Ephesians 2 - Saved by grace!

Did you know I was once dead?  Yep, I was one of the walking dead.  I didn't know it at the time, but I was!  I was serving my flesh, rather than the one true and living God.  And because of that, I was dead.  But then Christ came into this world and gave His life up for me so I could live!  And here is the kicker...

I didn't have to do one thing for Him to die for me.  Nope!  Nothing!  Nada!!  (Which is really a good thing, because I am pretty sure that there is NOTHING I could do that would ever be enough by human standards!)

You see, I have been saved by God's grace.  If I had to do something to earn His salvation, then I would have something I could boast about.  (Hey, look at me!  I'm so good, I'm so amazing...better than you! Neener, neener neener!)  Boy, it's a good thing I've been saved by grace! 

The truth is, we are all the same.  None of us are better than the rest of us, and not a one of us deserves His Mercy.  He died for each one of us because He loves us that much!  It doesn't matter if you are a Jew (circumcised) or a Gentile (uncircumcised), because we are all of one body...the Body of Christ.  We have become one family because of His death on the cross.  

Ephesians 2:10 says

"For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus,

so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago."

Did you catch that?  We are God's masterpiece!   You know what else we are?  We are the apple of His eye! 
Zechariah 2:8  says,

⁸ For this is what the LORD Almighty says: “After the Glorious One has sent me against

 the nations that have plundered you—for whoever touches you touches the apple of his eye— (NIV)

So we are His masterpiece, the apple of His eye, and we are saved by grace!  We are His church and He is the cornerstone. 

I looked up the definition of cornerstone and pulled up the following:

Literally, the stone placed at the corner of a building during construction. Figuratively, the item or person which began something significant. 

I'm thinking, He definitely began something significant!  I also looked up the purpose of the cornerstone.  I got this off Wikipedia:

The cornerstone (or foundation stone) concept is derived from the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation, important since all other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure.

Interesting...don't you agree?  The cornerstone determines the position of the entire structure. 

Anyway, back to Ephesians...Jesus is the Chief Cornerstone.  It is because of Him that we are joined together into one family where God's Spirit can dwell.

Tomorrow I will look at Ephesians 3.  I am truly enjoying everything that I am learning in this.  If you have the chance, go visit some of my online sisters who are also doing this study.  You can visit them here:

Jenilee
Christina
Stephanie
Daisy

Be blessed,

Sue