Group Guide: Ephesians 1:7-10

In verses 3-6 Paul mentions two ways that God has blessed us in the past, namely, he chose us and He adopted us.In verses 7-10 Paul goes on to tell us about the blessings God has bestowed upon us in the present. There are four of them.

First, God has redeemed us (vs 7). The idea of redemption means to pay a ransom price in order to free someone from bondage. Paul tells us that this redemption price was the blood of Jesus. Through his death, Jesus delivered us from both the penalty and the power of sin. Sin no longer is our master. We no longer are enslaved to the power of sin and corruption. When we truly grasp the love behind this great price (the blood of Jesus) we then find the motivation to stop living for all of the other things we often look to (sinful things) hoping to be blessed. This love, this sacrifice, this great act of redemption on our behalf satisfies our longing to be loved and accepted.

The second blessing is forgiveness of sins. It could be said that redemption frees us from the power of sin and forgiveness frees us from the penalty of sin which is God’s wrath. We have been pardoned, acquitted, and our sin debt cancelled. Because we are “in Christ” we have died with Him and the wages of sin have been paid. In Christ, our past, present, and even future sins have been atoned for. “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).

The third blessing is that of grace. Grace is receiving something good that is not earned or even deserved. It is a free gift that is absolutely unconditional on the part of the recipient. In a sense, all of these blessings of God; being chosen, being adopted, being redeemed, being forgiven, are all a result of God’s grace. Paul informs us that God is not stingy with His grace in regard to His children. God “lavishes” this grace upon us “according to the riches of His grace. In other words, He doesn’t just give us grace from His riches, but “according to His riches”! Such grace is unlimited, it is infinite! Therefore, we are presently living every moment of our lives under this continual outpouring of God’s grace that is ours because we are “in Christ.”

Then finally, the fourth blessing is one of knowledge ((vs 9). God has made known to us a mystery. A mystery in scripture is something that wasn’t previously known. But now we know the mystery, we have insight into” the will of God.” God has shown us that in due time, (“the fulness of the times”) He will bring all things into unity under the headship of Jesus. God has already begun to bring order out of the chaos and reverse the curse of sin. While we do not always see this happening, God has assured us that it is happening and He will complete it. What hope we have as His children! As His children, we know where things are headed, we know where this world is headed and the end result is marvelous. No wonder Paul would say in Galatians 6:9, “Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.” Or what he says in Romans 8:18, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”

How we should preach these great truths to ourselves on a regular basis. These are the truths that set us free to live as the children of God. Blessed be our God who has placed us in Christ!