For read God's Word to the Koch family, the Gabbers family.
On behalf of all of us, we just want to express how sorry we are
at the passing of Nate this morning.
In the midst of grief, I think that the truth of God's Word can
at once feel so hollow and empty and cliche and at once an anchor
for our soul. And I'm reminded that's why we
do what we do on Sunday mornings.
As God's people. We come to draw from the well
because we need it. But not only we come this
morning to draw from the well, but every Sunday that we gather
together, we dig that well a little deeper, so that when the
storms of life come in the midst of grief and heartache, we can
drink deeply from that well again and again.
So, brothers and sisters, do now join me at the well.
Remain standing for the reading of God's Word this morning.
Read from the book of Ephesians, chapter one, verse 2.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ. This is the word of the Lord.
You may be seated. I know what some of you may be
thinking as you saw how short that verse was.
This must be a very short sermon.
Be honest. You're excited.
Well, I'm sorry, it's a pastoral trick.
We're actually going to cover the entire book of Ephesians
this morning. I think I'm joking.
So you're going to need a Bible advice.
You get your Bible out. If you don't have a Bible, we
can grab the blue Pew Bible in front of you.
And if you don't have a Bible at home, that's our gift to you.
Please take it home with you so that you would have the word of
God. Paul begins the second verse,
this letter to the Ephesians. Grace to you and peace from God
our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Grace and peace. In fact, the apostle Paul begins
all thirteen of his letters the exact same way. 2 Words Grace
and peace. Romans one verse 7 Grace to you
and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
First Corinthians one verse 3 Grace to you and peace from God
our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 2nd Corinthians one
verse 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ. Galatians one verse 3 Grace to
you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ. Philippians one verse 2 Grace to
you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ. Ephesians one verse 2 Grace to
you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ. Ephesians one verse 2 Grace to
you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ. Paul begins every one of his
letters with grace and peace. Just a few of them stray from
this exact wording. Grace to you and peace from God
our Father and Lord Jesus Christ.
These words are so familiar, so commonly used, that they run the
risk of becoming commonplace to us.
It might be tempting for any one of us, as we hear these words
read, or we read them for ourselves, to think this must be
some kind of Apostolic cliche, Just a throwaway, a hello at the
beginning of a letter that we just need to skip on by to get
to the good stuff. Surely Paul doesn't mean much by
it, but the book of Ephesians reminds us the grace of God and
the peace that belongs to every one of us who are in Christ
Jesus is anything but common. More than a simple salutation
greeting, the words grace and peace are a pronouncement of
blessing. They are a proclamation of good
news, grace and peace. They are the very gospel of
Jesus Christ summarized in just two words, 2 words that not only
describe the book of Ephesians, but all of Paul's theology and
every one of his letters, grace and peace.
And so this morning, as we continue to introduce this
amazing letter that the Apostle Paul wrote, the church in
Ephesus, this opening blessing, the book of Ephesians calls us
to stop and listen and to receive the grace and peace that
is offered in Jesus Christ alone.
So first grace, once you look again with me at Ephesians one,
verse 2. And again, just as he does in
all his letters, Apostle Paul begins right at the heart of the
gospel, verse 2. He offers grace, grace to you.
Now in the ancient Near East, it was customary, just like it is
in our day, to begin with a common greeting, every letter
that is written. I don't know about you, but this
time of year, especially as we begin 2026, you've probably
received a lot of emails that are beginning about the same
way, Happy New Year. And you've heard it now so many
times that it goes in one ear and out the other.
You don't stop to think that that means anything at all.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. What else is it that you want me
to do or say? Happy New Year.
But when we extend that greeting this time of year, we're wishing
a blessing of happiness in this new year on the recipient.
But as we say it, do we even stop to think what it is that
we're offering in the same way? Paul is introducing his letter
here, but it's anything but cliche.
Paul begins with grace. It's a word that saturates his
theology. He will use the word grace over
100 times in the New Testament, 12 times in the book of
Ephesians alone. And if you've grown up around
church at all, grown up around Christianity, odds are you've
heard about the word grace. Whether you're a Christian this
morning or not, You may have even sung about God's Amazing
Grace. Perhaps for some of you, you've
been a Christian your entire life.
You've heard this word so many times.
The question really is, do you really know what it means?
Have we really grasped all that God has given to us in his
grace? And grace is often defined by
theologians as unmerited favor and is your language of the New
Testament in Greek. The Greek word is chorus,
literally means an undeserved kindness.
In other words, grace, commonly defined, is that when we receive
something, something good that we did not deserve, receiving
goodness that we don't deserve, that's grace.
And really, that's not a bad definition.
The only problem is it exposes just how small our vision of
grace really is. You see, as we hear that
definition, I think it's easy to focus on the word receive and
then the word favor. I mean, it's really the only two
words and the definition. And now we're thinking about
only something that we get, and we're turning grace into a
commodity, into some kind of thing that we can somehow grasp
at. But if we see anything in the
book of Ephesians, we learn that the grace of God is not
transactional. Now, the grace of God is deeply
relational, and God's grace isn't some substance or thing
that we can somehow grasp, but it's at the very core of his
character. It's who he is, and as Paul
continues in chapter 1, he shows us the grace of God is deeply
intertwined with his sovereignty.
Now, to even utter the word God is to assume that he is
sovereign, that he is in control, that he is Lord over
all things. That is what makes him God.
He is sovereign. He is the Creator.
Every one of us is the creature. It's probably the thing that
makes us, if we're honest, most uncomfortable about him, because
in order to truly declare his sovereignty was to admit that
none of us are in control. What Paul shows us is that
sovereignty. Out of that sovereignty, the
Creator of all things, the one who is in charge of heaven and
earth. Out of that sovereignty flows
grace. He goes on verse 4 just 4 verses
in the book of Ephesians. I want you to turn there in your
Bible. Ephesians one verse 4.
Paul says even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the
world, that we should be holy and blameless before him in
love. He predestined us for adoption
to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose
of His will, to the praise of his glorious grace.
Now, this is the part of Ephesians that every
Presbyterian loves. There's some of the foundational
verses for the Five Points of Calvinism, and the Five points
of Calvinism are commonly described in an acronym, Tulip.
Maybe you've heard Tulip before. It stands for Total Depravity,
Unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace,
and perseverance of the Saints. But did you know that more than
Tulip or the five points of Calvinism, these five doctrines
are known as the doctrines of grace?
This is very foundation of our theology.
Is grace, the sovereign grace of God, poured out for us?
We see this here in Ephesians. Once you look again with me at
verse 5, and as you look at verse five, let me read it for
you again. I want you to ask yourself, what
word are you most quickly drawn to?
In love? He predestined us for adoption
to Himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose
of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace.
What word was it? I'm sure many of us would give
different answers, but I'm also fairly sure that most of us were
probably drawn to the word predestination for different
reasons. Now some of you hear that word
predestined and you're like, finally the word predestination
is being uttered from this pulpit and others of you this
morning like I wish that word was not in the Bible.
But you see, predestination is not a Calvinist word.
It's not a Presbyterian word. It's not a Reformed word.
It's a biblical word. It's a word that the apostle
Paul is using here. But why?
Why is Paul using the word predestined?
I want you to notice that Paul is using this word as an
encouragement and as much as this word has divided the church
throughout the history of humanity, Paul is offering this
word not to divide us, but to assure us of God's grace.
Again, look at verse five. The first word he second word
predestined. But I want to remind you that as
we read the New Testament and we see the little numbers of the
verses, that none of those numbers were put there by Paul.
They were added later to help us know where we are to make
reference as we read the Bible. They're not there in the
original language. And so sometimes we can separate
verses from each other artificially.
So as you begin with verse 5, you can't miss the 2 words that
come right before it. They're not to be separated.
The 2 words The end of verse 4 In love.
In love, He predestined us to be adopted as sons and daughters.
At its core, the doctrine of predestination is a doctrine of
love. What does that mean?
It means that God loved us first.
He loved us first. That means He loved you before
you ever loved him. It means He loved you before you
ever failed to love Him. He loved you before the
foundation of the world. And this is just how big His
grace is. His grace for us is as big as
His sovereignty. And here's what's so amazing
about it. He is focused all of His
sovereign love and grace on you. The God of the universe, who
spoke the world into existence, in whom all things hold
together, loves you, and He loved you before you were even
born. I think this is one of the
reasons why I have such a hard time wrapping our minds around
grace, because it's hard to believe that God actually loves
us. And just like our first parents,
Adam and Eve, when we sin, we're also overcome, not just with
guilt, but with shame. We hide from God, we hide from
one another. So we think there's no way that
God could possibly love me unless whatever it is that you
fill in the blanket after that unless is you trying at your
core to somehow earn or merit the grace of God.
But you see these verses beginning of Ephesians teach us
no in love. He predestined us to be adopted
as sons and daughters. He loved us first.
And if you have any doubt that God loves you, then look no
further than the cross, because not only before you were born
did Jesus Christ die on the cross for you, so that all who
believe in Him would be saved. But Paul goes on and tells us
that this was the plan before the foundation of the world.
He goes on verse 7. In Him we have redemption
through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses
according to the riches of His grace which He lavished upon us,
and all wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery
of His will according to His purpose which He set forth in
Christ as a plan for the fullness of time to unite all
things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth.
Do you see how for Paul grace is anything but transactional?
Now the grace of God for Paul is cosmic.
It's part of his redemptive plan.
And out of the riches of His grace that He is now lavishly
poured out on us, He sent his only Son to be born in a Manger,
to live a sinless life, because you and I live a sinful life, to
die in our place on the cross, to rise against that all who
believe in Him would have salvation.
Why? Paul tells us because of love,
Because he loved us first. Paul goes on in Ephesians
chapter 2, verse 4. But God being rich in mercy,
because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we
were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with
Christ. By grace you have been saved.
What is he saying? It says that he loved you when
you are dead in your sin. I think that's the other reason
why the grace of God is so hard for us.
Because just as we have a small vision of God's grace, I think
the honest truth is we have a small vision of our sin.
And if you're like me, you minimize it, self justify it,
you try to explain it away. Why?
It's just another way that we try to earn our way to God.
If we can't do enough good things to overcome our sin and
let's just change the game and move the goal posts and make our
sins smaller. But this is a great paradox of
the gospel. You cannot see just how big and
amazing God's grace is for you until you see just how pervasive
and overwhelming your sin really is.
And just as the grace of God is not a thing or a substance from
involving reminds us Dutch theologian, that sin isn't a
thing. It's not some kind of substance.
It's outside of us, but it's in US, running through US.
It corrupts all of us. Every part of us is wicked.
Every part of us is treasonous. Every part of us turns our back
on God. Every part of us has gone
astray. And this is what is so amazing
about God's grace, that even when we were dead in our
trespasses and sins, God loved us, and he sent his Son to die
on the cross. John 316 Really think about the
words, for God so loved the world that he sent his only Son.
Notice the order because God loved the world, that is why he
sent his Son. This is one of the truths that
just about changed my life. When I was in seminary, I used
to think that God loved me because Jesus died on the cross.
My vision of God was a God who hated me was only because Jesus
died that he now loves me. But that's not what John 316
says, and it's not what the Apostle Paul's describing here.
Book of Ephesians. God doesn't love me or you
because Jesus died. No, because God loves you.
That is why Jesus died. He loved us first.
And this is what makes grace so big, so wide, so deep that when
we truly receive it, we cannot stay the same.
Because when we minimize sin, we make grace cheap.
We treat it into some kind of commodity that says, well, isn't
that what God's grace is there for?
I can sin and I'm forgiven. And so why even try to do good?
But when you really receive the sovereign grace of God, the
apostle Paul will teach us in the book of Ephesians that grace
actually changes us. It's so big and so powerful that
we cannot stay the same. Again Ephesians 2, Paul goes on
and talking about being saved by grace alone and not by works.
And in verse 10, he says, but we are his workmanship created in
Christ Jesus for good works for God, for hand prepared
beforehand that we should walk in them.
When you truly receive the grace of God out of His sovereign
mercy for you, you cannot stay the same.
His grace not only justifies, but it also sanctifies.
And this is what Paul is offering in the second word,
peace, grace and peace. The second word, peace, it says
grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now Paul is not just talking
about any kind of peace. Nepal is drawing off of a word
that is used throughout the Bible from Genesis to
Revelation. It's the kind of peace the Old
Testament calls Shalom. You and I, when we think of
peace, we often think of the absence of chaos or noise.
So if I were to ask you this morning, hey, did you want some
peace in your life? I promise everyone of you say
yes, please just get me to a beach somewhere.
Give me one of those drinks with a little umbrellas.
Give me as far away from other people as possible.
So Seaside is out. I need nobody around in order to
have peace. That's not the kind of peace
that Paul is offering. Shalom is not the absence of
chaos and noise, it's the presence of God.
Because where God is present, reigning and ruling over all
things, his people have peace. And so this morning I wonder, as
you enter into 2026, are you filled with worry?
If, like me, do your anxieties keep you up at night wondering
what tomorrow or next week or next month will hold?
Every one of us, every one of us deals with anxiety and worry and
fear. And sometimes those worries are
small and sometimes they are big, even life altering.
What do you do with your worry? It's one of the reasons why
religions of the world, all of them have tried to promise
peace. That's what they offer, but none
of them quite seem to deliver. And now, as 21st century
Westerners now not only looking to religion, but looking to
different philosophies and ways of living on our own terms,
we're surprised when nothing quite satisfies the longings of
our heart. And the reason is because we're
just trying to treat the symptom rather than getting up to its
root cause. So whatever's filling you with
anxiety this morning, the solution is not to somehow have
that not in your life anymore. However that looks like for some
of you, it's avoidance. Others of you is to take matters
in your own hands and try to rid it from your life on your own
terms. But the real solution is what's
underneath the anxiety. What's underneath the anxiety is
that we are at war. War with ourselves, war with our
God, war with one another, war with the world around us.
We are not at peace. And that is the kind of peace
that Paul is offering us in the book of Ephesians.
First, he offers peace with God. To turn to Ephesians 2 verse 13,
Paul says, But now in Christ Jesus, you who are once far off
have been brought in here by the blood of Christ, For He Himself
is our peace. What is He talking about?
Well, in our sin as traitors against the king and His
Kingdom, we are at war with Him. That means we have no peace with
Him. That means we are separated
relationally from God our Creator.
The Bible says we're at enmity with Him.
That means we are His enemies. In the book of Romans, Paul
reminds us that while we were enemies, Christ died for us.
Here at Ephesians, when we were dead in our trespasses, he loved
us. And here in Ephesians 2, he's
saying that even when you were once far off, God has now
brought you to himself by the blood of his Son Jesus Christ,
who is himself. Our peace.
How you and I deserve death and condemnation because of our
treason against the King and His Kingdom.
But God sent His Son Jesus Christ to die in our place on
the cross and so make peace, an offering of peace so that our
relationship with God our Creator would be restored once
and for all. In Christ.
We now have peace with God and we can pray to him as our
Father, with Christ as our brother.
But it not only has profound implications for the way that we
relate to God, but also the way that we relate to one another.
That's the second thing Paul describes the book of Ephesians,
that we have peace not only with God but with one another.
In the first half of Ephesians chapter one through 3, it's
really how do we have peace with God?
But in the second-half, the book of Ephesians 4 through 6, it's
really, what does it now look like?
Because we have peace with God and we've been restored to our
Creator. How does that peace now
transform everything around us and every relationship that we
have? We have peace with one another.
This is Ephesians verse 4, verse one.
Paul says, I therefore, a prisoner of the Lord, urge you
to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you've been
called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience,
bearing with one another in love.
He loved. Now we are called to love, eager
to maintain the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace in
this peace. This Shalom is transformative.
It changes everything and every relationship around us.
So he'll go on describe the peace that is ours in marriage.
And this morning you might say, well, my marriage is anything
but peaceful. For some of you, your marriage
is strained, your relationship fractured.
Other of you have come out of a broken marriage that has
absolutely wrecked your soul. Other of you long to be married
and never have. Paul gives us a vision of
marriage in the book of Ephesians that shows us that our
true marriage within Jesus Christ the great bridegroom and
in that marriage, the perfect marriage between the Lamb of God
and his people. We have real peace.
A piece that transforms every relationship.
He goes on describes this piece that transformed the family
because the families that we have, however broken that they
are, are all meant to point to this right here.
And as you look around, this is the family of God, brothers and
sisters in Christ with a common older brother who is Jesus and a
common father. And finally, though we are
cursed in our work and thorns and thistles and everything that
we do in our various vocations. Ephesians will describe how the
peace of God transforms our work because the gospel far as the
curse is found and now we labor working the grace of God into
our work. And lastly, we have peace
against the principalities and powers in the forces of evil in
the heavenly places. We have nothing to fear whatever
this world may throw at us, because Christ himself is our
peace. And commentators have pointed
out that Paul ends the book of Ephesians in the same way he
begins. This is Ephesians 6, verse 23,
the last two verses of the book. Peace be to the brothers and
love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ. Grace be with all who love our
Lord Jesus Christ with love. Incorruptible peace is only
possible because the sovereign grace of God poured out for us
in His Son Christ Jesus. But there is a third word that
we have seen both the beginning and the end.
Not just grace and peace, but it's love.
Out of His love for you, God has grace and He has poured out His
grace in order to make peace. Peace with you and peace with
this broken world so that we would now be His ambassadors of
peace until Christ comes again. And it is that grace, that
peace, and that love that He has now set before you on this table
as we come to him. Let's pray.
Father in heaven, we pray now as we come to this table of grace
and peace that you have set before us, that you would help
us to receive what is ours in Christ Jesus.
If anyone this morning does not believe in you and has not
received this gracious gift that is theirs, I pray that you would
give them faith and help them now to trust in You.
Praying the simple prayer. Lord, have mercy on me, a
Sinner, and for all of us who desperately need to come to this
well once again, help us now to drink deeply.
If your grace is lavished upon us, we ask in your name, Amen.