16 December, 2018 – Paul tells us in Ephesians 2:12 to remember how God responded to our state of hopelessness, and it’s essential for us to do that during the Advent. We must remember the meaning of Christmas, remember why God send us a Savior. Verses 5-7 tell us how God responded to the condition we were in without Christ in our lives in verses 1-3. We were dead in sin, but instead of death we received new life in Christ. In Savior we received new life, not just a second chance to start over, not just a better teaching – if that was the case we would still be without hope – but a new life, a new nature, a new heart through Christ. We were enslaved to the power of evil and the sinful ways of this world, but instead God gave us freedom, we are not slaves to sin anymore, and raised us out of this world to be seated with him in heaven. Lastly, we were by nature children of wrath, deserving punishment for our sins, but instead God poured out the immeasurable riches of his kindness towards us till eternity. That is the meaning of Christmas. That is what must be always remembered: that we were without hope in this world, we were open graves, but God, who was moved not by anything we have done, but by the riches of his mercy and the greatness of his love, gave us a Savior by whose blood we were saved and brought to eternal life.