Blessed With Every Blessing Series

Blessed with Every Blessing

Ephesians 1:1-14

Rev. Brian Bill

January 6-7, 2024

Last week, we were blessed to be with our entire family in Virginia. It was a blast to be with our four daughters and their husbands, along with our seven grandchildren.

Each morning, I got up early and went for a run (OK, it was more like a trot) in a vain attempt to counteract all the Christmas cookies I ate. One morning, I ran past a mailbox that was so full, that a number of bills and letters had fallen to the ground. I didn’t pay much attention the first time I ran past, but when I circled back a short time later, I stopped and looked more closely at some of the correspondence strewn on the ground. One said, “Open immediately.” Another was marked, “Personal and confidential.” I decided to gather up all the rogue mail and carefully placed everything back in the mailbox.

As we begin the New Year, God has addressed a letter for us to open and comprehend. Please turn in the New Testament to Ephesians. This letter is inspired by the Holy Spirit and written by Paul, addressed to the Ephesian believers. This correspondence is so powerful and personal that you will not want to let any part of it fall to the ground.

Let’s begin by reading the first part of chapter one together.

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. 11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

I won’t take much time giving the background to the church at Ephesus now but if you’d like this information, go to our website, and listen to the On Mission sermon series from the Book of Acts from September 2021. Or you could read Acts 19.

Suffice it say, Paul was in prison when he wrote this letter to a church he had taught and discipled for three years. Ephesus is located in what we know as Turkey today. One reason I was drawn to this letter for Edgewood is because of the emphasis upon Christ, the church, and the Christian.

Charles Spurgeon said this about Ephesians: “Whosoever would see Christianity in one treatise, let him read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the Epistle to the Ephesians.” Kent Hughes adds, “Ephesians – carefully, reverently, prayerfully considered – will change our lives. It is not so much a question of what we will do with the epistle, but what it will do with us.” Here’s an assignment right at the beginning: read through the entire Book of Ephesians at least once a week between now and Easter.

In many of Paul’s letters, he addressed a specific sin issue or a problem that was affecting a church’s unity and mission. This meme captures it well, “If Paul saw the church in America today, we’d be getting a letter.” I came across this creative slide from a pastor which summarizes Paul’s common greeting to a church: “Grace. I thank God for you. Hold fast to the gospel. For the love of everything holy, stop being stupid. Timothy says hi.”

In Ephesians, we see how passionate Paul is about the gospel and the glory of God. He is so enthralled that He heaps blessings upon blessing, forgetting all about rules of grammar and proper sentence length because verses 3-14 is one long sentence in Greek.