[Sunday, April 13, 2025] The Riches of God’s Grace | Ephesians 1:7-14
[English Sermon 영어 설교]
Sunday, April 13, 2025 - Sermon by Rev. Jinkook (Danny) Sohn
The Riches of God’s Grace (Ephesians 1:7-14)
2025. 4. 13. 주일예배 설교- 에베소서 강해 5
본문: 에베소서 1:7-14
제목: 은혜의 풍성함
설교자: 손진국 목사
For the past three weeks, we shared three blessings that are given to those who believe, from verses 3 to 6. The first blessing is being chosen before the foundation of the world, the second is being predestined, and the third is the blessing of adoption. These are spiritual blessings for those who believe in Jesus and belong to heaven. Today’s message tells us that these spiritual blessings from heaven have come to us. Through Jesus Christ, the gospel of salvation has been proclaimed to us, and through this gospel, we experience the amazing, abundant grace of God in three ways.
1. The Grace of Forgiveness of Sins
[EPHESIANS 1:7] "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace."
A person who has not been forgiven always carries a debt to others. They are bound. They cannot be free. Have you ever been bound? It is suffocating. I once had an experience during a mission training when I was kidnapped by a terrorist group. They forced everyone to lie down, covered our heads so we couldn’t see anything, bound our hands, and made us place them on the shoulders of the person in front of us. Then they put us into a car and took us somewhere. At the time, being bound and dragged through the darkness was so suffocating and terrifying. Later, I found out that it was part of the mission training, but one of the female missionaries who went through it with me was so shocked that she had nightmares for a long time.
But what if our souls were bound? How difficult would it be to live running away from the consequences of sin, without paying the penalty for wrongdoing? There was once a person who was on the run from the police after committing a crime. When he was finally caught, do you know what he said? “Why did it take you so long to get here?” He said that because living in constant fear of being caught was unbearable. Not knowing when he would be caught, he couldn’t sleep at night or go out during the day. He couldn’t meet family or friends. Most of all, he was tormented by the guilt of his conscience and the fear of punishment.
But do you know what’s even worse than all of that? It is being bound not just on earth, but also in heaven.
[MATTHEW 18:18] "Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."
We must forgive each other. Otherwise, we will become poor souls bound in heaven as well.
Thankfully, through Jesus Christ, we are forgiven by His blood. Believers have been set free from the bondage of sin. How great a blessing this is! May we understand this and live in the freedom of the grace of forgiveness.
However, even in the church, if there are conflicts and bad feelings between believers, we become bound to that person. We begin to avoid them. (I remember one time in church, we were supposed to go somewhere with several other members. But the deacon who was supposed to go suddenly called in the morning and said he couldn’t make it because something had come up. I thought it was an emergency, but later I found out that he had avoided the deacon he didn’t get along with. That’s why he didn’t want to go.) Are any of us bound in this way? If we don’t forgive each other and release each other, we lose our freedom. Remember, we have been forgiven through the blood of Jesus Christ and set free. With that freedom and grace of forgiveness, let us forgive one another and release the bonds.
[APPLICATION] Who am I bound to? Am I possibly binding someone else?
2. The Grace of Knowing God’s Will
[EPHESIANS 1:8-9] "That he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. He made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ."
What is your greatest desire? What do you want to know the most? I believe one of the greatest desires of people is to know God's plan for them. How wonderful it would be if we could know what God is planning for our lives! Especially for believers, the greatest desire is to live within God's will, to be used in fulfilling His plans and purposes through our lives.
Of course, we will fully understand God's will and plan when we go to heaven. But beyond that, while we live here on earth, wouldn’t it be glorious to know God’s mysterious will and to be a part of fulfilling that plan?
I hope we all have this kind of desire and passion: to know God’s plan and will, and to be used in fulfilling His purposes.
How can we know God's will and plan? The answer is found in verse 8. God gives believers all wisdom and understanding to know the mystery of His will, which He has purposed in Christ. As I always say, the only way we, as created beings, can know the Creator God is when He reveals Himself to us. This is what we call revelation in theological terms.
Even though God has revealed His amazing plan and will to believers, many still do not know it. Why is that?
There are two spiritual principles here. God is Spirit. Spirit connects with spirit. Spiritual things must be discerned spiritually. How can we know God’s plan and mysterious will? We can’t know it unless we connect with God spiritually. Without receiving God’s Spirit, we won’t understand the Bible, we won’t understand sermons, and we won’t even be able to read the Bible with understanding. Why? Because we haven’t received the Spirit of God, who is the only one who can connect us with the spiritual God.
[1 CORINTHIANS 2:9-10] "However, as it is written: 'What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived'—the things God has prepared for those who love him—these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God."
What has God prepared for those who love Him? Things that no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined. How can we know these things? Through the Holy Spirit, who reveals them to us. Without the Holy Spirit, even if we read the Bible or listen to sermons, we cannot go beyond the wisdom and knowledge of man. Only through the Holy Spirit can we know the deep things of God.
[1 CORINTHIANS 2:11] "For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God."
Without the Holy Spirit, we cannot know the thoughts, will, or plan of God. This is the main work of the Holy Spirit in us. The Holy Spirit's main work is to connect us with God and reveal His thoughts, plans, and will to us.
So, do not disregard the gifts the Holy Spirit gives us. When we use the gifts the Holy Spirit has given us properly, we can fulfill God's will and plan on this earth. The Holy Spirit is God. And what God gives is always good and righteous.
[1 CORINTHIANS 12:9-10] "To another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues."
Who gives these spiritual gifts? The Holy Spirit.
[1 CORINTHIANS 12:11] "All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines."
Among these gifts, there is one that reveals God’s will and plan to us: the gift of prophecy. Through prophecy, the Holy Spirit encourages and guides people to walk in God’s will. But there is an even more fundamental gift that reveals God’s plan and will: the gift of speaking in tongues.
[1 CORINTHIANS 14:2] "For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit."
Tongues is a way of speaking mysteries to God, not to people. What are these mysteries? They are things that people do not know, things that are hidden. A secret is not shared with just anyone. It is shared with someone trusted and close.
The Holy Spirit speaks these mysteries, which are connected to the things that God has prepared for those who love Him, as stated in 1 Corinthians 2:9. The mysteries are God's plans and will for His beloved people.
I encourage all of you to speak in tongues more often. I pray that all the members of our church will be used by the Holy Spirit through the wisdom, understanding, and gifts He gives us, so that we may know and be part of fulfilling God's mysterious will and plan.
[APPLICATION] What does God want to do through me?
3. The Grace of the Holy Spirit's Seal
[EPHESIANS 1:13] "And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit."
What does it mean to be sealed with the Holy Spirit? It means that the Holy Spirit has marked us with His seal. A seal represents ownership. In the old western films, there were cattle belonging to the OK Ranch and the JK Ranch. To make sure they don’t mix, each ranch would brand their cattle with their initials or unique mark by heating a metal brand and stamping it on the cows' hindquarters. Even if the cows mixed together, the brands would reveal which ranch the cattle belonged to—OK or JK.
Similarly, for those who believe in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit stamps His seal on them. In other words, He is saying, "You are Mine."
When we hear the message of truth—the gospel of salvation—and believe in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit comes to us and marks us with His seal. Why?
[EPHESIANS 1:14] "The Spirit is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory."
Here, we see that the Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance. What is a guarantee? When you purchase a house or property, you typically make a deposit or down payment. What happens when you make that payment? It ensures that no one else can take the property from you; it guarantees that the house is yours.
In human transactions, sometimes people break their contracts after making a down payment. But God is not like that. He is faithful, and once He has made a promise, He does not change. God keeps His promises.
So, the Holy Spirit is our guarantee, a down payment, that we are heirs of the kingdom of heaven. Since the deposit has been made, the house (our salvation) is already secured for us. The Holy Spirit seals us as God’s children, and this seal confirms that we are heirs of heaven until the day we fully receive our inheritance—when we meet our Lord Jesus again.
Even though we live among the people of this world, we are distinguishable. This means that no matter what happens to us in the world, we can have courage because we know that God has set us apart as His children. We have been marked with the Holy Spirit’s seal, proving that we are heirs of the kingdom of heaven. The Holy Spirit in us is the guarantee that we belong to God and that we will inherit His kingdom when Christ returns.
[APPLICATION] Do you believe that you have been sealed with the Holy Spirit? How has this belief changed your life?
하늘소망교회(담임 손진국 목사)는 뉴질랜드 오클랜드 북부 실버데일에 세워진 한인교회로 '하나님의 마음으로 사람을 살리는 교회'입니다.
Hope of Heaven Baptist Church (Senior Pastor: Rev. Jinkook Sohn) is a Korean church established in Silverdale, Auckland, New Zealand. It is a church that saves people with the heart of God.