REDEMPTION, THE GRACE
OF GOD
Ephesians 1:3-14
OUTBURST OF PRAISE
V: 3. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in
Christ."
A. Bless= euglogetos= fine speaking, adoration, praise
1. We ought to
speak well of the Lord.
2. He is the Father
of Jesus, our Lord and savior.
B. We ought to bless the Lord because He blessed us first.
1. He blessed us
with Jesus.
2. He blessed us
with "all spiritual blessing."
a. He blessed us with the gifts and graces of
the Holy Spirit.
b. He blessed
us by justifying us.
c. He blessed
us with sanctification.
d. He blessed
us with a measure of faith.
C. He blessed us in
heavenly places.
1. He changed our
position.
2. Before Christ,
we had an earthly state. We now have a heavenly state.
3. This is not our
home, we are just passing through.
GODS ELECTION
V:4. "According as he hath chosen us in him before the
foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in
love."
A. God has chosen
those He desires to be in the body of Christ.
1. He chose all
who would believe in Christ for all times before He formed the
world.
B. God chose us in
Him before the foundation of the world.
1. We were in
Christ before the foundation of the world.
a. The word
"in (en)" denotes a fixed position.
2. God chose to
allow us to be born in the flesh and commit sins against Him before
calling us
out of the world.
a. God's grace
has always covered us; even in our sins!
C. God chose us to be
holy and without blame.
1. Any holiness
we have is in Jesus and not us.
2. God chose
Jesus to be our salvation before the foundation of the world.
3. God chose the cross for Jesus before the
foundation of the world.
a. The cross
was part of God's divine plan of redemption.
D. God chose us to be
before Him in love.
1. God chose
heaven for us before He created the world.
2. God dedicated
His love to us before He created us.
3. The word
"love" is from the Greek word "agape" which means from His
affection or love feast.
a. God
willfully chose His Son for our redemption before we existed to be
redeemed.
E. By the same
argument God chose some to be saved and some not to be saved.
1. Salvation is
by God's grace and by His grace only.
V:5. "Having predestinated us unto the adoption of
children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his
will."
A. Definition:
1. Predestinated=
proorizo = determined before hand, to decree
2. Adoption of
children= huiothesian= placing as sons
a. This
adoption (huiothesian) is a legal term giving the same right as one born
in the
family.
b. We are to
conform to the image, the purpose and interest of God the Father.
B. Our adoption is by
the finish work of Jesus Christ on the cross.
C. Our adoption is by
the good pleasure of God's will.
1."Good
pleasure" = eudokia = delight, kindness
2.
"Will"= thelema= choice, a determined thing
3. God decided
to take pleasure in saving us.
a. God
decided to allow man to fall in sin, and therefore in need of redemption.
D. God decided to take
pleasure in sending Jesus to the cross.
1. It was God's
kindness to us, to send His Son to be crucified.
2. God determined
all of this before anything was created.
3. God determined
your salvation before you, your parents or your grandparents
ever existed.
E. The blessing of
the believer is by the Father' election, the Son dying and the
Holy Spirit
sealing (Bible Knowledge Commentary)
GOD'S GLORY
V:6. "To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein
he hath made us accepted in the beloved."
A. God elected us for
salvation to give Himself the glory.
1. Our Salvation
is the manifestation of His Grace.
2. God's Grace is
indicated in His plan of redemption for man.
B. God made us
acceptable to Himself through the death of His Son.
1. His blood
washes us continuously of our sins.
2. It is the blood
of Jesus that is the atonement for our sins.
C. God's goal for our
redemption is that Christians give Him praise and honor.
OUR REDEMPTION
V:7. "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the
forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace."
A. All believers have
been redeemed from their natural state of being hell bound.
1. Without Christ,
their is no righteousness in us. Rom 3:10
2. Before Christ, Satan held us captive.
Psalms 68:18
3. Before Christ,
we were condemned by our sins. The wages of sin is death.
4. Christ the
unblemished sacrifice, satisfied Gods demand for justice.
5. Through
Christ, God restored us to a right relationship with Himself.
6. Through Christ,
we are positioned back in our heavenly home.
B. There is no forgiveness
of sin without faith in Jesus Christ.
1. Jesus said,
"I Am the way, the truth and the life. No one come to the Father
except through
me."
2. Jesus is the
way to redemption.
a. Jesus is
the truth about redemption.
b. Jesus is
our eternal life upon redemption.
C. God's grace is
unending.
1. There is no
end to those who need saving while this earth exists.
2. There is no end to our sins.
3. God is rich in grace and mercy.
4. God is rich in forgiveness.
5. God is rich in
His love.
GOD'S WISDOM
V:8. "Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom
and prudence."
A. God supplies
grace, mercy, goodness and kindness to those He chose by
council of His
will.
B. God has equipped
every believer with a guide to wisdom and prudence.
1. We have His
Word that he gave the Prophets and the Apostles.
2. The beginning
of wisdom is the fear of the Lord.
C. We need the wisdom
of God for good understanding and to make proper decisions.
1. Prudence is
wisdom in practice.
D. Believers are
equipped with the Holy Spirit to understand God's Word.
1. The world cannot
receive God's Word because they are foolish to them.
2. The Holy
Spirit guides our understanding so that we are able to make proper
decisions.
3. The Holy
Spirit guides us to an understanding of the righteousness of God and
our sinfulness.
V:9. "Having made known unto us the mystery of his
will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself."
A. God's mystery is
revealed to the believers in His Word.
1. How the Blood
of Jesus can redeem the world is a mystery.
2. How the blood
of Jesus can cleanse the world of unrighteousness is a mystery to
the
unsaved.
3. Why God
predetermined to save some and leave some unsaved is a mystery.
4. Christians are
inspired to understand and accept the sovereignty of God.
Jer 27:5
B. Believers receive
the wisdom of God because it pleases Him.
1. Believers
receive the grace of God because it pleases Him.
2. Believers are
chosen for redemption of God because it pleases Him.
V:10. "That in the dispensation of the fulness of times
he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven,
and which are on earth; even in him."
A. Dispensation= oikonomia= administration of the household
1. The "fullness
of time" is the end of house rules.
a. The Church
is God's house.
b. The body of
believers is the temple of the Lord.
2. The second
coming of Christ will be the end of the Church age in the fullness of
time.
3. At the second
coming of Christ, all believers living and dead will be translated
into heaven to
be with Christ. Col
B. How God can
rapture the Church in an instant is a mystery revealed to believers.
1 Thes 4:16-17
OUR INHERITANCE
V:11. "In whom also we have obtained an inheritance,
being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things
after the counsel of his own will."
A. Our inheritance is
the Kingdom of heaven.
1. This
inheritance was determined before the foundation of the earth.
2. Our
inheritance came through Jesus Christ.
3. God
determined to bring both Jews and Gentiles to salvation not by works but
by His
grace.
4. The work of
Christ on the cross is the only work necessary for salvation.
5. God works
faith in believers to accept Jesus as Savior.
B. God counseled with
Himself to work out man's salvation.
1. God chose the
way of salvation for us.
V:12. "That we should be to the praise of his glory,
who first trusted in Christ."
A. What a great God
we serve to save undeserving sinners like us.
1. The trust we
have in Christ did not begin in us but in God the Father.
B. We have a duty, a
responsibility and an obligation to give God the praise.
1. Our redemption
is God's glory.
C. God did not save
us to live a life of poverty on earth.
1. Jesus said,
"I came that you might have life and have it more abundantly."
2. God's redemptive process should be proof that
we can trust God in all things.
D. Our health and
strength belongs to the Lord.
1. God has made us
His children, therefore we must give Him praise and glory.
A. Our Salvation is
all God's doing.
1. First, He chose
us before the foundation of the world.
2. Second, He gave
us His Son.
3. Third, He gave
us His Word.
4. Fourth, He gave
us a spirit to believe in His Word.
5. Fifth, He
redeemed us by faith in Jesus that He
gave us.
B. The Lord sealed
our salvation by the Holy Spirit.
1. Without that
seal, we would return to our unredeemed state.
C. We can trust the
God who saved us from ourselves.
1. Our salvation is secure.
2. Once saved
always saved.
3. Heaven is ours
by God's divine election.
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