Count Your Blessings: Putting It All Together Series

Ephesians: Finding our Identity in Christ

Ephesians 1:11-14 (Part 4)

Putting it All Together

Pastor Jefferson M. Williams

2-22–2026

I hope you have enjoyed watching the Olympics these past weeks. We have seen multiple born-again Christians give glory to God, whether they won gold medals or not.

The women’s Olympic hockey team won the gold in their overtime victory over Canada.

One of their young stars is named Joy Dunne. After the game, this is what she said to reporters:

“At the end of the day, I’m just a girl that loves Jesus and happens to play hockey. My identity is in Him, not in the game.”

Can you say that as well? That your identity is in Jesus, not your bank account, or accomplishments, or family, or relationships?

Counting our Blessings

Over these past few weeks, we have been counting our blessings that are found in Ephesians 1.

So far, we have learned that in Christ, we have been

blessed with every spiritual blessing

Chosen before the foundation of the world

Predestined to adoption as children and heirs of God

Loved extravagantly and unconditionally

Redeemed by his blood

Forgiven of our sins

Lavished with amazing grace

Given wisdom and insight to understand God’s plans

An inheritance that will never perish

The ability to understand and respond to the Gospel

Professor and pastor Jason DeRoucie puts it this way:

“One evidence that you are redeemed is that you have personally experienced God’s curse-overcoming, universe-reconciling work in Jesus. You’ve seen that Christ is King; you’ve embraced that he is the only Savior; you’ve repented of your sins, have surrendered to him as Lord, and have joyfully affirmed that you are now part of his mission of reconciling the world to God.”

Is this you? Do you understand that you were hopeless, helpless and hell bound but God, in His amazing grace, saved you, rescued you, chose you, adopted you, and redeemed you?

I picture the pastor at the Ephesus reading this letter to the congregation. Can you imagine the tears? The loud amens?

Maybe he even had to stop reading to wipe tears away. Or maybe they just broke into spontaneous praises and worship for what God had done for them?

This morning, we are going to finish this section with the greatest blessing of them all:

The promised Holy Spirit as a seal and guarantee of our inheritance

Please turn with me to Ephesians 1.

Who the Holy Spirit Isn’t!

I want to take some time this morning and really try to help you understand who the Holy Spirit is. Oftentimes, especially in more conservative churches, He does get enough press and that’s why Francis Chan calls Him the “Forgotten God.”

Let’s start with what the Holy Spirit isn’t.

The Holy Spirit is not an “it.” The Holy Spirit is always portrayed as a “Person” in Scripture and is assigned a masculine personal pronoun, “He.”

The Holy Spirit is not a ghost. When the King James Version was written, the words “ghost” and “spirit” were interchangeable. In our day of ghost hunters and ghost movies that even scare adults, using the word “ghost” is not the best term to use, especially with children. The Holy Spirit is not Casper.

Also, my generation and the generations after me, have been affected, consciously or otherwise, by the teachings of a little green Jedi knight named Yoda.

The Holy Spirit is not a “force.” Actually, this is very close to what Jehovah’s Witnesses teach. The Holy Spirit is not something to be controlled (“use the force, Luke) and He does not have a “dark side.”

If the Holy Spirit is not an “it,” a “ghost,” or a “force,” just who is He?

Who is that Masked Man?

He is God

The Bible clearly teaches that the Holy Spirit is God, the third Person of the Trinity. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are equally God in power and authority. The Holy Spirit is God’s presence on earth.

We see this in Peter’s quest to Ananias:

“Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.” (Acts 5:3-4)

2. He is holy and eternal.

Paul writes in Romans that Jesus, through the “Spirit of Holiness,” was “declared with power to be the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead.” (Romans 1:4)

The writer of Hebrews tell us that the Holy Spirit is eternal:

How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!” (Hebrews 9:14)