Blessings Beyond Imagination - Part 2

We are in a study through the book of Ephesians called “Beyond Imagination” and in this series we are pursuing God’s unimaginable vision for his church so that he might receive much glory.

We are learning to see (through eyes of faith) that God’s plan for the church is so much bigger than what we can perceive with our senses…

It’s so much bigger than what we typically think about when we pile in the car and come “to church...”

It’s so much bigger than what we imagine when we say to someone “I go to Oak Hill Fellowship Church.”

What God is doing in his church is proving his powerful work of salvation to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places… the church is COSMIC in nature.

It’s something ONLY GOD can create… something ONLY HE can use… SO THAT he would get all the credit.

We tend to care a lot about who gets the credit for things, don’t we?

Like if I preached this whole sermon, and afterward you learned that it was entirely copied from another pastor, you would question my integrity, wouldn’t you? (and rightly so… it’s not btw)

If I started listing off the names of all the people who put countless hours into helping us move this weekend, and you contributed some of your own valuable hours, but I left your name out for whatever reason, you probably wouldn’t make a big stink, but somewhere in your heart, you’d probably have to fight back the feeling, “Did anyone even CARE that I worked hard too?!?!”

We tend to care a lot about who gets the credit.

There is something hard-wired into us that wants to give credit where credit is due.

And in some ways, that’s the point of Ephesians chapter 1… That we would give credit where credit is due… that GOD would receive all praise... all blessing... all glory for his work in saving his people, creating the church, and showering them with the blessings of his grace!

Too often we want to take some of that credit for ourselves, thinking that we play at least SOME role in our salvation...

We were somehow “smarter” than unbelievers to know that we should follow Jesus...

Or we were somehow more spiritually perceptive or holy than others and that’s why we chose to follow him.

Or that somehow God knew we would be good Christians or have strong enough faith and that’s why he chose us to be part of his people...

Sometimes I’ve heard professing believers answer the question, “How do you know you are saved?” by pointing to their own performance and say something like, “I try to be a good person and go to church.”

But the point of Ephesians 1… and really the point of the whole gospel of Jesus Christ… is that we COULD NOT save ourselves… we WOULD NOT turn to God… BUT GOD did it for us… and so HE gets ALL the credit… HE gets all the glory for our salvation and the work he does in his church.

Today we are picking up part 2 of our study in Ephesians 1:3-14… and we are running with the same big idea from last week:

Big Idea: Give God praise by looking beyond what is seen to the unimaginable blessings we have in Christ.

God has done an extraordinary work that spans all of human history to redeem a people for himself so that he can shower them with grace.

Because when God pours out his grace, his praise multiplies as far as his grace extends.

Let’s read this whole passage again that we started to study last Sunday, I will recap last week’s sermon briefly that covered verses 3-6, and then we will dig into new material in points 2 and 3 which will cover verses 7-14.

[READ Eph. 1:3-14]

You’ll hopefully remember that Ephesians 1:3-14 is ONE BIG, LONG sentence in the original Greek… our translators break it down for us in English into smaller chunks so that it makes sense, but it’s as if Paul is so caught up in what he is writing about that he forgets to take a breath.

As Paul wrote (or maybe even dictated this for someone else to write down) I believe Paul’s mind and heart are so captivated in with this idea: that it is INCOMPREHENSIBLE that our God of glory would CHOOSE to bless a people with every spiritual blessing in Christ in the heavenly places!

That’s the whole main point of this sentence: WORSHIP… that we would LIVE to the PRAISE of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit because of the work that they accomplished… and that God would be blessed (or praised) for the way he has blessed us IN CHRIST.

Verse 3 lays out that main idea of this long sentence… and verses 4-14 being to explain WHAT those spiritual blessings are and HOW we have come to receive them…

Last week we talked a lot more about that main idea and then we covered point 1...

1) Praise the Father for the blessing of gracious election. (1:4-6)

Paul reveals that God the Father CHOSE us in Christ before the foundation of the world...

Paul doesn’t debate or defend this idea of God’s Sovereign choosing (like we sometimes feel the need to do today)… he doesn’t justify it…

He just states the fact that GOD is the one who chose us… which means that GOD gets the credit and receive the praise for even the IDEA of salvation.

And Paul gives us the purpose of God’s choosing: so that he would have a people for himself who are holy and blameless before him...

Both positionally as God sees us IN CHRIST... AND practically as we live out of our identity IN CHRIST.

Now I went into a much more thorough explanation of all that last week, so if you weren’t here OR if you need a refresher, go to our website and listen to part 1 of this sermon...

I’m happy to dialogue with you about any of that if you have questions...

But Paul is clear that God CHOSE his people… and not only did he CHOOSE… but he also sovereignly ordained and ordered time and space so that his choice would come to pass.

We call that Predestination.

Paul says in verse 5 that “He predestined us...”

It means that God FOREORDAINED… before the foundation of the world, he determined how he would work all things together for his glory and for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose.

What God is doing… in sovereignly ordering all of human history… is making sure that those he CHOSE actually become his people.

And just like he CHOSE with a purpose, he also predestined us with a purpose: Paul says that God’s people were PREDESTINED TO adoption as Sons...

We mentioned that this idea of adoption as SONS is not about the GENDER of those he predestined… both men and women were predestined to adoption as SONS...

The picture is about the INHERITANCE of those whom he predestined…

In Roman culture, the firstborn SON got the inheritance...

Now the inheritance of the firstborn of all creation goes to Jesus Christ according to Colossians 1...

And because WEWEwWe are IN CHRIST… we get to partake in all the inheritance that belongs to the Son, Jesus Christ!

It almost feels SCANDALOUS to say that!

But this theme of inheritance is going to come up again two more times as Paul talks about the work of the Son and the work of the Spirit… and the point is that God’s gracious blessing is to share Christ’s inheritance with all those who are IN HIM.

The inheritance first belongs to the Eternal Son of God... and then we get to enjoy it IN HIM.

And so as Paul transitions from the work of the Father, he makes sure to remind us that all of this work was “To the praise of his glorious grace with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.”

God the Father has blessed us because of the work of HIS BELOVED SON...

Yesterday I watched two of my sons play soccer… and my heart was BRIMMING with joy when I watched them perform well… and do something that seems like they were created to do...

But my joy in them is NOT DEPENDENT on their performance or on them doing better than others… but because they are my BELOVED SONS… their performance brings me joy because I LOVE them.

I wasn’t brimming with joy at all the other kids on the field… I was delighting in my SONS (and the same is true when my third son does what he loves in archery and things like that).

God has ONLY ONE BEGOTTEN SON who is called BELOVED… and the gospels say that IN HIM HE IS WELL PLEASED… and because we are IN HIM, he is well-pleased with us based on the SONS person and work…

And therefore he pours out INNUMERABLE BLESSINGS on us.

And it is that particular work God the Son (Jesus Christ), to which Paul turns his attention in verses 7-12.

Look with me at Ephesians 1:7-12 (now we are getting into new material)- “In him [that is, in the Beloved… in Christ] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.”

I’m reading these verses so many times so that they become more familiar to us… because it’s easy to get lost in this long sentence… but here’s the point Paul is making:

2) Praise the Son for the blessing of gracious redemption. (1:7-12)

In order to be found IN CHRIST… and in order for God to ADOPT US AS SONS IN CHRIST, Christ had to REDEEM us through his blood.

Redemption means “to purchase” or “to ransom” -

If a person is kidnapped, their loved ones might pay a RANSOM so that they can be released.

In the Bible, redemption is often connected to the idea of slavery… a price is paid and a slave goes free.

And the scriptures are clear that apart from Christ, we are SLAVES to sin… and SLAVES to the law...

Our so-called “free will” isn’t really all that free… apart from God’s intervening work, we always do what feels natural to our flesh… we always break God’s law...

We call that SIN… here Paul uses another word for that… he uses the word “trespass”...

You understand that word… trespass… you walk on someone else’s property.

SIN is trespassing on God’s territory that is called glory… sin is trying to use or take some of that glory-land for ourselves.

In our trespasses, we are either looking inward to our own achievements or outward to the rest of his creation for the source of our identity and hope.

In our sin, we are addicted to the glory of ANYTHING other than God.

And as a result, we have become slaves to sin and enemies of God… and the only price big enough to grant us freedom... is the death of a perfect sacrifice.

Death is separation from the life and blessings that are found in God.

That’s the price we owe for our trespass... it’s infinitely high… and because we our sin is against and infinitely PERFECT God, that price is one we could NEVER repay.

And there is only One who has enough perfection in his bank account to cover the cost of sin… and that’s God himself...

But because God cannot die… and the cost of sin is DEATH... which involves the shedding of blood… God had to become man...

He had to take on human flesh… he had to have real human blood coursing through his veins... so that he could BECOME the only perfect substitute who could pay the ransom price for our sin.

And that’s exactly what he planned to do from before the foundations of the earth...

God the Son took on flesh… became the perfect God-man… and died on a cross… his body broken and his blood was shed to pay the price for our redemption.

In him we have REDEMPTION, the forgiveness of our trespasses..

God cannot just overlook our trespass.

We need to understand this: God’s Forgiveness is not merely him “overlooking sin.”

Forgiveness is accepting that the cost for our sin has been paid by the blood of Jesus.

That’s how we know that this UNIMAGINABLE BLESSING is actually REAL… because Jesus shed REAL BLOOD to secure it!

It is in Christ… and ONLY IN CHRIST... that redemption can be accomplished and forgiveness can be granted.

If you are not IN CHRIST… if you are not united to him through faith...

If you do not TRUST that he is the ONLY SAVIOR AND LORD… the ONLY WAY to right relationship with God...

Then you are rejecting the ONLY redemption price for your sin… and your trespasses will not be forgiven because God cannot overlook them.

If we try to earn our salvation, we only serve to trespass on the work that Christ has done and try to rob him of the credit and glory he deserves.

That’s why we must not think that we can pay the redemption price on our own...

The redemption price is not that you would try harder to be a good person.

The redemption price is not “going to church.”

The redemption price is not “giving money to a good cause”

The redemption price is not “getting involved in your community”

The redemption price is not “being part of a Christian family.”

The redemption price is not “nodding in agreement with the preacher on Sundays...”

The redemption price is ONLY the blood of Jesus.

And if YOU ARE NOT IN CHRIST…

if he has not purchased you out of slavery to sin and changed your heart and reoriented your life...

Then all of your efforts to “be good” are just adding to your list of trespasses...

It is ONLY Christ’s blood that can redeem us… that’s GOD’S territory, not ours.

Redemption… and forgiveness… are ONLY the activity of God… the outworking of his grace… so that HE gets all the credit!

Notice, Paul says that this redemption and forgiveness are “according to the riches of his GRACE...”

Grace, by definition, cannot be earned...

It is UNMERITED FAVOR.

The minute we try to earn it, is the minute we fail to receive it… because Grace means God gets the credit.

And I love the way Paul says this… he says that redemption and forgiveness are according to the RICHES of his grace, which he LAVISHED upon us...”

In other words, he “removed ALL the boundaries that would restrain his grace toward us.”

Imagine standing on the dry side of the Hoover Dam that is withholding the massive waters of God’s grace back from… and because of the work of Christ, God says, “release the flood.”

Imagine a bank vault separating you from a whole pile of gold coins that represent the grace of God…

and on the other side of that vault door the gold is packed to the brim… but you have no access to it...

But then Jesus comes and enters just the right combination…

And the vault door opens…

And the riches just come POURING OUT on you… like you’re Scrooge McDuck swimming in a pile of riches.

Let me be clear… this “riches” language is FIGURATIVE.

We aren’t talking about God promising us physical health and wealth...

This all fits under the category mentioned in verse 3: every SPIRITUAL blessing in the heavenly places...

We are talking about the wealth of heaven… the currency of heaven: which is the glorious grace of God.

And God is not STINGY in the giving of his grace. He LAVISHES his grace upon us.

I don’t think we often think about God’s grace like this enough… in terms of LAVISHING RICHES...

Maybe that’s because we think that God’s grace means he will give us all the TEMPORARY blessings that we WANT now instead of EVERY SPIRITUAL blessing in the heavenly places… and so we think he’s holding out on us.

Maybe we think of God as stingy that’s because WE are sometimes stingy with the grace we show.

Someone offends us and we find it HARD to give grace...

We do it because we know we have to...

But they had better not offend again.

Our version of grace has limitations.

But not God’s… God LOVES LAVISHING the RICHES OF HIS GRACE on his people… because that is his character.

Grace is part of his GLORY.

Grace is how God is saving his people ad accomplishing his Master plan.

God LAVISHES grace on us so that we could KNOW and PARTICIPATE in his unfolding plan for the fullness of time.

Look at v. 8-9... “[he lavished grace on us] in all wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time

In Christ’s redemption of his people… his church… God is revealing his grand plan of lavish grace… his ALL-WISE plan that is the key to our existence...

You CANNOT live wisely if you do not understand God’s plan and his purpose that he is right now working out through the church...

One of our goals in this series is that we would expand our understanding of God’s plan, which Ephesians 3 clearly identifies as THE CHURCH...

The CHURCH is the redeemed and forgiven people of God to whom he has made known the mystery of his will...

And WISE LIVING means that we MAXIMIZE our role in that plan...

Spending your life on anything other than that plan is FOOLISHNESS.

Because here’s where that plan is headed… verse 10...

God’s grand plan of lavish grace is “to unite all things in him [that’s IN CHRIST], things in heaven and things on earth.”

Pay attention to this: this is one of the places where the Bible reveals to us the purpose of life… “what is the meaning of life??? what is the meaning of everything???” philosopher’s have asked some form of that question for millenia...

And here God reveals it: Everything that God has predestined… everything that is going on in our world at this moment… is rushing toward this grand finale: that ALL THINGS (in HEAVEN and on EARTH) would be restored to their right relationships IN CHRIST.

God’s WHOLE, PERFECTLY ORDERED CREATION… that fell into chaos when Adam and Eve sinned… will be put back in order when Jesus Christ is revealed and the redeemed, adopted sons of God are revealed in him.

And in that day when God unites all things in him, Christ will receive the inheritance that he is due: Psalm 2 tells us that the inheritance of the Messiah is a people for himself from all the nations… which is now revealed as “his church.”

...His Bride. Presented as Holy and blameless before Him.

Jews and Gentiles reconciled… united together… and united to God THROUGH gracious redemption!

Christ will receive the inheritance of the nations.

And IN HIM, we will receive an inheritance.

Look at verse 11-12 - “In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.”

The church is Christ’s inheritance… and HE is our inheritance…

Every blessing that belongs to him will be fully enjoyed by us for all eternity because we are IN HIM and because all things are ordered and united in him.

Eternity will be delightful for God’s people because we will be experiencing the Heavens and the Earth as God originally created them…

free from the chaos and destruction of sin…

and in full, properly ordered relationship with God.

In that day, all things will be ordered AROUND HIM… and HE will receive ALL THE GLORY because HE alone accomplished our redemption according to his sovereign plan.

Paul says that we won’t just praise God with our lips: Our very EXISTENCE around the throne will BE to the praise of his glory.

This is such a BIG view of salvation!!!

Being “saved” is so much more than us getting out of hell and getting to go to heaven…

It’s so much more than saying you believe in Jesus but then going on with your life like the rest of the world does…

fulfilling your dreams… controlling your future… making yourself comfortable.

No… SALVATION… REDEMPTION… is about God’s PLAN to unite all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth.

SALVATION… is all about God getting the glory because God had the plan and God worked the plan according to his grace.

And so let’s pause here and ask, “Is that how you view YOUR salvation?”

Do you understand that Christ’s redeemed you by his own blood…

Paul is clear in 1 Corinthians about what our response should be to Christ’s redemption… he says, “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:19–20, ESV)

Follow his logic: You were REDEEMED… you were bought with a price (what was the price? The BLOOD of Christ)…

That means that you are NOT YOUR OWN… you were bought by Christ, you belong to Christ.

So what is the proper response? Glorify God in your body.

BE to the praise of his glory.

He has LAVISHED grace on you… so that you would BE to the praise of his glory...

So that your very existence would SHOUT to the furthest stretches of heaven, “LOOK AT WHAT GOD HAS DONE TO SAVE SINNERS JUST LIKE ME!!!”

If we view our salvation in this way, a few things will become increasingly evident in our lives:

First, we will be OVERWHELMED at the price Jesus paid for our forgiveness.

The fact that we are "Redeemed” will consume our hearts and lives because we have been shown SUCH grace!

Secondly, we will become aware that we are part of God’s bigger plan to unite ALL THINGS to himself.

The CHURCH… the FIRST expression of the unity that God is working out.

We are the redeemed… we are the FIRST to hope in God…

Which means that THIS (church) is to be the foretaste of heaven where UNITY is experienced in SUPERNATURAL ways…

we will see that theme developed as we go along in Ephesians.

Our common redemption through grace produces UNITY.

And third, that gratitude and that awareness of God’s plan will result in MINISTRY to others in the church.

God is doing something unique to bring about unity in the church… and that unity is expressed in serving one another as members of the body of Christ.

It is foolish to say you are a believer in God’s plan of redemption and then to sit on the sidelines of what he is doing to work out that plan of redemption.

That’s where the book of Ephesians goes in chapters 4-6.

God is also doing something unique to bring about unity THROUGH the church…

Which brings us to the last response to this redemption: Evangelism.

That we would call out to the world and PROCLAIM that the only way for things to be restored to their right order is through the REDEMPTION that is found in Christ ALONE.

The world is REELING from the effects of sin… war and disasters and division and turmoil.

And the CHURCH has the answer that will put it all back together in the end: repent and believe Jesus.

And I want to plead with you today… if you have never turned and surrendered your life to Jesus… if you have never put all your faith in him and trusted that HE ALONE is Savior and Lord… then you are headed toward an eternity without God… which is an eternity of suffering and chaos greater than you can ever imagine.

But if you turn to Jesus, you will become part of his inheritance… and you will share in that inheritance… and experience the joy of giving him glory forever.

There is nothing you can do to earn that salvation… you don’t need to be good enough… you simply need to trust that Jesus really is the only one who could redeem you from your sin...

And that Jesus really is deserving of the glory of your life.

And if you have turned to Christ in faith, PRAISE THE SON FOR THE BLESSING OF GRACIOUS REDEMPTION!

BE… EXIST… to the praise of his glorious grace!

In his unimaginable grace, God the Father elected you… God the Son redeemed you…

But how do you know you won’t mess it up?

Sure, we are “in Christ,” but is it possible to “fall out”?

How do you know that all of this will work out the way God says it will?

And the answer Paul gives, in addition to what he has already said, is this: God the Holy Spirit will preserve you.

Look at verse 13 - “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.”

3) Praise the Holy Spirit for the blessing of gracious preservation. (1:13-14)

Explain: The words at the end of verse 12, “to the praise of his glory” signal the transition to the work of the third person of the Trinity: the Holy Spirit.

Paul says that “in him” (that is “in Christ”) you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.

But he adds two phrases that are very important about WHEN that happens:

WHEN you heard the word of truth (that is the gospel of your salvation)

and WHEN you believed in him.

Tell me, “WHEN do we receive the Holy Spirit?”

WHEN WE BELIEVE… AT CONVERSION!

It’s not that we believe and then sometime later we receive a second baptism of the Holy Spirit…

NO! We get ALL of the Holy Spirit WHEN we believe… at the MOMENT of conversion.

And here’s why that’s important: because without the Holy Spirit, we can’t persevere.

We can’t continue in the faith without the Spirit of God preserving us.

Paul uses two pictures to describe this preservation: Seal and guarantee.

First he says we were SEALED with the promised Holy Spirit.

[Show Picture] The picture is of one of those wax seals where they melted was and a king would use a ring or another tool to impress his mark into the wax...

It’s like those envelopes that come to you in the mail that say, “Tamper-Evident Seal.”

It meant, “This is mine and can’t be opened by anyone but the one I approve.”

And God has indwelled us with the Holy Spirit so that no one… not even ourselves... can tamper with our his work in us...

Second he says that the Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it...

What did we say our inheritance was? CHRIST… and the blessing of his order and authority in all things...

And the HOLY SPIRIT is the Guarantee of that… the down-payment (like you would put on a house you were going to buy)...

He is the FORETASTE of all that is to come...

He is the very personal presence of God… leading us in the wisdom of God… to live out the plan of God… until we finally see the face of God.

He is the One on whom we rely to begin experiencing the UNITY AROUND JESUS that we will see in the new heavens and new earth.

You cannot persevere to the end IN CHRIST without the Holy Spirit… and you cannot live out the plan of God now without the Holy Spirit.

God has not revealed his plan of redemption in Christ only to say, “Now you are redeemed and forgiven… go figure the rest out yourself and come back to me when you get it right!”

NO! He gives us HIMSELF in the person of the Holy Spirit.

We cannot enjoy the Spiritual Blessings that God has secured for us in Christ in the heavenly places with out the Holy Spirit.

We cannot grow in the unity of the Kingdom that God is establishing in the church without the Holy Spirit.

And praise the Lord, we do not HAVE TO!

God gave the Holy Spirit to each believer… each member of of the body… when we heard the word of truth and believed.

Our job, according to Ephesians 5:18, then is to be “filled with the Holy Spirit.”

To seek him in everything that we do… to yield to his leading and conviction…

To walk according to his wisdom… to address one another in his truth.

That’s what produces unity in the church and that’s when we start to experience the spiritual blessings in the heavenly places.

And once again… just in case you forgot… he does all that… To the praise of his glory.

The Holy Spirit is PRESERVING YOU so that you would persevere to the end… so that even from your perseverance, GOD would get all the glory!

PRAISE THE SPIRIT for his gracious preservation!

How often do you realize that very God of very God has been given to us as a seal and a guarantee… to help us carry out the plan of God as a church?

How much do you seek to be FILLED with him? How much do you actively yield to his control?

We have a LOT to learn about the Holy Spirit… but know this today: if you are in Christ, then the Spirit is in you.

Big Idea: Give God praise by looking beyond what is seen to the unimaginable blessings we have in Christ.

1) Praise the Father for the blessing of gracious election. (1:4-6)

2) Praise the Son for the blessing of gracious redemption. (1:7-12)

3) Praise the Holy Spirit for the blessing of gracious preservation. (1:13-14)

Let’s do that right now as we go to communion.

Ephesians 1:7 “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,”

None of these spiritual blessings would be accessible to us without the broken body and shed blood of Jesus. And that’s what we celebrate in communion.

In him WE - Communion is all about that word “we”…

We aren’t redeemed MERELY to have a one-on-one relationship with God...

We are redeemed to become part of the PEOPLE of God...

And the word “union” is in the very word: COMMUNION - in communion, we celebrate that we are united together in Christ...

So if your brother or sister has offended you… go and talk to them… be reconciled… let this moment remind you of the great cost that was paid so that we could be ONE in Christ.

In him we... have REDEMPTION through his blood… Communion is all about what Christ did to achieve our redemption:

His body was broken for us...

His blood is the blood of a new covenant where we can have a right relationship with our God.

In him we have redemption through his blood… the forgiveness of our trespasses… Communion is a time to confess our trespasses...

We remember that our sin is an offense… a trespass… against God...

We have crossed the line and encroached on his territory...

Our sins are something for which Christ had to die… the blood of the perfect spotless lamb had to be shed so that we could be forgiven...

And it WAS… God LAVISHED his grace as Christ’s blood poured out over our sin...

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace… Communion is about the grace of God.

When I was a teenager, I used to think that if I didn’t confess my sins just right before I took communion, that God was going to be angry with me.

I thought that communion was a time to beat yourself up over your sin so that God would be pleased.

Let’s just say that I didn’t understand the riches part of this verse God’s grace…

I didn’t understand that God is not MAD at us at the communion table… he is INVITING US into RELATIONSHIP with him as we feast at his table.

Ephesians 1:7 “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,”

Let’s prepare our hearts to take the bread and the cup.