Eph. 2:6

6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.

That is the first thing to embrace. God raised Jesus from the dead. If I can not fully accept this fact, all else is in vain. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is not just one of the foundation stones of my faith, but it is almost like it is the entire foundation. All faith rests on that unexpected and surprising life-giving work of God. This was, is and always will be the central fact upon which our faith is established.

God raised Jesus who was dead! I begin by believing that. But what does that have to do with my life in Christ? Paul could not be clearer on this point. He writes. God raised us up with Christ. Can it be? God raised me up from the dead as he raised Christ from the dead. Or we might say, when God raised Christ from the dead I was there, raised up with him!

This is the second point in this passage that Paul wants us to know: if I am in Christ, by faith, that same life-giving power raises me from my death. I was dead. In a sense, my brain stopped, my heart ceased its pumping. I was dead and so could not even wish to be alive. But the resurrecting power of God raised me from the dead like Jesus. I am trying to plumb the depths of that revealed reality. To fully grasp that is a life-altering verity.

I may not be able to figure it all out but I am convinced that all understanding of grace starts with the realization that I am dead in my sinful nature. Even though I am alive physically, I am dead spiritually. A dead person can do nothing but remain dead! Am I convinced of this? Or is there, in me, the lurking hope that I can somehow breathe resurrection power into my life by being good or doing good? How can a corpse hope at all, let alone do something? I am dead in trespasses and sin. Grace is for the hopeless ones, the dead ones.

I recall that William Carey, sometimes called the father of modern missions, insisted that it be written on his tombstone:

William Carey
born 17th Aug. 1761, died 9th June 1834
"A wretched, poor, and helpless worm on thy kind arms I fall."

Carey’s epitaph reveals his complete dependence upon the mighty grace of God.