Heart and Soul – The Presidential Prayer Team

In him we have redemption through his blood, and the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace. – Ephesians 1:7

As Warren Wiersbe states in his commentary, Be Rich, that sin made man poor, but God’s grace makes you rich. The Lord’s forgiveness – the taking away and putting somewhere else – is exactly what He did when God took the sins of humankind away, your sins, and put them on Jesus. The cost was great; Jesus paid the price through His blood in death. Is this not evidence of the limitless grace that God bestows upon the sinner? Riches that cannot be measured!

These riches of God’s grace are a blessing of His love, but let a greater emphasis be put on how we experience that grace. It is through what the Father did through His Son on the cross of Calvary that made the way for the believer to have a relationship with God. “That is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them” (2 Corinthians 5:19). Redemption is Christ; “He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life” (John 14:6). Redemption cannot be explained any other way except that Jesus came to Earth to pay the ransom price that would set you free. He is the heart and soul of Christianity; Christianity is Christ… period.

As you prepare to celebrate this joyous time of the year, keep Christ in Christmas. Jesus came to fulfill what was written in the law of Moses and in the prophets and in the psalms concerning Him (Matthew 5:17-18; Luke 24:44). He is Messiah. Pray that the people of this nation will understand that they were bought with a price and they simply need to believe.

Today’s Verse: Ephesians 1:7

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,

All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Recommended for further reading: 2 Corinthians 5:17-21

¹⁷Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. ¹⁸All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; ¹⁹that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. ²¹For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.