Ephesians 1:1-8

Key Passage: Ephesians 1:1-8

Key Points 1.  God in His sovereignty chose to show His grace to us by forgiving our sin debt with the blood of His Son Jesus. 2.  Jesus is the instrument of our redemption because He brings glory to the Father and so that He is pre-eminent over all creation

Key themes: Paul is chosen by God to be an apostle of Jesus(1) Grace and peace come from God through Jesus(2) God blesses His children through His Son Jesus Christ(3) We are given every spiritual blessing through Jesus(3) God chose His children before the foundations of the world(4) God chose and purposed His children to be holy and blameless(4) God chose His children because He loves them(4-5) God's adopted Children have been chosen and paid for through Jesus (5) God chose to adopt His family through Jesus so that He would be glorified and Jesus would be glorified(5-6) God's children were bought with the blood of Jesus to forgive the debt of sin(7) God paid for our sin debt because of His grace and love.

Reflective Discussion Questions: 1.  Who is Paul an apostle of? a.  What is an apostle? b.  Who makes it possible for Paul to be an apostle? c.  How do you remind yourself that you are only  in this bible study/church/Christian because of the will of God? d.  How does the recognition of God's will affect your perspective on Church and Christian fellowship? 2.  What are two things we know God desires to give to His people?(2) a.  Why are the grace and peace of God important things to receive from God? b.  How does the knowledge of what God desires to give to you affect your prayer life? c.  How does the knowledge of what God desires you to have affect the way you approach your relationship with God? 3.  Why does Paul praise God? (3) a.  How often do you thank God for the gift of Jesus Christ? b.  How do we stay fresh in our thankfulness of God's gift of Jesus? 4.  What do you learn about God in vs 4? a.  How does your knowledge of who God is affect the way you treat Him? b.  Why did God chose His children according to vs 4? c. How do people misinterpret vs 4 and twist God's words to take advantage of His grace? d.  Why would anyone care about being holy and blameless in the sight of God?(4) 5.  What do you learn about God's sovereignty in v5? a.  Why are we adopted through Jesus Christ? b. How are we adopted through Jesus? c.  Why is Jesus part of the process of adoption? d.  What are other scriptures that help us understand why Jesus is central to our adoption/the gospel? 6.  Who is the beloved?(6) a.  What is the role between the beloved and followers of Jesus? 7.  What does redemption mean? a.  What are some modern examples of redemption? b.  Why do things need to be redeemed? c.  What redeems followers of Jesus? d.  Why do we need to be redeemed? e. How do people demonstrate an unthankfulness for redemption? f.  How does a person's view of redemption and God affect the way they treat God? 8.  Why does God choose to forgive sins at such a high cost? a.  What does it mean to lavish?(8) b.  Why would God lavish his children with wisdom and understanding? c.  What's the difference between wisdom and understanding? d.  How do wisdom and understanding work together.

Individual Challenge: How can you stay fresh in your thankfulness for God's grace this week?  How would keeping Jesus central in your life change the way you interact with Jesus this week?  How would it affect your relationships with other people?

Community Challenge: How would our fellowship be changed if Jesus and His shed blood were at the forefront of our minds?  Would it change the reason why we gathered?  Would it change who would come to our group?  What would our group do differently if we continually celbrated Jesus sacrifice and the beauty of our redemption?