Bible Study: One Verse, Multiple Revelations

Today we are going to do something pretty similar to the past couple weeks, by doing something different once again.

I don’t think I’m even going to write much today. It will be more like a showcase of the power of the Holy Spirit, and how it works in different people to draw out different experiences, stories and interpretations.

Let’s get started.

Ephesians 1:7

7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace

Take some time to read it.

Then read it again.

Just one more time.

Now what do you think?

What has the Spirit revealed to you?

Now read it again?

Anything new.

One verse, but there’s an unlimited amount of revelation which could come from it. Ask a group of people and you should hear a range of responses. In fact, I’ll give some examples of how a single verse, and the Holy Spirit, can trigger memories, and birth revelations.

Ephesians 1:7, what did you get from it?

D C MacCasland said:

“Last year I visited Niagara Falls for the first time and was awed by the sight and sound and overpowering sense of it all. Every minute, about 200,000 tons of water plunge into the Niagara River gorge in a thunderous ovation to the lavish, generous nature of God.

The Lord could have used a lot less water, but He didn’t. He could have made the falls lower, but He built them 12 stories high. And because they are what they are from the creative hand of God, people come from all over the world to see Niagara Falls.

What a picture of God’s grace in Jesus Christ! “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence” (Eph. 1:7, 8). The Greek word translated “abound” means “an exceeding measure, something above the ordinary.” God’s grace toward us is not squeezed out from an eye-dropper or carefully rationed like water during a drought. His grace is a Niagara of superabundance so lavish that we marvel at its display.

Today, as you approach God to “find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16), remember how much there is–grace beyond measure.”

That’s just one revelation. Trust me, there’s more.

J D Branon remarked,

“Can you think of anything too hard for God to do? Put yourself in the shoes of a fellow Christian who has committed a sin so awful that the person simply cannot imagine that God would forgive it. Think about what he or she considers to be impossible for God.

In an article on forgiveness, Pastor Charles Stanley wrote about talking to a teenager who was having a hard time believing that God could forgive her sexual sins. She told him she was a Christian and had asked Jesus many times to forgive her. Even though she knew the Bible says God had forgiven her, she still felt dirty in her heart.

This teenager thought she had found something that was too hard for God to do—forgive her. When we tell ourselves that our sin is so bad God won’t forgive us, we are doubting His power. We are robbing ourselves of the great gifts of a clear conscience and fellowship with God (1 John 1:5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10).

Does guilt for sin have its icy hands around your heart? Is it strangling your joy and making you forget that God’s forgiveness is not based on what you do but on what Christ has done? Ask for His forgiveness. Then thank Him for it, and moment by moment remind yourself of the wonder of God’s grace.”

I’ll end with this post with one from Vernon C Grounds:

“A missionary in West Africa was trying to convey the meaning of the word redeem in the Bambara language. So he asked his African assistant to express it in his native tongue. “We say,” the assistant replied, “that God took our heads out.” “But how does that explain redemption?” the perplexed missionary asked.

The man told him that many years ago some of his ancestors had been captured by slave-traders, chained together, and driven to the seacoast. Each of the prisoners had a heavy iron collar around his neck. As the slaves passed through a village, a chief might notice a friend of his among the captives and offer to pay the slave-traders in gold, ivory, silver, or brass. The prisoner would be redeemed by the payment. His head then would be taken out of his iron collar.

What an unusual and graphic illustration of the word redeem! Ephesians 1:7 states, “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.” Jesus died on the cross to purchase our freedom from the bondage of sin.

Have you put your trust in Jesus as your Redeemer? Let Him take your head out of the enslaving collar of sin and set you free.”

This was largely to encourage you to study the word and to show you that when you allow the Holy Spirit to move, it can draw out plenty of revelations from just one verse. Let’s not fall into the trap of thinking we have completed the Bible, or even a book, or even just a single verse. There is always more to learn and more which can be revealed to us.

My Sunday Skl