[VB046 Podcast Notes]

Ephesians 1:7-12

Ephesians is the only letter Paul wrote that does not include some sort of correction for the church. Ephesians is power-packed and is the most concentrated teaching of Paul’s writings. Perhaps that is why we are studying the longest run-on sentence in the Bible.

In the Greek, chapter 1, verses 3-14 is one sentence. I am attempting to rightly divide it for study purposes. I love to study Paul’s lists. This colossal collection of fundamental Christian doctrine and terminology sets forth God’s plan for mankind, and Paul pens it in one breath.

We see an obvious outline of how our Triune God has blessed us;

We previously learned how God The Father has blessed us (1:3-6) We are about to see how God The Son has blessed us (1:7-12) And how God the Holy Spirit has blessed us (1:13-14)

We Are Blessed in God, The Son (1:7-12)

He has redeemed us (v. 7a).

[7] In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace

The word “redemption” means to buy back. We were owned by the Lord at one time, and through sin we were lost to Him after Adam’s transgression. Jesus came into this world as the “last Adam” (1Cor. 15:45) to go the cross and pay the ransom price through the shedding of His blood.

When Adam sinned, he lost his relationship with God and brought slavery upon all mankind. Slaves of sin can only give birth to more slaves. Slaves cannot free slaves – they receive no wages to buy anything, let alone pay their own ransom. It takes a free man to free slaves, and the only free man since Adam has been Jesus. Jesus is the only hope of redemption.

He has forgiven us (v. 7b)

Once He redeemed us, He forgave us, “according to the riches of His grace.” There is no sin that is greater than His grace. If you had a bank account with unlimited funds, you could never have a bill or a debt that would bankrupt you. Don’t let the devil tell you that your sins have been so bad that God no longer loves you or will not forgive you. You tell Satan that your sins are forgiven by the blood of Jesus, “according to the riches of His grace.”

He has revealed God’s will to us (v. 8-10)

[8] which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence,

God made the riches of His grace abound toward us in everything that requires wise choices and good sense. Christians should be way ahead of the game when it comes to having commonsense and making wise decisions, especially in knowing God’s will. The wealth of His grace gives us the wisdom and understanding of the divine purpose of the church age.

The grace of God is available for everyday circumstances and problems we face. The church should be using this unlimited source of wisdom and insight to infiltrate every center of influence of the world in which we occupy till Jesus returns.

[9] having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, [10] that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth–in Him.

A “mystery” is a divine truth known only by God’s people through revelation. In Christ we are a part of God’s eternal purpose to gather together “all things in Christ” (v. 10). Paul was speaking about the end of this dispensation of grace, or the Millennium, when Christ will rule supreme over all. This present world is falling apart with war, lawlessness, and sin. But one day God will usher in a new creation, with all things united in Christ.

The thought is that God is bringing everything together under the headship or Lordship of Jesus. That has always been God’s purpose and plan, and it will be accomplished. Those who do not make Jesus Christ Lord over their lives are totally out of focus with the eternal purpose of God.

He has made us an inheritance (v. 11-12)