By Grace in Peace (Ephesians 2)

It is by grace that we have been saved and it is through our Lord's blood that we are reconciled with the Father and have peace with Him.

Ephesians 2 : 1 - 10

We lived and walked dead to the Father but through our Lord we have been made alive. Our Father in His rich mercy and because He loved us saved us. He not only graciously saved us but He raises us up and sits us with our Lord in the heavenly places.

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Our Lord came to this earth to fulfill a mission, and He left us with a mission. Part of that mission is good works in His name and for His Kingdom. In the other books of the Bible we journeyed through we learnt that motives are important, good works can be for self gain. Since we are the craftsmanship of the Father we should always be aware of our motives as we exist for nothing else but Him.

Ephesians 2 : 11 - 13

We should never forget what price was paid to allow us to enjoy the relationship we now have with the Father. By our Lord's blood we who were once so far away from the Father now have access and relationship with Him, a price paid by Him who knew no sin but became sin.

Ephesians 2 : 14 - 18

Our Lord is our peace.
In our Lord we now have reconciliation with our Father.
We sometimes forget that there was enmity between us and the Father. Our Lord purchased the peace we now have with our Father. You see our Lord when He was on earth had access to the Father by the Spirit. We also now have the same privilege that by the same Spirit we now can access the Father.

Ephesians 2 : 19 - 22

Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

Listen to how now we are partakers with our Lord but Him at the center of it all, the cornerstone of our faith.