Ephesians 1:7-10
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7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight
9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ
10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
We live in a society of needs. We are a needy people. Our kids are constantly saying Dad, I need and fill in the blank. Bill collectors are needy, they need us to pay our bills. Some are more needy than others. One bill collector will need your payment on the day and if you’re late you will receive a penalty. others give you ten days to receive your payment. We are needy. We all have physical needs. We need nourishment. We need sleep. What is our greatest need? To be rescued. To be set free. In this text Paul conveyed to the Ephesians that the grace of God has brought us redemption in Christ our Lord.
-wrote to Ephesus - modern day Turkey - sinful culture - What is the gospel, what is the church, how the gospel affects out lives
-v.3-14 - a praise, Blessed is God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
-v.3-6 - God’s plan of grace from eternity
v.7-10 - How God’s grace was extended - and how that leads us to Bless our gracious God
How was God’s grace extended towards us? Grace by redemption, grace by revelation, and grace by design
Grace by Redemption (7)
Grace by Redemption (7)
What is redemption?
we use the term loosely, if a baseball player doesn’t catch the ball and a runner scores. Everyone blames him. A later inning that same baseball player comes up to the plate and hits a home run, people would say oh he redeemed himself. I am not sure that is actually redemption
-In Biblical terms it is actually in reference to a prisoner of war, prisoners of war were made slaves, to redeem them a price had to be paid so they would be free
-redemption = deliverance, to buy back, payment, God paid a ransom price for our sin that stood against His holiness, the word used here means to pay a price to free someone from bondage
15 You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this today.
-why redemption? Why describe God’s grace in this way?
-our condition -
-to understand why Christ had to redeem us, we must understand the gravity of our condition without Christ
eph 2 dead in our trespasses and sin, ro 3 - we all have fallen short of the glory of God, 6:23 wages of sin is death
12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
-this is our depravity - without hope, alienated from God - if we are to understand the redemption God has provided in Christ we must understand our depravity our sin sick hearts
No creature that deserved redemption would need to be redeemed.
C. S. Lewis
-We do not deserve God’s redemption, but because of our sin, our depravity we are in desperate need of the redemption that only God could provide
-We are enslaved to sin
34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.
6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.
20 And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him.
21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,
22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.
23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
-everyone is enslaved to sin, every human
-In Him (Christ) - the Beloved - we have - present hope, present tense - all other descriptors about God’s grace were past tense - blessed, chose, predestined
14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
The ultimate concern and plan of God is redemption. Redemption is not a peripheral matter, rather it cuts to the very core of Divine activity. From the foundation of the world God has determined to bring about redemption in Christ.
R. C. Sproul
-we cannot redeem ourselves, we cannot tip the scales, we seem to have this thought that if we are just a good enough Christian, if we could do enough good things, be religious enough, then we have presented ourselves in right standing with God, no the only way is in Christ and in Christ alone
-it is all in Christ, all we have hinges on Christ
-we have redemption, the forgiveness of our sins
-enslaved to Egyptians, enslaved to our sins - purchased back to God
Titus 2:14 (ESV)
14 Christ gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
-our sins are forgiven because Jesus became our substitute
Jesus told His disciples in Matt. 26
28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
-Do you understand the depth of God’s forgiveness in Christ? Can we truly grasp it? How do you forgive others?
-This is the depth of God’s grace - His forgiveness - David wrote
12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
67 Forgiveness. Nothing is more foreign to sinful human nature. And nothing is more characteristic of divine grace.
John MacArthur
The Freedom and Power of Forgiveness (1998)
John MacArthur
-He forgives everything - but remember this is us in Christ and it is because of His grace through ----
-through His blood
-our redemption can only come from God - without God there is no hope
7 Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life,
8 for the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice,
9 that he should live on forever and never see the pit.
15 But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me. Selah
22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
Apart from the blood we have no redemption!
Great Doctrines of the Bible (1), 321
Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Cannot be any clearer than 1 Peter 1:18
18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold,
19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.
9 And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation,
-We must remember that our redemption came at a cost
-according to the riches of His grace - He is rich in grace, does anyone like a budget? a budget is set so that you may not exceed what is your bank account, God has no budget, He is rich in grace
-We bless God our Father because we are redeemed in Christ as a result of His grace
Grace by Revelation (8-9a)
Grace by Revelation (8-9a)
-riches of His grace
-He lavished on us - caused to abound, we swim in His grace, our cup runneth over of His grace that He has extended to us
-in all wisdom and insight
-The wisdom granted is the wisdom to know the things of God, God gives us what we need to understand and personally know about Him
-The only reason we can know the grace of God in Christ, the only way we can be presented as holy and blameless in Christ before Him is because God has revealed His grace to us - it is by God’s grace that He has revealed redemption to us
-Too often we act as if God’s revelation of Himself to us is a right, it is not our right it is a privilege He has extended by His grace alone - revelation is from God, He owns revelation and in His sovereignty reveals it
18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,
-What kind of revelation though?
-Jesus is the revelation of God
30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,
1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets,
2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
-through His Word
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
-to make known the mystery of His will
-this plan of redemption hasn’t always been known, it is really the thought that we are blind to this mystery of redemption, our eyes have to be illumined, our sin blinds us to the truth
-mystery - secret, its not that it could not be known before, but that it was not made known
Have you ever seen a construction site and wondered what is that going to be? You may not know right off hand. But there are clues along the way, bits and pieces become visible, until finally it is revealed, the gospel, the coming of Savior was hidden, kept secret before. There were bits and pieces in the OT prophecies, but it was revealed fully in the person of Christ born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died and was resurrected
Matthew 13:11 (ESV) (parable of the sower)
11 And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.
-Paul writing to the Ephesian Gentiles
3 how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly.
-This mystery of redemption is made known to us not only for us to be redeemed but for us to declare the good news of redemption, for us to make know this good news
-We bless God our Father because His grace has been made known to us
Grace by Design (9b-10)
Grace by Design (9b-10)
according to His purpose - the redemption, the revelation of God’s grace is all according to His purpose
-purpose = good pleasure, it was the pleasure of God to make known to us the redemption that was set forth in Christ, God took delight in laying out His plans of redemption
-I envision this as when we plan a huge even for a family member, Just a couple years ago I threw Kendra a surprise birthday party. It thrilled me to plan this party. To see the surprise on her face, it was a delight to me. Oh how much more it delighted our Father to plan this display of His grace
-set forth in Christ
-as a plan for the fulness of time
-what does this mean? When all the events, times, season that the Father set, have been completed
3 In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world.
4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,
-Everything God does is by plan, He does not shoot from the hip
-God’s plan of redemption was purposeful
-What purpose? The purpose of God’s plan is the preeminence of Christ, His plan to display the superiority of Christ - Christ has defeated sin, death, and the enemy
-to bring all things under Christ -the church is a display of the superiority of Christ, this is why we desire to be a Biblical, Christ honoring church
-His purpose that Christ will set forth, that Christ would first in all things - the focus is not on us, it is not on our opinions or wants, it is on making much of Jesus, He is supreme
-to unite all things in Himself
-wait whats this? all things? Is this universalism?
19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.
20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope
21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.
-things in heaven and on earth
-He’s going to get it all fixed
-issues in our world, who will fix this?
-We like the fairy tales, we like the good endings, the only good ending is in Christ
-this is the glorification - in the fulness of time He will make all things new
-We bless God our Father because His grace is by design
-Do you know His grace today? Perhaps today you recognize your sin, you see your need to be redeemed, my friend only Christ can redeem you. Come to Jesus, call upon Him as your Savior, receive the free gift of grace. If His grace has been made known to you, if you know Christ and richness of His grace are you making that grace known to others?
What a tremendous song we will sing in just a moment notice this verse as we think about His grace:
Now, Lord, I would be Yours alone
And live so all might see
The strength to follow Your commands
Could never come from me
Oh Father, use my ransomed life
In any way You choose
And let my song forever be
My only boast is You
