in order that in the coming ages He might display the surpassing riches of His grace, demonstrated by His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus;That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus:
10 sermons cite this verse
… what is heaven? Now, on your outline, Ephesians chapter two, verse five to seven says this. It is through grace that we have been saved. And God has given us a place with Christ in heaven. And why has God given us this place with Christ in heaven? Why is he saying that he wants us in his family and we're gonna live with him forever and ever and ever? Well, the rest of the sentence says, to show for all the ages to come God's goodness to us because of Christ. This is the ultimate expression of God's goodness to you. He didn't just say, I'm gonna help you when you're down. I'm gonna give you strength when you're weak. I'm gonna give you the provisions when you lack something. I'll help you when you're in need. When you're scared, I'll be with you. In addition to all those, he says, I want you to live with me after you die forever and ever and ever, and you're never gonna die after that. …
… Why would he personally prepare this place for you, for us? Ephesians 2 verse 7 says, so that in the ages to come, throughout eternity, he might show the boundless riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. boundless, limitless riches of grace in store for his people. Amazing. God has such wonderful things in store for his people. In the ages to come, Paul points out there. This is one of the reasons Paul told the Philippians in Philippians 1 verse 23 that he had a desire to depart and go be with Christ for that, he said, is very much better. So if you're taking notes, number one, heaven is a glorious holy city. Number two, heaven's architect and builder is God. Number three, heaven is described as paradise. Heaven is described as paradise. When Jesus was dying on the cross for our sins, he told that repentant thief on the cross next to him, truly I say to you today, you shall be with me in paradise. …
… in doing so. But that's not what he did. Instead, he heard our cry, and he responded with merciful deliverance. The book of Ephesians chapter 2, verses 4 through 7 tell us, but God who was rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved and raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace and his kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Yes, thank you Lord. While we were at our worst, Christ died for us. What a gospel this is. Our third point tonight, you can note it down, what we see in verses 10 through 12, is a divine dispatching. A divine dispatching. The text goes on to say in verse 10, Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh, that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt. …
We're almost done. Ephesians 2 7 this has got to be one of the most amazing promises in the Bible he saved us so that in the coming ages he might show his immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus It's going to take eternal ages for us to receive the fullness of the display of the glory of the kindness of God. Because we're finite. If he gave it to us all at once, we would blow up. We're not God. There will not be one single day in eternity where the mercies of God are not new. That's what infinite means. He is infinitely capable of satisfying his people by endless revelations of his glory. Now, one last observation. when I say that the enjoyment of God, the being satisfied in God, the treasuring of God is the essence of the way he is glorified in all the external ways. It's the essence. I don't mean it's the only way that he gets glory. …
… you have been saved, and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus." This is a description of our salvation and its security. Look at it. God, out of His mercy, out of His love, made us alive with Christ by grace. We have been raised up with Christ. We are seated with Him in the heavenly places in Christ, which means we have a place in heaven. That's what Peter meant when he said, we have an inheritance waiting there. That's all said and done. And in the ages to come, the Lord will pour out surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ." So that's the reality of our eternal salvation. "'For by grace you have been saved through faith, not of yourselves as a gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. …
… By grace you have been saved, and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not 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." Ten verses that describe the dramatic, permanent, eternal, comprehensive transformation that salvation makes in a person's life. Over in the fifth chapter, we have another section that looks at this transformation. Chapter 5, verse 5, For this you know with certainty that no immoral or impure person or covetous man who is an idolater has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words. …
… which is a chapter we've been looking at for a while. And I'm going to read to you the latter section of this section of chapter 2. Ephesians 2, verse 4 to 10, it's printed in your bullet. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions. It is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. This is God's word. We've said that chapter two is actually a before and after picture of the Christian. It shows us what our lives are like before we encounter the living Christ and after. …
… been seeing. So if you don't mind, I'm going to do a little bit of that as well as push forward our progress a bit. Ephesians 2, verses 1 through 10, is a before and after picture of a Christian. Ephesians 2, 1 to 10, is trying to show us the momentous change that Jesus makes when you have an encounter with him as a living person. I'm glad how many people are surprised and stunned and changed and helped by looking at this passage. Many of you see Christianity as being a kind of round of duties or a process, and you don't realize, until you look at this, that Paul expects that meeting Christ makes this momentous change, a watershed, a continental divide. Becoming a Christian, meeting Christ is sort of like Pike's Peak, because one inch to the west of Pike's Peak, little raindrop goes all the way to the Pacific Ocean. That's what they tell me when I go there. And one inch on the other side, that little drop of water goes all the way to the Atlantic Ocean. …
… when we were dead in transgressions. It is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus, for it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not of yourselves, it's the gift of God, not of works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. that's God's Word. Well, let's see what we can do. We said Ephesians chapter 2 is actually a before and after picture. It's a before and after an encounter of an individual with Christ. In verses 1, 2, and 3, which we didn't read tonight, but which we've looked at for a couple of weeks, you have the before picture. In verses 4 to 10, you have the after picture. …
… and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus for it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves. It is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast, for we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. A treasure chest? Let's take a look. I'd like to just look at the first three verses. For you who were dead in transgressions and sins in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air and the spirit who is now at work and those who are disobedient, all of us lived also among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. My, what a downer. That's the way Paul starts talking about salvation. …