The Gift Of Redemption Series

Tom carried his new toy boat to the edge of the river. He carefully placed it in the water and slowly let out the string.

He was amazed how smoothly the boat sailed! Tom sat in the warm sunshine, admiring the little boat that he had built.

Suddenly a strong current caught the boat. Tom tried to pull it back to shore, but the string broke. The little boat raced downstream.

Tom ran along the sandy shore as fast as he could. But his little boat soon slipped out of sight. All afternoon he searched for the boat.

Finally, when it was too dark to look any longer, Tom sadly went home.

A few days later, on the way home from school, Tom spotted a boat just like his in a store window. When he got closer, he could see—sure enough—it was his!

Tom hurried to the store manager: “Sir, that’s my boat in your window! I made it!”

“Sorry, son, but someone else brought it in this morning. If you want it, you’ll have to buy it for $50.”

Tom ran home and counted all his money. Exactly $50 When he reached the store, he rushed to the counter. “Here’s the money for my boat.”

As he left the store, Tom hugged his boat and said, “Now you’re twice mine.

First, I made you and now I bought you.” Good News Publishers, Westchester, IL

Our topic for today is redemption. That is the focus of today’s passage, and so we want to spend some time exploring what it means that you and I are redeemed when we come in faith to Jesus Christ.

Before we get into the meat of today’s passage, I thought it would be good to talk a bit about the book of Ephesians and why it’s important for us to study it together over these next many months.

Today’s is the 2nd message in a series on the Letter or Epistle to the Ephesians.

I do want to say that in this series on Ephesians we will take a number of different approaches to the messages, so it won’t get predictable or boring.

We will have different speakers: for example Bill Ryan is speaking next week, who will take a variety of approaches to the series.

Today is more of a teaching message to try to launch us into the book, so I hope you are ready to pay attention. And I hope that you might even take notes.

There’s a place in the bulletin for you to take notes, and if you have any questions at all about the messages over the next months, including today’s, I really hope you will ask them.

You can talk to me or each speaker after each service, or you can email or call me during the week.

The book of Ephesians is a beautiful letter, filled with profound and inspiring Words from God.

It soars to great heights when it speaks of Jesus and the life he has created for us through his suffering and death and resurrection.

It shares with the book of Philippians a lot of focus on the person and work of Jesus Christ.

And it addresses human problems that take up a lot of space in books like Galatians.

The book of Ephesians has been called “The Queen of the Epistles”, and that’s a good way to think of it. It is a stunning and moving letter, written by Paul from a dank, disgusting, smelly prison.

It was in prison, and in fact very near to the end of his life where he would be, according to Christian tradition, beheaded for his faith, that Paul wrote Ephesians.

“Ephesians is connected with Paul’s letter to the Colossians which is all about the all-sufficiency of Jesus Christ.

In Jesus Christ were hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col.2:3); all the fulness of God dwelt in him (Col.1:19); in him the whole fulness of deity dwells bodily (Col.2:9); he alone is necessary and sufficient for man's salvation (Col.1:14).

The whole thought of Colossians is based on the complete sufficiency of Jesus Christ.

“The thought of Ephesians is a development of that idea”. It really addresses a problem in all of creation as well as a very personal problem that you and I have. The Bible says that creation is broken. It says that humanity is broken.

19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope21 that[h] the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. 22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Romans 8