Week 49 Ephesians 2
In chapter 2 Paul gives a short description of what things were like in The State of Things Before Christ: 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.
I spent about eight months this year reading the 39 Books of the OT – all of them written during The State of Things Before Christ – written in what Paul would call the once-you-were-dead time. A long time of waiting. Biding time. Sitting-tight until Christ arrived.
It’s not like the centuries were a complete waste of time. There was the Abraham family. Egypt & the Exodus. The Promised Land. The Judges and then the Kings. The Collapse of Kingdoms. Exile and Return from Exile. A lot of things going on. Quite a few people finding the Lord even in that preliminary & prototypical & preparatory & cooling-their-heels test-case scenario that was The State of Things Before Christ. A long time of disconnect when things were flying apart.
But Christ came and things started to slowly be reconstructed.
Note: quote from Ephesians 2:1-3 (NLT)