Who am I in God?
Ephesians 1:1-14
Too often we get our self-esteem and self value from other people. We get the picture of "who we are supposed to be" from society and from the media. Then we compare ourselves with others to see if we’ve "made it". We’re told that if we don’t do this, wear that, go there, drink this (etc.) then we are a wimp, ugly, weak, unfulfilled (etc.) And we believe this stuff!!
No wonder it’s so hard for people to be Christians these days - they’re bombarded with so much TRASH. It’s tough too, because this ‘trash’ is so appealing. Each one of us are targets. "If you don’t own a brick and tile house in a nice part of town and still have enough time to take out the four wheel drive at the weekend then you haven’t made it".
In other words, our personal value can only be expressed in the things we have or do. And as Christians, we are not immune to that way of thinking and acting.
And so our reading this evening from Paul’s letters to the Ephesians is a direct counter to that way of thinking. It is intended to give us some understanding of the value that we have in our relationship with God. Our new relationship with God arising from the redeeming work and Jesus Christ.
We are Adopted
First of all we see that in our relationship with God we are Adopted. In v5 we see that in love, God destined us to be his sons. And of course in this politically correct age, his daughters as well. In Roman law, the act of adoption had much greater significance than we might imagine. This was no legal convenience or formality arranging guardianship. An adopted child or indeed adult was subjected to a legal process which had far reaching effects. There were four main consequences of this process of adoption. First, the adopted person lost all rights in his old family and gained all the rights of the legitimate son in his new family. And so in the most binding legal way, he got a new father. Secondly, it followed that he became heir to his new father’s estate. Sometimes, a young man might be adopted if his adoptive father had no children or heirs. However even if other children were afterwards born, it did not affect the adopted child rights. He was inalienably a co-heir with them. Thirdly, in law the old life of the adopted person was completely wiped out. For instance, all debts were cancelled. He was regarded as a new person entering into a new life with which the past had nothing to do. Fourthly in the eyes of the law, the adopted child was considered absolutely the son of his new father. So for example the adopted child could not marry a daughter of his adopted father except by special legislation.
You will see quite clearly what Paul is trying to say. As Christians we are adopted into God’s family. This is no comforting phrase or mere analogy. But we really do gain a new father, we really do become co-heirs with Christ, we really do have our old life and our old debts cancelled and we really are absolutely the children of God. We are truly adopted as God’s children in a total and real way.
We are blessed
Secondly we see that in our new relationship with God we are blessed. In v3 we see that God has “blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places”. Just think about that! Every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places is a blessing for us.
Now the word blessing can have several strands of meaning. So it can mean to make something Blessed, and so that in the course of and as a result of the blessing the person becomes consecrated to God. It can also mean to cause to prosper. It can also mean to make happy. But this happiness is a special kind of happiness. The English word happiness is to some extent a creature of chance. The word hap means a chance and so in English the word happiness has an essence of something dependent on the vagaries of life which may come and may go. It’s a bit like good luck. But the Christian blessing and blessedness is not subject to those kinds of vicissitudes. It is that joy unspeakable. It is that joy which is deep, serene, which is untouchable, which is self-contained, which is completely independent of the changes and chances of life. The Beatitudes speak of that joy, that blessedness which seeks us and carries us through pain and sorrow and loss. ….And all those circumstances of life are unable to touch that joy, that blessedness, which is constant which is unchanging. And so the Christian has a blessing from God which is not here today and gone tomorrow but it is consistent it is permanent and it comes from God himself.
We are chosen
Thirdly we see that in our relationship with God we are chosen by God. In verse 4 we read that ’God chose us in him (that is in Christ) before the foundation of the world’. Now you may be relieved to know that I do not intend to get involved in a major discussion about the balance between God’s choosing us and our choosing him. In theological terms, the balance between election and predestination, and free will. That is the subject of an entire sermon on its own. However we do need to try and get our heads around what it means to be chosen. Our God, if he is to be God, must be all-knowing, all powerful, and must have a divine purpose. Calvin, the great theologian of predestination puts it in this way. ’Predestination we call the eternal decree of God, by which he has determined in himself , what he would have to become of every individual of mankind.’ For us, as we consider what it means to be in God, this speaks of the amazing facts of God’s timeless involvement in our lives. It speaks of the sovereignty of God in our lives and the sovereignty of God in a world that would try to deny it.
If we read around this topic and look at other references to Gods choosing, we see for example in Corinthians 1:27-30 that God chose particular kinds of people to be in the church. He did not just choose the church and leave its composition to man. He chose foolish individuals and called them into Christ. He chose some weak individuals and called them into Christ. He chose some low and despised individuals and called them into Christ. So that no one might boast in anyone but the Lord. And then to make this crystal clear he said in verse 30 NIV: "It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus." In other words, it is just as though Paul knew that someone would come along some day and say that God does not choose who is in Christ, but only chooses Christ and any who put themselves in Christ. So he says, in verses 27-29 that God chose the individuals who would make up the church in Christ. And he says in verse 30 that it is by God’s doing that they are put in Christ.
The glorious, unshakable, objective foundation of your being a Christian is that God chose you to be one. God put you in Christ. So I say with Paul (in verse 26) "Consider your calling!" Consider how you came to be in Christ! Think about it. It will take all boasting off of man and put it all on God. So verse 31 ends the section: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord." This is the boast of assurance. - seeing that it’s all of God, and feeling a tremendous peace and confidence and courage and strength and love well up inside to keep us going in the face any opposition. Because "who can bring any charge against God’s elect!" (Rom. 8:33).
James (2:5) teaches the very same thing from a slightly different angle: God chose the poor to come to faith and be in the church, so be careful that you not discriminate against him.
Here again God has chosen not an undefined mass of people, but particular poor individuals to be rich in faith and to be treated a certain way. The personal, individual nature of election has very practical consequences. If God has chosen to bring the poor into Christ, don’t dishonor them!
So I come back to Ephesians 1:4, "God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world." Before the creation of the universe God thought of me. He fixed his gaze on me and chose me for himself. He did not choose me because I was already in Christ of my own doing, but that I might be in Christ. He did not choose me because he saw me as a believer, but so that I might become a believer. He did not choose me because I chose him, but so that I might choose him. He did not choose me because I was holy or good but so that I might become holy and good.
Everything I am and all I hope to be is rooted in God’s freely choosing me. My faith, my hope, my work are not the ground of electing grace but only its effect. And so there is no ground for boasting except in God. And in the face of fear and loss of assurance and all my own defect, I speak this word of trust: "Who shall bring any charge against the Lord’s elect!" (Romans 8:33).
We are destined
Fourthly, we see that we are destined. There is a purpose to our adoption, our blessing, our choosing. V5 ‘He destined us… to the praise of his glorious grace’. V12 ‘we ….have been destined and appointed to live for the praise of his glory’.
We were not made to live without a destiny. We were made to be sustained by a meaningful, purposeful future. We were made to be strengthened each day by this assurance, this confidence: that what is happening in our lives today, no matter how mundane and ordinary is a really significant step toward something great and good and beautiful tomorrow.
We were made to be sustained by a purposeful future. We were made to live in the assurance of a significant destiny.
I use the word destiny simply to connect this tremendous cry of the human heart with the word predestination in today’s text, Ephesians 1:5.
First, let’s focus our attention on the goal of our destiny. What are we destined for?
Verse 5 gives part of the answer: "God predestined us for sonship." Our destiny from before the creation of the world was to become the children of God.
When God chose you, he had a purpose, and so he predestined that purpose to come about, namely that you would become a child of God. That you would be part of his family. That you would become an heir of all that God owns. That you would take on the family likeness.
Your destiny to be God’s children is mentioned in verse 5: "He predestined us unto sonship." And one meaning of that, the family likeness, is mentioned at the end of verse 4: "He chose us in him before the foundation of the world (Why? For what destiny?) that we should be holy and blameless before him in love." That’s the practical content of our destiny as God’s children. We are destined to take on the character of God our Father, the character of holiness and blamelessness. That’s our destiny.
But that’s not your highest destiny. Your highest destiny is described in verse 6. Why has God predestined us to sonship and holiness and blamelessness and love? Verse 6: "To the praise of the glory of his grace." Our holiness and our blamelessness and our love and our sonship are not ends in themselves. They exist for something greater: the praise of the glory of God’s grace.
The ultimate goal of God in election and predestination is that God might be praised for his glory. And the highest point of that glory is grace. This is the final goal of our destiny. There is no higher hope, no greater tomorrow, no more meaningful future, no more worthy cause to live for, than to reflect and praise the glory of God’s grace for ever and ever.
Our existence in God is Eternal
Finally, we see that our being, our existence, in God is Eternal. It is not here today and gone tomorrow. For we see in v 4 that God chose us ‘before the foundation of the world’. Before the beginning of time. And we see in v 10 that this relationship with God is part of ‘a plan for the fullness of time’. This phrase, the fullness of time, is talking about the completion of Gods plans. And that completion is made when all things in heaven and on earth are united in Christ. This speaks in shorthand of the time when Christ returns again in glory and his eternal kingdom is established.
We live in an age in a culture which is largely purposeless. In our nihilistic and postmodern society, there is much that spreads the message that the world is meaningless, much that is mindless. A song by Robbie Williams, called Millennium has these words:
Run around in circles
live in solitude
Live for liposuction
and detox for your rent
overdose at Christmas
and give it up for lent
my friends are all so cynical
they refuse to keep the faith
we all enjoy the madness
cos we know we are going to fade away.
We live in culture, a society, that underneath the smile, believes that life is pointless, is purposeless, and mindless.
The great news is that it doesn’t have to be that way. For as Christians, our understanding is completely different. In God, we are truly adopted in a total and absolute sense to be his children.
In God, we are blessed beyond our ability to comprehend.
In God, we have been chosen in love.
In God, we have a purpose to our lives.
In God, we are part of his eternal plan.
May it be that our experience of this changes our lives and changes the lives of those around us.
