Blessed & Grateful by Pastor Jim Wilson

In Ephesians 1, Paul tells us that Father adopted us, the Son also redeemed us, and the Spirit seals our salvation. I’m thankful that the father chose to adopt us and that the Spirit sealed our salvation to secure it for eternity. Paul makes much of the grace of God in this Epistle. In the upcoming chapter he makes it clear that salvation comes by grace through faith (2:8-9), here he speaks of the riches of his grace—there is a boundless supply, that he lavished on us. Because of the endless supply he can lavish it on us. We praise him because he loved us so much that he shed his blood on the cross to buy us back from our sin, in our sin for his glory. We are adopted into his family, chosen to be holy and blameless, made possible by the blood of Jesus. Long before we heard the truth of the gospel and believed, the son redeemed us with his blood. The Father chose, the Son redeemed, the Spirit sealed--the only thing we do is respond in faith to the truth of the gospel. If you are in Christ, the message for you today is rejoice! You are blessed, be grateful. If you have yet to believe, the message for you is to place your trust in him, believe the truth of the gospel as you sense him drawing you to himself.