Riches of God’s Grace

Just as the two sides of a coin, we started off this week by learning the two aspects of amazing grace, which is saving grace and sustaining grace. Saving grace is a one time event/ act of God where God forgave all our sins and gifted us eternal life. We were by nature, children of wrath (Ephesians 2:1-5), but God, who is rich in mercy forgave us in Christ Jesus and made us all His children. Through God’s sustaining grace, we are shielded by God’s power (1 Peter 1:3-5), which is the Holy Spirit, who guides us into all the truth, enables us to overcome temptations, and gives us the gifts and the fruit of the Holy Spirit; and through this package we are continually fuelled to keep going until the very end.

Ephesians 1:4-8 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he  predestined us for adoption to sonship  through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding,

The Riches of God's Grace

1. He chose us in Christ before the creation of the world - God chose each one of us before He created the sun, the stars, and everything we see. He chose each one of us even before Adam and Eve was created.
2. He made us holy and blameless in His sight - Putting the charge of our iniquities on Christ, God punished His own Son and set us free by giving us HIs righteousness. We've been made holy and blameless through Christ’s ultimate sacrifice and His blood. 
3. He gave us adoption to sonship - We became children of God by being born of God through His Word and the Spirit (John 1:13, John 3:6) and also legally through adoption (Ephesians 1:5) Adopted love is greater than natural love and God has lavished both these love on us. We have a natural love towards our children who are born of us, but the love poured to an adopted child is greater because the parents decide and deliberately love that child and make him/her an heir. 
4. Redemption through His blood - God is able to redeem whatever you’ve lost in life. Job lost everything - his business, his children, his wife, his health. Yet he had great hope in God. The LORD restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before.  

Job 19:25,26 But I know that my Redeemer lives, and in the end He will stand upon the earth. Even after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God.

5. Forgiveness of sins - imagine what it would have been if God wasn’t gracious to forgive us! We would have been subjected to eternal punishment and eternal Hell. But God came against it and saved us, took all our sins away and set us free of guilt and condemnation. 
6. All wisdom and understanding

2 Corinthians 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work

The riches of God's grace includes both saving grace and sustaining grace, and God is able to make it abound toward us that we may have an abundance for every good work, always having all sufficiency in all things. How great is the riches of God’s grace!

James 4:6 - But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”

May we all be able to experience the flow of His abounding grace on a daily basis. God bless you!

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