But God

Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil —the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else. But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:1-7

IN MODERN CHRISTIANITY, we have developed many terms for describing a Christian and what makes someone a Christian. We talk about “getting saved” or “accepting Christ” or “asking Jesus to come into your heart.” But Ephesians 2 provides us with words that describe this reality: “you were dead . . . but God . . . raised [you] from the dead.” This clarity helps us better understand our children. They were born physically alive but spiritually dead. Not just sickly. Dead. Completely unable to respond to God. Their regeneration must be accomplished by the Spirit through the Word. That’s why we take our children to church where they can hear the Word of God preached and taught and why we read the Bible together in our homes. We can’t make our child alive spiritually, but God can and does using his Word.

God is rich in mercy. In other words, he is not stingy with it. He showers his mercy on those who look to him for it. He loves to work in the lives of those who are dead because of sin to make them alive.

Lord, as we think of you in the age to come, pointing to those who were dead but were made alive by being united to Christ, how we long for ________ to be a glorious example of the incredible wealth of your grace and kindness toward sinners. We don’t have the power to generate spiritual life in our children, but you do! So unite ________ to Christ. Raise ________ from the dead. Seat ________ with Christ in the heavenly realms.