The Resurrected Life: Grace (Ephesians 1:3-14, 18-20)

 Sermon for Milledgeville and Centenary UMC...

[Title Slide] The Resurrected Life: Grace (Ephesians 1:3-14, 18-20)

 

Two caterpillars are escaping a spider. They climb up a branch and get to the edge, but realize they are now trapped…

 

[Slide] "Hold on tight!" says the first caterpillar and he quickly chews through the branch. It snaps and they begin to fall, but he grabs two protruding twigs and uses them to steer the branch through the air with grace and finesse.

 

"That's amazing!!" says the second caterpillar. "How are you doing that?!"

 

The first caterpillar scoffs, "Am I the only one in the forest who knows how to drive a stick!?"

 

There are a lot of ways to think about the word grace. The caterpillar guided their fall with grace and finesse. [Slide] It makes me think of Buzz Lightyear in the first Toy Story film. “This isn’t flying. This is falling with style!” [Slide] People are named Grace, meaning lovely, charming or stately. To use it in a sentence, “She entered the hall with the grace of royalty.” When someone drops a dish a wisenheimer might crack, “Way to go, Grace!” Grace means forgiveness, like when a police officer lets you off with a warning. We use the word to describe the number of days we can go without paying a bill, a grace period. And we say grace at the table as a way of returning thanks to God for the meal.

 

[Slide] But what does the Bible mean with we translate the Greek, charis, into English? The Greek also has several meanings.

 

The first mention of charis comes at Gabriel’s visit to Mary and His announcement that she would bear the Son of God. Luke writes,

 

But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.” (Luke 1:30)

 

[Slide] The English translated charis as favor. So grace is a kind gesture, a heart inclined with goodwill toward another.

 

After baby Jesus was presented at the temple, his parents took him home to Nazareth. Luke writes,

 

And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him. (Luke 2:40)

 

[Slide] In this case grace could mean joy, sweetness, or charm. Luke’s mention of the grace of God in relation to the infant Jesus implies there is visible evidence of God’s presence with Jesus. God’s grace was evidently assisting baby Jesus in His growth.

 

Another time grace is mentioned comes in John’s prologue.

 

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)

 

[Slide] Roman Catholics pray the rosary, “Hail Mary full of grace!” It could be read as Hail Mary, full of mercy and loving-kindness!

 

The apostle greets the church in his letter, “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” [Slide] In this case, grace is divine power to aid the Christian community to be faithful to their calling in Christ. It could be said, “God’s power and peace be yours in Jesus Christ.” Grace turns hearts to Christ. Grace keeps us faithful and grace strengthens our faith. Grace gives us spiritual gifts and virtues, empowering ministry.

 

[Slide] After greeting the church with grace, Paul goes into a stirring poetic greeting of high praise for what God has done for us in Christ.

 

[Slide] He says that God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing from heaven. We are chosen to be God’s holy and blameless people.

 

We are adopted as God’s own children

 

We are set free from sin and death, forgiven and redeemed.

 

God has marked us as recipients of His grace through the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. The presence of the Spirit in our lives is a downpayment of our heavenly home.

 

All of this comes to us through the riches of God’s glorious grace! Are you confused, yet? [Slide] I want to offer three simple definitions.

 

Grace is mercy

Grace is new creation

Grace is power

 

[Slide] Grace is mercy. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Rom 3:23) Sin separates us from God, the very source of life. Our lives are diminished by the corruption of sin. In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve broke the one command God gave them: “Do not eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” They listened to the voice of the serpent instead. When they ate, they felt ashamed in their nakedness and tried to hide from God which is impossible. See how sin separated Adam from God? They lost paradise, unable to eat from the tree of life. Sin separates us from God and the fullness of life.

 

God gave Israel a way to reconcile with God. In the sacrificial system, animals like bulls, goats and lambs were slaughtered. The blood of the sacrifice covered over their sins and washed them clean before God. Redeemed by the blood of the sacrifice, Israel could stand before God unblemished and unashamed. They could come to God fully restored and able to try once again to live a righteous, holy life. 

 

In the fullness of time, God sent His Son, Jesus. He gave His Son as a sacrifice. Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29b). Christ died once for all, restoring sinners to God and lifegiving blessings. Because of God’s glorious grace, you are forgiven. You are free to live a life reconciled and fully restored to God. As Paul wrote, in Christ, we have every spiritual blessing in heaven!

 

[Slide] John 3:16 is the gospel in a sentence. Have you ever read it personally? Let’s read together.

 

For God so loved me, that He sacrificed His only Son, Jesus, so that when I trust in Him for salvation, I will not ultimately perish, but enjoy life everlasting!

 

For Christians, death is simply changing clothes. We take off the mortal body and put on a new resurrection body.

 

Grace is mercy. [Slide] Grace is new creation.

 

Often Christians make the mistake of equating grace only to forgiveness. Because of God’s grace, we are forgiven. But grace doesn’t stop there. Forgiveness is only the beginning of what grace will do in our lives. God will make you a new creation in Christ! God will transform you from one level of glory to the next until you think like Jesus, talk like Jesus, and do just as Jesus would do. Grace is a transformative power that makes us more and more like Jesus.

 

Did you know it is our very destiny to be remade into the image of Jesus? [Slide] Christlikeness is our destiny!

 

Those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son… (Romans 8:29)

 

It is your destiny to be transformed from one level to the next until you are just like Jesus. I know I have a long, long way to go before I think, talk and behave exactly as the Savior does. I’m still under construction. Through grace, God is making me new. He is doing the same for you!

 

[Slide] Here is a verse that truly encourages me. Paul is fully confident in God’s promise of new creation!

 

God, who began a good work in you, will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:6)

 

God will complete His transformative work in me until I am fully united with Jesus Christ. Someday, you and I will be complete, perfect, sinless. I aspire to be that complete person in Christ. Grace will get us there.

 

Our resurrected lives are a journey of learning to live by the transformative grace of God. God will transform us from the inside out until we are pure reflections of Jesus.

 

Grace is mercy, Grace is new creation. [Slide] And grace is power.

 

More specifically, grace is resurrection power. Paul prayed that we might have the eyes of our hearts opened to know the hope to which we are called, to know the riches of our glorious inheritance with all who believe, and to know

 

“God’s incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead” (Ephesians 1:19-20a)

 

Grace is the same power God used to raise Jesus from death to life. God is exerting that same power in you, as you trust in God to transform your life and make you more like Jesus.

 

The old hymn says there’s power in the blood, wonder working power. Certainly true, the cross of Christ and the blood he shed for our sakes is powerful. Our sins are erased. Our debt is paid. We are free!

 

But what are we going to do with that freedom? Continue to live in sin, or die with Christ to sin and rise with Christ in the glory of grace? Paul writes,

 

[Slide] What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? ² By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? ³ Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴ We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. (Romans 6:1-4)

 

[Slide] Grace is mercy. We are set free from the power of sin by the mighty power of grace. Grace is new creation. Grace is a transformative power at work in us making us more like Christ. Grace is power, resurrection power, death defeating power. For in the grace of Christ we can do all things through Him who gives us strength.

 

[Slide] John Newton, a deserter from the British Navy, became a slave to an African princess. He was rescued by a merchant ship’s captain. The ship nearly sank in a severe storm. Newton prayed to God and was saved. Even though he was invested in the slave trade, he earnestly study the Bible and other Christian writings. Eventually, Newton left it all behind to serve the church. He became a supporter of abolition, and wrote the most beloved hymn in history, Amazing Grace. [Slide] God, in His mercy, saved a wretch like John Newton with His amazing grace. Imagine what grace will do in your life?