1. Dead in sin (1-3)

When we were cut off from God by sin, we may have looked alive--like a cut flower in a vase--but we were dead. We were prisoners of sinful desires and ruled by Satan. We gratified the desires and cravings of our sinful natures. Like everyone else, we were objects of God's wrath.

2. Alive in Christ (4-7)

God who is rich in mercy did not abandon us to death and hell nor leave us in our misery. He loves us. He raised us from the dead with Christ; he made us alive when we were dead in sin. He seated us with him in the heavenly realms. The power by which God raised Jesus from the dead is at work in us to change us into children of God who bear the image of Jesus. It is by his grace alone that we have been saved.

Application: Lord, thank you for not giving up on me when I was dead in sin and could only be an object of wrath. Thank you for raising me to a new life in Christ. Please continue the work you have begun in me and in those for whom I pray.
One Word: Once I was dead; now I am alive