And You Were Dead: The Valley Between the Peaks

In one paragraph

Robert Lillo, a missionary with Global Scholars serving in Nigeria, brought the message this Sunday. He picked up where Pastor Ray had left off in the Ephesians study, focusing on the opening verses of chapter two and one particular word that tends to get passed over quickly. Robert opened with what he called an interpretive puzzle. Ephesians chapter one ends on an extraordinarily high note:...

Read together

1. Psalm 105:1 quoted at the opening to call the congregation to give thanks and proclaim God's greatness
2. 1 Corinthians 12:12-20 read during the covenant membership ceremony to illustrate the many members of one body
3. Romans 1:16 quoted as a declaration of not being ashamed of the gospel
4. Romans 12:4-8 read by the elder during the laying on of hands at the membership covenant
5. Ephesians 1 summarized as a building crescendo of spiritual blessings including election, redemption, forgiveness, and sealing by the Holy Spirit
6. Ephesians 2:1-3 expounded as the valley between two peaks, describing humanity as dead in trespasses, following Satan, and deserving wrath
7. Ephesians 2:4-6 the but God passage showing God raising believers up with Christ and seating them with him in the heavenly places
8. Philippians 4:13 quoted by a Nigerian student in a literacy class as the verse that gave them strength to learn

Talk about it

1. Robert described how his original mission of training teachers has expanded and shifted over twelve years in ways he did not anticipate. How have you seen God redirect something you thought you understood clearly, and what did that teach you about trusting His timing?
2. Robert talked about Nigerian Bible translations sometimes being checked against English text rather than the original Greek, because of a shortage of trained scholars. What does that make you think about the resources we have access to here, and how we use them?
3. Robert pointed out that Paul uses the word 'and' rather than 'but' at the opening of Ephesians chapter two, keeping our blessed position in Christ and our former state as objects of wrath in the same breath. Why do you think it matters that we hold both of those things together rather than focusing only on one?
4. Robert used the illustration of a student driver who straightens out the car as soon as he looks a quarter mile ahead instead of just at the road in front of him. Where in your life right now do you feel like you are only looking at the ten feet in front of the car, and what would it look like to get the longer view Paul is describing?
5. Robert said that when we remember our exalted position in Christ, we are meant to remember it not as deserving recipients but as objects of wrath whom God rescued by grace. How does keeping that in mind actually change the way you handle something like a conflict at home or a difficulty at work?