Ok, I want to start with a question.
Do you know where you are?
That is kind of a funny question, isn’t it? Because of course you know where you are.
But the reality is, that sometimes, we may not fully understand where we are until we see the bigger picture of our location and the landmarks that identify where we really are.
For instance, have you ever been to the mall?
Of course you have.
Well, maybe you have driven there and parked
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and gone into the mall and then shopped and then wanted to leave. Now you know you are at the mall,
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and you know your car is parked at the mall, but you have no idea where your car is in relation to where you are. Sure you may know where you parked (by JC Penney) and you may know where you are (by Macy’s) but your perspective is so limited that you have no idea how to get to your car.
You might be walking around like you are lost even though you know you are at the mall. And it is not until you can see the whole picture,
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a map that shows all of the landmarks, that you can know where you are in relation to your car and then you know the route you really need to be walking to get to the place you want to be – your car.
Similarly, I think sometimes for Christians, we know where we are in a sense, but we don’t really know where we are in relation to the big picture of who we are in Christ!
Today, I hope to help us truly see who we are in Christ so we can walk in the way that helps us live in the blessings we have in Christ.
Series intro
We are starting a new series through Ephesians for the summer
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We are going to work out way through the entire letter this summer.
Before we begin into chapter 1, I want to go through some background.
Background
This letter was written by Paul while he was in prison in Rome around 60 AD.
The letter to the Ephesians was probably more of a circular letter to be read in several churches in Asia, the first of which was Ephesus.
It was written to be a “summary of his theology in its most practical form.”
The churches has already been grounded in the doctrines of individual reconciliation with the Lord through being justified by faith, they need to learn to get along with each other. They had “unity in their position in Christ; there needed to be unity in their practice in the church, too.” It is intended to get Christians to grow in unity and love for each other.
If there is a theme to Ephesians, it may be “the Church, the Body of Christ.”
Background info from https://bible.org/seriespage/ephesians-introduction-argument-and-outline
So it is my hope that the Lord will use this series to help each of us here at Hickory to be an example of unity and love and that we will truly be living out our motto to Love God, Love People, and Live it Out!
Transition
So turn with me to Ephesians 1:1-14 and we are going to learn today who we are in Christ so we can truly know the Blessings we have in Him.
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Let’s read Ephesians 1:1-14
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,
To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus:
2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 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. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace 8 that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. 9 And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 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.
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, 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. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession — to the praise of his glory.
Pray
Ok, So in this passage, we see that Paul tells us that we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ! Throughout this passage we see the phrase in Christ, in Him through Christ, multiple times to describe where and how we have these blessings.
So often though I think that we don’t experience these blessings because while we know we are Christians, we fail to see the big picture and we fail to experience the blessings we have in Him.
So Let’s see if we can learn what the blessings we have in Christ are?
First, we see that
We have been blessed with a New Identity in Christ (3-6)
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3 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. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.
We have been adopted into the family of God and we now have a new identity in Christ.
To truly experience the blessings, we have got to understand who we are in Christ, we are a child of the King!
So many times, people find their identity in what they do, their jobs.
I am a pastor or I am a stay at home mom or I am a plumber or I am a business man, etc.
Now those are roles we have, but those roles are not our identity. Because when we trust those to be our identity, when we no longer have that role, we lose who we are. We walk around like we are at the mall and can’t find our car!
But when we recognize that as a Christian, our identity is in Christ, we begin to see the big picture and know that these roles are just landmarks on the journey of life leading us to where Christ wants us to be.
Transition - Election and predestination
Now how do we come to be in Christ?
We have to pause here as we are introduced to the concept of predestination and election. What does that mean?
Well, as man understands it, being predestined or elected means that salvation is completely of God with absolutely nothing whatsoever required from man. God has chosen us before the creation of the world.
Ok, well what about free will?
This doctrine of predestination seemingly stands in contrast to Free Will, which as man would understand it, is that we have the ability to either choose to follow or reject God.
We see Scriptures that talk about our need to believe, to have faith, to receive Jesus.
Scriptures that I quote often like
Romans 10:9
If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Or
John 1:12 - to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God
Or
Romans 10:13 which says, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Or even
In this passage in Ephesians 1:13 when it says
13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit
It appears to require belief that seems to suggest that there is a choice to either believe or not believe.
So, Which one of these seemingly opposite views is true?
Both
I would argue that they are only opposite in our limited ability to comprehend and that they both hold truth.
It is true that God is completely sovereign and that even before He created the universe, when He could have created an infinite number of universes, He ordained this one as the one universe that would be created and that would bring Him the most glory.
And He knew, even before He created it, who would be in heaven and who would be in hell and that by His actual creation of it, ordained that this is the way it would be.
Now, this world He created, this one that would bring Him the most glory, is one in which He has created humans in His image, who have a real will and real choice and real ability to choose.
How can that be? How do those things reconcile?
I confess that I am not sure we have been given the ability to reconcile them in our minds, but I believe them both to be true because Scripture speaks in ways that both are true.
And when we veer too far to one of the ends of this, we end up
with humans as robots with no ability to make real choices or
with God as impotent, with Him having no say in the outcome of eternity.
Neither of those are true.
Election is real. God has created a world in which He not only knows the end, but by his creating it, he has ordained it
and
He has created and ordained a world in which people created in His image, have a real will and real choices.
So how is it that we come to be in Christ?
Through the preordained working and knowledge of our Lord as He draws us so that we have the opportunity to put our trust in Jesus, calling on his name for salvation!
Believe in Him and you will be saved and transformed and you will find your new identity in Him!
Transition
But there are more blessings! This Scripture goes on to tell us that
We have been blessed with a New Freedom in Christ(7-8)
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7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace 8 that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.
The word redemption here indicates the setting free of someone held as a slave. A price is paid and that person is redeemed, and he is set free.
In this case, payment is made “through his blood.”
We must realize that before we are in Christ, that we are in bondage to sin
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Paul tells us in Romans 7:14 that we are “sold as a slave to sin”
John 8:34-36 - everyone who sins is a slave to sin.
But the verse goes on to say that
35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed
In Christ we are free indeed!
We are no longer controlled by sin.
But the problem for us is that we often don’t understand that we are free.
Elephant on a chain
We are like an elephant in a circus.
When the elephant is young the trainer will put a chain on its leg and the elephant will try to escape but is unable to. Eventually the elephant gives up trying. It is then that the trainer will be able to control the elephant with just a weak chain and a weak peg stuck into the ground, that you and I could pull up.
But the elephant won’t pull it up, because he doesn’t think he can.
When we trust Christ, we have been set free but we often don’t think we are free because we aren’t growing in Christ. We still think sin has a hold on us!
To mix my metaphors, It is like being in the mall and thinking we are lost because we don’t see the big picture. We aren’t lost at all, but when we aren’t growing and knowing who we are in Christ, we fail to see the big picture and it feels like we are lost when in actuality we are truly free.
Keep learning, keep reading so you can keep growing and knowing that you are really free. Live in that freedom and experience the blessings of righteous living by His strength.
Transition
And as we do that, we find more blessings in Christ.
We find that
We have been blessed with a New Purpose in Christ(9-12)
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Ephesians 1:9-12
9 And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 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.
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, 12 in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory
This mystery that is revealed is really not something mysterious. What it is, is something that was previously hidden, but now revealed and made known to us.
Our purpose is to be part of God’s plan
In the Old Testament, those people of faith were looking forward to a coming Messiah. Well now Jesus, the Messiah, has come and we have been redeemed by Him and we are to live for His glory and for His purpose.
His plan and purpose is the redeeming of others held in bondage to the slavery of sin. You and I, those of us who have trusted in Jesus as our Savior, have the key that frees others.
That key is the gospel of Jesus Christ.
We are here to share that news with others. Just as we heard this good news and put our hope in Christ, to the praise of His glory, we have to share this with others so they can hear the good news and put their hope in Christ to the praise of His glory!
Are you doing that?
Or
are you still not seeing the big picture and striving to find the path you are supposed to be on.
Apply
Share Christ.
You’re here, in Christ and we are on our way to eternity. It has been guaranteed for us.
But on this road we are on, we are often looking for fulfillment form the wrong purposes. You will find fulfillment and blessings as we work at seeing God’s purpose fulfilled and that is more people coming to trust Him by hearing the Good News, the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Be sharing Christ with others as we move through life.
That is our purpose.
So, as you work your job, realize that your job is not your purpose, though you need to be working and doing a good job, so that you will have opportunities to share Christ.
As you are at your kid’s activities, these are not your purpose, but use these as part of the path the Lord has you on as you move along this path of life.
Live out your purpose in Christ, sharing the Good News with people, and experience the blessing and found in fulfilling this purpose!
So we have a new identity, a new Freedom and a New Purpose.
But also,
We have been blessed with New Power in Christ (13-14)
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Ephesians 1:13-14
13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession — to the praise of his glory.
God hasn’t left you here on your own to accomplish the purpose he wants to use you for. He has given us His Holy Spirit to enable us and give us the power to accomplish it.
Listen to what Paul tells the Philippian believers.
Philippians 1:3-6
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3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
The Lord has given us the power to be partners in the gospel through His indwelling Holy Spirit that he has blessed us with in Christ and He will use us to carry on this good work until it is completed.
You know what happens to us though?
We don’t rely on Him. We don’t tap into the power that we have been given because we don’t step out in faith.
FedEX commercial
Do you remember the fedex commercial from a few years ago that was a spoof of Castaway? We are a lot like that guy, having what we need by not opening it.
Check it out to job your memory.
Video
Slide after video
We have been given all that we need, in the Holy Spirit, but we don’t open the package and rely on what we have been given.
If you are in Christ, you have been sealed with the Holy Spirit. He not only is our power, but He is our guarantee that we will be spending our eternity with the Lord!
Conclusion
Are you experiencing the blessings available in Christ or are you feeling like you are lost at the mall and can’t really find what you are looking for?
If you’re not experiencing those blessings, here are some questions for you
Are you in Christ?
If you are here today and are not yet in Christ, realize that God has ordained you to hear this message. Respond to His leading in your life and receive Him and begin to live in Him!
If you are in Christ and not experiencing these blessing found in him, then take steps in the power of the Holy Spirit to grow in Him so you can realize
Your New Identity in Him
The freedom you have in Him
And the purpose and power you have in Him.
Don’t trust in Jesus thinking He is some eternal fire insurance. He doesn’t just save us.
He changes us and He pours out His blessings on us as we grow in Him.
Grow in Him and realize that we are blessed in Christ!
Pray
The outline for this message is from Paul Decker –More Important than you thought
http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/more-important-than-you-thought-a-called-community-paul-decker-sermon-on-church-general-94404.asp
