Series: Ephesians: How to Walk God’s Trail
Text: Ephesians 1:7-14
Title: “You Are Redeemed”
Introduction
• Redeem—1. To obtain the release or restoration of, as from captivity, by paying a
ransom.
2. To discharge or fulfill a pledge or a promise.
I. The Payment (7a)
• “In Him we have redemption through His blood.”
o We are held in bondage because of our sin.
Romans 7:14 -- 14 For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin.
o However God paid the debt that we could have never paid off no matter how many “good lives” we were able to live.
o The payment that God made came in the form of Christ’s shed blood on Calvary.
o All those sacrifices of those innocent lambs in the OT were just pictures of what God was going to do.
John 1:29 -- 29 “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
o God had told us over 750 years before Jesus was even born that He would be the payment for our sins, so that we may be redeemed.
Isaiah 53:4-6 -- 4 Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
1 Peter 1:18-19 -- 18 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
II. The Release (7b)
• We are forgiven!!!
o Day of Atonement
o While this was only a temporary fix, Israel still looked forward to when God would totally remove them from their sins.
Micah 7:18-19 -- 18 Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity And passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in unchanging love. 19 He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot. Yes, You will cast all their sins Into the depths of the sea.
• But what happens when I continue to sin, that is the difference between redemption (once) and cleansing (as often as you need it).
John 13:9-10 -- 9 Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!” 10 Jesus said to him, “He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.”
1 John 1:9 -- 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
• Our Christian life is just like anything else; in order for it to keep working properly it must be maintained and cleaned.
• See our state of being forgiven is “according to the riches of His grace,” and again is given to us through faith alone.
III. The Restoration (8-10)
Vv. 8-9
• From the moment that Adam and Eve sinned God promised that He would restore that broken relationship; and kept making that promise in various ways.
Genesis 3:15 -- 15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”
Genesis 12:2-3 -- 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
2 Samuel 7:12-16 -- 12 “When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. 15 But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.”
• This is what Paul refers to as the “mystery of His will.”
o While God made the promises He never revealed exactly how He would carry out those promises.
o Until now, God has given those whom He has redeemed “wisdom and prudence” to understand this mystery.
Vs. 10
• When God said it was the right time all these promises were fulfilled in the birth, ministry, and death of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Colossians 1:26-27 -- 26 the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. 27 To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
• It is Christ that is the key that opens the doors of Heaven and allows the Kingdom to come to earth, but also us to enter in.
IV. The Promise (11-14)
Vv. 11-12
• “We have obtained an inheritance” what Paul is referring to are all those things that await for us in our Heavenly home in glory, but he speaks of it in the past tense like it has already happened.
o When God speaks of hope it is not in the sense of what might happen, but in what will happen.
Vs. 13
• We know this because we are “sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.”
o The Holy Spirit is a gift from God given to everyone who trusts in Jesus Christ.
Romans 8:9 -- 9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.
• The Holy Spirit marks us as being God’s possession, having God’s protection, and empowered with God’s authority.
o The royal seal of a king.
Romans 8:16 -- 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
Ephesians 3:16 -- 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man,
Vs. 14
• Guarantee – that word was used to describe a down payment or earnest money.
o In other words what we have received in Christ up to this point is just a taste, a glimpse of what is to come.
• “to the praise of His glory.”
• Have you been redeemed?
• Have you accepted the payment God made to ransom us from the bondage of our sins?
• Are you living a life that is released from the guilt of sin through the forgiveness of Christ?
• Do you have the promise of your inheritance, the seal of the Holy Spirit?
