By Ron Yates

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.” – EPHESIANS 2:8-9

Christians should be the most celebratory people on the planet. When we stand before God, we’ll have nothing we can honestly say except Jesus did it all to save us; nothing we could do ourselves could earn it. Once we understand that grace and have received it – and when we realize what God thinks of us and how great His love is for us – how could we respond otherwise?

Let’s look at four verses that talk about celebrating…

“Let’s celebrate God! He lavished every blessing Heaven has upon us in Christ!” – EPHESIANS 1:3 (MIRROR)

In the New King James version, that verse reads, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” Right now, we have everything blessing Heaven has to offer. And it’s not just a trickle; He’s lavished it…it’s a steady outpouring!

2 Corinthians 9:8 tells us “God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.”

All grace. In the New Testament, The Greek word charis appears 156 times in the New Testament; it’s translated “grace”, “favor” and “pleasure”. It’s an empowerment to live the way we’re supposed to live, to do the will of God. The Church ought to be showing the world what He’s empowered us to do and be – the wisdom, the peace, the joy for the world to see – and celebrating God for it.

“His grace-plan is to be celebrated: He greatly endeared us and highly favored us in Christ. His love for His Son is His love for us.” – EPHESIANS 1:6 (MIRROR)

To “endear” is “to cause to become beloved or admired; to make higher in cost, value or estimation.”

God loved and valued us even before mankind was created. 1 Peter 1:20 says Jesus was chosen to be our redeemer before the creation of the world! Jesus is the value the Father put on us to allow a face-to-face relationship with us!

No matter what you’ve done, where you’ve been or where you’ve come from, you’re worth it to God. From before the foundation of the world, that value was established and it’s never decreased.

The devil tries to get the Body of Christ to lower its estimation of itself and make it contrary to what God’s estimation of it is; but God highly favored us in Christ and His love Jesus is the same love He has for us.

We can’t sit around – looking at what’s happening in the world – and going, “The world’s going to Hell in a hand basket…hope something changes.” No! We’re the world-changers; we’re the Church of the Living God. We have a right to stand against the evils of this world, and have been empowered to do it.

I get it: There’s things going on in the world that aren’t good…but, there’s things going on in us that are good which need to be demonstrated! We have His goodness and mercy. We have His peace and joy. That’s grace worth celebrating!

”There’s things going on in the world that aren’t good…but, there’s things going on in us that are good which need to be demonstrated!”

“He [the Holy Spirit] is our tangible link to the inheritance that was ransomed and preserved for us. His glorious plan for mankind is the theme of our celebration.” – EPHESIANS 1:14 (MIRROR)

The world needs to know, this is not just God’s plan for you; it’s for the whole world – your neighbors, your relatives, your co-workers – to enjoy, receive and partake of His grace.

This is how grace rescued us; it freed us from the lies we believed about ourselves. “Religion” teaches that God angry at humanity, a God of punishment and judgment. Much of the world thinks they have to do something to earn God’s favor. They also beat themselves up over past mistakes and live in a tomb of self-condemnation. But God doesn’t condemn them, and that’s worth celebrating.

“Through Him also we have our access (entrance, introduction) by faith into this grace (state of God’s favor) in which we firmly and safely stand. And let us rejoice and exult in our hope of experiencing and enjoying the glory of God.” – ROMANS 5:2 (AMPC)

Christians are never out of the favor of God. Some of you are asking for God’s favor, but you already have it. You just need to thank Him for it. That’s having faith. Ephesians 2:8-9 says grace is a gift of God, not by our works so that no one can boast. My only boast is in Jesus Christ, Who did it all for me!

The message that the world needs to hear is, “Your sins are forgiven! Jesus has redeemed you back to the Father God. The price has been paid for every wrong you’ve ever done, ever will do and ever thought about doing. His love for you is as great as His love for His own Son, Jesus!”

Ultimately, the Gospel is not about telling people who lost they are but reminding them of how loved they are. We celebrate God; let’s share with the world His grace-gift so they can join the celebration too.

To hear or watch the entire message from August 16, 2020, click here.