Ephesians 1 - Blessings in Him

Paul starts his letter to the Ephesians by telling them of the many ways God lavishes blessings on his followers. 
                             
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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:53

Johnny was a lazy man. He thought that gambling would be a great way to make quick and easy money without much work. He went to the horse racetrack and he decided he'd drive betting on horses. He thought he knew horses. He went down to the stables, he looked over the horses, but every horse he picked failed to win. Some of them were close, but a lot of them weren't anywhere close to being close. He was losing big time, but while down at the stables, Johnny happened to notice there was a priest who was going around and making the sign of the cross over a horse. And then there would be a race, and that horse would go out there and would win. Johnny had a light bulb go off over his head. He observed it for five races in a row, and each time the horse that the priest made the sign of the cross over, that horse won. Johnny knew what to do now. He watched closely for the priest to make the sign of the cross on the next horse, and he saw that, and he ran as fast as he could and bet all of his money on that next horse. Then Johnny ran back to watch the race, and in great anticipation of winning, he was so happy it was a long shot. If he won, Johnny could make up all the money he lost and he'd be rich. The horses lined up, the bell sounded, the gates opened. The horse said, Johnny saw the priest do the sign of the cross over, took two giant steps out of the out of the gate, and fell over dead. Johnny couldn't believe it. He'd bet everything. No way. Every horse priest had blessed all the horses, they won. Johnny rushed over to the priest. He told him, I place all my money on that horse that you just blessed, and now that horse didn't win. It died. Priest responded, You silly Protestants. All the other horses of the priest I did, you don't know the difference between a blessing and last rites. You're right, I wouldn't know the difference. Oh man. Paul begins Ephesians 1 by stating who he is, who he's writing to, and then after this quick greeting of grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, then Paul makes a huge statement. 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 Jesus. And for the next several verses, Paul deals with these wonderful, amazing blessings that we have in Christ. And today as we start this book of Ephesians, which is no longer a part of the law, no longer loss, no longer failures, but now we have these great blessings. I want to start as we look at the book of Ephesians, chapter 1. I really want to focus in on verses 3 through 14, these abundant blessings that we have in Christ. But first, let's pray. Lord, I thank you for your love. I thank you for your blessings, and I ask, Lord, that you would help us to truly serve you and to realize how great the blessings are that you have given to us. Thank you, Lord, for being such a wondrous, awesome God in Jesus' name. Amen. Some of you have probably looked in your bulletins and you found the notice and you go the outline and you're going like uh this is longer than usual. It's not three or four points, it's a whole bunch. And if I preach 25 minutes from three points, what will today's be like with seven main points? Well, uh, front and back of the outline. I'm still going to try to get in there, but it might be a little bit longer, but not much longer. I didn't want to skip any of these great blessings that we have been given in Christ as we look at chapter 1. So bear with me. First of all, verse 3, which I just read. We have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. And there we go, it came on finally. I know there are many preachers who preach that if you just know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you were going to be wealthy and healthy. And for those who God blesses that way, praise the Lord. But did you notice that Paul wasn't writing about being blessed with multiple mansions and multiple vehicles and huge bank accounts and the latest and greatest fun, toys, and the best of health. In fact, Paul was saying that we ought to be praising God because we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing. He's going to elaborate upon these spiritual blessings in the following verses. Things like we have been chosen, we have been predestined to adoption, we have been given redemption, we have made, he has made known to us the mystery of his will, that we may obtain an inheritance, that we have been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. But he's talking about all these spiritual blessings, but he's not talking about physical blessings of wealth and health and power. Yes, God did bless some people like Job and Abraham and King David and King Solomon with great wealth, great power, great prestige. But there were other people, like Lazarus in the story of the rich man and Lazarus. Remember him? He was a beggar sitting at the feet trying to get crumbs at the table of a rich man. Or we also read about other people like Jesus himself, where the scripture says he didn't even have a place to lay down his head. He used a rock for a pillow. Not everybody gives physical and financial blessings, but Paul knew that Christians were given spiritual blessings up in the heavenly places. Many of the spiritual blessings we have been given are in the heavenly places. Our inheritance, our eternal inheritance, our eternal life, our changed body is going to be up in heaven. So let's look a bit closer at some of these blessings that Paul also lists here for the Christians in Ephesus as well as for us. Verse 4, we can read, just as he also chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before him in love. In other words, in him we have been chosen. I grew up in the church. I went to church every time the church doors were opened. I took Bible college classes on Ephesians. I read commentaries on Ephesians, but it wasn't until I was in ministry for several years before I noticed it says he chose us in him before the foundation of the world that it suddenly popped out to me, and I've never been able to get it out of my mind ever since. Before the foundation of the world, God's choosing of us was before the foundation of the world. It is before creation, it is before Adam and Eve. It is before he created this world and all the things in this world. God had already made a choice about choosing us. Therefore, his choosing is not based upon us, but it is in. It is through Jesus Christ. In other words, before God ever created the world and all the things in it, before God ever created mankind, Adam and Eve, before Adam and Eve ever chose to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, before they ever chose to disobey God and sin, God already had a plan to choose us, not because we would live faithful and holy and pure, but he chose us in Christ Jesus through Christ Jesus. He knew that every one of us would sin. And God was going to have to send his one and only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to this world to die for our sins, and yet God created us anyway. It's totally amazing. I went to the website for WD 40. Some of you may think I'm totally crazy. I am totally crazy. But I went on the website of WD40 trying to figure out how did they come up with their name? You know what it is? Water displacement, formula number 40. Do you realize they had a water displacement formula one and formula two and formula three and formula four and five? They went through 39 attempts that failed before they finally came up with the formula that worked. If you knew in advance that your first 39 attempts would be failures, wouldn't you just start with the 40th? I would if I could. God knew that you and I, we were gonna sin. That we would be failures. Yet God in his great love went ahead and created us, not just skipping over those of us who would fleshly fail. But he created us knowing that his son, Jesus Christ, would have to come to this world and die for you and I for our salvation. And even before the whole line of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, before the children of Israel, before Moses and the law, God had already chosen us, not based upon who we are, what line we were coming from, or anything like that, but he chose us in and through Jesus Christ, and he chose us to be holy and blameless before him in love. Jared preached on Galatians chapter 3 a few weeks back, and he pointed out how that the promise came before the law. And now we are living according to the new promises through Jesus. And we don't need to go back to the old law. If you remember that sermon, he had a picture of a specific vehicle up there on the screen. What vehicle was that? The pinto. Remember the pinto? Don't go back to the pinto. Why would you go back to the pinto instead of the Honda CRV? Why would you go back to the pinto? It's perfectly good. It only explodes once in a while. You know, why would you go back to the pinto? And God's initial plan, even before the foundation of the world, was that he was going to come so that we would go through Jesus, so we could become holy and blameless. Through Jesus in love. In fact, in verse 5, he goes on to teach us that in him we have been predestined to adoption. He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to himself, according to his kind intention of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, which he freely bestowed on us in the beloved. Just like the choosing, God predestined us to adoption through Jesus and not a bloodline. Yet the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had a very special relationship with God all throughout the Old Testament. But even in the Old Testament, even in the promise to Abraham, even in the promises to Israel, God was declaring that all the nations would be blessed through the singular seed of Abraham. Who is that singular seed of Abraham that blessed all the nations? Jesus. Jesus. All nations would be blessed through Jesus. All those who come to God through Jesus, his son, have been predestined, predetermined, even before the foundation of the world, that we would be adopted as sons and daughters of God. That was God's original plan for us, and God still has a plan for us. Anyone, anyone who would like to come to the Father and be blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places can come to him through Jesus. We can all be adopted as his children. We can all be able to run up to the Father, and his arms will be open to us, and he will welcome us. Every one of those blessings, though, is in him. In Jesus. In fact, we continue reading. Verse 7 points out that it is in Jesus. In him we have redemption. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he has lavished on us. Again, it is in Jesus, and especially through the blood of Jesus, we have this redemption. Pulling all of this together is very obvious that God, before the very foundation of the world, had an absolutely huge plan for us, that Jesus would shed his blood on a cross for us so that we could be chosen, we could be adopted in his family, we could be redeemed, we could be changed from being a sinner, no longer a sinner, to now being someone who was forgiven, pure and spotless by the blood of Christ. Jared preached on a few weeks back the law and the sacrifices commanded by the law. They were given to let us know what sin was and how the blood had to be shed for redemption. And God gave us the law to help us understand why Jesus had to shed his blood for us. God's plan all works together and is fulfilled in Jesus. And what Jesus did for us. We are redeemed, and this redemption by the blood of Jesus gives us the forgiveness of our sins, of our trespasses, of our transgressions, so we get the forgiveness of sins. And it is not Jesus and it is not Jesus and the commitment to keeping the law, but it is the blood of Jesus shed for us for our sins. And as Paul writes here, it's all according to his grace lavished on us. I don't know about everyone here, but I am thankful that when the Bible speaks about God's grace, it's not just given out sparingly. It's lavished, poured out abundantly, overflowing, like a fire hose. Years ago, back when Deborah and I lived up in Silets, Oregon, one time we came out of church. We looked back behind the church, there was a house, there was our house, then there was another house, and we were looking back there, and there was a fire starting from the backyard of the third house, well, our neighbors, and it was going into the trees and it was starting to go across the trees, and we saw this fire. So let's had a volunteer fire department. You know, we went ahead and called the fire department, but then we ran home and we grabbed our fire our garden hose and drug it as far as we could and was spraying the water, trying to keep the fire down somewhat, but it sure wasn't making anywhere close to the difference than when the fire department came with their fire truck and they got one of those great big hoses out. That fire was put out pretty quick. The garden hose seemed really inadequate. It might be adequate when you have a fire in a controlled pit. When you have a fire that is spreading through trees, it's pretty much worthless. And when you think about our lives and the sin we have, we don't need grace from a fire from a garden hose. We need grace from a fire hose. We need it lavished upon us. In Christ, in Christ, in him, we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. We have been chosen, we have been predestined to adoption, we have been redeemed. In him, we also have are able to know the mystery of his will. We have known the mystery of his will. Verse 9 states, He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His kind intention, which He purposed in Him. Verse 10, with a view to the administration suitable to the fullness of times, that is the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. Okay, if we now know what the mystery of his will is, what is the mystery of his will? Is it that all people, Jew and Gentile alike, are predestined to adoption and redemption through Jesus and his blood? That we can have forgiveness of sins? Well, that is part of it. But let's not forget what Paul also writes here, verses 9 and 10. One part of the mystery of his will, that it is according to his kind intention. In fact, this is the second time in this book so far that Paul has written about this. First time back in verse 5, where he wrote, according to the kind intention of his will. Now he again brings up his kind intention. I get really disgusted when I hear people tell me about how well they know the Bible. And you realize in the Bible, in the Old Testament, God was a mean, nasty, ogre God. He had no patience with people. Don't you realize he struck people down? You know, guy reaches up to steady the ark and he just strikes him down dead. Oh man, that guy is so mean and nasty in the Old Testament, but in the New Testament, God is a God of love and kindness. Hate to tell you, it's the same God. And the God in the Old Testament is a God of loving kindness, too. It's because of his kind intentions that he predestined before the foundation of the world that we could be saved through Jesus, that we could be adopted, become his children, that we would be chosen, that we would be redeemed. His very kind intention that we even have a close relationship with all of us, with Jesus. And we learn that especially from Ephesians 2, Lord willing. Next week, if we're still around, we get to hear from Ephesians 2, where Jesus makes us alive and Jesus makes us one in Christ. God has a kind intention for all of us. Hell was prepared for the devil and his angels. It does not say hell was prepared for you. It wasn't God's intention, his kind intention for any of us to go to the lake of fire. He has done everything he could to make sure we don't go there. It is only those who reject God and reject his son Jesus who are going to go to the lake of fire. God's kind intention is for our salvation. So we don't end up in the lake of fire called hell. God's kind intention is for our salvation, in and through Jesus. And that's why we keep going on in here, looking at these blessings, and we keep reading in Him, in Christ, through Christ. The mystery of God's will is that in all things, the summing up of all things in Christ. We don't get into heaven by living a great life. It's all in Christ, by his blood, by his grace, by his work that Jesus did for us. We are called to believe in Christ. We are called to confess our faith in Christ Jesus. We are called to be baptized into Christ Jesus. We are called to be crucified with Christ Jesus. We are called to walk in Christ. Did you notice it's in, with, through? Everything a Christian is to do is to be summed up in Christ. He's our example to follow. We are to live in him. Our all is all in him. And Paul continues on, verses 10 through 13, with these spiritual blessings in the heavenly places, that in him we have obtained an inheritance. Verses 10 and 11 here. In him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to his purpose, who works all things after the counsel of his will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of his glory. In him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. One part of the spiritual blessings in the heavenlies is the hope that we have in Christ. This world is not everything there is. I know there are some people who teach that this world is all there is, so eat, drink, and be merry, because tomorrow we die. In fact, that's a quote from the scripture. And if you read that quote and continue on, you know what the very next statement is from God? You fool. Tonight your soul is required of you. Because if we don't live for Jesus, if we don't surrender our all to Christ, if if we don't sum up all things in Christ, then our eternity is a horrible one. It's a place of torment. But in Christ, we have an inheritance and a place that He has gone to prepare for us, and we will have this eternal hope that can carry us through the worst of time. The Hebrew writer speaks about. How Jesus was able to endure the cross by looking ahead to the joy set before him. What do you suppose that joy was? That people would be saved by his blood and his sacrifice on the cross. And we are encouraged to keep our eyes focused in on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. We are encouraged to focus in on Jesus and our eternity because our hope is in Christ. Our inheritance that is in with Christ. And we can endure hardships and tribulations because of Christ. Our inheritance is the gospel of our salvation, our eternal salvation, our peace, our protection is found in Christ Jesus for all eternity. Jesus taught his disciples that in this world we will have tribulation. We will have persecution. People will even put us to death. But those who will endure to the end will be saved. We have an inheritance that nothing of this world can possibly separate us from the inheritance. He even tells us in Romans chapter 8: neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is, guess what it says? In Christ Jesus, our Lord. Again, it's in him. Always in Christ. And as verses 13 and 14 teach us, in him, you also, after listening to the message of the truth, the gospel of your salvation, having also believed, you were sealed in him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who was given as a pledge of our inheritance with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of his glory. In other words, right here, in him we have been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. Verse 13. In the book of Revelation, during the blowing of the seven trumpets, we find out that all those who have been had the seal of God, presumably the seal of the Holy Spirit, are protected when the locusts come out and they start stinging people. Being sealed with the Holy Spirit is absolutely important. In fact, when Paul wrote to the Romans, he said, if you don't have the Spirit, then you have no part of Christ. Peter preached on the day of Pentecost that any and all of us who would repent and be baptized in the name of Christ Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins would receive the gift, the seal of the Holy Spirit. Jesus himself taught that if I go away into heaven, I will send you the Spirit. This Holy Spirit is absolutely important to seal us as God's children. And for us, having the Holy Spirit in us lets us know that we have the pledge of our inheritance. He's like having our own signed copy of the will, showing that we will indeed receive an inheritance as promised. There is no need to worry that anyone might change the terms of the will because we have our own signed copy. The Holy Spirit. It has the terms of the will. We have that. Our pledge for our inheritance is sealed in Christ. The Holy Spirit seal is given with a view to the very fact that we will be redeemed, to redeem us as God's own possession. Anybody ever see the movie Toy Story? You can admit you watched it with your kids or your grandchildren. And did you see the movie Toy Story? Do you remember in the Toy Story? When you lifted up the foot? Had Andy's name right on there. Why? That was Andy's toy. They were his. And everyone can know for certain I belong to him. We belong to God. And as Paul finishes up this section, he says, this is all to the praise of his glory. Why? Because everything is summed up in Jesus. In him. Through him. Thus all the glory goes to him. We don't get the glory for living our lives so perfect. Because not one of us here lives our lives perfect. We didn't live perfect lives. We've all sinned. We've all done things wrong. Most of us, many sins. Over many years. But we have been redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. We have been blessed in him, in Christ. He has blessed us. So let's praise him and give him the glory that he deserves. Because truly, as we sang a little bit while a little while ago, I'm so blessed. Hallelujah. I'm blessed. He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Even my brother Billy figured it out from our songs. I'm so blessed. Must have something to do with the sermon. Yes, it does, Billy. Let's remember that. Let's close in prayer. Lord, we are blessed. Help us to realize that. But every blessing we have comes in Christ Jesus, through Christ Jesus, by the blood of Christ Jesus. Help us to realize these spiritual blessings in the heavenly places are all based on Him. Help us not to think that we've lived so pure and holy that we deserve them. Help us, Lord, to trust in you for all things. Thank you, Lord Jesus. In Jesus' name. Amen.