The Riches of Grace

November has been designated (among other things) Adoption Awareness month. I was unaware until Wendy’s offered free Frostys for a year!

As I reflected on adoption this week, I began to think of the many reasons why some kids are adopted into new families. For some it can seem like an obligation when nieces, nephews or grandchildren find themselves in a bad situation. For some it fills an emptiness in the affections of adults. For some it is driven by a sudden and overwhelming compassion for a child that we encounter.

In the case where God adopts us into His eternal family, He is under no obligation and there is no deficiency in His affection that needs to be made whole. His adoption of us is a simple overflow of His riches and His kind and gracious heart.

I thought for today we may look at Ephesians 2 and see the sovereign way that God showers us with goodness and then generally uses us to accomplish good in this world.

Transition: Ephesians 2 begins with a description of a time when we were each unaware of God’s Goodness

Unaware of God’s Goodness (Ephesians 2:1-3)

Ephesians 2:1–3 ESV:2016

1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

Apart from Christ, most people fit into at least 1 of these categories.

3 Life Aims (Eph 2:2-3b)

1. Pursuing what everybody else is doing

2. Pursuing power in spirits and human religions

3. Pursuing passions by whatever makes me happy

My grandfather was an avid fishermen and hunter, but my dad never developed a love for those sports so unfortunately, I am not very good at fishing and have never gone hunting. With One exception… I learned of these places called Trout farms. At a trout farm, even I can catch my limit. Trout farms are built as the perfect place for fish to breed and multiply. The water is kept at just the right temperature. The feed is spread in the pond at consistent intervals and when the water gets too crowded some fish are magically relocated to other lakes. To a fish, a trout farm sounds like a perfect environment. But the whole purpose of their existence is to grow and multiply so they can be caught and eaten.

4. In many respects that is the condition of humanity. We are fat, dumb and happy and don’t even realize our natural destiny.

1 Common Condition (Eph 2:1 & 2:3c)

Ephesians 2:1 (ESV:2016)

1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins...3 and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

1. Many have asked others “What’s wrong with being happy? Doesn’t God love all of us equally?”

2. All of the farm-raised fish are happy, and the Wildlife manager treats all the fish equally. But that doesn’t mean the fish are in a good situation.

3. Apart from Christ all of us are by nature under wrath. Whether we are single, married, divorced, remarried, or consider ourselves gender fluid, we are ALL separated from God and in need of change.

4. Just because God loves me does NOT mean my life is free from the need of repentance, forgiveness and transformation!

Transition: These first 3 verses are a grim reality if they are the end of the story. But I LOVE the first 2 words of the next verse… BUT GOD

Adopted by God’s Goodness (Ephesians 2:4-7)

Ephesians 2:4–7 ESV:2016

4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

Who God Is (Ephesians 2:4)

1. Rich in Mercy

2. Great in Love

I have some friends who have done pretty well with their finances and will never have to work another day in their lives. These are people that most of us would consider rich. But there is a whole other level of rich where people earn millions of dollars EACH year and whose bonuses are more than I will make in a lifetime. These are those we call super rich. I know some people who are giving, loving and merciful. But there are others who take it to a whole new level. God’s mercy and love even eclipses their kindness!

What God Did (Ephesians 2:5-7)

1. He resuscitates (made us alive)

a. We tend to think of religious conversion as a person rationally weighing all the options then making a decision to accept or reject Christ.

b. The reality according to this text is that it is more like a Paramedic rolling up on an unresponsive body.

The last time I recertified in CPR, we were told to ask “Can you breathe?” If there is no response we are to yell out “No response, starting CPR” and tell somebody to call 911. We were not trained to ask “Do you want me to start CPR?”

c. In a similar manner when we were spiritually dead, God chose to impart life and give us the capacity to respond to Him.

2. He promotes (raised us up)

a. There was a common notion among the people of Ephesus that there were 3 heavens. 1) atmosphere; 2) realm of angels and demons; and 3) where the highest gods dwell.

b. To those who had been pursuing power in spirituality and human religion, a promise is made that God has transferred believers to the highest Heaven with Christ.

3. He displays (he might show)

In High School I was involved in band and choir. For several years I was never promoted to the highest band which got uniforms and the privilege to march at football games and area parades – until my senior year. I was not only promoted to marching band, but I was placed in first chair in the trumpet section and perhaps the highest honor of my whole school career was when a yearbook photographer asked to do a photo session with me to get some images that would represent the whole music department in the yearbook.

My band experience is similar to the honor described in the verses. 1) God gives life, 2) God promotes to a place of honor, and 3) God puts us on display to all the lesser spiritual beings.

Transition: Why would God demonstrate His goodness in this way?

A Project of God’s Goodness (Ephesians 2:8-10)

We are recipients of Grace (Eph 2:8-9)

Ephesians 2:8–9 ESV:2016

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

1. By grace (both in v.5 and v.8)

2. Not your own doing (counter-point)

3. a gift (point)

4. Not a result of works (counter-point reinforced)

We are each a Masterpiece (Eph 2:10a)

Ephesians 2:10 (ESV:2016)

10 For we are his workmanship,

1. This word only appears twice in the New Testament and just under 30 times in the version of the Old Testament that was common in the day of Jesus.

2. The word sounds similar to our English word poem and some preachers have used this similar sounding word as fodder for many sermons.

3. The larger context carries the idea of something that is intentionally made or done; it is the idea of product or merchandise that is manufactured by another.

4. The idea is that you are not an accident or that you just happened to come to be a child of God. You are “God‘s doing”. He chose you and with intentionality gave you life, promoted you to the heavens and put you on display.

5. You aren’t the same old you! As told in this Broadway Musical. Play Annie clip.

6. Aaron tried the excuse with God “I threw the gold in the fire and this is what came out.” That excuse didn’t work then and it doesn’t work when it comes to you!

7. You were not adopted to continue on in your old life wearing your old clothes. You are an intentional target to receive God’s goodness and reflect God’s goodness and you are being shaped by God for that purpose.

We are each Designed According to a Plan (Eph 2:10b-d)

Ephesians 2:10 (ESV:2016)

10 For we are...created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

1. In today’s text we learn that when we are given life, we are given a new purpose—walking in good works

a. “Acts designed specifically to benefit others, which are characteristic of God.”

b. Contrasted to v.3 (selfish desires), when given life (v.5) we are to show goodness to others (v.10).

c. Why doesn’t God just take us up to Heaven when we get saved? Because He has a plan to use us in the world.

2. In Deuteronomy 8 we are introduced to the idea that it is because of God’s care that He disciplines us to obey and depend upon Him. The discipline of the wilderness was to prepare the Jewish people to represent God to the nations. God said “do this, this and this and avoid this, this, and this and the people will know that you belong to me.”

Even after private tutoring for 40 years, they still didn’t get it! In their first battle after crossing into the land they were told to do something strange around Jericho, and it worked. But what happened after Jericho with Achan at the battle of Ai? According to Josh 7:5, 36 men were killed in battle because one man chose to disobey God.

3. God had chosen Abraham’s descendants to teach the peoples of that that region that He was the one true God.

4. God has chosen us to teach the peoples of the world that He is still the one true God and that Jesus Christ is the only way to restore fellowship with Him and gain eternal life.

5. God has called us to accomplish the Great Commission by obeying the Great Commandment. If we Love God and our neighbors, you will be amazed at how fulfilled you find yourself being in the middle of God’s plan.

Conclusion:

If you are here this morning and still pursuing the plain life, the power of spirits or the pursuit of your own pleasure, today can be your opportunity to exchange that for adoption into God’s good family. I or any of our Elders would love to sit down and show you from Scripture how you can be born again.

I would suspect that the largest percentage of people in this room this morning are those who have already been resuscitated, promoted and displayed in the heavens. However we have not been as active as we should in showing God’s goodness to others or “walking in the good works that God prepared beforehand for us to walk”.

Before you put away your sermon guide and we sing our final song, I’m going to ask you to write down a name. Who is it that God wants you to show His goodness? What does He want you to do TODAY that will tell that person that God is the source of goodness?

Our Final song is one that may be new to most of us, so I’m going to sing it through as you pray over the name that God is giving you, then we will stand and sing the 3 verses on the screen.