EPHESIANS 1:7-9 7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, 9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself,
Redemption; Buyback or ransom. There can be no forgiveness on God's part without the shedding of blood. Jesus Christ's blood destroyed the punishment for anyone's sins who were, (are) in Him. (The payment has been made).
Riches Of His Grace; (Rom. 3:24,25) 24 being justified [a]freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed,
In God's wisdom and fantastic grace, he provided propitiation or atonement through Jesus Christ. In fact, God's grace upon us is so rich that we couldn't possibly understand it fully and how it affects one of our lives. Although we all live under it.
Moving on to verse 8. "wisdom" in verse 8 has the idea of "theoretical wisdom".
He made to abound; God seems to be saying through Paul that those in Christ will not only experience grace but that it will be abundant. See "towards us" to follow which would indicate this message or at least this part of the message is directed at believers.
Prudence; means "practical wisdom". There is nothing God has not foreseen or that He does not understand.
In verse 9, "the mystery" which is also mentioned in the following verses, (Romans 11:25) 25 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
(Romans 16:25) 25 Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began
is that Isreal had been partially hardened but God had not rejected them. Also in Romans 16:25 Paul further explains his message as being a mystery because God's plan had been hidden but now was being revealed. The revealed mystery is that the church will consist of both Jews and Gentiles. There is no distinction with God. Purposed in Himself,
(2 Timothy 1:9) 9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began,
One could also draw from this verse that God exists without assistance, He is self-existent, also that Jesus is God and has existed with the Father even before time began. In fact, He created time itself.
Takeaways - 1. We have redemption in Jesus Christ.
2. Sins are forgiven only through the blood of Jesus.
3. Jesus will interact with us using both theoretical wisdom and
practical wisdom.
4. The mystery is that God has brought both Jews and Gentiles (anyone not Jewish) into His church.
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