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The Light
Dr David Wood
REDEMPTION
Thank you for joining me again. We will continue our journey down through
Paul’s letter to the Ephesians’. We will pick up in the 7th verse.
Ephesians 1:7-8 (KJV)
7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of
sins, according to the riches of his grace;
8 Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
The “In whom” at the beginning of verse seven is referring to “the beloved”
addressed in the prior verse, none other than our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 1:6 (KJV)
6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us
accepted in the beloved.
So we find that “the glory of his grace” will bring praise, in this case that we
are accepted in the beloved and have been redeemed by His blood with the
forgiveness of sins. What a deal! The glory is always manifested, that is you
can observe the glory. In the wilderness the children of Israel had a cloud by
day and a fire by night. This cloud and this fire were none other than the
manifested presence of the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit of God.
These observed signs of the presence of God in the wilderness were heard and
observed as the sound as of a mighty rushing wind and the tongues of fire from
the ceiling in the upper room on the day of Pentecost some two thousand years
ago. Even today a cloud of His presence is observed in some Church services.
The first time I observed this I thought they were spraying something in from
the ceiling like they do in large arenas. The glory is always observable but
may be the healing of a person right in front of us. This glory may also by the
manifestation of honor in a person’s life, prosperity or power. Through our
faith the Holy Spirit will bring observable phenomena into our lives as a
witness to others. It may be that when we go to preach a cloud of glory fills
the room, people are healed and set free of bondages from Satan or people
observe that we are honored, that we have prosperity and power is present.
Power may be authority exercised to cast our demons, heal or people fall from
the presence of God in our presence or when we lay hands on them. So let us
look at this term again in light of what I have written, “the glory of his
grace”. His grace is a person; it is the third person of the Trinity, the Holy
Spirit of God. When we accept Jesus as Lord, the Holy Spirit makes us a new
creature (creation) and we are immediately in Christ Jesus our Savior, the
beloved. A good time to say, praise the Lord!
Now, back to our text.
Ephesians 1:7-8 (KJV)
7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of
sins, according to the riches of his grace;
8 Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
When Jesus went to the cross and paid the price of our sin, He redeemed us from
the kingdom of darkness to His own kingdom, the Kingdom of Light (Acts 26:18,
Ephesians 5:8). The price He paid was the full price of our freedom; Satan has
no claim at all to us. We have been delivered from the entire curse (Galatians
3:13, 14) that came with sin; we are delivered from bondage to sin and death.
Now we are free. Now you have a choice, you can be obedient to God and walk in
an abundant life or you can choose to obey Satan and walk in lack.
Romans 6:16 (KJV)
16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey,
his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience
unto righteousness?
The blood of Jesus set aside sin for all persons.
John 1:29 (KJV)
29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold
the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
Redemption did not come to just us “Christians” but to all persons who will
receive the shed blood of Jesus. The second chapter of Ephesians tells us that
we, the Church, have been made one with the “commonwealth of Israel” by the
blood of Jesus. Of course, to go to heaven the Jew must recognize Jesus as
Messiah and accept his shed blood and become born again just as we have. The
Scripture is clear, God has an everlasting covenant with Israel and all of
Israel will be saved. There is a day when they will see the one whom they
pierced and shall mourn; this leads to repentance and the forgiveness of their
sin just as we have received forgiveness of our sins.
Ephesians 2:11-14 (KJV)
11 Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in
the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the
Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the
commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no
hope, and without God in the world:
13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made
nigh by the blood of Christ.
14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down
the middle wall of partition between us;
This was accomplished by the “riches of his grace”. We could say it this way,
the abundance of his grace or the abundance of the Holy Spirit. Since the Holy
Spirit is every bit God and God is infinite so is His grace, the free gifts of
the Holy Spirit that abound toward us! The eighth verse tells that these are
not just thrown at us but given us as we have need and mature according to His
will.
Ephesians 1:8 (TLB)
8 and he has showered down upon us the richness of his grace--for how
well he understands us and knows what is best for us at all times.
Just thank Him right now for paying the price us, making us white as snow, and
showering us with the free gifts of the Holy Spirit. Lord Jesus help me to
please you everyday!
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