When Bad News is Good
July 20, 2025
Ephesians 2:1-7
Even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.
Life often presents us with both good and bad news, and Sunday's scripture passage from Ephesians is no exception. The bad news is that we were spiritually dead due to our sins, following the ways of the world, and living by our fleshly desires, making us children of wrath. It's a harsh reality that we might want to believe applies only to notorious figures like Hitler or Osama bin Laden, not to ourselves. Despite our efforts to live a good life, ignoring the truth doesn't change it. In 1999, my wife Nancy was diagnosed with breast cancer, which was undeniably bad news. However, the good news was that early detection allowed for surgery and chemotherapy, and made all the difference. Ignoring the diagnosis would have led to a much worse outcome. Similarly, even though we were lost and deserving of wrath, God offers grace despite our failures, raises us up, and desires to show us the immeasurable riches of that grace. As the hymn "Amazing Grace" beautifully states: "I once was lost, but now am found; was blind, but now I see." This is the profound message at the heart of the gospel.
