Sermons from May 2019
The Infinite Wisdom of God (Ephesians 1:8-9)
God has poured out His grace upon us Paul here continues this thought of God’s extravagant grace poured out on us. It was not just poured out in forgiving us; it has also been poured out in God revealing His wisdom and prudence to us. God’s wisdom God has shown us how wise He is. The word for wisdom here is “sophia” from which we get the word “philosophy” (love of wisdom.) Who could conceive of such a glorious plan…
Rich in Grace (Ephesians 1:7-8)
In Him As Paul continues to tell the Ephesians about how blessed they are he keeps using the phrase “in Him” or some variation of it. He is trying to hammer into our heads that we are not blessed in who we are or what we have done; we are only blessed in Christ. All of our blessings flow from Him. Every blessing is only found in Jesus. Redemption The next blessing we have in Christ is redemption. Redemption simply…
Adoption (Ephesians 1:5-6)
In love Paul uses the phrase “in love” to connect how God has chosen us before the foundation of the world with God predestining us to adoption. God has done all of this because of His great love for His people. He predestined us to adoption The word predestined literally means to determine beforehand. Before the foundation of the world and before we had ever done any good or evil God determined that He would adopt us. In the process…
Chosen by God (Ephesians 1:4)
Paul has just told Christians that they are blessed with spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ. What are these blessings? Chosen Paul immediately begins by talking about predestination. So often predestination is a source of controversy or confusion. However, Paul sees predestination as a source of comfort. We are so inclined to view salvation as us choosing God, but here Scripture tells us that our salvation was brought about because God chose us. People who are proud and successful…