Grace; Peace; Glory
A Sermon on Grace, Peace, and Glory from Ephesians 1:2
Scripture
2Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Sermon Description
Why is every word of Scripture vital? In this sermon on grace, peace and glory from Ephesians 1:2, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones expounds the significance of two words: grace and peace. Dr. Lloyd-Jones argues that these two words contain the most profound truths of the Christian faith. Christian lives begin with God’s condescended love, His beneficent kindness, and His unmerited favor. In other words, it begins with grace. This unmerited favor begins with the faith of the Christian, whereas peace is the result of their faith. Fallen humanity has a minimal and warped sense of peace. Dr. Lloyd-Jones says “reconciliation” captures the biblical picture of what God promises in peace. The peace that God gives includes peace with God, peace with self, and peace with others. Since God gives what is not deserved, one can give that same grace to others. His peace makes His people peacemakers, even with their enemies, because they sympathize and understand that humanity’s core problem is sin. Grace and peace only come through the Lord Jesus Christ. To deny the exclusivity of Christ is a denial of Christianity and the only place where grace, peace, and glory can be found.
Sermon Breakdown
- The apostle Paul's greeting in Ephesians 1:2 contains profound truths and introduces major themes of the epistle.
- Grace and peace are the most important words in the Christian faith. Grace is the beginning and peace is the end. Grace is the source and peace is the purpose.
- Grace means unmerited favor, condescending love, and beneficent kindness. It is favor that we do not deserve.
- Peace does not just mean the absence of war or rest and quiet. It means union and reconciliation after separation. The root meaning of peace is union.
- The apostle wishes grace and peace for the Ephesians because of the truth about humanity - we need grace and peace.
- Humanity is in a state of enmity against God, internal conflict within themselves, and warfare with others due to sin. We deserve punishment and damnation.
- Despite this, God looks upon humanity with grace - unmerited favor. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. While we were enemies, we were reconciled to God.
- Grace leads to peace. It brings peace with God by reconciling us to Him. It brings internal peace and peace with others by changing our view of others. It brings the peace of God which guards our hearts and minds.
- Grace and peace come from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Our relationship with God has changed to that of Father and child.
- The Lord Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man. He is Jehovah God but also Jesus the man. He is the eternal Son of God who became the Son of Man so that the sons of men could become the sons of God.
- Grace is the condescending love of the Son of God coming down to reconcile us to God. He took on our nature, sins, and punishment to make peace. He then gives us new birth and makes us children of God.
- We can call God our Father because of what Christ has done. We have been given the highest honor of becoming children of God.
The Book of Ephesians
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust’s collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.