What Are the Riches of God's Grace?

OPENING

What does it mean to be rich?

We are beginning a new series this morning titled, “Questions and Answers.” Our goal in this series is going to be to answer some important questions about God, the Bible, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the Church.

I’m still looking for additional questions. So if you have any that you would like for us to cover, please get those to us.

This morning I want to kick off this series with a message titled, “What Are the Riches of God’s Grace?” We’ve spent a few weeks now talking about the need for personal holiness, being transformed by the renewing of our minds, and progressing from empty to filled while increasing our spiritual capacity.

Today I want us to pause and think about what makes all of this possible. And it all comes back to grace. God’s grace, extended to us though Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection, is the source of a treasure trove of God’s blessings and promises that should encourage us in our daily walk and motivate us to draw closer to Him. What are the depths of God’s grace? What are the many facets to God’s grace? What does all of this mean for us today? This morning we are going to answer the question, “What Are the Riches of God’s Grace?”

SCRIPTURE

Ephesians 1:3–7 NKJV

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. 7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace

MESSAGE

What is Grace?

Grace is God’s unmerited favor toward us.

Grace is God giving us what we need, not what we deserve.

Charles Spurgeon and Joseph Parker both had churches in London in the 19th century. On one occasion, Parker commented on the poor condition of children admitted to Spurgeon's orphanage. It was reported to Spurgeon however, that Parker had criticized the orphanage itself. Spurgeon blasted Parker the next week from the pulpit. The attack was printed in the newspapers and became the talk of the town. People flocked to Parker's church the next Sunday to hear his rebuttal. "I understand Dr. Spurgeon is not in his pulpit today, and this is the Sunday they use to take an offering for the orphanage. I suggest we take a love offering here instead." The crowd was delighted. The ushers had to empty the collection plates 3 times. Later that week there was a knock at Parker's study. It was Spurgeon. "You know Parker, you have practiced grace on me. You have given me not what I deserved, you have given me what I needed.

Moody Monthly, December, 1983, p. 81.

What Are the Riches of God’s Grace?

Here are seven words that describe the riches of His grace:

Blessed

[3] ...God the Father…has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ...

God’s blessings are:

Spiritual (the kind of blessings).

Better than material blessings.

Heavenly (the location of those blessings).

Better than earthly, temporal blessings.

We should thank God for His temporal, material blessings, but we ought to thank Him all the more for His spiritual blessings.

To have a new heart is better than a closet full of new clothes.

To dine with Christ is better than the finest restaurant.

To be an heir of God is better than the richest inheritance here on earth.

Chosen

[4] ...He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world...

We have been chosen by God.

How sweet it is to know that God picked you!

He picked you before you were born!

Getting picked last on the playground.

We have been chosen by God in Christ.

We are not chosen on the basis of our own merit.

We are chosen on the basis of Christ’s merit.

Predestined

[5]...having predestined us...

God decided beforehand how we would be saved!

He thought of us before we existed!

Our ultimate destiny is Heaven!

Adopted

[5]…to adoption as sons in Jesus Christ...

We have been grafted into the family of God.

Under Roman law, a person who was adopted was a completely new person. The person adopted lost all rights in their old family and gained all the rights of being part of the new family. It was as if the person had been born into the new family. All debts and obligations the person had under the old family were abolished as if they had never existed.

Believers in Jesus Christ are not merely adopted into the family of God; they are born into the family of God.

Accepted

[6]...He made us accepted in the Beloved.

Greek word “charito” which means “highly favored” or “full of grace.”

Jesus Christ was completed accepted by the Father; His character, His words, His work.

And now we are accepted in the Beloved.

This word carries the idea that God has “embraced us in the arms of His grace.”

Redeemed

[7] In Him we have redemption through His blood...

Redemption speaks of a price being paid for freedom.

In the OT it was the price paid to free a slave.

But Jesus did not pay money for our freedom. He paid with His own blood.

Now we are no longer slaves to sin, but servants of righteousness.

Jesus is our kinsman Redeemer.

Forgiven

[7]…the forgiveness of sins...

Jesus paid the price for our redemption, so that we could be forgiven.

The meaning of this phrase is that not only did Christ’s redemption set us free from the penalty of sin, but also the power of sin.

He is faithful and just to forgive us for our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

When Billy Graham was driving through a small southern town, he was stopped by a policeman and charged with speeding. Graham admitted his guilt, but was told by the officer that he would have to appear in court.

The judge asked, "Guilty, or not guilty?" When Graham pleaded guilty, the judge replied, "That'll be ten dollars -- a dollar for every mile you went over the limit."

Suddenly the judge recognized the famous minister. "You have violated the law," he said. "The fine must be paid--but I am going to pay it for you." He took a ten dollar bill from his own wallet, attached it to the ticket, and then took Graham out and bought him a steak dinner! "That," said Billy Graham, "is how God treats repentant sinners!"

Progress Magazine, December 14, 1992.

CLOSING

God’s Grace is not a cheap grace.

It cost Him the life of His Son Jesus.

Jesus paid the full price of redemption.

So we should not respond to His Grace as if it is cheap grace, but in acknowledgement of the riches of His Grace.

The Preacher’s Notebook: The Collected Quotes, Illustrations, and Prayers of John Stott (Cheap Grace and Costly Grace)

“Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without Church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without contrition. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ living and incarnate” (p. 38).SOURCE: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship (SCM, 1959).

We do not practice repentance, discipline, confession, contrition, and discipleship in order to earn right standing with God or to make us love us more.

We do these things because we understand the riches of His grace and the price that was paid to provide it to us.

ALTAR CALL

Have you received the riches of His Grace?

Are you living with riches of His Grace?

Do you feel like today that you are:

Blessed,

Chosen,

Predestined,

Adopted,

Accepted,

Redeemed, and

Forgiven.

Are you living below your status as a child of God born into the family of God with all the rights and inheritance as a member of the family?