GOD’S GRACE IS TRULY AMAZING! (Outline)
June 29, 2008 --
PENTECOST 7 --
Ephesians 1:3-14
INTRO: “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound – that saved a wretch like me!” God’s grace is amazing, truly amazing. We are all in the very same condition in this life. All of us are sinners. All of us ought to be condemned. But God’s grace is truly amazing. "There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus" (ROMANS 3:22b-24).
GOD’S GRACE IS TRULY AMAZING!
I. God chose me as his own child.
II. God redeemed me with his blood.
III. God sealed me with his Holy Spirit.
I. GOD CHOSE ME AS HIS OWN CHILD
A. This letter of Paul opens with praise, verse 3. God provided every needed spiritual gift for believers.
1. These believers had hope, peace, joy, comfort, and forgiveness. Praise God for his grace.
2. Verse 4. It is God’s choice to save man. It is absolutely, positively not man’s choice.
3. The Lord God Almighty saves purely out of his divine and loving purpose and will, verse 5.
B. Those once outside the family of God are now made his very own children. God adopts and saves.
1. Truly God’s grace is amazing. The reaction of the believer is the same reaction of Paul.
2. God’s grace chooses and adopts for a single purpose – praise, verse 6. God’s grace is free.
C. It can be a bit difficult to understand the depth of the meaning of being adopted as God’s own child. Today there are many broken homes, broken families. The relationships of fathers, mothers, children, and stepchildren are strained to the limits of understanding. Today God says to you, every believer, and me: “You are my child”. We no longer belong to the devil or this world. The family of God is graciously our family. Our inheritance is eternal. "So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir"(GALATIANS 4:7). We have the full rights of son and daughters of God.
D. God’s grace is truly amazing. What makes it so amazing is that it is the grace of God that chooses us. For left on our own we would most certainly make the wrong choice. Consider Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Only one choice not to make and they made the wrong choice. Our eternal inheritance is far too important and valuable to be left up to man’s choice. Praise God that he chooses us as his child. "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name"(JOHN 15:16). This is God’s amazing grace.
GOD’S GRACE IS TRULY AMAZING!
God chose me as his own child. There is more amazing grace.
II. GOD REDEEMED ME WITH HIS BLOOD
A. Praise God for every spiritual blessing that he has provided. Praise God for his choice, verse 6.
1. Now praise God for redemption, verse 7. Redemption is defined: a. blood = b. forgiveness.
2. God’s redemption (blood forgiveness) is freely given according to his wisdom, verse 8.
B. Verse 9. These believers knew the mystery of his will. Christ lived, died, and rose again – for them.
1. This mystery was revealed according to God’s good pleasure. Redemption was seen in Christ.
2. Verse 10 speaks of God’s New Testament. Believers worship under the headship of the Christ.
C. God’s grace is truly amazing. One drop of blood pays for all of our sins. Yes, Scripture speaks very plainly and clearly about blood theology. It is the very price that God demanded of himself for the dis-obedience of man. Jesus’ innocent sufferings and death, Jesus’ holy, precious blood pays for the sins of this wicked and rebellious world. "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin"(1 JOHN 1:7). The sins that are forgiven are more than a few. The sins are not some or even many but ALL! This is God’s grace.
D. Once again the grace of God is not just amazing but it is truly amazing. We cannot save ourselves. We cannot buy salvation. We cannot earn salvation. Most definitely we do not deserve salvation. In spite of all this against us God and his grace is for us. Consider Paul. Paul was once known as Saul, the great persecutor of the “followers of the way”. God found him. God chose him. God redeemed him. God did it all because of his grace. It is no different with anyone of us. "But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy"(TITUS 3:4,5a). This IS God’s truly amazing grace.
GOD’S GRACE IS TRULY AMAZING!
God choose us. God redeemed us. There is still more.
I. GOD SEALED ME WITH HIS HOLY SPIRIT
A. Verse 12 reminds these believers of the underlying tone of this letter. It is to be a theme of praise.
1. Paul is writing to the church at Ephesus. This is a big, metropolitan city. Not all are Jews.
2. Verse 13. Paul reminds the Gentiles in the church of God’s choice, redemption and seal.
3. They heard word. God made them believe with his gift of the Holy Spirit. Salvation is sure.
4. The gift of the Holy Spirit = faith. Without it all is lost. With faith all is gained, verse 14.
B. Please read verse 11. It is a mouthful. God’s grace works out everything agreeing with God’s will
1. God’s will is that all men would be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.
2. God’s grace reveals to an unbelieving and unsaved world God’s undeserved love for them.
C. God wants to make sure that we are sure about our future. Many today make a comfortable living by pointing out the uncertainty of the future. Others try to predict what will happen in the future. Still, humans have a difficult time even knowing what kind of weather tomorrow will bring. As believers we are comforted and reassured in knowing that God is in control – always and forever. We know this by the faith that is planted in our hearts. We know this by the faith that grows in our lives. Faith is the gift of the Holy Spirit that dwells in us. "Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come"(2 CORINTHIANS 1:21,22). We belong to God. God’s grace is truly amazing.
D. There are many gifts of the Holy Spirit. First and foremost of all the gifts of the Holy Spirit is faith. Without faith it is impossible to please God. We can use God’s gifts as he provides them to us. It is very important to remember to grow in faith – first and foremost. We grow in faith as we hear God’s word, as we study God’s word, and as we read God’s word. We do not have to run from one end of our nation to the other looking for God. God is here, in his word. God’s gift of faith is amazing grace on display. "But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth"(2 THESSALONIANS 2:13). God’s grace is discovered in his word, sealed to us by his Spirit, and seen in our lives.
CONC.: God’s grace is truly amazing! We have only scratched the surface of the depth of the love that our heavenly Father has for the world and us. (Next week we will add to our knowledge of God’s grace.) It is amazing grace that was poured on this world and me. It is truly amazing grace that has saved me – the worst of sinners. GOD’S GRACE IS TRULY AMAZING! God choose us when we sought him not. God redeemed us with blood even though we sin daily and much. God seals our future with the gift of his Holy Spirit. Our Christian faith is our confidence that heaven is our home. "For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins"(COLOSSIANS 1:13,14). Amen. Pastor Timm O. Meyer
SERVICES: 1:00pm @ NCF Min.(Sat) / 12:00pm @ NCF Medium (Sun) / 9:30am @ Redeemer (Sun)
BIBLE STUDIES: TUES. -- 6:00pm (Min) + 7:30pm (Med) @ NCF /
10:55am @ Redeemer (Sun)
/ Sunday radio broadcast @ 9:05am on KQNK 106.7FM or
1530AM + www.kqnk.com
PENT. 7 readings:
EXODUS 33:12-23;
ROMANS 7:15-25a;
MATTHEW 11:25-30;
(PSALM 145)
