(UPCOMING MESSAGE) Grace Series #3 - “Every spiritual blessing” (The Scope of Grace)

Every Spiritual Blessing

Ephesians 1:3-14 (Go to ESV Bible Verses)

Key verse: 3, ^"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,"

1. Whom does Paul bless and why (3)? What does each word of ‘us in Christ’ and ‘every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places’ mean (Ro 6:3-5; Gal 2:20; Eph 1:20, 2:6, 6:12)?

2. What is God’s plan for us in Christ before the foundation of the world (4)? What does it mean to be ‘holy and blameless’? What is God’s purpose and will for us in Christ (5)? Why does God bless us in Christ and how should we respond to his blessings (6)?

3. What are the blessings to us in Christ through his blood (7-8a; 1Co 1:30)? What do “riches” and “lavished” say about his grace? Why does Christ bless us (2Co 8:9)?

4. What is God’s ultimate will in Christ (8b-10; 1Co 15:28)? How has God fulfilled his will (11-13)? What enables us to have an absolute assurance of God’s blessings (13b-14)?

5. Review the scope of God’s blessings. In what ways are they God’s grace, focusing on the subject and verb of each blessing (4-9, 2:8-9)? And how can we personalize God’s grace (1:17-18a; Ro 8:5; 2Co12:9)? How can we participate in the mission of God (2Co 6:1; 1Co 15:58)?

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References

Q1: Ro 6:3-5 ³ Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴ We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.⁵ For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.

Gal 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Q3: 1Co 1:30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption.

2 Co 8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.

Q4: 1Co 15:28 When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.

Q5: Ro 8:5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.

2Co 12:9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

2Co 6:1 Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.

1Co 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.