Happy Easter! March 27J oy Spoken

 
Ephesians 1:1-2 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
 
HOW appropriate it is that our study of God’s Word has brought us out of the Old Testament and into the New Testament as we begin to study Ephesians. Jesus is alive! The New Testament of grace is in force. God’s eternal promises proclaimed through his prophets and his servants recorded in the Old Testament are now true for the apostles and for you.
    Yes, the Bible is about God’s plan to redeem mankind from sin. As we have studied the ministries of Ezekiel, Elijah, Elisha, Esther and Mordecai we have seen how God calls upon particular people to deliver his very particular messages of promised redemption. That promise began first to the Jews, then to the Gentiles - the non-Jews.
    As we now go to Ephesians, we will hear great assurance of God’s salvation from the Apostle Paul. Be prepared to “hear” him explain in living detail, the wonder of God’s gospel to the Jews and to the Gentiles. Listening to his inspired words, you will understand more deeply the reasons for the joy in Paul’s heart as he described in Philippians 1:3-4 “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy.” Let us, too, find joy in Jesus’ resurrection!
    That joy begins in Eph 1:2 “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”  How easy it is for us to quickly go past this miraculous sentence. After all, it is an opening, a greeting. But oh what a greeting! Stop and think of the word “grace”. This is the expression of God’s free life offering to you. Offering his only Son, Jesus, to the cross, God, the Father paid the great, awful and holy price for your great, awful and unholy sins. Purity paid for impurity. By the agent of grace, you receive the free salvation through Jesus’ costly death. Paul could have written his greeting in this way: “God’s great cost to himself became his free offering of eternal life to you. May you know the peace that comes from him forevermore.”
    Know your sin. Know the cost for your sin. Know God’s grace. Receive God’s gracious gift. Confess Jesus, who has died, suffered the tomb and now is alive! Live in joy forevermore!
 
Prayer: Thank you, Father, for your extraordinary, eternal gift of life to me. I pray I live in the joy of my salvation as I submit my life to you. In Jesus’ name I celebrate this day. Amen.