Front Row Seat | Ephesians 3:1-13

Takeaway Verse: Ephesians 3:12

Because of Christ and our faith in Him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence.

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Transcription:

Welcome to The Bible for Busy People. I’m Erica Parkerson. This is the place where we meet up to read half a chapter of God’s Word together and remember how loved we are. Jesus extends an amazing invitation to us in the Bible. He says, come to me and I WILL give you rest. This is us RSVPing: Yes!! to that invitation. So, take a deep breath and let’s get started.

Today’s episode is called the front row. You gotta be bold to sit in the front row, wherever you are more on that in moments, but there is a reason you and I can be bold when we go to God, and when we talk to Him. and we can be bold as lions and lioness, because of one reason. We’ll get to that in moments too.

But first, would you join me in a word of prayer? Father, we just come to you right now in the mighty name of Jesus. Thank you for making a way for us. We ask you to open our eyes and our hearts to everything you want us to see and understand in your word on this day. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

All right, here we go. We are gonna dive into Ephesians chapter three. This is Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus, but it might as well be a text from the apostle Paul to you and I today because it’s just as important that we read these words and live them out. Here we go.

When I think of all this, I Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, for the benefit of you Gentiles. Paul was writing from jail. I always want to keep that in mind, he’s writing these encouraging letters from a prison cell, and he is imprisoned for his faith, so that he can share hope with other people. Assuming by the way that, you know, God gave me the special responsibility of extending his grace to you, Gentiles. Gentiles? That just means you’re not Jewish by the way. As I briefly wrote earlier, God himself revealed mysterious plan to me. As you read what I have written, you will understand my insight into this plan regarding Christ. God did not reveal it to previous generations, but now by his spirit, he has revealed it to his holy Apostles and prophets, and this is God’s plan. Both Gentiles and Jews who believe the good news share equally in the riches inherited by God’s children. Remember when we were talking about the two families become one and we are now living in God’s house. He lives there by his spirit. That is so beautiful. Both are part of the same body, and both enjoy the promise of blessings because they belong to Christ Jesus. By God’s grace and mighty power, I have been given the privilege of serving him by spreading the good news, this good news, even from prison. Hmm. Though I am the least deserving of all God’s people, he graciously gave me the privilege of telling the Gentiles about the endless treasures available to them in Christ. I was chosen to explain to everyone this mysterious plan that God, the creator of all things, had kept secret from the beginning. God’s purpose in all this was to use the church to display his wisdom in its rich variety, to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was his eternal plan, which he carried out through Christ Jesus our Lord. Here comes our takeaway verse because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence. Oh, that’s beautiful. So, please don’t lose heart because of my trials here. I am suffering for you so you should feel honored. I am mystified, on the daily, that we have a God who created everything we see with our eyes. Every tree, every ocean, every mountain, every person, every creature that crawls, he made it all and yet he wants us to come to him boldly, like one of the creatures. He created the lion, my personal favorite animal. Think of the boldness. The lion. That’s how he wants you to come to him with confidence. Do you know that the Bible tells us in the Psalms that God bends down to listen to you? This is the God we have.

He is awesome in every way and yet tender and loving. He’s so loving. I mentioned the front row at the beginning of this episode. I found out just recently that my son who’s 21 years old, he goes to a different church than I do, sits in the front row every Sunday. My friend Stacy told me this because she goes to Josh’s church. And Stacy said not just the front row, but front and center. Josh is there every Sunday expecting to hear from God. And that is how God wants us to come to him. Boldly with a sense that we are going to receive something from his good and gracious hands. So, come to your God boldly. He loves you so much. We’re going to dive way down deep into the ocean of his love tomorrow in the second half of Ephesians chapter three. Can’t wait.

Thank you so much for listening to the Bible for Busy People. If you need prayer or you’re ready to go a little deeper in your faith, we’ve posted some resources for you in our show notes. We’d love for you to share this podcast with a friend and leave us a review. It helps us reach even more people with the hope of Jesus. This podcast is part of Purposely, a podcast network designed with practical podcasts to help you find and live in God’s purpose for your life. Find more podcasts that will recharge you at onpurposely.com.