This sermon, “Saved by the Gospel: Becoming Trophies of God’s Amazing Grace” (Ephesians 2:1-10) , was originally preached on Sunday, June 7, 2009 at North Toronto Chinese Baptist Church-Melville Mission in Richmond Hill, ON. (Sermon is in English with Cantonese translation.)

Audio:

 

 Saved by the Gospel: Becoming Trophies of God’s Amazing [42:16m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Video:

Saved by the Gospel: Becoming Trophies of God’s Amazing Grace (Eph 2:1-10) from Alex Leung on Vimeo.

Introduction/Context

In chapter 1 of Ephesians, we have already seen how God blesses us so that we could bless him. The Father has graciously chosen us to be adopted to be his own sons and daughters, through His Son Jesus Christ He has redeemed us, and by His Spirit He has marked us out as his own people with his seal.

In the last half of chapter 1, God has shown us his power by raising Christ from the dead, and putting all the cosmic powers under his feet.  Jesus thus now reigns over all things as Lord, and he’s given to us as the head over the church and all believers.

And now, in this famous passage—Ephesians 2:1-10, about salvation by grace through faith–the Bible tells us how undeserving sinners become trophies of God’s amazing grace.

So let us be amazed this morning by two things:

1. May 17: Ephesians 1:3-14 - “Called to the Gospel: Who’s Blessing Who?“
2. June 7: Ephesians 2:1-10 - “Saved by the Gospel: Becoming Trophies of God’s Amazing Grace” (joint communion service)
3. June 28: Ephesians 2:11-22 - “United through the Gospel: Once Separated, Now United” (audio/video coming soon)
4. July 19: Ephesians 3:14-21 - “Loved in the Gospel”
5. Aug 2: Ephesians 4:17-32 - “Walking according to the Gospel” (joint communion service)
   
6. English Ministry Retreat: “Demonstrating the Gospel” (Ephesians 5:1-6:9)
   —FRI Aug 7: Eph 5:1-14 - “Gospel Conversations”
   —SAT Aug 8: Eph 5:15-6:9 - “Gospel Relationships”
7. Aug 9: Ephesians 6:10-20 - “Armored with the Gospel”

This sermon, “Called to the Gospel: Who’s Blessing Who?” (Ephesians 1:1-14) , was originally preached on Sunday, June 28, 2009 at English Worship Service of the North Toronto Chinese Baptist Church-Melville Mission in Richmond Hill, ON.

Audio:

(I apologize for the large file size; my recorder does not record the audio well.)

 

 Standard Podcast [53:14m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Video:

Called to the Gospel: Who’s Blessing Who? (Eph 1:1-14) 1/2 from Alex Leung on Vimeo.

Called to the Gospel: Who’s Blessing Who? (Eph 1:1-14) 2/2 from Alex Leung on Vimeo.

Background

As opposed to most of Paul’s other letters, Ephesians is not written to address any particular problem in Ephesus. The apostle is sitting in prison in Rome, jailed for preaching the gospel, and writing a letter to the Christians in Ephesus—but he is not responding to a big sin that the church has committed, or some big issue that the Christians there are facing. Rather, it seems that Paul is writing simply to encourage the churches in area of Ephesus to be united in love. We know from Revelation 2 that the Ephesian Christians—somehow, overtime—have forsaken their first love—Jesus Christ. And thus, this is such an important thing to learn even for our church today.

This is a theme that we will come across continually over the next few months as we study Ephesians: unity and love: how true unity in the church only happens when people love one another. And as one commentator has noted, “unity without love is possible, but love without unity is not.” [[Harold Hoehner, Ephesians, 105.]]   When there is love in action within the community, unity is naturally fostered.

Thesis

So this is one of the main thrusts of Paul’s letter, and it is the underlying theme of today’s text. Because what we will see this morning is that out of His love for us, God first blesses us that we should bless him. The Father gives us grace and blessings, so that we his children might—in response, in praise, and out of thanksgiving—bless him!

We can see this kind of love and unity at work even within the Trinity himself, when we understand how each person in the Godhead blesses us that we would bless him. So my goal this morning is to encourage you by showing how much God loves you, and to fuel a passion in your heart to praise him evermore. I want you to see 3 observations that I trust are taken straight from the text:

1. If you are a Christian, it’s because the Father has Chosen you (verses 3-6)
2. If you are a Christian, it’s because the Son has Redeemed you. (verses 7-12)
3. If you are a Christian, it’s because the Spirit has sealed you (verses 13-14)