Ephesians 1:11-14
An Awesome Inheritance
Who has heard of Lachlan Murdoch? He is the heir of vast media Empire, which his father Rupert Murdoch built up over many years. He is worth billions.
Who has heard of Paris Hilton? The first I heard the name of Paris Hilton I thought it was a hotel in France. Actually, although there is a Paris Hilton which is a hotel in Paris, there is also a person named Paris Hilton and there is a link. You see Paris Hilton the person, is an heiress to the vast Hilton Hotel empire which her great grandfather and grandfather built up. In fact, when Paris Hilton is mentioned in the papers, her job description is given as heiress and socialite.
Who would like to be an heir? Who would like to have an inheritance? Would you like to inherit a Hotel Empire? A newspaper empire? To inherit millions, if not billions of dollars?
You wouldnt have to worry about tomorrow. You wouldnt have to worry about paying the bills.
Well, today I want to tell you that if you are a Christian, you are an heir! You have an inheritance! And it is an inheritance of something much better than a hotel or media empire.
Todays passage is Ephesians 1:11-14 and it talks about our inheritance! This passage is framed by words about inheritance. In the NIV, in verse 11, it says, In Him we were also chosen. However in the Greek the word has a richer meaning than just chosen. If you have a look at the footnote it says, In Him we were made heirs. The New King James Version does a better job of translating this word in this particular instance. It says, In Him also we have obtained an inheritance. This is what the Greek means: we have obtained an inheritance. And at the end of the passage, in verse 14, it speaks again of our inheritance.
This passage is therefore about our inheritance and it tells us about our inheritance!
It tells us many things about our inheritance!
It tells us about
1. GODS CHOOSING
2. GODS INCLUDING
3. GODS PROVING
of our inheritance.
First, let us look at GODS CHOOSING.
But to understand Gods choosing, we need to understand the context in which Ephesians was written. Ephesians was written to a mixed audience of Jews and Gentiles. Ephesians deals with the relationship between the two groups and we find this especially in the second half of chapter 2. But he starts talking about it here as we shall see.
Because even though Paul was writing to a mixed audience, they all knew that the promises of God came through the Jews. They knew that it was the Jews who were chosen by God. Paul was Jew. Jesus a Jew. The Gospel had spread from Israel to them. Jesus death and resurrection occurred in Jerusalem, in Israel.
And Paul here uses language here that is very common in the OT. He uses the language of inheritance. This passage uses the same words for inheritance that are used in the Old Testament to describe the inheritance that God has for Israel.
Lets have a brief survey of the use of this word and of this concept.
We need to go way back, to Genesis 15, where we find the Abrahamic Covenant. This was a covenant God made with Abraham about 4000 years ago. It was a promise of descendents and land which would be a lasting possession.
NIV: GE 15:7 He also said to him, "I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it."
It is not so clear in the NIV, but in the New King James, it more accurately translates the word inherit:
NKJV: 15:7 Then He said to him, I am the LORD, who obrought you out of pUr of the Chaldeans, qto give you this land to inherit it.
As we read the Old Testament we see that it centres around Israel as Gods chosen people. Frequently the language of inheritance is used, and this is the same term we find here in our passage in Ephesians.
Abraham lived in Canaan, but he did not possess it. He did not own it. But later his descendents did own it. This was the fulfillment of that promise. However the Israelites Abrahams descendents lost it again through disobedience and were exiled to Babylon and other places. They returned to Israel after 70 years of exile in Babylon.
At the time of Jesus the Jews did actually live in the Promised Land. However, they didnt have possession of the land. It wasnt theirs. They and the land were under Roman occupation. Zealous Jews wanted to kick the Romans out. They wanted to regain possession of the land. And in fact they were expecting Jesus, the Messiah, to do that, to kick the Romans out. Even his closest disciples expected this, as we see in Acts 1:6:
AC 1:6 So when they met together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?"
Jesus reply was:
AC 1:7 He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.
In other words, the answer is, not now. But what we also see from the rest of the New Testament is that the inheritance that Christ brought is much better than land in this world.
Do you remember what the inheritance is? A fortnight ago, what did we talk about?
We spoke about our spiritual blessings in Christ. Remember what they are:
1. Chosen to be blameless in His sight.
2. Adopted as His children.
3. Redeemed, forgiven of our sins.
4. The mystery of Gods will revealed to us that all things on heaven and earth will be under Christ - and we will share in that eternally!
Paul now describes these spiritual blessings as our inheritance. He does this using the same sort of language that was used in the Old Testament to describe the inheritance of Israel.
But this inheritance of the Israelites was not just one way. It was not just that God promised Israel an inheritance. It was also that Israel was to be Gods inheritance Gods possession. On the journey from Egypt to the Promised Land Moses went up Mt Sinai:
EX 19:3 Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain and said, "This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: 4 `You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites."
So not only was God granting the Israelites an inheritance. He also declared that they would be His possession. His exclusive possession in contrast to the other nations. And in Ephesians 1.14 we find reference to us as Gods possession.
So seeped throughout the OT were the concepts that Israel was the exclusive recipient of Gods inheritance, and that Israel was His special possession, and that the Isrealites / Jews were His chosen people.
And this idea was still current in the days of Jesus and in the New Testament era. And it would certainly have been among the Jews in Ephesus. And even the Gentiles non Jews would have been aware of it. One reason why Paul met so much resistance from the Jews was because they saw Gods promises as being just for the Jews. But Paul preached to Gentiles as well.
But Paul does not leave this question silent. He acknowledges the primacy of the Jews in Gods plan of salvation.. But our passage in Ephesians does not only talk about Gods choosing.
It speaks of GODS INCLUDING!
Notice the difference between we and you in verses 12 and 13.
12 in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.
Notice Paul talks of we- those who were the first to hope in Christ. He then talks about you - the Ephesians- who were included later. It is quite clear here that Paul is talking about a group who first believed and then talks about another group who believed later, who were also included in this inheritance. Although he does not use the words Jew or Gentile here, that is most likely how his first readers would have understood it.
Why? Because that was the understanding at the time that God had promised the Jews an inheritance. The understanding was that this did not include the Gentiles / non-Jews. God had promised that the Israelites Jews would be his possession. Not Gentiles / non-Jews. Thats how the people understood things. Its how both Jews and Gentiles understood things.
Although this understanding wasnt actually totally correct. In fact, the Old Testament says that God would include Gentiles too. For example
ISA 49:6 he says:
"It is too small a thing for you to be my servant
to restore the tribes of Jacob
and bring back those of Israel I have kept.
I will also make you a light for the Gentiles,
that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth."
This passage promises that although the promise is to the Jews, Gentiles would be included too. That is, Non Jews. Us.
So back in Ephesians, Paul says we. Because he was a Jew, he could say we- were the first to hope in Christ. But then Paul says in verse 13 and you also were included in Christ. You that is Gentiles. Non Jews. How are they included? Paul says they are included by hearing the word of truth, and then believing. Or course, Jews must also believe. In verse 12 it says they must be in Christ.
And like the Jews we are also chosen! We saw all those chosen words a fortnight ago. And in verses 11 there are 5 choosing words! Count them!
EPH 1:11 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.
So we can see Gods choosing is definitely there. And now God is including us, non Jews those who hear, and those who believe. And not only are we chosen to receive an inheritance, we are chosen to be Gods possession! Remember earlier we saw how in the Old Testament that Israel is Gods possession. Now that also includes us as it says in verse 14! Isnt that amazing to be Gods possession!
And now we shall look at GODS PROVING
Vs 13 talks about when we believe. That is, when we become a Christian, we are marked with a seal. That seal is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the third member of the Trinity. This is the first time He is directly mentioned in Ephesians. And we are told that as believers, we have the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit does many things in our lives and here is listed just one of them. Verse 14 says that He is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance. We have spoken of our being choosen, and of our being including. But how do we know we are chosen? How do we know that we are included? How do we know we are actually going to receive our inheritance? It is because we have a deposit now and what a deposit the Holy Spirit living in us!
Its like when you book a holiday. Often the place you will be staying at will ask for a deposit. The deposit is a guarantee from you that you will pay the rest when you arrive. The deposit is the same stuff that you will pay later money just less of it.
You might have booked accommodation costing $500 and and you pay a $50 deposit. In a similar way we have the HS living in us. We have begun to enjoy the spiritual blessings we mentioned last time. But now we only have a taste of them. A foretaste.
So if you have the Holy Spirit that is a guarantee of your inheritance. But how do you know if you have the Holy Spirit? The Bible tells us elsewhere that the Holy Spirit produces a change in our lives. He gives us a desire towards God. A desire to be like Him, to live for Him. A desire and ability to follow Him. Strength and power to live a holy life.
If these things are evident in your life, then they are evidence that you have the Holy Spirit and therefore have a guarantee of your inheritance. If not hang on for a few moments as I will come back to that later in the sermon.
So we can see in these verses:
1. Gods choosing
2. Gods including
3. Gods proving
Brother and sisters - we have an inheritance! We are heirs! Not of a media empire or a hotel empire. But of something far greater! We have an inheritance of spiritual blessings, which we partially enjoy now, but which we shall inherit fully in the age to come!
But now we must stop and ask a few questions. Paul speaks of those who first believed. He then speaks of those who were included in Christ when they heard and believed. We learned from this that spiritual blessings are not just for believing Jews, but also for believing Gentiles.
But while in this instance in Ephesians we see the Gospel spreading from Jews to Gentiles, we can also see a more general principle of the Gospel progression from those who have already believed to those who have yet to hear the Gospel. The Jews were the first to believe. The events of Gospels happened in Israel amongst the Jewish people. Jesus was a Jew. So the Jews heard first - but then the word went out to others.
Gods plan is for the word to go out. The word of His good news. Paul said that at the time he wrote Ephesians that the Good News of salvation had been heard by the Ephesian believers. When they heard it, some believed, and became heirs of Gods inheritance. Why? It was because people missionaries traveled to Ephesus to tell them the good news.
Today we live in a world where we have people who have believed because they have heard. But we still have people who have not heard. Last year we came back from Central Asia. Almost everybody had NOT heard. The country where we were is not unique in this. Vast swathes of the planet are full of hundreds of millions, perhaps billions, who have never heard. Never heard of the Gospel of salvation. Of the spiritual blessings they could have in Christ.
We have seen tremendous advances in the Gospel in the last 100 years. We seen this especially in sub Saharan Africa, South America, and parts of Asia. Yet there are still many countries still very unreached with the Gospel, particularly Northern Africa, Middle East, and parts of Asia. This is particularly so in the Muslim areas but also Buddhist and Hindu areas.
Paul just commences this theme here, which he discusses more later on in Ephesians. The purposes of God are to include Gentiles in His inheritance. There are Gentiles many of them, who are chosen, but they also need to hear in order to believe and that comes through the preaching of the Gospel.
And that is our task. To take the Good News to others. To these parts of the world.
But also here in Gympie and surrounds there are many dont know Him. In our modern society, many are growing up with little or no knowledge of who Christ really is. We need to tell others. Where we work, study. Teaching Religious Education in the state school. We need to tell others about Jesus. And those chosen by God - they will respond.
And for those of you here today, I ask you - are you an heir? Do you have an inheritance? Do you have the seal of the Holy Spirit? Do you have evidence of the Holy Spirit in your life? Do you have a changed life? Do you have a hunger for God and His purposes in your life? Have you responded in faith to the message of salvation? Do you want to be an heir of the spiritual blessings available in Christ?
If you do respond. Believe, trust, invite God into your life. Ask Him to be your Lord and saviour and live for Him. Receive the Holy Spirit into your life, which is the guarantee of your inheritance.
And for those of us who do have the seal of the Holy Spirit, we can be sure that we are heirs. We are heirs of the most incredible inheritance. Spiritual blessings. And to be Gods possession!
Remember last time I spoke how I said that verses 3-14 is one big long sentence. Today we have looked at the last part of it. What we are talking about is very exciting. As we contemplate on this that we have been given an inheritance of spiritual blessings. That we are Gods possession.
Isnt that worth praising God for? Paul thought so. In verse 14 he concludes his big long sentence with the phrase:
To the praise of His glory.
