If Not for Grace

Welcome to the Eat This Bread Drink This Cup podcast. The communion meditation today is based on a passage of Scripture from the New Testament, Ephesians 2: 1-10. All Scripture quotations are from the New Living Translation (NLT) and are used with permission

As you listen to the episode today, my hope is that you will be encouraged from the time spent meditating on what Jesus has done for you. You are a special person; the one Jesus died to save!

Transcript

Welcome to Eat This Bread Drink This Cup. The title of my communion meditation today is "If Not for Grace." I read from Ephesians 2: 1-10. All quotations are from the New Living Translation and are used with permission.

1 Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. 2 You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. 3 All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.

4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) 6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. 7 So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.

8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

The author of the letter to the Christians who lived in Ephesus was the Apostle Paul. He was writing both to educate and encourage them in their newfound faith. In this portion of the letter, he tells them about the wonderful grace of God. His words to them are just as relevant to us today. We, too, need to understand and appreciate the grace of God; it is one of our many blessings we have in Jesus Christ.

Before we learned the truth about this world, we did not appreciate our perilous condition. In the eyes of God, we were dead. Yes, we were awake and alert; we breathed in and out; we had a heartbeat; all those characteristics of the living. Our physical bodies were alive, but our spiritual bodies were dead. Our spirits were dead because of our sins, and our sins had separated us from God. We were surprised to learn that we had been obeying the devil, and that he is the commander of the powers of the unseen world. Sadly, we thought we were doing well; we were the captains of our own ships.

Let's suppose we learned about our perilous condition and started at once to make amends and live righteously. While an honorable ambition in life, it's not enough to resuscitate us from the dead. As Paul writes, "Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it." We cannot save ourselves by the sum of our good deeds. But do not despair, there is another way!

As our creator, God was keenly aware of our limitations to choose good over evil, and despite the fact that we were dead in our sins, He decided to save us. God did this because He is full of mercy and love. Paul writes, "For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus." When we believe in Jesus, God saves us; it is His gift of grace to us. We can now appreciate the definition of grace—unmerited favor. The grace of God is His unmerited favor to us who believe in His Son.

Let's return to that new ambition to live righteously in this world. That's what God wants for His children, to live a life filled with good things that brings glory to His name. He wants us to remember that while His grace is freely given to those who believe in His Son, it was not free. His grace came at the cost of the life of His only Son, Jesus. When Jesus gave us the bread and the wine to remember His sacrifice, He said, "Do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it." If not for the grace of God, we would still be dead in our sins. Let us pray.

Abba, Father. Today we bless and set aside this bread and the fruit of the vine in this cup to remember Your Son, Jesus. We know that the bread represents His body that was nailed to the cross, and the fruit of the vine represents His blood that He shed for us. As we pour out the wine from the cup, we are reminded of how Jesus poured out His own blood that our sins might be forgiven. Abba, Father, how awesome is Your grace towards us who believe in Your Son, Jesus. What can we say but thank-you, and even these words are inadequate to express our love for You. At least we can show how much we love You by our actions. We can pause in this moment to remember Jesus by partaking of the bread and drinking from the cup. If not for Your grace, we would still be dead in our sins. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.

Today, Jesus invites you to partake of His supper. I read from Matthew 26: 26-28 (NLT).

26 As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take this and eat it, for this is my body.” Let us partake of the bread.

27 And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, “Each of you drink from it, 28 for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many." Let us partake of the cup.

And the assembly of believers said, "Amen!"

Until next time, from Numbers 6: 24-26, "May the LORD bless you and protect you. May the LORD smile on you and be gracious to you. May the LORD show you his favor and give you his peace."

Artist's Note: If you have questions about the Lord's Supper, I invite you to visit my website, https://eatthisbreaddrinkthiscup.com, for a brief overview. The Eat This Bread Drink This Cup podcast is listed in most podcast directories, and I invite you to add my podcast to your favorites and be notified of new posts. There is a written transcript that accompanies each podcast, and you are free to use the transcript in accordance with US copyright law. My prayer is that you will benefit personally from this time with Jesus and encourage others to observe the Lord's Supper. In these trying times, we need to keep our eyes on Jesus!