"OUR LIGHT AND MOMENTARY AFFLICTIONS"

“Lavished With Grace” By Ralph Gomez “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 with all wisdom and understanding.” (Ephesians 1:7-8 NIV) I sent my notes out on Ephesians chapter 1.   If you have not received these, you can visit my blog “Our Light and Momentary Afflictions” and read the notes.   Or download them from Zoho at viewer.zoho.com/docs/cca2acc. Anyway, a Facebook friend asked me about my bibliography yesterday – a good question.   I’ve been using about 5-7 different commentaries, plus the excellent language tools that come with the Logos and E-Sword Bible programs. The Logos resources are far superior, but E-Sword has some very excellent inexpensive stuff which anyone can download.   So, as I was studying more yesterday, I ran across some things that I wanted to share before moving on with this sermon series on the Book of Ephesians.    In particular the meaning of the

Dear friends, as promised, here is the first installment of my notes on Ephesians chapter 1. It is my prayer that as you read and enter into this wonderful chapter that the Father would give you the “spirit of wisdom” and of “revelation.” (see explanation below) I. Paul’s Song of Redemption (Hebrew Berakah) (1:1–14) He sings because of the Heavenly Blessings. Ephesians 1 should make us sing too! Berakahs are songs of Redemption which celebrate what God has done. (The Song of Moses and Miriam in Exodus 15 is a “berarah.”) These songs not only glorify God, they bless the soul deeply because they inject the Glory of God deeply into the soul – this is the essence of worship. 1. These blessings are in Heavenly Realms. Best way to understand this realm is from a Kingdom “already/but not yet” perspective. In the same way that the End of the Age has been inaugurated with the start of Jesus’ earthly ministry, but not consummated until the Second Coming, the Blessings in Heavenly