Scripture: Ephesians 1:3-10
Intro
Who wants to be blessed this morning? The word “blessed” appears three times and the word “blessing” appears once in the opening verses of chapter one. We often think of the word blessed to mean “I’m getting something.” But blessings are not always physical things we can touch or hold. In fact, the most important blessings are spiritual.
The first time Paul says Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Here blessed means praise or commend. We can’t bless God by giving Him anything He doesn’t already have, but we can praise and glorify Him. That is blessing God.
Then Paul says God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing. Here, blessing means to bestow favor or give beneficial gifts. The blessing is a work of God. We are blessed in Christ. Any time a word is repeated in a passage it is worth noting. As we want to understand the original meaning of the passage, we see that blessing is the main idea.
If you have trusted Jesus Christ as your savior, then all of these blessings are yours as well. They define you. And they should greatly encourage you.
I don’t want to rush through this opening chapter of Ephesians because it is foundational for the rest of the message to the early church and to us today. This morning, we will see three ways God blesses us. They are all verbs – He chose us; He predestined us; and He lavished grace on us. Those are going to be our main points if you are taking notes. We will also see the trinity on full display as each person, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is deeply involved in our salvation.
Last week I encouraged our church to try to memorize this first chapter of Ephesians together. Did anyone work on the first verse this week?
Let’s say Eph 1:1 together.
READ Ephesians 1:3-10
He Chose Us
How do you feel about yourself today? Some of you maybe came in feeling a little down. Anyone? The weather and lack of sunshine can do that. The Christmas bills can bring us down. Maybe the year-end bonus was not there or not as good as the year before. You might feel underappreciated at work. Our relationships with family, coworkers, friends may not be what we want them to be, and we don’t feel loved or cared for. Maybe now that half of January is over, your Bible reading plan, daily devotions and prayer are not what you wanted them to be. You feel like you are letting God down.
God the Father blessed you in Christ the Son with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. While things here on planet earth may not be going exactly according to your plan, God has secured your righteousness, your position, and all the power and resources you need for spiritual growth and well-being.
God, the creator of the universe, calls himself your Father and chose you in Christ before the foundation of the world. He looked out over all creation and all time and chose you. You are loved with God’s eternal, never ending, unconditional, all forgiving, all saving love. How does that make you feel?
Our feelings spring out of our hearts. So you need to know, deep in your heart (your inner being), that you are loved by God.
Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”
When we are only looking at the things we can see and hear around us, and we lose sight of God and who we are in Him, we can get discouraged and worry. Jeremiah 17 says the person who trusts in the Lord is like a tree planted near the water. You will have a strong foundation in God and you will not worry or be anxious. You will thrive in the heat and hard times instead of withering and no longer producing fruit.
Why did God choose you? He didn’t choose you because you were better than everyone else. He chose you because He wanted to display His love and care for you. As Sean read for us earlier in Deut 6, God chose Israel because He loved them and covenanted to show His glory through them. It was not because they were the greatest people or nation. It wasn’t because they had the greatest wealth or power. God chose Abraham and made a covenant to bless him and the world through him. And God chose to love you and keep His promises to you.
- 4 says He chose you to be holy and blameless before Him. You were chosen to live a life set apart for His glory. Say 1 Cor 10:31 with me. Blameless is another way of saying righteous. Because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, God finds no sin on your account. You stand before Him in the dazzling white robe of Jesus’ own righteousness. Nothing you say or do will change that in God’s eyes. God sees you already seated in heaven with Jesus Christ. That is your eternal position, and even though you are not there yet, physically, God, who sees the past, present, and future envisions you there – and so you are there.
This is a great truth. This encouragement doesn’t make all of our day-to-day problems disappear, but it should greatly change your perspective. The way you see yourself, the people around you, the world. It means the trials you are facing will not last. Satan will not destroy you. God will not give up on you. He is always with you and His Word will continue to remind you of the blessings you already have and ones you look forward to.
“A God who chose you before time, when only he existed, will not leave you victim to the time and tides of life.” – R. Kent Hughes Ephesians—The Mystery of the Body of Christ (The Fact of Election (v. 4))
God’s blessings to us in the heavenly places remind us that our true citizenship is in heaven not earth. If you drive over the border to visit Niagara Falls or go up to Toronto, you are still a U.S. citizen with all the rights, privileges and protections that entails. You don’t stop being a US citizen. While you may enjoy the views or the authentic poutine, you are not a Canadian and you know you are headed home when the trip is over. This world is not our ultimate home. That’s waiting for us in heaven.
He Predestined Us
Verse 5 says “in love the Father predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ.”
This was one of the Ask the Pastor questions a few weeks ago. Predestined means predetermine or to decide on something beforehand. This same word appears six times in New Testament writings, in Acts 4, Romans 8, 1 Cor 2, and twice here in Ephesians 1. It is not a word made up by John Calvin or other theologians. We don’t have to be afraid of it or argue about it. It was already here in God’s Word.
God decided in advance to adopt men and women into His family to become his sons and daughters through Salvation in Jesus Christ.
Why? Because it is the purpose of His will. In other words, God wanted to do this, so He did.
Psalm 115:3 “Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.”
What about our will and our choice? That still exists. Romans 8:30 says those God predestined He also called. God in His sovereignty, sent someone to share the Gospel with you – to call you to repentance.
This is one of those deep doctrines that can be hard to fully understand. For me, it’s a matter of accepting what God has said even if I cannot wrap my head around it. I believe what God said is true and I am thankful that He predestined me to be part of His family.
Jesus helps us understand this duality of wills. God chose you to come to Him, and when you come Jesus will accept and save to the very end.
John 6:37 “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.”
And those who answer that call will be adopted into His family with all the rights and privileges of a son or daughter. In Bible times, a son was an heir of His father’s property and all his belongings. Romans 8:16 says as adopted children, we are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.
An adopted child takes the name of his new parents. He becomes part of the family and may over time sound like other members of his family. When we are adopted by God, we have God’s spirit living within us, and we actually become more and more like God the Son. We take on, not only his manner of speaking, but we begin to think, speak and act like Jesus. We are being conformed or molded into His very image and likeness.
God determined all of this before you were even born. He has always planned for you to be part of the family. Repenting of your sins, trusting Jesus as Savior is the answer to the call of the Gospel and it is like a great homecoming to a family you never knew you had. We will talk more about this later, but the church is where you meet your brothers and sisters in Christ. It is your spiritual home. What a blessing!
He Lavished Grace on Us
Verse 8 says God lavished grace on us.
Grace is God giving us something good we have done nothing to deserve. And lavish means to give in great abundance – more than enough. God is not stingy with blessings. Eph 3:20 says God is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think.
What are these blessings of God’s abundant grace?
Redemption through His blood. You sins have been paid in full. The blood of Jesus Christ bought you back from the prison of sin and death. Do you remember the example of Hosea buying his unfaithful wife, Gomer? That is what God has done for you. He paid the price for your freedom and He knows you were unable to pay that debt.
He forgives our sins past, present and future. At the time of salvation, all of your sins have been forgiven. Jesus paid it all according to His riches not ours.
Colossians 2:14 “by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.”
Verse 9 says God made known the mystery of His will. This means God lets believers in on His grand plan for all time. In His Word, the Bible, we have an over-arching story that tells of God’s perfect creation including people bearing His image, that were marred by sin, but He will send a Messiah, a Savior to redeem people separate from Him by sin, and he will again unite all things in heaven and earth together again, restored to perfection through His Son, Jesus Christ.
When we are stressed about the big problems in our own lives, with our children or families or worried about our nation and global issues, we can find peace and comfort knowing that God has a master plan including us, and nothing will keep that from being carried out to its perfect end.
God plan includes you! Isn’t that amazing? He wants to see you come to know His Son as Savior and He wants to see you become more like Jesus – being remade in His image just as we were meant to be. And He wants us to share this with the world, bringing His glory to ends of the earth.
In R. Kent Hughes commentary on Ephesians, he points out that Paul celebrates our spiritual blessings in a very specific order – starting with the past selection, sanctification, adoption, and praise, then our present redemption, forgiveness, grace, and spiritual discernment, and ending with the future as everything will be brought together under Christ for all eternity.
Take Aways
Do you struggle with your identity? Worrying that you are not being the best son or daughter? You’re not measuring up as a star employee? Comparing yourself to others on social media and feeling like you’re just not enough? If you have been called by God and you have responded in repentance and faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior – then your identity is firm and secure as a daughter or son of God. Chosen by God before time. Predestined to be adopted into His family. Lavished in the grace of redemption, forgiveness, and an inheritance in heaven. Thank God for His blessings right now, and ask Him to remind you when you are struggling and feeling weak.
If you haven’t trusted in Christ as your Savior, what’s stopping you? Just like everyone else in this room, you a sinner and you can’t save yourself. We can only be redeemed and saved by the blood of Jesus Christ. Come talk to me afterwards if you are ready to be adopted into God’s family.
Our response to God’s blessings is to live holy and blameless before Him. Is your life different? Are you set apart from the world so you can serve Him and be a light to others? What needs to change for you to be holy and blameless?
We need a fresh awareness of the Gospel and all that God has done for us. We need to be reminded of who we are in Christ. Daily, we need to be listening to the voice of God as He speaks to us through His Word.
You are blessed by God your Father in Christ Jesus the Son. And the Spirit of God is alive and at work in you to bring glory to Him and shine His light for others to see.
Benediction
“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.”
Numbers 6:24–26
