Lavished Grace and Redemption: Praising God, Entering His Family

The Bible says church should not feel like drudgery, because “I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord.” Ephesians keeps putting that gladness on deeper ground, because God has not invited people into a religious service, but into a family, a kingdom, and a brand new identity in Christ.

Paul writes to people who have been spiritually transferred. God did not sign them up for behavior modification. God picked them up out of the devil’s family and placed them into the Father’s family. Ephesians calls that a new kingdom walk, where life draws attention to itself for one reason, to bring glory to God. The Bible says whatever gets done, eating, drinking, living, worshiping, it gets done for the glory of God.

God’s sovereignty sits underneath the whole thing. God has the first word and the last word. God rules over all that he has made, and his ways are not human ways. That truth should not make the heart cold or argumentative. That truth should make the heart love God more, worship bigger, and trust him from the bottom of the heart.

Ephesians 1 says God loved and chose his people in Christ before the foundation of the world. God did not need a family, because Father, Son, and Holy Spirit already lived in perfect eternal community. Yet God desired a family. Before there was a world, before there was sin, before there was a cross, there was a Father who desired a family. God knew mankind would choose sin over him, and God still made a way home.

God is love, but God is also just. Justice could not simply overlook sin. Sin had to be dealt with, and God provided himself a Lamb. Christ came as the only way back to the Father. Through Christ means through Christ, not through baptism, religion, commandments, or being a good person.

Election, predestination, and foreknowledge are real Bible words, but those words are wrapped in the bigness of God. Second Peter still says God is patient, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. The point is not to figure God out with a three pound brain. The point is to praise God for his glorious grace.

Grace is not sprinkled on God’s people. Grace is poured out, lavished on those who belong to his dear Son. Redemption means Jesus bought sinners out so he could bring them in. Christ shed his blood not just to set prisoners free, but to make sons and daughters who can call God Father.

The resurrection proves Jesus is who he said he is and can do what he said he can do. Faith responds by believing and accepting Christ, confessing sin, and receiving the invitation of salvation. The proper response to holy God is praise, a walking, talking, living testimony to the One who did what sinners could not do and gave what sinners did not deserve.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. God desired a family first God did not create because something was missing in him. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit already lived in perfect community, and yet God chose to make image bearers and make a way for rebels to come home. That turns salvation into something deeper than rescue from danger, because the Father’s desire reaches back before the foundation of the world. [47:14]
• 2. Through Christ means through Christ Christ is not one option among many religious roads. The Father brings people to himself through Jesus, not through rule keeping, church background, baptism, or good intentions. The word “through” humbles every human system and puts all hope on the Son who is the door. [45:19]
• 3. Grace gets lavished, not sprinkled Grace does not come to God’s children in careful little drops. God pours it out like something excessive, rich, and impossible to miss. That kind of grace exposes how thin performance-based acceptance really is, because failure does not cancel what Christ purchased. [56:20]
• 4. Redemption brings freedom into family Redemption is bigger than being released from prison. Jesus bought sinners out so he could bring them in, giving freedom with a Father, an inheritance, and a name. The blood of Christ does not merely erase a record, it brings the redeemed all the way home. [59:50]
• 5. Praise is the only right response God’s sovereignty is not meant to produce cold debate or spiritual arrogance. The bigness of God should bend the heart low and lift worship high. When holy God lavishes grace on undeserving sinners, praise becomes more than singing, it becomes the whole life answering back.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [34:38] - Church Should Be Glad
• [36:00] - Entering The Book Of Ephesians
• [36:49] - A Kingdom Transfer In Christ
• [39:00] - God’s Sovereignty And Human Limits
• [41:49] - Extravagant Worship Holds Nothing Back
• [44:00] - Ephesians 1:3-6 Read Aloud
• [46:52] - God Desires A Family
• [49:24] - Justice, Sin, And The Lamb
• [50:57] - Election, Predestination, And Humility
• [54:46] - Praise God For Glorious Grace
• [59:50] - Redemption Means Brought In
• [62:18] - Hope Has A Name
• [64:27] - Invitation To Accept Christ
• [67:18] - A Life Of Praise

1. In Ephesians 1:3-6, what does God do for his people before the foundation of the world, and what repeated phrase shows where those blessings are found? [44:42]
2. According to 1 Corinthians 10:31, what ordinary parts of life are included in living for the glory of God, and how broad is Paul’s command? [38:34]
3. In 2 Peter 3:9, what two things are said about God’s patience and desire for people? [52:19]
4. What pictures are used to describe salvation: a kingdom transfer, being brought to the Father through Christ, and redemption that brings people out so they can be brought in? [01:00:14]

1. Ephesians 1 says God chose and adopted people in Christ before the foundation of the world. How does that deepen the meaning of salvation beyond simply getting out of danger? [47:18]
2. Ephesians 1:5 says people are brought to the Father “through Jesus Christ.” Why does that leave no room for trusting baptism, rule-keeping, church background, or simply trying to be a good person? [45:32]
3. God is both love and just. Why is it important that God does not simply overlook sin, and what does that help explain about why Jesus had to come? [49:24]
4. Ephesians 1 ties God’s sovereign grace to “the praise of his glorious grace.” Why should big truths like election, predestination, and foreknowledge lead to humility and worship instead of pride and arguments? [55:18]

1. Psalm 122:1 says there is gladness in going to the house of the Lord. When church starts to feel like duty or drudgery, what usually drains that joy in a person’s heart? What helps restore gladness in being with God’s people? [34:38]
2. Believers have not entered a behavior-modification program but have been transferred into a new kingdom and given a new identity. Where is there still a temptation to live like the old life defines a person more than Christ does? [37:13]
3. “Whatever you do” is meant to be done for the glory of God. What is one normal part of this week—work, meals, family life, conversation, rest—where living for God’s glory could become more intentional? [38:41]
4. Grace is lavished, not sprinkled. Where is there a tendency to live as if acceptance with God rises and falls on personal performance? How would it change daily life to really believe that Christ’s work is greater than both failures and successes? [58:01]
5. Redemption means being bought out so as to be brought in. How would prayer, obedience, and confidence change if a person really believed they were not merely forgiven, but welcomed into the Father’s family? [01:00:25]
6. The proper response to holy God is praise, and praise is bigger than singing. What might a life of praise look like in a hard week, not just in a worship service but in speech, attitude, and choices? [01:07:38]
7. Through Christ means through Christ. Has there been a clear moment of confessing sin, trusting Jesus, and receiving him personally? If that is already settled, what helps a believer keep resting in Christ alone rather than in religious habit or spiritual self-confidence? [01:04:27]