Welcome to a year in the Bible with Daily Grace. The Bible tells one big story of redemption,

and we want to spend five minutes every day journeying through the Bible from start to finish

and exploring how all of it points to Jesus.

Hey hey, thank you for joining us. Welcome to a year in the Bible with Daily Grace.

My name is Katie and today we start Ephesians. I have to say Ephesians may be my favorite book of the Bible.

This book centers around remembering our identity in the gospel that we are redeemed by grace into the family of God

and how that fact affects us in our day-to-day life.

We are sons and daughters of the creator of the universe. Is it that amazing? This book was written by Paul

while he was in prison to the church in Ephesus. But this wasn't the first time that Paul encountered the Ephesian church.

He actually taught in Ephesus as we learn about in Acts 19, sharing the gospel, converting Jews and Gentiles,

and ultimately building a thriving church. This letter is Paul's encouragement to his beloved Ephesians.

He redirects their gates to the gospel and reminds them of the richness that is the gift of salvation.

This book is broken up into two sections. The first three chapters remind us of our identity in Christ.

Chapters 4 through 6 give us practical takeaways for how the gospel applies to our everyday life.

In Ephesians 1, Paul emphasizes the abundance found in grace and mercy offered through Jesus.

And don't forget, Paul was in his first Roman imprisonment as he penned Ephesians. Yet, Paul describes over and over again just how amazing it is that we are called sons and daughters of God.

Take a moment to think about that. While in prison, likely beaten and dirty and starved, Paul gushes over the abundant grace that the gospel offers us.

In chapter 2, Paul makes sure that we are reminded that this gift does not come because we deserve it.

We were all at some point lost. We were all following the desires of our flesh. We were sheep without a shepherd.

The key words are found in verse 4, but God. He is rich and mercy. He loved us immensely. He saved us even while we cursed him.

Even while we disobeyed, by grace we have been saved through faith in his son Jesus.

At the end of chapter 2, Paul paints a picture for us, giving us insight into the mystery of God's plan. Why he would save us all?

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