“From Rags To Riches”
Ephesians 1:3-14 October 5, 2008
OPEN: Video – “This is Not This”
It is about knowing what you have in the bank, heaven’s bank! I am amazed at how much time is spent by Paul and other NT writers to remind us of all that is ours in Christ! I am afraid that in our day as what must have been true in Paul’s day as well is that so many Christians are not living out of the resources that are rightfully theirs through their relationship with Jesus Christ.
Your story and my story is a rags-to-riches story, because the Bible says our own self-righteousness is as
“filthy rags.” Isa 64:6 “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.” In other words when God looks at you and he looks at me in our own righteousness, all that is there is “filthy, dirty rags.” The book of Ephesians is all about the riches we have in Christ. Before we read this text, I would like you to take a moment and look at verse 3 all the way through verse 14 I mentioned last week that this just one long sentence. Paul keeps piling on participial phrases. He doesn’t even complete a sentence. He just keeps praising God over and over again. He breaks out in praise and he gets so excited about it, it’s like he can’t stop. In English, it’s divided up with periods, but in the original language, he goes almost wild in his exuberation about salvation. It reminds me of the little boy who was asked, “Can you spell banana?” He said, “Yeah. I just don’t know when to stop! B-a-n-a-n-a-n-a-n-a-n-a-n-a-n-a... That’s what Paul does here, he gets started and he just keeps going.
What was it about salvation that made the apostle Paul break out into spontaneous, exuberant praise? He began to understand what had happened to him. If you could catch a glimpse, if your spiritual eyes could be opened to who you are in Jesus and what has happened to you in Jesus, you would also break out in spontaneous praise and adoration.
God Has Blessed Us. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in
the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Now notice he’s praising God for spiritual blessings not material blessings. Sometimes it’s interesting just to listen to what Christians get excited about. You hear people talking about the blessings they’ve discovered in life and they talk about a new car or a new toy or some kind. Sometimes I don't know if I am in an Amway meeting or a church service as people testify of the material blessings. Paul is thanking God for the spiritual blessings. If a person is really walking after the Spirit and is interested in things of the Spirit, he is going to be thanking God for the spiritual blessings. But if a person is a materialist and is very interested in the material things, he is going to be talking always about the material blessings.
He’s also praising God because of what God has done. The church has been emphasizing much too long what you ought to be doing for God without properly proclaiming what God has done for us. The Bible emphasizes what God has done for you first. “Thanks be to God who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings,” and he takes three chapters now to tell you all that God has done for you. And it is not until he has told you for three chapters what God has done for you that he turns around then and says, “Now walk worthy of this glorious calling.” He doesn't tell you what you ought to be doing for God until, first of all, establishing for you what God has done for you. And that is the proper order, because you can't be what you ought to be without that which God has already done for us. In other words, God's work has to be first in my life.
The Issue of Perspective – Turn with me for a moment to 1 Peter 1:3-9 - What’s Peter trying to do? He’s trying to get address the issue of perspective. These people were facing the worst the world had to throw at them. The Church was facing a terrible wave of persecution. – keeping the proper perspective of their blessings was going to be the stabilizing force in their life.
God Has Chosen Us For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. When I was growing up in Southwest Pennsylvania, I went to grade school in the little town of Carmichaels. Carmichaels was a bit bigger than our small town of Eastford, CT. It had two stop lights – where as we only have one. Almost the size of a small city compared to us. Up through the sixth grade I went to Central Grade School. Those were good days. My two favorite subjects were lunch and recess. I looked forward to each of those areas every day. After we got done with our lunches we had an extended time to run around in the school yard. During that lunch break we would commonly play either whiffle-ball or kickball. Each day we would pick up teams. We’d kind of line up on one side of the school yard. After we got through arguing over who was going to be the team captains, we’d start choosing who was going to be on each side. “I’ll take Tom.” “I’ll take Bob” and so on. We’d all stand there not trying to look too eager but inwardly we were sweating it out. The worst thing in the world was when it got down to the last couple of kids. Nobody wanted to be the very last one left to be picked. The closer it got to the end, you could just see the heads go down and they’d just stare at the ground. Their self-esteem was sinking deeper and deeper. Sometimes we’d argue over who had to take the one kid that couldn’t play very well. Maybe you can remember either the joy of being chosen or the hurt of not being chosen.
Have you ever noticed how excited people get when someone chooses them? Every time someone chooses you, it is a joyful occasion. Whether it be a for a job, for acceptance into a certain school, or for an award or for a spouse. When I realize I’ve been chosen for anything, it’s a very cool thing and something to be celebrated. Likewise some of the deepest hurts we experience in life is when we are not chosen or rejected. It’s one thing to be passed over in a kickball game in the school yard – (and that’s not to minimize the hurt) but it only gets more hurtful as you grow over. When you are not chosen for that position you were counting on or when you are not chosen by a person to whom you love, the hurt is even deeper.
What this Scripture is saying is that when it comes to the most important issue in your life, you don’t have to worry about whether or not God is going to pick you for His team. Sometimes just for fun I’ll ask people when they actually got saved. They’ll say things like “When I was in fifth grade” Or when I was 24” I’ll say to them they were wrong. They’ll get this rather quizzical look on their face. This Scripture says God picked you a long time before you picked him. “Before the creation of the world” He chose you.
You say “How do I know God chose me? Maybe I’m not one of the chosen.” God wants everybody to be saved. That’s His choice. He offers you the gift of eternal life. He has chosen you now; you must choose Him. 2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” Now God didn't choose me after I decided to clean up my act and live for Him. God didn't say, “Oh, all right, I will choose him now that he has his act together. I was just waiting for him to swing things around.” God chose me before the foundations of the world. Rev. 22:17 “The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” “Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life” not one person has ever come to God and been turned back by God. God says, “Well, let Me see. I'm sorry, your name is not on the list. Too bad, you seem like a very nice fellow. I would like to have saved you, but there was a slip up in the records someplace. I guess you just can't make it.”
What has God chosen for you? “to be holy and blameless” That you should stand before Him holy and
without blame. In Jude we read, “Now unto Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory, with exceeding joy” (Jude 24). One of these days my name is going to be called, and I am going to stand out, and God is going to look at me, and Jesus is going to step up and say, “Father, that’s one of mine.” In Christ, holy, without blame. “He is innocent Father. He is without blame. He is faultless.” He is going to present me faultless. How? Because He is going to present me in Him. It is in Christ that I have this standing before God of faultless, without blame, holy. That isn't me, that isn't my works, that isn't my efforts; that is the way God is going to receive me in Christ Jesus. That is the way Jesus is going to present me to the Father, for He has taken all of my blame. He has taken all of my sin, and He has paid the price and the penalty, and He is going to present me in His righteousness. For God made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God through Him.
That’s the way Jesus is going to present you to God someday if you are in Christ. What a blessing. Not one of your faults will be mentioned before the Throne of Glory. We often spend a lot of time complaining about other people’s faults here on earth. None of that will take place in heaven. We often spend a lot of time worrying about the mistakes we’ve made in life. None of it will be mentioned in heaven. You won’t be rejected – nor will you be charged with anything.
God Has Predestined Us To Be Part Of His Family. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his
sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will - to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. (Eph. 1: 5-6) Now I’m not going to spend time talking about the endless debates and arguments that go along with the issue predestination. The big reason I don’t want to get sidetracked into some debate about predestination and freewill is because then we might miss the point of the passage: God chose us and adopted us as His children, and the response on our part is to praise Him. THAT is the point!! Through Christ we are a part of God’s family.
Have you ever really stopped to think about being part of God’s family? The Bible doesn’t teach that God welcomed us back as mere acquaintances. God does not even invite us to be best friends. He adopts us into His family. It’s a place where we can be real - a place of un-brushed teeth, un-masked emotions; sometimes of uninhibited laughter and sometimes of deep sorrow. It’s family - we don’t pretend or wear masks or hide behind some perceived need to pretend everything is just great. It’s inside where the warmth is, the love is, where the acceptance is, and where we can be accepted for who we are becoming. It’s inside where the tears flow freely and without embarrassment, where the despair is shared, and where the burden is shared.
Experiencing life as part of God’s family means you always have someplace to come home to. God’s door is always open, there is always food in the refrigerator, warm blankets on a comfortable bed, and there is always a wise, supportive, loving God waiting to talk with you.
The verse ends “in accordance with his pleasure and will¨ What strikes me here is that it is not just about God’s will - it brings Him pleasure also. He enjoys having you and I as His children. His joy is greatest when we are living lives that are holy and blameless in love, and when we recognize who God is and respond to Him with praise.
In Christ We Have Redemption and Forgiveness In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, The cross of Christ is where our redemption was purchased, it is what makes forgiveness possible. The phrase “through his blood” is the reference to the cross – and is so much more. The idea of “redemption” is a bit of a stretch for us to really understand today. It is the idea of being set free, of being bought back out of slavery or prison, and restored. Many of us have absolutely no idea what it means to be enslaved – to be stripped of any personal rights, dignity, or freedom. To become property of another – no longer human but merely a thing to be used, abused, or neglected entirely at the whim of someone else who “owns” you. We can’t imagine what it means to literally have shackles on our ankles, which limit our ability to move farther than the short chain might allow. We have heard about slavery, but in general it is probably so far removed from our own experience that it is difficult for us to grasp the complete helplessness and despair. To know that there is not a single thing we can do for ourselves to change our situation.
But if you can imagine what it means to be enslaved – if you can sense a bit of the horror and helplessness – then we can start to understand what redemption is. It is the idea of someone, in this case a perfect stranger, appearing out of nowhere and paying the debt, assuming the responsibility, in fact exchanging places with you and I in the shackles. Being redeemed means that someone from the outside has come to us in our helplessness and set us free. In the Roman World it is estimated that there were over 2 million slaves. Redemption was the dream of every one of them.
That is the essence of the cross of Christ. Because of our sin, we were enslaved. We were trapped. We were helpless. Without dignity, without humanity, without hope. And then Jesus came to rescue us. He came to liberate us. He came to set us free. He redeemed us – buying us back from the slavery to sin and enabling us to be free to be in relationship with God.
The irony about our slavery to sin is that many have gotten so used to it that they think it is normal – even a good place. After a while of living in the garbage dump, the smell sort of becomes unnoticeable, a half-eaten sandwich discarded days ago becomes a feast. We become accustomed to it, and never think that we might be missing out on so much more that is freely offered. This is where your job and my job comes in as witnesses for Christ – we need to go to the places where people are enslaved, and by our words and our lifestyle demonstrate that there is so much more freely available in Christ.
So I need to ask you – are you free? Have the shackles fallen, have you accepted the liberty offered you, have you ran as fast as possible from the place where you were trapped? “In him we have redemption.” If you haven’t, I proclaim to you this moment that freedom is offered to you – right here and right now. Christ is alive and wants to set you free.
How does this freedom come? It comes in the form of forgiveness. We have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. The slate is wiped clean, the balance owing reduced to zero, the guilty verdict changed to not guilty. All of the things that we have done that are wrong, all of the things we have failed to do that are right, are wiped away in one act of God in Christ. And you and I are set free. I’m not sure it is possible to say enough about forgiveness. Any time you and I realize our sinfulness, it is tempting to be overwhelmed by it and to despair. But the offer of God is forgiveness. The promise of God is forgiveness. When we recognize our sinfulness, all we need to do to get rid of it is give it to God – confess it, repent of it, and then we have forgiveness. And then we know freedom from the destructiveness of our sin. That is the Gospel
In Christ We Experience Lavish Grace In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness
of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. The second thing I want us to notice this morning is the description that follows this incredible truth about freedom and forgiveness: it is all “in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.” Our redemption is all about God’s grace. Its all about God. There is nothing in any of us that merits this. We can’t earn it, we can’t “luck out” and receive it accidentally. It is all about the choice that God made to come to us while we were in slavery and set us free. All we can do is accept our freedom.
Ill - When Simon Bolivar led the nation of Peru to independence from Spain in 1824, they pleaded with him to become their first president. Bolivar was to Peru what George Washington is the United States. He refused. He said that his work was the work of liberation. Others were better suited to the task of governing. But still they wanted to honor him. So they offered him a gift of 1 million pesos. And he accepted the gift with one condition. He asked that he might supplement that gift with monies from his own estate, and then use all of that money together to purchase the freedom of the 3,000 individuals in Peru who were still slaves to other men. And he did exactly that. And when they asked him why he did it, this is what he said: “It makes little sense to free a nation unless all its citizens enjoy freedom as well.” That is a picture of grace. None of those slaves deserved to be freed. None of them earned the money to set themselves free. It was completely the choice of another, completely the action of another, completely the resources of another.
How rich is God’s grace? Because that is the measure of forgiveness we have – our forgiveness is “in accordance with” or “to the measure of” the riches of God’s grace. Later on in Eph. Paul prays that his readers might have “power … to grasp how wide and long and high and deep” is God’s love. The riches of God’s grace are wider, longer, higher, and deeper than anything you and I can imagine.
In Christ, God’s Will is Revealed. And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his
good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment - to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. Paul steps back from talking about God’s personal plan for you as an individual to God’s plan for all people. God has an eternal purpose and plan for the world, and it is His pleasure to bring it about. He rejoices to bring it about, and what He does is good. It is all good. In a word – it is togetherness. Do you ever feel that life is completely disorganized? In disarray? That everything is broken, that nothing will ever be complete or right or pure? That you have no control over your world? If so, you are not alone. In fact, if you don’t feel that way from time to time, it is probably just because you have adapted better to the same circumstances – life is still a mess, you’ve just learned to live with it.
Here is the hope we have in Christ: it will not always be that way. A time is coming when it will all change. Harmony will replace discord. Continuity will replace disjointedness. Order will replace chaos. That which is broken will be replaced, that which is impure will be made pure, the incomplete will be made complete. Verse 10 tells us that ALL THINGS, in heaven and on earth, will be brought together under one head, even Christ. What this verse is telling us is that not only will we experience the harmony of the entire physical world, but the spiritual world as well. This is a cosmic reconciliation – a point when every created thing, in heaven and on earth, will be brought together. Finally, it will all make sense, will all fit together, will all be complete. The concept behind the idea of things “brought together under one head” is of a column of numbers, finally all tallied up and accounted for. The bottom line is drawn, and everything is brought together in Christ. All the parts add up, the numbers fall in line, and the end result is “summed up” in Christ. Finally there will be a center, a finality, an organizing principle.
In verse 11 & 12 Paul brings it back to a personal level. In him we were also chosen, having been
predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Can you remember a time when you were included? When a group opened up, invited you in, welcomed you into their midst? Ill of child looking for place to sit in lunch room and finally being invited to sit at a table. That’s the scenario played over and over again in our lives. We need a place to fit in – to belong.
The Holy Spirit Has Sealed Us. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised
Holy Spirit, What does this mean, to be “sealed with the Holy Spirit?” There are two ideas present here: ownership and protection. Mark(ing) with a seal is what was done to cattle, and sometimes even slaves. It is the idea of branding - of placing a mark so that everyone knows to whom this belongs. When we believe, God places His mark which is the Holy Spirit on us so that everyone knows we belong to Him. The second idea is that of protection: since we are marked as belonging to God, we can know that He will come to our aid. In fact, the truth of the Holy Spirit as our mark is that He is with us constantly to protect and to strengthen. If a farmer brands his cows, and someone tries to steal them or if they wander off somewhere and get into trouble, that farmer is going to go after them and rescue them.
Part of this idea of protection is a guarantee of delivery intact - there is an eternal dimension here - the Holy Spirit will seal us and protect us and deliver us into eternity intact. When a carrier agrees to take a package from point A to point B they agree that they can get there intact and without damage. In fact in most cases if the package is damaged in shipment, the carrier will be liable to pay for it. The HS will deliver you safely home.
The Holy Spirit Guarantees There Is More To Come “who is a deposit guaranteeing our
inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession - to the praise of his glory.” If you’ve ever made a major purchase, you likely had to put down a deposit - a down-payment. That is exactly how the Holy Spirit is described here in Eph. 1:14 At the moment of faith, when we believe, we receive the Holy Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing our inheritance. The Holy Spirit is given to the believer to give the believer perfect assurance of his salvation. We know that we are redeemed—that we are God's cherished possession—by the Holy Spirit who lives within us. Ill of one person sending another cash through the mail. Didn’t want to send it all at once, so he sent a 100 dollar bill with a note – “more to follow.” Each week another letter with a 100.00 bill & the note – more to follow. You’d get pretty excited about going to the mail box with letters coming like that, wouldn’t you? That’s what God is saying to you today – there’s more to follow.
CLOSE: What are you wearing today? Rags – or have you put on Christ. If you are a Christian are you living everyday rejoicing in what God has done for you. Are you more focused on the wealth you have in Christ than the stock market?
* PowerPoint slides may be available for this message. Some slides I use have copy write restrictions on them - others are slides, which I’ve created. If this sermon has slides I’ve created, I’d be glad to pass them on to you for your use. Please feel free to email me at: timvamosi@charter.net
