DESTINY: YOUR RICH AND GLORIOUS INHERITANCE IN CHRIST
(April 2010 – Beausejour Church – Pastor Chris Jordan)
INTRO TO TOPIC:
Have you ever asked yourself – what’s my purpose?
What on earth am I here for?
What is destiny? It has been defined as: “A predetermined course of events considered as something beyond human power or control.”
• Most of us don’t like that idea, but the Bible says we all have a destiny.
• Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you," says the LORD. "They are plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
THE BIG IDEA: God has a good plan for every one of our lives! Let’s discover what that destiny is by beginning a series in the Book of Ephesians.
OUR INHERITANCE IN CHRIST: (Ephesians Chapter One)
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus:
• Ephesians was written by the Apostle Paul to the church in Ephesus, and all in Christ:
• If you are a Christian, you are a saint – one set apart by God for His purposes.
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
• The first thing God extends to us is grace (favor with God) and peace (restored relationships with other people).
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every SPIRITUAL BLESSING in the heavenly places in Christ,
• The book of Ephesians is divided into two main sections:
• Chapters 1-3 = blessings of salvation – our rich and glorious inheritance in Christ.
• Chapters 4-6 = our response to the riches of God’s grace – living for Him.
• Ephesians 1:3-12 is one long run-on sentence of God’s glorious blessings!
• ILLUSTRATE: If you don’t know that you have an inheritance, you won’t enjoy the benefits of it. Like the man who spent all of his money on a ticket to America, and hid away in his cabin eating stale crackers and old cheese, not knowing that the price of the ticket included free access to all of the banqueting tables!
4 just as HE CHOSE US in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be HOLY and WITHOUT BLAME before Him in love,
• God CHOSE US! What an amazing thought!
• Not because He had to, but because He wanted to.
• Look at all the times in this passage you see the phrase “in Him” or “in Christ”. These speak of our identity as sons and daughters of God.
5 having PREDESTINED us to ADOPTION as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
• Not only are we CHOSEN by God, we are also predestined to be ADOPTED!
• These truths speak to our IDENTITY – we belong to God!
• ILLUSTRATE: Before coming to Christ, we are spiritual orphans. Like little orphan Annie, it was the hard knock life for us. But we have someone who’s bigger and better than Daddy Warbucks, who has adopted us into His family now and forever! “Yesterday was plain awful, you can say that again, but that’s not now, that’s then!”
6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us ACCEPTED in the BELOVED.
• Not only are we CHOSEN, and ADOPTED, we are also ACCEPTED!
• We now have a sense of belonging in COMMUNITY – the family of God!
• God’s our father, and we are all brothers and sisters. Let’s care for one another.
7 In Him we have REDEMPTION through His blood, the FORGIVENESS of sins, according to the riches of His grace
• Note that every one of these blessings that we receive is “through His blood” or “because of Jesus” and His death on the Cross!
• REDEMPTION Word Study: Comes from the Greco-Roman practice of freeing slaves by the paying of a ransom. He purchased us from a life of slavery, and then set us free!
• Not only that, but we are also now FORGIVEN. This is the a antidote to guilt and shame!
PRAYER: For those struggling with rejection, guilt, shame, unworthiness, low self-esteem.
• Say: “I am CHOSEN, ADOPTED, ACCEPTED, REDEEMED and FORGIVEN!”
8 which He made to abound toward us in all WISDOM and PRUDENCE,
9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself,
• God has given us wisdom to life a blessed life!
• But we need to know who we are in Christ – SEE YOURSELF IN CHRIST LIST.
10 that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth--in Him.
11 In Him also we have obtained an INHERITANCE, being PREDESTINED according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will,
12 that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.
13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, YOU WERE SEALED with the Holy Spirit of promise,
14 who is the guarantee of our INHERITANCE until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.
• Here the Lord emphasizes again our destiny and inheritance.
• Our inheritance = the NT is the Last Will and Testament of Jesus Christ.
• Do you know what He purchased for you in His sacrificial death? Read the will!
• How do we know we belong to Him? The guarantee of the Holy Spirit IN US.
• In the past, people would set a seal on something that belonged to them, i.e. an imprint in wax on an envelope. There’s so much in this – ownership, protection, promise!
All the things that Jesus has done for us - In Him:
• CHOSEN (v.4)
• ADOPTED (v.5)
• ACCEPTED (v.6)
• REDEEMED (v.7)
• FORGIVEN (v.7)
• SEALED with the HOLY SPIRIT (v.13)
PAUL’S APOSTOLIC PRAYER:
15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your FAITH in the Lord Jesus and your LOVE for all the saints,
16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers:
17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of WISDOM and REVELATION in the KNOWLEDGE of Him,
18 the eyes of your UNDERSTANDING being ENLIGHTENED; that you may know what is the HOPE of His calling, what are the RICHES of the GLORY of His INHERITANCE in the saints,
19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His POWER toward us who believe,
according to the working of His mighty power
20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,
21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.
22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church,
23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
(Ephesians 1:1-23, NKJV)
PRAYER
BENEDICTION:
“The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26).
Beausejour Community Church Website: www.beausejourchurch.ca
Pastor Chris Jordan’s Blog: http://thelandofpromise.blogspot.com/
