How God Sees Us Series

God’s Love: We are Rich and Famous

Ephesians 1:3-10

August 10, 2014

Last week we started looking at what it means for God to love us. We took a look at the words of Isaiah in chapter 30, when God told the Israelites He didn’t like what they were doing in trusting the Egyptians for protection. They should be trusting God, but they didn’t. Yet, inspite of God’s anger and disappointment, He promised that when the people finally turned back to Him, He would be there — ready and willing to listen to their prayers and to bless the people. That’s a great God, folks!

We may reject one another, but God will never do that to us. God will never, never fail us, He will not abandon us, He will not forsake us. God always holds out . . . waiting for us to return to Him, and that’s part of the amazing power and strength we gain through God.

Today, I want to build on that just a bit, and all of this really is a precursor for our series we do beginning September 7, when we start a 30 week series called Believe. It’s going to be great, because the goal is to look at what we believe and why we believe, and ultimately, for us to think, act and become more like Jesus. That’s the goal of the series. Well, today, I want to look at Ephesians 1:3-10. Ephesians was written by Paul and is found in the New Testament. Let’s look at God’s Word ~

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 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 (go beyond what’s expected)

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. — Ephesians 1:3-10

These are amazing words. In the Greek, this entire section, all the way through verse 14 — — was one sentence. It’s believed Paul was so excited about what he was writing that he didn’t really take a breath, but gave praise and glory to God for what He’s done for us.

Have you ever been so excited about something that you just start and you don’t even think of taking a breath, because your story is so great. That’s the image we have of Paul in this section of scripture. He was so excited about what he was saying, that it was one very long run on sentence.

If we take this passage slowly and really look at what Paul’s telling us about our relationship with God, we should be overwhelmed. We should realize how really wealthy we are. Do you remember that program, “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous?” With host Robin Leach? All those people who lived in such wealth and opulence - - - we are wealthier.

If you’re a sports fan, you know what happened to Paul George who plays basketball for the Indianapolis Pacers. Two weeks ago, he broke his leg, had surgery, and is expected to miss all of next season. To make himself feel better he bought this car. That’s a Ferarri 458 Spider. With modifications for his 6'9" body, the car cost him just under $400,000.

We can’t compare to that kind of wealth. But that car, and I’m not making a statement about Paul George’s faith, that car is not going to heal his spirit and his heart. In fact, he can’t even drive the car yet. And it won’t heal his leg, and really, it’s a pretty dangerous car. It goes from 0-62 in 3.3 seconds. I’m not sure where you can drive like that unless you own a racetrack. Plus, it only gets 17 mph on the highway, so who would want that car?

Now, listen to what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 8:9 ~ 9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became POOR, so that you by His poverty might become RICH.

Who would do that for you? Who would be rich in everything and give it all away, so they could become poor, and you would take on their richness? I don’t know anyone who’s willing to do that. We might give a few dollars to those in need, and that’s great. But are you willing to become poor, so I or anyone else here could become rich?