Rewriting the Past

Rewriting History

Ephesians 2:1-10

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved.”

                  It is easy to remain living in the past, trapped by its shame and guilt. These events have such a strong negative impact that they continue to haunt us into the present—so much so that we look at them as our defining point in life, an event that not only defines the present but becomes inescapable into the future.  

                  In verses 1-3, Paul describes the past lives of those in the church at Ephesus.  Instead of living a life of moral excellence, they were living by the patterns of the world.  Apart from Christ, they were spiritually dead, disobedient to God, and influenced by demonic spirits.  Like so many today, they gave free rein to their sinful passions and desires, only to be ensnared by them.  Within the Scriptures, the “flesh” is used to describe the pattern of life that is in contrast to the life controlled by the Spirit.  The flesh refers to our natural desires apart from God.  Instead of walking in obedience to God, we reject God’s word and His standard of morality in pursuit of our own desires.  However, instead of leading to happiness, it leads to guilt and shame that seem inescapable.  The past starts to define us and dictate who we are.  We live in fear that if people really knew our past and really knew our inward secrets, they would reject us.  

                  In verse 4, we find the most critical words in Scripture.   The verse begins with “But God.”  These two simple words, composed of only six letters, hang all our hopes.  The conjunction is a strong adversative conjunction that provides a logical contrast with what preceded.  In other words, from verse 3 to verse 4, everything has changed.  While we are entrapped in the desires of our sinful selves, unable to free ourselves from the control and guilt of sin, God intervenes and changes everything.  Where the past defined us, now God changes everything.  In His great mercy, He changed our lives from being dead in our sins and under the judgment of God to being saved by grace. Because of God’s love for us, he changes everything.  Where our sinful desires once controlled us, we are now controlled by God’s grace.  Where we once lived by our sinful passions, we now walk in the righteousness of Christ.  Our past is rewritten, for instead of being defined by the past, we are now defined by the purpose and plan of God as He changes us to conform us to His image.  Where we once lived in the gutter of sin, we now live in the throne room of God.  Where the stain of our past once defined us, we are now defined by the depth of His grace.  Formerly, we sought to obtain our salvation and freedom from sin by our own works and efforts which only resulted in more guilt and shame.  Now, God is working in us to walk in the perfect plan He has for us. With God, it no longer matters what we have done in the past; it only matters what He is going to do in the future. 

                  Are you still living in the past, defined by the events that brought guilt and shame?  Are you unable to overcome sinful habits that seem to be inescapable?  There is hope, for God can change everything.  He rewrites the past by giving us the promise of a glorious future.  He removes the guilt of our sin by replacing it with the joy of His grace.  Our efforts do not achieve our transformation but by God’s power.  “But God, being rich in mercy because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ.”  We are not defined by our sin but by Christ’s righteousness.