Seven things God want us to Know

Ephesians 2:5-10

God wants you and I to understand a few things, and these few things will change our eternal destiny, only if we come to an understanding of them and then act with the faith God has given us.  First and foremost, you are very special to God, and He desires a personal relationship with you.  Second, you had no thirst for God, and in fact you wanted a god that you could manage, but Creator God is not like you, His ways are not your ways, and His thoughts are higher than yours.  Third, God is full of mercy and if you are not in Christ, you will only grasp this truth by asking God’s Spirit to open your mind and the eyes of your heart to it.  Before God created the world, (so you were not yet in the picture) He chose to send His only Son, Jesus Christ, to buy you out of the control of Satan and sin. God became a redeemer before He became the Creator!

Fourth, it was by grace you have been saved; listen to the apostle Paul, “For by grace you have been saved through faith.  And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)  How often we miss the kindness of God, and it does not seem kind when He is removing the false and worthless gods that we are putting our hope in.  In the book of Romans 2:4, “Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?”   The fifth thing God would have us know from this passage of Scripture that goes along with His kindness is; “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.” (Ephesians 1:7) 

The sixth thing you should know is that Christ not only entered into you, but you now live in Christ.  Ephesians 2:6, “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.”  Many teach this is a positional truth, meaning it’s true but it will not happen till after you die.  There is more ink in Scripture on you being in Christ, than there is that Christ is living in you.  If you are in Christ, you are seated with Christ in heaven.

The seventh thing God wants you to understand from this passage is you are a new creation in Christ, your desires have changed; you will have a desire for worship, to meet with God in His Word, to fellowship with others who have placed their hope in Christ and Christ alone.  You will not be without troubles and life will not be perfect, but as you renew your mind in His word, God will begin to show you the foolishness of the world and the joy of having fellowship with your Creator.  He will also open your eyes to see that He has a plan for you and it is to do good works, which God prepared in advance for you.  If you walk an aisle of a church or join a church and yet you are still the same and nothing has changed, you better examine yourself, because when Christ invades your life; change happens.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice http://fromourbackporch.blogspot.com/