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The Horrific Tragedy of Rebellion Against God by Pastor Charlie Handren

By Anonymous
     The gloriously good news of the gospel grows out of the ashes of the horrifically tragic news of human rebellion against God. Therefore, unless we take the time to carefully meditate on the bad news, we will never understand the glory of the good news.
     One of the most helpful summaries of the gospel in the Bible is Ephesians 2:1-10, for it begins by telling us the bad news (2:1-3), it then tells us the good news (2:4-7), and it finally tells us about the effects of the gospel in the lives of those who believe (2:8-10). This week we’ll consider 2:1-3 and then over the next three weeks we’ll consider 2:4-10.
     Paul writes, “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 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-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” (Ephesians 2:1-3). Human rebellion has brought about four escalating problems for humanity that when taken together help us understand the horrific tragedy of our rebellion against God.
     First, because of our sin, we were dead in our trespasses and sins. While most people who are in rebellion against God would not agree that they are dead, they are in fact dead to God and the things of God. Their sin has not had a slight affect upon their souls, rather, it has had this devastating effect: it has become the death of life in their lives.
     Second, in addition to the death brought about by our sin, we were also following the course of the world and trapped by its great power. In other words, not only were we suffering the consequences of our personal sin, but we became caught up in the force of the great wave of humanity that is in active rebellion against God.
     Third, we were following “the prince of the power of the air,” that is, Satan himself. While Satan is not God, he exercises great power on the earth, and to follow him is to be trapped by him. Few would know or admit that they are following Satan, but whoever lives in rebellion against God is doing just that.
     Finally, as tragic as the first three consequences of sin are, the greatest effect of sin is that all human beings are born children of wrath. In other words, human beings are born under the righteous condemnation of God and then we demonstrate the justice of God in this: by choosing to sin over and again.
     Friends, Ephesians 2:4-10 goes on to tell us the gloriously good news of the gospel, but in order to grasp that, we must grasp the bad news as well. So, please take the time to meditate with me on these four effects of our sin toward God. 

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