Preface: Today, I will be starting a sermon series on Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. I’ve entitled it, Highlights from Ephesians, and it is what I term a “broad-stroke” series. As the implies it is not verse-by verse but rather a look a some of the most significant verses from each chapter.
One scholar has referred to this letter as “The quintessence of Paulinism” and, regarding the first three chapters, The profoundest thing ever written”.
Let me set the background for you. The letter was written by Paul while in prison in Rome about 63 AD. He is writing to believers in Ephesus, which was the capital of the Roman providence and an important commercial city in what is now modern day Turkey.
It was also a center for pagan worship. There was a large and beautiful temple to the goddess Diana, considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World. In Acts 18:18 through 19:40 we have recorded Paul’s visits to Ephesus. During his third journey he stayed 2 years. During that time Paul had an encounter with Demetrius the silversmith. Making silver idols of the goddess was a profitable business. But, it seems that Paul’s preaching of the gospel message, that salvation was in Christ alone, was bad for business. In Acts 19:26 we read, “Moreover you see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but throughout almost all Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods.” Paul was definite. He did not think it was all right to worship other gods or that there were many roads to heaven. For Paul believed the words which Jesus spoke, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one come to the Father except through me.” Jn. 14:6. For Paul there was but one way, there was but one name, and it was not Diana. That name was JESUS!
As was typical of Paul’s writing, this letter can be divided into two sections. The first, up to Chapter 3:21 is mainly doctrinal in which Paul seeks to remind the believers of the tremendous blessings of God’s grace. The second section deals with the practical outworking, the “So what” results. It was typical of Paul to first address orthodoxy (right belief) and then orthopraxy (right living) which should flow from that belief. So let us begin our journey together.
Introduction: When the planning is done right, you remain unaware. Oh, you may notice the family acting a little stranger that usual. People rush to the phone just before you pick it up. (Although, if you have teenagers that may not seem strange at all and it’s usually not for you anyway.) People seem to leave you alone more. But considering all the work you have to do that may be appreciated.
Then one day you head out to dinner with the family for a distant Aunt’s retirement which your wife claims you can’t miss. But because there was a “problem” with the reservations you end up at some unfamiliar destination. And as you walk in with a perplexed look on your face, still trying to picture who this aunt is, you are suddenly surrounded by an army of family and friends shouting, “SURPRISE!” And with shock and gladness you remember it’s your birthday!
And as you catch you breath and make the rounds greeting and kissing everyone, you even find that your best friend has flown in from Bora-Bora for the occasion.
As the impact of the evening settles in, as you look over the people and gifts you feel compelled to seek out your spouse, the one who orchestrated the whole thing. Suddenly the crowd parts, like the Red Sea, and you see her or him, and with misty eyes you hug her for all their hard work, secrecy, and planning and say, “Thanks so much!” And your spouse in return says, “I love you so, I wanted to do something special”. Yes, one of the most pleasant experiences is that of a surprise party that is truly a surprise.
In light of reading Chapter one, I want you to realize, if you trust Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you have experienced being SURPRISED BY GRACE!
You see, one day you stood as an alien to the Kingdom of God, and the next day you were a citizen! You were surprised by grace!
One day you stood as an orphan, the next day you were an adopted child of the King! You were surprised by grace!
One day you stood as an enemy of the cross of Christ, the next you were beloved in Christ! Surprised by grace!
The day the Holy Spirit lead you to faith in Christ was your surprise “new birth” day and you were showered with new blessings and new relationships.
Paul understood and reveled in the sudden surprise of grace. He experienced it in his own dramatic conversion on the Damascus road and saw it first hand in new believers. In it all he saw the planning of the Sovereign God. That’s what sets the tone for this wonderful declaration starting at verse 3 with “Blessed”. It is the Greek word, eulogetos, or eulogy, a giving thanks for someone, in this case, God the Father.
Let’s notice three points in this chapter.
Being surprised by grace is to be surprised by God’s planning. v.4-6; 11-12 (read)
Paul, in joyful exuberance, immediately takes us to the highest pinnacle of theological thought. He takes us back, back before the Creation itself, back to the very mind and will of the Father. Notice;
God’s planning began in Himself.
The very concept that, “In the beginning God...” (Gen 1:1) is staggering. Before Creation there was nothing but God. And He sat in that ‘Holy solitude’, eternally existing in Tri-unity, Father, Son and Spirit. As such He was complete, enjoying eternal community with The Son and The Spirit, in need of nothing. But God chose to create out of His own will. And, as stated here, He also chose us in Christ before anything existed! He foreordained that we should become His sons and daughters.
God foreknows because He had foreordained.
This choosing, or election, has its root in God’s sovereign will and good pleasure and not in His foreknowledge. If it were foreknowledge, then something would be happening outside of God, something of which He only had an advantage of knowing beforehand rather than the one who plans, and this cannot be. In Isa. 46:11 we are reminded of God’s words, “What I have said, that will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do.”
No one, no thing, can frustrate the plan of God. And the astonishing thing is that this gracious planning FOR YOU, started before the foundations of the world! Believers can often look back at certain incidents and people that were instrumental in leading them to Christ and they marvel how that came about. Our loving heavenly Father had planned all those countless details and encounters. What a comfort to hear the Lord’s word in Jer. 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
It is not Paul’s intent to launch out into a theological discussion but he is just overwhelmed by the magnitude of the blessing that is that planning on our behalf. Likewise, we should be profoundly struck by the fact that we, who name Christ as our Savior, should recognize that God has always been at work, most often secretly, planning the details over the eons to, one day, surprise us with His grace.
God’s planning was rooted in love.
Verse 5 shows us that, ‘He destined us in love”. The Christian doctrine of predestination is far removed from the secular concept of FATE as the East is from the West. The worldly idea of Fate is as an inevitable, cold program of events. But the Bible always shows us that God’s plan for His children is rooted in personal love. A warm, gracious Father is the author and planner of our salvation. He is the one who sees, hears, feels and, within the fulness of time, intervenes to bring about His purpose.
And what was God’s purpose in predestinating us? He had planned to adopt us as children, “in the Beloved”. As adopted children we become joint heirs with Christ, holy and blameless because, through faith, we now wear the robes of Christ’ righteousness! Now every spiritual blessing is ours in Christ!
R.W. Dale, in his commentary wrote, “Christ dwells forever in the infinite love of God, and as we are in Christ, the love of God for Christ is in a wonderful manner ours!”
But there is more to this surprise;
2. Being surprised by grace is to be surprised by God’s “Gifts”. v.7-10 (read)
When my brother, who is in the Catholic Order of Irish Christian Brothers, was relocated from his position as Principle of a large High School in Harlem, the Trustees and parents threw him a ‘retirement’ party. They rented out a hall high above Manhattan and many ‘well-to-do’ bankers and professionals expressed their appreciation and gratitude for his years of service by giving him many expensive gifts such as a new car, a trip to Ireland and free golf lessons from a pro to name a few. (I always joke with him that maybe I should have taken the vow of poverty.)
But there is a hugh difference between gifts given because of what one has done, and the blessings that God gives when we don’t deserve them. That is what grace is, unmerited favor. As verse 6 reminds us, all the blessings that are ours in Christ have been “freely bestowed”. When surprised by grace, it’s as if God hands out ‘gifts’ to us. Notice some of the gifts we receive through faith in Christ;
We receive redemption.
The text reads, ‘We have’, and the tense is continuous and could be read, “We have and are still having redemption.” It’s a never-ending gift. The whole course of God’s revelation to us shows us that He is a ‘Redeeming God’. Redemption means to ‘Set free’ or ‘Release from an owner’. Israel was a redeemed people, first from Egypt then Babylon. And everyone who is in Christ has been set free from slavery in the kingdom of
Darkness and made children in the Kingdom of Light. For this purpose Christ came. As Mt. 20:28 states, he came, “... to give his life a ransom for many.” And this redemption, which is a gift to us, cost more than any gift - because it was, “through his blood”. It cost Christ his life that you might have the gift of eternal life with him in glory.
Because of his shed blood, the next ‘gift’ to unwrap is,
Forgiveness of sins.
Christ loved us enough to be our substitute, to take our sins upon Himself and pay the penalty so we might not have to, so that we can have forgiveness. When ‘surprised by grace’ God gives this ‘gift’ of forgiveness to you. God is not cheap. I’m reminded of those wonderful words penned by Horatio Spafford;
“My sin - O the joy of this glorious thought - my sin not in part, but the whole, is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more; Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!”
What a blessed gift! If you are trusting Christ alone for your salvation, know that He has removed your sins from you and you will not be judged for them - ever.
These ‘gifts’ flow from the “riches of His grace”. God has been delighted to ‘lavish’ His grace upon us. And yet there is one more;
We have received “wisdom and insight” into His will.
As a good Father, God not only redeems and forgives but also equips His children to live the new life in Christ. Just as a parent takes time to explain or show their child how to do something or how something works, our heavenly Father imparts to us insight into His word that will enable us to know how to live.
Did you ever wonder why you can read a portion of Scripture and become so enamored with it, or so encouraged by it, while a unbeliever can read the same passage and it has no impact? It’s because of the relationship you have with Christ. You are reading a ‘love letter’ to you from your heavenly Father. The unbeliever is just reading other peoples mail.
It’s the way a widow, during a quiet moment, might reach into a draw and pull out an old, yellowed letter. And as she reads that letter, as she has so many times before, tears may gather as her heart is filled with loving memories of her husband, a veteran who gave his life in a war. This was his last letter home. Because of the relationship there is great impact and emotion.
So it is with the believer who reads God’s word to him. Through the Spirit God helps us understand His purpose and calling in our lives.
So not only do we stand in awe of the planning that has brought us to being ‘surprised by grace, but we also stand amazed as we look upon the ‘gifts’ he has given us.
But there is still one more point to make;
Being ‘surprised by grace’ is to be surprised by its permanence. v.13-14 (read)
In v. 12, Paul speaks of himself and the Jewish believers as, “the first to hope in Christ”. Then, in v. 13, he addresses his readers, the Ephesians who were Gentiles, “In him you also, who have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and have believed in him...”. “You also” means ‘you and me’, for we are Gentiles and the ‘riches of God’s grace’, all that planning from eternity past, all those priceless ‘gifts’ are ours through faith in Christ and we share in the heavenly inheritance.
Having made all the effort to surprise you with His grace and lavish you with His gifts, God was not about to leave His plan in our hands. He has taken steps to assure His plan will not fail with regards to you.
Notice;
We were ‘sealed with the promised Holy Spirit’. v.13
In the ancient world a seal was fixed upon a document to prove it was genuine. It was attached to goods in transit to indicate ownership and ensure protection. God has planned all the details of our salvation from eternity past and by sealing us with the Holy Spirit, marking us as His very own, we are protected for all eternity to come. Nothing and no one can, “separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 8:39) And what does this seal indicate?
We have a guarantee.
The seal of the Holy Spirit is a guarantee of our inheritance in glory. It is God’s pledge to us that assures us of immortality in glory.
We are all too familiar with warrantees and guarantees that run 30 to 60 days. Sometimes it may be 100,000 miles. But what is that in comparison to an eternal guarantee? God’s guarantees our inheritance forever.
This is echoed in 2 Cor. 1:21-22: “Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set His seal of ownership on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” Did you notice that the word states, “It is God who makes both us and you stand...”. What this translates to is that, “Once saved, always saved” for nothing can thwart God’s purpose. As the blind hymn writer, Fanny Crosby, “saw it”;
“Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine, O what a foretaste of glory divine, heir of salvation, purchase of God, born of His Spirit, washed in His blood...”
There is one final thought here. Starting in v. 15 to the end of the chapter, Paul breaks out into a prayer of thanksgiving concerning these Gentiles who have been ‘surprised by grace’. In v. 17 he prays that they may have a spirit of revelation ‘to know Him better”. The Greek word, epignosis, means, “knowledge acquired through personal acquaintance”. Paul desires that they, and us, might grow in their personal relationship with Christ and through that growth gain a fuller understanding and appreciation for the hope to which we have been called, the riches of our inheritance, and the “immeasurable greatness of His power”, which He has exercised in order to “surprise you, one day, at one particular time, in one unique place, with His grace.
And for those who have placed their trust in Christ, there will come that day, when in the halls of heaven, the crowd of saints and angels will part, like the Red Sea, and there will be our blessed Lord, who did it all for us. And He will embrace you and we, filled with adoration and praise, will thank Him. While it seemed all the decisions were yours alone, He will whisper to us, “I have loved you with an everlasting love and I planned and ensured it all so that you would be surprised by my grace.”
This week, mediate on this great love and grace of God for you.
