In our message, MAKING THE DEAD ALIVE! (Eph. 1:22-2:3), we finished Paul’s prayer for the church at Ephesus and then started to look at the Holy Spirit’s presentation of the Gospel. God wants the eyes of our heart enlightened to understand He today is revealing His kingdom and glory through “the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (Eph. 1:22-23; 4:15; 5:5, 15-16, 23; Col. 1:18, etc.).
He “made [Christians] alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1). This is by grace.
We also see, in this passage, the three great enemies of our soul: “the course of this world” or world system; “the prince of the power of the air,” that is Satan and his demons; and “the lusts of the flesh-” our fallen nature inherited from Adam (Eph. 2:2-3; John 15:18, 23; 1 John 5:19; 2 Cor. 4:4; Eph. 6:11-12; Rom. 5:12; Gal. 5:17, etc.).
“Dead” in verse 1 means spiritually dead and lost. Unsaved people are very much alive physically. Adam when he sinned against God, died spiritually that very “day” (Gen. 2:17; 3:6-7). He was still alive physically after that and could hear God speaking to him (Gen 3:9-10, etc.) just like non-Christians, also made in His image and infinitely valuable to Him, can perceive truth (Gen 1:27-28; Rom. 1:20; Ps. 19:1-2; John 3:16; 16:8-11, etc.). But they possess no spiritual life being “dead in trespasses and sins” and are “children of [God’s] wrath” (Eph. 2:1, 3b; Rom. 3:23; 5:12, etc.). They “must be born again” (John 3:7; Acts 4:12, etc.) responding to God’s grace “through faith” to be saved from the wrath that is to come (John 1:12-13; Eph. 2:1, 3b; Col. 2:12-13; 2 Thes. 1:6-10, etc.). Spiritual death today will result in eternal death- unless they come to God His way (Eph. 2:8-9; John 14:6; 1 Cor. 15:3-4; Acts 16:30; Rev. 22:17; 2 Cor. 6:2, etc.).