Sermon Tone Analysis

*God’s Investment of Love, our redemption*

Ephesians 1:3-14

Ephesians 2:1-10

 

*Introduction:*

In our day and age there is a grave misunderstanding of what it is to be a Christian and what it takes to secure a place in heaven when our time on earth is done.

This is not a new phenomena but you would think that with all the preaching on the airways and the multitude of Churches in every city that the basic truth about God and salvation would be clear to most who have at least been exposed to it at one time or another; but I find that this is sadly not true and has actually gotten worse.

To the simple question, if you were to die today and stand before God and he asked you why He should let you into heaven?

Many still believe that their good works are sufficient.

When faced with the truth some still reject it on the basis that it’s too simple.

You see man wants to think they have to play a part in their salvation they cannot humble themselves enough to surrender to God’s will and do it His way.

God’s got a portfolio and His prospectus is promising.

*I.

**Jesus Christ, Gods’ investment*

     

Before the foundations of the world God looked into eternity, knowing the fall of man through Adam and the inherent sin of mankind because of it and invested in his creations redemption through the blood of his only son, Jesus Christ.

The predestined one was Christ, we who have believed and accepted the gift of God through faith share in the blessing and redemption that comes by Christ’s sacrifice thus being also predestined with Christ by the Grace of God.

God made an investment in our future salvation, the cost, the pain, rejection, suffering, humiliation, and death of his son at the hands of the very ones he was making the investment for.

John 3:16 (NASB95)

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

*II.               **God’s Blessing, our dividend*

* *

Stakeholders in God’s Corporation – that is his corporate body.

The capital is Christ, by salvation we become equal shareholders in Gods kingdom, and through the blessings that come by faith in Christ we reap the capital gain, eternal life.

Eph 1:3 - Blessed - to cause to prosper, to make happy, to bestow blessings on

 

Spiritual Blessings in contrast to Earthly Blessings:

* *

*Galatians 5:22-23 (NASB95)*

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Too many Christians read these verses today and think only in terms of how much stuff does God owe them for accepting his terms and becoming one of his children.

God doesn’t owe us anything, if we got what we deserved it would be all that Christ took upon himself in our stead.

These blessings aren’t what are owed us for believing and accepting God’s gift of salvation, no; these are a part of Gods salvation and flow freely from a life of faith and holiness.

These are the very blessings that were promised in the law but were unattainable because of man’s inability to attain Gods holy standard.

Only now by the blood of Jesus Christ are we made holy, whereby we become partakers of his holiness and blessings.

Our dividend, as one of God’s children, is to have our every need, not our every want, met; and know that he is faithful and will not forsake us.

*III.

**God’s redemption, our capital gain.*

* *

What does it mean to be redeemed?

When a bottle is empty only the original manufacturer can refill it with its original content.

Anything else is just a substitute.

Likewise many of us having let sin reign in our bodies; come to a point where we are empty of what God originally intended for our lives; A life of blessing and happiness and fruitfulness.

Instead of immediately going back to our creator to be refilled we seek other things and other ways to replace that which was lost.

Relationships, drugs, alcohol, sex, any number of things that we try to use to fill the void in our lives.

But it only brings temporary relief.

But there is only one who can redeem us and replace the original content, the only one willing to pay the price to restore us and make us like new again.

Ephesians 2:1-10

 

Sin separated us from God; God said I’ll pay the price of redemption.

We had to come as empty vessels ready to be refilled by the Holy Spirit, to restore that which was lost in the Garden.

*Ephesians 2:8-10 (NASB95)*

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, /it is /the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

It is the work of God alone, we cannot not add anything to it, we can only freely accept it.

God will not allow us to take any credit or claim any part in the work that only he can perform in us.

*Conclusion:*

 

         If you are here today and could not correctly answer the question that was presented earlier in the introduction to this teaching then chances are you need to be saved.

If you are banking on your good works outweighing your bad on the Day of Judgment then your investment is going to bust.

You’ve just been given insider information, what will you do with it?

This is one investment you can’t go wrong with and will reap great rewards for eternity.

I urge you today, don’t delay any longer, invest in God, your life is worth it.