Ephesians 2:1-7 // Nick Serban IV

In Ephesians 2:1-7, the message centers on from death to life in christ. Explore Ephesians 2:1–7 and see how God’s mercy and grace bring us from spiritual death to new life with Christ. Rather than treating the passage as abstract theology, the sermon traces what these truths reveal about God, the gospel, and the way followers of Jesus are called to live.

The sermon follows the biblical text into practical discipleship, connecting doctrine with identity, character, and daily obedience. It challenges listeners to examine the assumptions shaping their lives and to allow the truth of Scripture to renew the way they think and respond. The emphasis is not merely on understanding the passage, but on becoming the kind of people whose lives are formed by it.

Along the way, the message engages themes including Ephesians 2:1-7, from death to life in christ, ephesians 2, love. These ideas help place the primary passage within the larger story of Scripture and show how its theology speaks to real spiritual formation. At its heart, the sermon helps answer questions such as: What does Ephesians 2:1-7 teach about from death to life in christ? It also considers how should from death to life in christ shape the way Christians live?

For someone studying this passage, exploring the Christian faith, or looking for practical biblical teaching, this sermon offers a clear path from the text to everyday discipleship. The invitation is to hear what Scripture says, receive it with humility, and take the next faithful step in following Jesus.

What does Ephesians 2:1-7 teach about from death to life in christ? | How should from death to life in christ shape the way Christians live? | How can believers apply Ephesians 2:1-7 in everyday life?

Ephesians 2:1-7, from death to life in christ, ephesians 2

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  I want to uh I I love what my dad shared um at the end of worship out of Romans and I feel like it's a really great setup for us today as we get into uh Ephesians. Um because this is going to be a really challenging word today and uh it's going to be deep. Not because I'm deep, but because this is deep. The word of God is deep. Um I don't have something special cooked up for you today. This is this is this is so good what we're about to get into. And uh I'm I want to go through the first seven verses of chapter 2, but but really we as I'm as I'm studying this and as I'm getting into it, I I I struggle to get past the first three verses. So we'll get to four through seven towards the end of this message. But we need to focus on what's being said here because sometimes we breeze over verses because we don't really like what they say or how they make us feel. But if we can if we can dwell in this for a moment, if you can dwell in this with me this morning, I believe God wants to speak to us. Amen. I think it's so important the language that we use, not just as as believers, but just as people. And what I've what I've come to hear and and find and and especially being connected to to friends that are that are outside of of the church is is language is under attack and the meaning of words is is shifting or at least it's being people are trying to shift the meaning of words in regards to scripture and they're trying to change what this means or they're trying to get to linguistically like what this Greek word is or what and so many things are started to be pulled out of context. And we can say one word like love and it means one thing to you and it means something completely different to me because of my framing and because of how I see love defined in the word of God. The word of God, this Bible is offensive to our flesh. It's offensive to how we naturally feel when we when we read this word. A lot of the things if if we're not reading it with a a framework and understanding and a relationship with God, we can read this word and go, "This is wrong. This doesn't feel right. I don't like this." And that's why so many people in the word are attacking this Bible and attacking the words that are said in here and trying to change their meaning so that they can feel better about what it says. And and my my prayer today is that we would not be caught in that same trap of trying to change the meaning of the word of God that is that has stood for for 2,000 years. Again, the Bible's offensive. It doesn't always feel loving, but it's truth. The truth of God's word frames how we should see God and how we should see ourselves. And so, especially when we get into this this this these first three verses, we're going to see ourselves very quickly. And if you've already jumped ahead or if you already read this before, like you you you know what I'm talking about. But I want to talk about love and I want to talk about truth. And I I'll say this, the greatest love in life that I've ever experienced aside from God is from my parents. I'm I'm so blessed. But I'll tell you, it wasn't a soft love. It wasn't the the love that the world has to offer where it's like it wasn't it wasn't love where it's like you do what you want. We love you unconditionally, right? It was a love that called me to rise up to who I was meant to be. There was a love that creates a standard for who God created. The the love that God has for each one of you. He he loves you no matter what. Right? But his love with truth calls us to higher places and speaks to who you were created to be. That's real love. That's the love that I'm talking about when I when I when I look at at scripture here and and just to all the parents in the room like don't let your kids just do what makes them feel good. That's not love. Cuz sorry side point, but my my kids if I if I let my kids just do whatever they want and they just I just love them, they would kill each other. It'd be like Lord of the Flies but no conch shell. It would be absolute anarchy. And everyone, everyone that knows my kids would be like, "No, that's not true. Your kids are so great. They're so loved." No, they would kill each other. It would be bad. Levi, the youngest, would probably be leading everything. Love it. Real love is recognizing the potential of my life to live as a son of God. Real love calls us to become who we were meant to be. Love with truth leads to growth, healing, and purpose. But love without truth is hypocrisy. Again, my parents, they can love me. They can affirm me. They can make me feel good no matter my decisions. But if I commit a crime and do something that feels right, but it's against the law, and I wind up in jail, they still love me. But does their love set me free? Does their love get me out of jail? If they never showed me the truth of the law of the land and just went along with anything my little heart desired, is that really love? Again, culture wants us to love. Love wins. God loves me no matter what. That's all that matters. God loves me. That's true. God loves you. We We read about it. Nothing can separate you from the love of God, right? But we're talking about love, but then we also have truth. He loves his creation, but we have to allow God's love to lead us to obedience, and we have to follow his truth. And this this shouldn't be controversial, but I I want us to really focus in and just hear me. It wasn't love that saved us. Hear me. It wasn't love that saved you. If you're a follower and a believer, God is love. God loves us, but it was God's love that sent Jesus, the way, the truth, and the life to save us. We have to make this distinction and we have to see the difference because so many people say, "Well, God loves me, so I'm saved. God loves me, so I'm good. God loves me, so I can I can do whatever I want and it doesn't matter." there. But but when I go back to scripture time and time again and I and I see the truth of his word, it doesn't say that love saved me. It says God's love for us compelled him to send his son for each and every one of us so that we could be set free. And he is the way, the truth, and the life. As it says in John 14:6, God loves you, but without Jesus, God loves you is a bumper sticker. Are you hearing me? So again, when we read scripture, we're not even in the scripture yet. It's meant to call us to become who Jesus saved us to be and frame our perspective of who we are and where we come from when we when we worship, when we engage with him. So, are you ready? Ephesians 2 verse one. 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. Verse three, 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. And I'll get to I'll get to the rest. It gets better. There's hope. But what a lot of people call life and pleasure, the Bible says, is death. And again, it's important for us in our perspective. We must never forget where we came from. We must never forget our nature. and and and the desires that we have to to sin and to to walk in disobedience. We were dead in trespasses and sin. Charles Spurgeon has said, "Not in a moral sense, nor a mental sense, but in a spiritual sense, poor humanity is dead." And so the word of God again and again most positively describes it's positive for us to recognize that we were dead in our sins that on my own I can't be who God called me to be. I can't walk in the destiny and the purposes that he's laid out before me. This again, it should shift our perspective to that God saved me. And it's because of God that I can walk in who he's created me to be. I'm getting ahead. But Jesus and the apostles, they use so many different ways to describe our lives in sin beyond just dead and trespasses. They use the word blind or a slave to sin, lover of of darkness, sick, lost, or children of wrath. But the best way I found to describe it is that sin separates us from God. Hear the distinction though from from what Pastor Nick was saying earlier. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. But sin separates us from God. God loves you. Nothing is going to stop him from loving you. There's nothing you can do that's going to keep his love from invading your life. But again, it's it's this is this is negative, but it's like it's bumper sticker love if if you don't believe it. Sin separates us from God and separates us from a relationship with God. If God is life, then we are dead when we're separate from him. If something is blocking your oxygen supply, you're dead or you're about to die. Again, defining trespasses, it's it's crossing a line. It's challenging God's boundaries and it's rebellion against God. And then sins, when you get to the Greek and when you you really boil it down, it means missing the mark of the perfect standard of God or you have failed to uphold God's standard. But something really important to note is that trespasses and sin are different than temptation. When you follow Jesus, you can be tempted and not act on it. Right? There's temptation all around us. There's opportunity for us to to step into sin, but it's it's on us whether we decide to engage with it or not. Look at this in James 1 13-15. Let no one say that he is tempted when he is tempted that I'm being tempted by God. For God cannot be tempted with evil and he himself tempts no one. It's not God tempting us. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desires. In our flesh, there is corruption and there is desire to walk in sin to to to feel pleasure and to to fill ourselves with with things that give us some kind of feeling or meaning. Verse 15, then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin. And sin when it's fully grown brings forth death. Again, it's not God tempting you. It's the corruption of our hearts and flesh. It starts small and then it grows. And it's those natural desires that entice us and lure us. It's the corruption within. And sometimes we we don't want to accept the fact that there is corruption in us because we want to say I'm a good person. And the world is is even pushing ideology that that's coming from a place of I'm good and everyone is good. So this should be good. But then when we walk through those ideas or teachings and ideologies, we recognize very quickly that man when given the opportunity to be good is not always good. Romans 6:22-23. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and it ends and and its end is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. We can be slaves to sin or slaves to God. We cannot serve two masters. When sin is broken, we're walking with the Lord and we're no longer separated from God. We develop fruit, right? There's love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. All the things it's in scripture. And this is why so often when we rub shoulders with other believers, we say, "Man, there's something different about you." I can't put my finger on it, but there's life here. There's fruit here. There's something that you have that the rest of this world doesn't have. It's the spirit of God dwelling within us and changing us to become more like him. Again, just I want to get all my words and language right, but sin is not defined by us. It's determined by God. There's a lot of people again talking about sin. I just I just saw a clip on on Tik Tok to Instagram the other day who said, "Well, sin is just missing the mark. That's all it is." But who's to say where the mark is? You know, when you look at the the the actual definition of sin, it's just missing the mark. Like, oh, oops. It's like this whimsical thing of like, oh, I just missed it. It's like it's like you're you're shoot like we did the arrow thing last week. I didn't bring it with me, but like you shoot an arrow at the wall and then it's like, "Oh, you missed." And it's like, "No, I didn't." Take some spray paint and then go draw the target around the arrow. And it's like, "No, I didn't miss it." Right? And this is what happened so many times where it's like, "Well, this felt right, so this must be right. This isn't this isn't sin." like gossiping about this is it's not sin. Like like like sleeping around and doing all this cra it's not sin. And then when we look at the word of God and and we see the standard that's that's lined up for us on how we should live our life, we're like, "No, this can't be right because it doesn't feel right because it's not in our nature." Again, there's a clear target defined by scripture that people again, they want to debate the language and all the new meanings of words and all the different things and and yet I'm standing on 2,000 years of this is the word of God and this is what we believe and here you are trying to change what we all know is the truth. Sorry, I'm a little triggered by it because it's just like I got all these friends sending me clips like do you believe this? Like this is crazy. like they're finding new meanings for the Greek. And I was like, the this language has not changed in 2,000 years. Like what? Why are you trying to change its meaning? Now, sorry, triggered. It's the corruption of man, the corruption of our heart that pushes preference. It's it's it's culture that's trying to push and dictate what truth is. But we know the truth. I love this verse. 1 Corinthians 4:4 says, "My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me." Again, remember back to Ephesians 2 at the beginning, he says, "You were dead in your trespasses and the sin in which you once walked." So, that tells us that we're not good people. And again, it's not a popular statement, but none of us are good in nature. Again, I said it already, but if you let my kids just be like no adult supervision, it would be absolute chaos because love without truth is a license to do what you want. And I know that's offensive because again, we live in this time when people want to believe we're we're good and yet the Bible says no. It actually says in in Ephesians 2, it says you're following the prince of the air. Who's the prince of the air? Satan. Stay with me. You're following the world. You're following what's trending. The Bible says what's trending is sin. If the world is doing it, if it's if it's popular, is it what God desires for us? Look at this verse in Matthew 7 13. Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction and many many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life and only a few find it. What's trending? What's popular is the wide gate. It's easy to feel confident when you're in the majority. When you're all cheering for the same thing, everyone's in your corner. Like, yeah, do what you feel is right. Yeah. But when the majority is for sin, it's easy to say that this is okay. Just because it's popular doesn't mean it's holy. And y'all need to stay with me on this, okay? And and I'm not trying to be condemning. I'm I'm trying to be loving. I'm just I'm I'm I want to get into this exposiitoily and and deep and what this means for us. This is the framework. If we can see God through this lens, everything is going to shift for us. Okay? This is not meant to condemn. This is not meant to point fingers. This is to call us to become more. Okay? Ephesians 2 is saying that as you walk in the way of sin, the spirit of the sons of disobedience is working within you. A spirit is at work within you. Okay, this is where it's going to get fun. You ready, Dad? So much fun. This is where people get weird. Let's go. This is where people get weird. Okay, just just follow me. Pastor, do I have demons in me? If there's a spirit in me, is it controlling me in and everything that I'm doing? If if I have the the spirit of the sons of disobedience in me, am I am I demonpossessed? If I keep falling into sin again and again, is it a demon? So, here's here's where it's fun. Some things are physical, some things are psychological, and some things are demonic. But here's the thing. There's a difference between the corruption of your heart and your flesh and a spirit of disobedience or something demonic. There's a difference. It we we again we have corruption in our heart that that continues to draw us back. We've given our lives to Jesus and we're following in his way, but there's that temptation that keeps trying to draw you back into who you used to be. When God is calling you to become all that he's created you to be, right? There's this there's this goal. There's this desire. And we talked about it in Ephesians 1. There's this inheritance that we receive. We begin to unlock mysteries and begin to to see who God created us to be and how we can change the world. It's incredible. But again, there's that drawing back that corruption of our flesh that pulls us back. And that's not a demon. That's just our nature. That's why so many times we drift back. And there's many instances where people, they need to be delivered from the demonic or they're having spiritual attacks. And I'll tell you, I've I've cast out demons before. I' I' I've seen demons manifest in people. I' I've seen demons manifest in people that profess to be Christians. Side note, I'm not a demon hunter. I'm not looking at you and say, "Is there a demon behind?" Like, "No, that's not that's not my heart. Demons should not have a hold on believers. There is no place for the demonic in the body of Christ." Like, we we got to stand on this, church. We have to to walk in this. And we can't go pointing fingers at people that are that are that are falling back into temptation and falling back into sin that are following God and saying there's something demonic. No, we pray. We believe that God would set them free and that God would begin to to use them and speak to them and they they would walk away from these things. If you're following Jesus and you know who you are as a son, a daughter, a child of God, you have power and authority over every demon in hell. cast it out yourself. We don't live in fear. We live in power. And I talked about it a few weeks ago. It's it's it's the corruption within us that tells you that you don't have power and begins to speak to you and and tell you who you used to be and not speaking to who you are now. and the power and the authority that we get to walk in as believers where sickness has to bow. Every demon has to to bend a knee to to to Jesus within us. Come on. We have authority. We don't live in fear. We live in power. And I think and hear me. Too many of us are giving too much credit for the devil for the corruption that we have in our own life. Like the devil wants nothing to do with you. He's just putting temptations in your pathway that speaks to the corruption that's already within you. There's corruption. There's things in our life that maybe we haven't dealt with. And it takes disciplining our flesh with the spirit within us, not deliverance. I think some people would rather be delivered from demons than practice discipline because it it takes the blame off of them. It's not my fault it was the demon that made me do it. It was the devil. No, it was you. You just lack discipline. I mean, I'm saying that to myself. Like, there's been moments in my life where I'm like, man, I'm just under spiritual attack and all this. No, you're not. You're just undisiplined, Nick. like like step up to the plate and stop looking for someone else to blame. When we have Jesus living on the inside of us, active in our lives, scripture says even the demons submitted to Jesus. So if Jesus is dwelling within us, they submit to us. Take authority, bring it under the blood of Jesus. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We need to stop saying that this is who I am. This is just who I am. Or this is my personality. Your purpose, hear me, your purpose does not serve your personality. Your personality serves your God-given purpose. So instead of playing this game of is this demonic or is this like mental health stuff or is this physical or my personality, we pray in the power of the blood of Jesus cuz look at this in 1 Corinthians 10:13. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability. But with the temptation, he will also provide the way of escape that you may be able to endure it. According to God, when we're tempted, he always gives us a way out. So, we fight temptation instead of falling to become victims. being a victim. It's an excuse that many people, even myself, have used in order to just stay the same. I'm a victim of of this. And so, we we tell the story. I remember I was talking with somebody about some of the struggles, their their story, their history, you know, just trying to give me a picture of their life as we're, you know, counseling and talking. And everything out of their mouth was an excuse. for why they are the way they are. And then they concluded by saying, "Well, this is my testimony." And I've counseledled people. I've heard stories. I've wept and I've cried over what has taken place in people's lives. And it's not fair. It's not fair what what may or may not have happened to you in your life. It's not fair and and and I wish I could go back and fix it, but I can't. And and for myself, I have my own battles. I have my own temptations. I have my own traumas and things that I I'm having to to fight and deal with and not allow it to pull me back into those old ways and those old patterns. Right? But let me tell you, my victim's story is not a testimony if I can't give God the victory in it. It's just a I'm I'm still crying victim and I'm replaying and I'm ruminating on this again and again and again. all these moments that have taken place, the the the the love that I received or didn't receive or the the affirmation that I got or didn't get or the the the the old patterns and the friend groups and all those different things that that are in my past. I I look at those and I can cry victim, victim, victim. That's just my testimony. This is just who I am. You know, my my parents made me the way that I am. you know, I'm I or my this grandmother or this weird uncle like it's because of this that happened, you know, all these things. And so I just have to ask like, do we want to be who God created us to be? Do we actually want it or are we more content just telling our victim story? And and and hear me. I know I know there is real hurt in the room. Some of us have had rough childhoods, abusive relationships, pain that I cannot understand that you have endured. Lust, addiction rooted in deep loneliness, innocence that was stolen without your consent, hearts broken, unmet expectations, and mental trauma. But I have to stand on the word of God and say there's no temptation that can't be overcome. There's always a way out. God desire God's desire is for us to walk in victory and not victimhood. We're not called to make excuses. We were dead in our sin, but now we're alive in Christ, and therefore, we're overcomers. Listen, I'm taking what the enemy meant for evil, and I'm allowing God to use it for good. That's a testimony. It's to say, look, look what happened to me. All these things, but guess what? God came through. God brought me through it. I have healed from this. I have moved past this. And guess what? That's my testimony. That I'm walking in victory today. That I'm not who I used to be. I can't be drawn back to that anymore. I am who Jesus says I am. Not who they say I am. This is a pattern from my past, but not my present. We overcome by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony. Again, testimony implies victory because I'm testifying of God's goodness. Look what God did with my story. I was a victim, but because of Jesus, I'm a victor. And that story that I used to tell again and again, or that thing that used to draw me back, now I can stand on it. And I can I can stand at the river bank and begin to pull other people in who have the same story as me and say, "Hey, guess what? There's victory. Hey, guess what? I let me help you. Let me let me speak life into you into this area because God spoke it into me. He changed my life. Let me help you find your way and and and get out of this drowning that you're in right now." Come on, somebody. Again, I don't want to belittle anyone's temptations. I don't want to belittle anyone's story, but ask yourself this. Are we belittling the power of the Holy Spirit of God when we give temptation too much credit? Are we belittling his power and his ability? If God's spirit dwells within me, but I am powerless over certain sin or temptation or thought patterns, how is this not blasphemy? How how can I say that God is all powerful and yet I say but I can't overcome this with his power that God has no power in this area that God isn't powerful enough to help me overcome. Bless you. Ephesians 2 going back to verse three. among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and we're by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind. Again, the reason why that sin comes easy is because we're actually following that which we desire. The thoughts that go through our mind, the desires that grow through our flesh, it's following our heart. It's following what feels good. And this is what the world says that we should live in. But this is why we need Jesus. This is why we can't do it on our own. If I can recognize that I am not a good person. I'm not a good person. The desire of my body is not good. The thoughts that run through my mind, they're not good. When I can step into that place of like, here I am. I'm a sinner. It's in my nature to sin. It's in my nature to to follow my own way. When I can begin to worship from this perspective and say, "I need Jesus," it changes everything. Because if we don't need to be saved, then why do we need Jesus? If I don't need help and I and I'm just good already, why do we need him? This is why we worship. This is why we follow Jesus. Because the more that I look at him, the more that I spend time with him, the more that I recognize that I need him, the more I make God my focus, the more I become like him. Right? Because what we behold, we become. Look, come on, look at this. Second Corinthians 3:18. And we all with unveiled face beholding the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the spirit again. So when our worship comes from that place that I was a sinner, I was but now here we go. Ephesians 2, let's go to 4 through7. But God being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead in our tre trespasses he made us alive together with Christ by grace you've been saved and raised us up with him and seated us with him in heavenly places in Christ Jesus so that in the coming ages we might show the immeasurable he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness toward us In Christ Jesus, he made us alive. I was dead, but now I'm alive. I was blind, but now I can see. This should shift our attitude in worship and in our relationship with it should it should shift our attitude from rebellion. It's because of his love and grace he's made us alive, raised from the dead in our spirit. Because here's the thing, we should be judged. There should be consequences. But God, because of his love invites us to become his children. This is an invitation because again, listen, if you actually read your whole Bible, which I'm doing the chronological year, Bible in a year, it's rough. It's hard going I'm in the I'm still in the Old Testament. I don't get to the New Testament till like October. It's wild. God does some really wild things. wrathful, bloody, like wiping out entire generations of people. Crazy. Because he's a God of justice. I know we want to say that, you know, God is love, but it says that God is just way more than it says God is love. Not to negate that God is love, but just hear me. He is just. There's entire chapters of the Bible talking about the curses that people would endure, will endure because of their disobedience. Just curse after curse. And we want to say again, God is love and that we're all his children. We're all God's children. We may have been created in the image of God, but that does not mean we're his children. And that's something that's changing a lot in language right now. People are saying that we're all God's children. He loves us all. Whatever I do, it doesn't matter because I'm his child. How How are you his child if you don't call him father? Look at this. This is wild. I don't know how I missed this in our last series. John 8:42, the Pharisees are are saying that they are children of God. They're they're arguing with Jesus. But they don't understand what he's saying. So here's what Jesus says. Jesus said to them, "If God were your father, you would love me. For I came from God and I'm here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me." Why do you not understand what I say? It's because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father, the devil. And your will is to do your father's desire. Ver jump to verse 47. Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do do not hear them is that you are not of God. Wow. Remember, God speaks to who he created us to be. His love for us is what sent his son Jesus to die for us. And in that, he chose us. But we have a choice. We have to choose him. We have to call him father. We have to say, "Lord Jesus, you are my savior." When we become children of God, we begin to start seeing the truth and we we understand even more the teachings of Jesus, the teachings of Paul and all the apostles and all these different things. John 1 12-13 says, "But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God." He gave us that right who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And then in John 3 3-4, truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. When we become children of God, reborn. Come on, Jay. When we become reborn, we begin to see the mysteries of God. We begin to see who he created us to be. And I know I keep saying this again and again, but isn't it great? Isn't it beautiful to be known by God that he knows you so intimately? He knows your personality. He knows your story. He knows all of the things that have taken place in your life. And he says, "Hey, I'm going to use that. I want to use you. I want to take all of the enemy meant for evil and I'm going to make it good. I want to call you to become who I created you to be. And it's so much more than than just being this son of wrath, but to become a son of God, to become a child of God. There's so much more that I want to show you. Even in this word, there's there's so many people that they they read this Bible and and nothing makes sense to them and they're they're offended. And and if we would just begin to believe and be reborn in Christ, if if we would repent and lay our life before him and say, "Lord, I'm yours." Things will begin to become alive to us in this [Music] word. the spirit dwelling within us, the Holy Spirit that that marked our life like we talked about in these last few weeks in Ephesians 1, things begin to shift. And I'm going to get to this verse here in a second, but like if we look back on Ephesians 1 and we recognize that that God created us and and and and molded us and crafted us before the foundation of the earth, he knows who you are. He knows who you were destined to become. And and what if what if in this walk that we're in today, it's it's God calling us to remember who he created us to be? What if it's it's constantly this invitation of like, I've got more to show you about who you are. I've got more to show you of what I've created you to do. There's so much more than just this nineto-5 and this day in and day out. I want to use you to change the trajectory of your life and the lives of others. I want to use you to build my kingdom. I want to spend time with you