Ephesian letter, Paul is attempting to open our eyes to see where we were—in the valley of sin and death because of our sins. “We too all previously lived (walked) among them in our fleshy desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children of wrath as the others were also” (Ephesians 2:3, CSB).
Then, he also urges us to celebrate God’s grace and mercy! “He also raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might display the immeasurable riches of his grace through his kindness to us in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6, CSB).
We’ve been lifted from depths of despair to heights of glory, from bondage to freedom, from pessimism to optimism, raised to eternal bliss with God. What a contrast !!!
One anonymous, but very wise person wrote these words: “The recognition of sin is the beginning of salvation.”