God is Gracious - Jordan Gospel Centre

MAIN TEXT: EPHESIANS 1:3-10

HIGHLIGHT VERSE: EPHESIANS 1:6
“to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.” (NIV)

TOPIC POINTS:

How is God Gracious? – Ephesians 1:3-10
To Whom is God Gracious? – Acts 9:1-9
Response to God’s Grace – 1 Peter 4:10

INTRODUCTION:

To be gracious means to favor or show kindness to an inferior. Grace is rooted in God’s nature of love. This means he deals with humans not on the basis of their merit or what they deserve but on the basis of His goodness and generosity.

HOW IS GOD GRACIOUS?

– EPHESIANS 1:3-10, EXODUS 34:6, 2 PETER 3:9,15

We humans provide our children with food, shelter, clothing. We buy them gifts knowing that these things are necessary for their wellbeing. In a similar way, God provides for humanity all we need to grow and prosper irregardless of our deserving or recognizing it.

From our text, we see God’s grace in saving us through His Son, not because we deserved it. In all His dealing with us, He is slow to anger and patient in bringing judgment. We often complain when God does not deal with evil swiftly, not realizing we ourselves are being extended grace to repent.

God’s goodness is manifested in His grace towards the guilty, the sinful and undeserving.

TO WHOM IS GOD GRACIOUS?

– ACTS 9:1-9, EPHESIANS 2:8-10, ROMANS 5:20-21, 1 JOHN 2:2, EPHESIANS 4:1-13

Who deserves God’s grace? No one, yet God is gracious to sinners. Saul, a persecutor of God, was shown grace on the Damascus road. In the same way, we were once sinners, guilty before God, but in His grace He saved us. This grace of God in saving sinners is directed to the whole of mankind.

Apart from salvation, God’s grace is also seen in the blessings available to all mankind. He gives life, health and wealth to believers and unbelievers. We also see God’s grace in the distribution of spiritual gifts within the Church, which were not given based on merit, but for the edification of the church body.

RESPONSE TO GOD’S GRACE

– 1 PETER 4:7-11

How should we respond in light of God’s grace toward us? We extend that grace to others through service to the glory of God. We should lead others through the gospel to receive the same grace we received. We should use our God-given gifts in serving others in humility.

Let us never think it wise to abuse God’s grace. “Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?” By no means! God’s grace is not a formality. It is given to us for a purpose, to save us from sin.

CONCLUSION:

Scripture teaches us that God is gracious in how He deals with creation. He shows grace to all people in giving life, health and wealth and most of all in saving people from all walks of life through His Son.

We do well in extending this grace that we have received to others and using the gifts we receive in serving others.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Give a summary of our main text
Recite our highlight verse
What does being gracious mean?
Does God deal with us strictly according to what we deserve?
Why does God provide life’s essentials to all people in spite of merit?
What is missing in complaining about God’s patience in judgment on all evil?
Who deserves God’s grace?
What did we do to deserve salvation?
Why did God decide to save the world?
Explain the difference between common and special grace.
Give examples of God’s common grace.
How should we understand spiritual gifts distributed in the church?
How should we respond in light of God’s grace toward us?
What does the Bible say about the abuse of grace?