Ephesians 1:7
On Sunday I used this week’s verses to introduce the service from The Message to make it more accessible to our younger members, so I’ve used that here as well, but putting the NIV alongside it so you can compare them.
(MSG) Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we’re a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free!
(NIV) In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us.
The language of the NIV is usually more restrained than that of the MSG which tends towards being exuberant or poetic in nature. In this verse, however, the NIV wants in on the act! God, it tells us, has not merely given us grace, or given it to us generously, but he has lavished it on us! The Message says we are not just barely free but abundantly free. God doesn’t merely go through the motion, his love is not just sufficient or miserly, it is extravagant, overflowing, abundant, lavish, constant, given with abandonment, given completely and with no holes barred and expensive.
Father, we simply don’t grasp the wealth of your love towards us, the distance you would go for us. Maybe it’s because of the smallness of our love. Help us to see, and help us to love.
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