Together with Christ | Mark Becker

Devotional

Day 1: But God: The Divine Interruption in Human Despair

Humanity’s spiritual death left no hope—until two words shattered the darkness. God’s intervention reverses the irreversible, breathing life into corpses of sin. His mercy, not human merit, bridges the chasm between wrath and redemption. This divine pivot transforms enemies into children, rewriting eternity in a single act of love. The cross proves God alone authors resurrection where only tombs existed. [07:47]

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.” (Ephesians 2:4–5, ESV)

Reflection: When has God’s “but” interrupted your despair? How does His unilateral act of rescue reshape your view of helplessness?

Day 2: Raised and Seated: Where Your True Citizenship Lies

Believers aren’t merely forgiven—they’re relocated. Resurrection power vaults them from Satan’s domain to Christ’s throne room, their legal status etched in heaven’s ledger. This isn’t future hope but present reality: already raised, already enthroned. Earthly struggles pale against the weight of glory secured in Christ. To live earthly-minded is to dwell as royalty in slums. [27:05]

“But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 3:20, ESV)

Reflection: What earthly attachments compete with your seated-in-heaven identity? How might your priorities shift if you dressed each morning as an ambassador, not a tourist?

Day 3: Mercy’s Why: Love That Defies Human Worthiness

Salvation’s engine isn’t pity but furious, covenant-keeping love. God doesn’t rescue because we’re salvageable but because He’s fundamentally loving. His affection targets rebels, transforming objects of wrath into beloved children. This love isn’t earned—it erupts from His character, making mercy the surprise and wrath the expected. [21:26]

“In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 4:10, ESV)

Reflection: Where do you still try to earn what’s already freely given? How does God’s unprovoked love dismantle your performance metrics?

Day 4: Grace’s Sculpting Hand: From Tomb to Throne

The same power that shattered Christ’s grave now rewires believers’ DNA. Grace isn’t a pardon but a sculptor—chipping away sin’s residue, resurrecting dead affections. Union with Christ means sharing His resurrection’s voltage, making holiness inevitable. Resistance persists, but the tomb’s emptiness guarantees the process. [25:24]

“And what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead.” (Ephesians 1:19–20, ESV)

Reflection: What dead places in you still need resurrection’s current? How does Christ’s finished victory steady you mid-struggle?

Day 5: Trophies of Grace: Displaying Heaven’s Riches on Earth

Believers exist as walking exhibits of God’s creative genius. Every sanctified flaw, every redeemed failure shouts His mastery. The church isn’t a moral society but a gallery of grace, where cracked vessels spotlight the Artist. Our lives aren’t about us—they’re footnotes to His glory. [48:15]

“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” (Colossians 3:1–2, ESV)

Reflection: What part of your story most magnifies God’s grace? How might living as a “trophy” free you from self-consciousness?

Sermon Summary

Paul sets Ephesians 2:4–7 against the dark backdrop of 2:1–3. The text has man “dead in trespasses and sins,” locked into the world’s course, the devil’s sway, and the flesh’s cravings. Then the hinge swings: “But God.” God steps in as the sole actor. God, rich in mercy and great in love, moves toward spiritual corpses and brings life. The creation scene in Genesis becomes a helpful window here; as God once spoke light into chaos, God now speaks life through the gospel, and the Spirit, who hovered over the deep, regenerates dead hearts so the new man can respond in faith. The gospel is “the power of God” that effects what it commands.

The phrase “together with Christ” carries the load of the whole passage. Union with Christ defines the Christian. There is no Christless Christian. God does not merely improve the old life; God unites sinners to the crucified and risen Lord, and that union is the believer’s new identity. Paul wants the church to know “the surpassing greatness of his power” operative in believers, the very power that raised Jesus from the dead and seated him at the Father’s right hand.

God’s why is love and mercy. Nothing in the sinner compelled this rescue; agape chose, pursued, and paid. God’s how is grace. “By grace you have been saved” denies all boasting and lays every plank of salvation at God’s feet. The same resurrection power that emptied Christ’s tomb raised the believer from spiritual death.

Paul says God “raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” The verbs sit in the past tense. Positionally and spiritually, the believer already shares Christ’s status. Christ is seated because redemption is finished; so the believer’s place is settled in him. This heavenly position cuts a deep contrast with the world’s passing system. Philippians names the difference as citizenship; Hebrews pictures it as tent-dwelling sojourning, eyes on a city whose builder is God.

Verse 7 states God’s purpose: “so that in the ages to come he might show the surpassing riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” Salvation is God’s spectacle of grace, not man’s pedestal of merit. Believers are “trophies of his grace.” That purpose presses into life now. Colossians 3 calls the mind up where Christ is. Identity governs conduct. Remember who you are in Christ, and if that slips, remember who God is and what he has done. The church remains on earth to radiate, in real time, the riches of grace that will be showcased for all ages.

Key Takeaways

1. But God interrupts spiritual death God’s initiative, not human effort, breaks the seal of inability. “But God” shifts the whole story from wrath-deserving sinners to mercy-driven salvation. Sovereign love moves first, best, and last, so boasting dies and worship lives. [07:47]
2. Union with Christ defines salvation “Together with Christ” is not an accessory; it is the essence. Life, righteousness, adoption, and hope flow only by being in him. Identity precedes activity, and power for holiness comes from position, not from self-improvement schemes. [15:11]
3. Raised and seated now, positionally Paul’s past-tense verbs anchor assurance: God has raised and seated the believer with Christ. This heavenly standing critiques earthbound ambitions and resets affections toward what lasts. Sanctification matures when identity in the heavenly places governs choices on the ground. [27:05]
4. Grace displays God’s glory forever Verse 7 aims salvation at the public display of God’s kindness for endless ages. Believers are not center stage; God’s grace is. Daily faithfulness becomes a preview showing a dying world what God intends to showcase forever. [41:32]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[04:49] - Theme: Together with Christ
[05:29] - Man’s condition: dead in sin
[07:47] - The turn: But God
[11:20] - Two helpful frameworks
[12:02] - Creation and new creation
[14:53] - Union with Christ emphasis
[16:33] - Made alive together with Christ
[21:06] - Why: love and mercy
[23:42] - How: grace, not works
[24:50] - Resurrection power in conversion
[27:05] - Raised and seated now
[29:04] - Christ seated, work completed
[31:34] - Earthly vs heavenly identity
[41:32] - Purpose: display surpassing grace

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Ephesians 2:4–7 (ESV)
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

Observation Questions

What three actions does God take toward believers in Ephesians 2:4–6, and what do these actions reveal about His character?
The phrase “But God” in verse 4 marks a dramatic shift in the passage. What contrast does this create between humanity’s condition (vv. 1–3) and God’s intervention?
According to verse 7, what is God’s ultimate purpose in saving believers?

Interpretation Questions

The sermon compares salvation to God’s act of creation in Genesis. How does this analogy help explain the spiritual transformation described in Ephesians 2:4–5? [12:02]
What does it mean that believers are “seated with [Christ] in the heavenly places” (v. 6) now, even while living on earth? How does this truth challenge worldly priorities? [27:05]
Verse 7 emphasizes God’s desire to “show the surpassing riches of his grace” through believers. Why is grace—not human merit—central to this display? [41:32]

Application Questions

The phrase “But God” highlights His initiative in salvation. How might remembering this truth reshape your response to personal failures or struggles with sin?
If your identity is “seated with Christ” (v. 6), what earthly ambitions, habits, or worries might need to change to align with this heavenly perspective? [31:34]
The sermon states believers are “trophies of grace” meant to display God’s kindness. What practical step could you take this week to intentionally reflect His grace to someone who doesn’t know Him?
How does the truth that salvation is “not about you” but about God’s glory (v. 7) challenge common cultural views of faith as a means to personal comfort or success? [43:34]
Colossians 3:1–2 urges believers to “set your minds on things above.” What distractions or “shiny objects” in your life most often pull your focus away from eternal priorities? [36:32]

Sermon Clips

40s

“Christ now is seated in heaven. Why is he seated? Because his work of redemption as our great high priest is complete. There was no seat in the tabernacle, there was no seat for the priest in the temple because the work was never done. There was never time to sit down because to be seated, the work had to be done. Christ paid once for all, he is seated because his work of redemption, the price that is paid is done.”

23s

“He has raised us up. It it is not that we he will seat us with Christ, he has seated us with Christ. Because the believer is in union with Christ where Christ is, so the believer is also spiritually even now.”

62s

“And and being trying to be a responsible parent, I can remember looking at both of my daughters and saying to them when they got out the car, remember who you are. Yes, sir. And I said, okay. If you forget who you are, remember who I am. Well, I think Paul's saying the same thing to us. He's saying, remember who you are in Christ Jesus. And if it goes sideways and you forget who you are, remember who the triune God is. Remember what he has done for you. Remember the surpassing riches of his grace that he has poured out in your life.”

60s

“Do you realize, and I'm speaking to myself, that the surpassing riches of his grace is supposed to be displayed in my life that others might see what God has done for me in Christ Jesus? Do you realize that the surpassing riches of his grace and the union that I have as a believer is supposed to be to the testimony of a dying world? Do do you realize that collectively, the church, those who make up the universal church, believers in the Lord Jesus Christ are to radiate to a dying world the surpassing riches of his grace toward us?”

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