Grace upon Grace (Jubilee DNOW #1)

Introduction

Ephesians 1:3–10 ESV

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him 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.

How many of you have ever heard of Bitcoin - raise your hand!

Bitcoin is cryptocurrency - which basically means you can make online transaction with it.

1. Years ago, when I was your age, you could buy bitcoin for less than $.10 each! No one really thought they were going to be worth anything.

2. Today, bitcoin is worth more than $45,000 each.

3. This means that if I had spent the 100 dollars I got for my 18th birthday on Bitcoin, I would be worth over 78,000,000 dollars today.

I could buy 876 Lamborghini Gallardos.

Or 39 private transportation helicopters.

Or 7 private jets.

25, 573,770 Chick fil A chicken sandwiches.

While the fact that me or your parents or Ryan didn’t buy bitcoin years ago is sad, I want to tell you something else that’s even worse.

There are thousands of people who bought bitcoin, $10 or $100 dollars worth of Bitcoin, this worth millions of dollars today. One man has 220 million worth of bitcoin that he cannot access. He has 10 guesses at the password before it locks him out forever.

The biggest tragedies of this bitcoin problem is that (#1) people did not know it’s value and (#2) people do not know how to access it.

That point brings us to tonight.

You might be here because a friend invited you.

You might be here, because your family as been visiting this church.

You might be here because you have been attending this church since you were on the preschool hall.

Maybe the girl that you like goes to church here. Maybe you don’t want to be here at all and your parents dragged you here.

I want you to know something with certainty - God has a plan for you tonight, and I am going to tell you about the most valuable thing in all of the universe and how you can have it.

It is the message of God’s grace in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I want you to know why grace is so worthwhile.

I want you to know how you can know and have God’s grace in your life.

See, you could have all of the bitcoin in the world, and it can do nothing at all to save your soul.

CIT: God’s grace is best seen in the gospel, and we have access to God’s grace by faith in Jesus.

Explanation

CONTEXT: Paul’s big run on sentence. Have you ever tried to tell a story that you are really excited about, and you told it so fast that it was just one big sentence. Guys, maybe it was a great play that you made on the football field. Ladies, maybe it was the time that you crush asked you to prom.

Ephesians 1:3-5 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,”

In these first few verses, we see how much God loves you. Because God loves you, He deeply wants to save and redeem us. God wants to give you His grace and mercy.

God gives you every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.

No spiritual blessing is off limits for you.

Sometimes, we thing that preachers and youth pastors and missionaries and characters in the Bible get the best that God has to offer. Hear me! There are no second rate citizens in the Kingdom of God!

Have you ever tried to fit into a group of people that you didn’t have much in common? You tried to wear the right clothes and say the right things and look the right way - only to be rejected because you weren’t enough.

God gives us everything that we need.

Where we are insufficient, God grants us his grace.

Romans 5:20 // Where sin abounded, grace abounded all the more.

God chose us before the foundation of the world.

God was thinking about you before the He created the universe.

Let’s stop for a minute… and let that sink in.

Really quickly, can any of you remember something that you had for lunch last week?

God

Before COVID.

Before you could walk.

Before your parents were born.

Before you grandparents were born.

Before the USA became a nation.

Before Paul wrote this letter.

Before God called Abraham.

Before God formed the sea and the sky.

God had thoughts for you.

God… in his infinite knowledge and wisdom… was thinking about you before He founded the world.

Maybe this weekend, you feel lonely. You don’t believe that anyone loves or cares for you. God has been thinking about you since before he formed the world.

God predestined us for adoption.

God worked ahead of time for our adoption.

An adoption in today’s world takes over a year. Money, time, home studies, etc.

A parent has to have a lot of love to adopt, or bring someone literally into their family. This is God’s love for you.

I want to ask you a question: do you know of anything else or anyone else who can love and provide for you in that way?

The sports that you play. The video games that you love. The TV that you watch. The person that you are dating. The friends that you spend time with. The grades that you make.

That is why… you can get all of that right and lay your head on the pillow and still feel completely, totally, and unfuriatingly empty.

Blaise Pascal said that we have a God sized vacuum in our hearts that cannot be filled with anything else.

Nothing can love us, satisfy us, and keep us like God’s grace.

We have a problem though. Between God and us is this horrible thing that separates us. Much like a prison wall that separates a prisoner from the outside world, sin separates us from God.

Our sin separates us from this love and relationship of God.

Our sin imprisons us and keeps us from the blessings of God.

Because God is righteous, He punishes sinners - separation from them now and eternal separation forever in an eternal hell.

However, praise be to God that He saves and redeems.

Ephesians 1:7-9 “In him 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”

“we have redemption through his blood”

Redemption means to be freed.

God has set us free. From what?

Our sin. “the forgiveness of our trespasses” How?

Jesus Christ came into the world, lived a perfect life, and died on a cross.

When Jesus went to the cross, God punished Jesus for your sins so that you could go free.

2 Corinthians 5:21 “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Jesus took your sin so that you could go free.

This is the gospel.

God is holy.

Man sinned against God and is destined for judgement.

God, because of His great love, sent Jesus.

Jesus lived a perfect life and gave it up for you and me.

When we believe that Jesus died on a cross for our sins, he is faithful to forgive us.

Ephesians 1:13 “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,”

We know how much God loves us, and we see what God did for us. The only question that remains is: how do we have access to it? Verse 13 gives us that answer.

By faith: Paul says, “you hear the truth, the gospel of your salvation, and BELIEVED IN HIM.”

If you place your faith in Jesus to save you, He will save you.

You don’t have to prove that you are worthy.

You don’t have to do enough good to make up for the bad.

You don’t have to have a perfect church attendance record.

You don’t have to be the top of your class or the most talented person on your soccer team.

You simply have to believe that Jesus died on a cross to save you from your sins and ask Him to save you from them.

Invitation

Tonight is a night for response. Don’t leave here not having responded to Jesus.

You never knew that God’s love was so great, wonderful, or incredible.

You want God’s love, but you didn’t know how to experience his love.

Scripture about faith.

You don’t get God’s love by being good or good enough.

You get God’s love by God’s grace - and that only through faith.