"SHARING HOPE THROUGH SCRIPTURE ABOUT 3 BLESSINGS GOD HAS GIVEN YOU IN CHRIST"

"SHARING HOPE THROUGH SCRIPTURE ABOUT 3 BLESSINGS GOD HAS GIVEN YOU IN CHRIST"

Ephesians 1:6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved.

Ephesians 1:7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace

Some explanatory thoughts/application, and a prayer:

1. These three blessings belong to each and every person who is "in Christ" All of who have come to faith in Jesus Christ, and are saved, have these and of course many other blessings. But, we are going to look at just these three today.

(1) He has made us accepted in the beloved. Essentially, this means, that we are honored with blessings by Him. Also, it has the idea of being highly favored, and to make accepted. We once were not in this position, but just as Jesus ascended to the Father and was welcomed into heaven, we who are in Christ, are as accepted by God as Jesus is. And, you have to ask yourself, how accepted is Jesus by the Father?. Well, that's exactly how He accepts us. Remember, we are joint heirs with Christ.

(2) In Him we have redemption through His blood. Now, this is another blessing. We have redemption, and we have this through His blood, that is His life being given for our sins payment on the cross. Redemption means that we belong to Him, through His having purchased us. Imagine, God bought you! Wow. Why would He buy such as us? Because He loves us, and wants to know us, and wants us to not perish, but have eternal life with Him.

(3) In Him.....The forgiveness of sins. This is something that only God can give. He is the Forgiver of sins. We cannot do this for ourselves. It's impossible. The wages of sin is death. We would have to die, and be separated from Him forever to pay for our sins. But, He paid for them instead. And, now our sins are forgiven. They are gone away from us, never to be remembered anymore, and never to be held against us. The only remembrance of them, will be on our part, and that memory is, that our Great God has forgiven us for them. Thank You Lord.

A prayer:

Father, the blessings we have looked at today, are just a small sample of the many that we have from You. You are the Great Accepter, Redeemer, and Forgiver, and You are the great Blesser if you will, of all who will put their trust in You. Thank You for leading us to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. We love You Lord. In Jesus name, amen.

Pastor Bob Grenier
Calvary Chapel Visalia.