Sermon – Embraced By God’s Grace
Scripture - Ephesians 1:1-15 “This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus. I am writing to God’s holy people in Ephesus, who are faithful followers of Christ Jesus. 2 May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. 3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. 4 Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. 6 So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. 7 He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. 8 He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding. 9 God has now revealed to us his mysterious will regarding Christ—which is to fulfill his own good plan. 10 And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth. 11 Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan. 12 God’s purpose was that we Jews who were the first to trust in Christ would bring praise and glory to God. 13 And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. 14 The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.”
Introduction – Paul’s journey to Rome, after many dangerous and difficult days, set the stage for writing the book of Ephesians. Paul knows the difficulty of living full and free lives in a hostile environment. Reading this book can be ideal for those who long for wholeness of heart and are in need of freedom from past wounds and courage for the future. So many of us are wrestling through the reality that life isn’t easy, even when we are doing the right thing. Suffering and trials can slam into us from left field, leaving us reeling and wondering where is God and does He really care? I pray these lessons from Ephesians will provide a firm foundation to stand on no matter what life throws our way. With an emphasis on who God the Father is, What He has done through His Son, Jesus Christ bringing healing and wholeness the family of God in Heaven and in Earth. Knowing our true identity, We can live fearless, free and full of confidence we are who God says we are and to do what God says we can do and can be what God says we can be. We can live with purpose and fulfil God’s plan.
This is what we’ll discover through the pages of Ephesians. We need to waken to the reality of who we are in Christ, and that we have an enemy who seeks to steal our true identity. We need to wrestle with the battle in our minds and bringing our thoughts in captivity to Christ. We need to be strengthened as warriors so that we can move forward in life– not just surviving, but flourishing.
I have entitled this first lesson, Embraced By Grace. Our relationship with God is on the bases of Grace, being grounded in truth while wrapped in the embrace of the One who loves us all completely and without end. The Book of Ephesians is a beautiful revelation of the Church and the spiritual blessings we have in Christ Jesus. What was hidden throughout the ages was revealed to us when Christ came. Paul explains the mystery of the church and gives practical insight into living as believers.
We have been embraced by grace and showered with every spiritual blessing in Christ. We have been adopted to sonship, we have been chosen, forgiven, and redeemed. We have been marked with a seal and given the Holy Spirit as a down payment of our inheritance. Then Paul prays that we will have the revelation of Christ so we can know the hope and power we have been called to as His body, the Church of whom He is the head. Embracing the grace of Christ means we have to believe what God says about us in the Bible rather than believing what the world tells us. God says we are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:13-16). If our hearts embrace this truth, then we are truly embracing the grace of Christ.
1. Embraced By God’s Grace Means We are Loved Unconditionally. Ephesians 1:3-5 “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. 4 Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.
Neither Jews nor Gentiles were an after thought we God. Jews were separated from God with the Law, rituals, and ceremonies. Gentiles were separated from God ignoring nature and every attempt of God to fellowship with them. Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…” Yet, “Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.” God knew every shortcoming, every failure, every mistake, every weakness, but still chose to adopt us into his family. All because He wanted to, and it gave him great pleasure. We are loved unconditionally. We experience restricted love on every human level, so it’s hard to imagine unrestricted, unmerited, selfless love, yet in Christ, that’s we have received. You are loved.
2. Embraced By God’s Grace Means We are Forgiven Unconditionally. Ephesians1:6-8 “So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. 7 He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. 8 He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.
Yes, in Christ we are unconditionally loved and in Christ we are unconditionally forgiven. The moment we received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, Jesus purchased our freedom with His own blood and forgave our sins. The whole of Satan through guilt and shame are removed. Then Jesus showered us with his kindness, making all wisdom and understanding available to every believer. The only power Satan can leverage against believers is the lack of knowledge.
Hosea 4:6 “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.”
We can only be fearless and free when embrace who we are in Christ. Satan desires to cloud our understanding, blind our vision because he knows this will hinder us and our children. Recently, the country began celebrating Juneteenth as a national holiday. Why do they call it Juneteenth? It was on June 19, 1865, that enslaved African Americans in Texas were finally free — 2½ years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation to end slavery. The slaves were free, but the lack of knowledge kept them in bondage. In Christ, we were loved, forgiven and freed 2000 years old ago. God’s love, forgiveness and freedom must be claimed personally and boldly. Satan has a right to tempt us with condemning thoughts, doubts, and fears, but we can stand on God’s word and affirm what God says. I am loved unconditionally and forgiven completely. I am free!
3. Embraced By God’s Grace Means We are Accepted Unconditionally. Ephesians 1:11 “Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan.”
God is so boundlessly pleased with Jesus that in Christ He is altogether well pleased with us." Accepted in the Beloved means that God loves us and receives us in spite of our failures. We have received an inheritance from God, for God chose us in advance, and God makes everything work out according to his plan.” Even though Satan knows that we are loved and forgiven, he still works to make us free unworthy. He points out every mistake and sin. From the very beginning, when Adam broke God’s command, Satan filled Adam with guilt and shame. Shame led Adam to hide from God. Satan made Adam feel like God is finished with him. His tactics have not changed. Unconditionally acceptance means we can run to God with every weakness, every mistake, and every sin. He is faithful to forgive our sin and cleanse us from every sin. 1 John 1:9-10, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”
4. Embraced By God’s Grace Means We Live For God’s Glory. Ephesians 1:12-14 “God’s purpose was that we Jews who were the first to trust in Christ would bring praise and glory to God. 13 And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. 14 The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.”
We are loved, forgiven, accepted and made a part of God’s family for His Praise and Glory. God saved us, put His Spirit within, and gave us an inheritance that we might glorify and praise Him. Paul reminds us that experience God’s great love and are embrace by grace for His glory and honor.
Revelation 4:11, “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”
Embraced By God’s Grace means we are loved unconditionally, forgiven completely, accepted in the Beloved, and that are to live for his glory. Glorifying God means that we praise Him continuously and live with absolute contentment, knowing that our present situation is God's plan for us now. What does living for God's glory mean? The starting point of living for the glory of God is living in the glory of God by spending time with Him daily, focused on His presence, enjoying His glorious beauty. God invites us to Himself, as His family through the redeeming work of His Son. We can stand on His word, confident under His protection, and claim our full identity in Christ Jesus. Believers are embraced by God’s Grace! We are who God says we are, and we can be and do what God said we can.
Paul concludes this first chapter of Ephesians with prayer. He prays that the hearts of the Ephesians would experience the hope of everything God calls us to, to live rightly before Him in the abundant power He gives us to choose to obey Him. A glimpse of the greatness of God's power is displayed in the resurrection of Jesus. That same power is living within every true believer who has been embraced by grace. Amen.
