"In Christ" Realities! Ephesians 1:7-8

Our text reads "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us.." "In Christ" thoughts can only come by understanding and embracing "In Christ" realities from the Word of God! For the Christ follower, our greatest "In Christ" reality is found in the words, "In Him we have redemption through His blood." Inherent in the Bible teaching of redemption is that Almighty God did something for us that was not possible for us to do for ourselves. We were enslaved to and oppressed by the hard control of sin and were powerless to free ourselves. Paul said it best with these words "For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly" (Romans 5:6). The word "helpless" means that we were incapable of doing anything to help ourselves." Please notice what Paul did not say. He did not say "In Him, one day we surely hope to be redeemed." Paul did not say "We're still working on getting our redemption, but not sure we'll have it until our works are judged." Paul said redemption is our present possession and experience! It's true that we are waiting for the future redemption of our bodies (Romans 8:23). But, even so, at this moment "we have redemption" in Christ! In our text, Paul mentions forgiveness because it's the first thing for us to realize and embrace when we're redeemed. However, our redemption includes much more! The word translated "forgiveness" means "to loose or let someone go from what exercises hard control over him." The word "trespasses" is synonymous with "sins" but has the nuance of personal acts of sin, not sin in general. In other words, Paul want us to understand that our specific, shameful, embarrassing sins that take shape in our memories to bring condemnation are totally forgiven through the blood of Jesus! It's important for your spiritual health and life that you know and embrace daily the liberating truth that God forgives all your sins through the precious blood of Jesus! Knowing that serves to fill us with gratitude and joy and love for Jesus. It removes any fear of judgment and instills us with hope beyond the grave! Your move. Be encouraged!