Charles Spurgeon made this observation on Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. “The epistle to the Ephesians is a complete body of divinity. In the first chapter, you have the doctrines of the gospel, and the next, you have the experience of the Christian, and before the epistle finishes you have the precepts of the Christian faith. Whoever would see Christianity in one document, let him read, mark, learn, learn and inwardly digest the epistle to the Ephesians.” Our goal for the next few podcasts in this series is to do just that. There is so much to learn this letter. There is an old adage that ask how you eat an elephant? And the answer is one spoonful at a time. That is going to be our process through these podcasts to take small pieces of the time understand them and digest them.
Ephesians 1:1-14
“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus; Grace to you and peace from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love. He predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ. According to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, all wisdom and insight. Making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he sets forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believe in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
In 2017 Americans spent approximately $80 billion and buying lottery tickets. According to the most recent numbers over 70% of lottery winners go bankrupt within three years of winning the lottery. We live in an “I wanted now.” Culture and more often than not when we do get what we want. We either want more or squander what we have received. This is because we are focused on the now the things of and we do that we missed the real treasures God has prepared for us here and in heaven. The blessings we find in Christ are not of the earth. They are not of material things, but in spiritual things. When we focus on the material once we neglect in seeing the abundant blessings found in Christ. Our true peace and joy can only be found when we seek the things of God through Christ Jesus. Jesus tells us we are not really up for ourselves treasures here on earth where they can be stolen or destroyed, but the way our treasures in heaven would be will last for eternity. And so many of these heavenly blessed are available to us here and now, the beginning of the book of Ephesians leaves out his blessings.
“Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.” We are blessed because he has chosen us in Christ Jesus. I was the skinny kid with the black plastic Clark Kent glasses. So when it came to choosing sides on the playground or in the PE class. I was almost in every case, the less to be picked. Was a horrible feeling to believe that you were never good enough to be chosen first. God does not care whether you are good enough because the reality is we can never really be good enough, but all of us have been chosen. From before the time he created the earth he has chosen us, he is laid out his plans so that we can be in his family. We all created in the image of God and by default, create to be in a relationship with God. No one is chosen first and no one is chosen last, we are all equal. At the foot of the cross. God sold the world and did not send his son to condemn the world, but to be saved through him. It tells us in 2 Peter 3:9, “the Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness” , but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”
We all matter to God, to God, and there is a purpose in him choosing us. We are chosen to be holy and blameless before him. Every year we get evaluated at work, we are rated on a scale from 1 to 5. To get a five means you have greatly exceeded what is expected of you. But the reality is, no one gets a five, because five. The scene is perfect, and no one is perfect. There is an inward desire in all of us to be successful and to measure up to other people’s expectations. The great blessings we have in Christ is that even though God expectation is perfection, imperfection, we can never hope to achieve, we can achieve the appearance of this through Christ Jesus. We put all of our faith and trust in Christ and that what he accomplished crossed, God sees us as perfect. We all become fives. The blessing is that we are seen as holy, set apart from our sin and blameless perfect in the eyes of God through Christ Jesus. We then are able to have direct access to God in our lives in our prayers. Because of this blessing. Because we have been chosen.
“He predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will.” Predestination is one of those words that strikes fear into the hearts of men. Countless books and papers have been written on the subject of pre-destination. Churches have. But as I have promised. When I started this podcast, is called biblical truth made simple for a reason. Very often we get caught up in the deep theological discussions and in this theological forest. We miss focusing on the one tree that really matters and that tree is the cross. The word predestined is defined by Webster’s dictionary means “to determine (an outcome or a course of events) in advance by divine will or faith.” Predestination does not mean God is sitting in heaven choosing who is or is not to be saved. It is undeniable that God has for knowledge of who will not be saved, but it is also important to note that we have free will to choose whether to accept Christ or reject Christ. To not have the will to choose is to not love, the act of love in the act of obedience requires that we have the use of free will. The one thing all of us can agree upon is the fact that it was predestined Christ would come and live among us. It was predestined that he would be crucified, sacrifice is the Lamb of God for the payment, the final payment for the sins of man. Predestined that whoever puts their faith in him will be blessed with the gift of eternal life predestined because God loves us.
We are blessed because we are adopted by God into his family through Christ. “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” My oldest daughter is adopted into her what made that so special is that we chose, we chose her to be in our family. When we turn from sin and party in Christ, we are chosen by God through this faith to be in his family. Jesus being God’s only Son is the only way this adoption can take place. There is nothing we can do to be worthy of adoption other than putting our faith in Christ alone. In the context of the time. This was a very strong truth. Under Roman law. When you are adopted, you can never be removed from the family. A blood related child could be caught off from their inheritance, but an adopted child could not, because they had been chosen to be given the right to be in the family. God in all his grace and mercy, send his son and by him. You have been chosen by the creator of the universe and to be his child. His according to his pleasure in his will alone that this blessing is possible.
“To the purpose of his glorious grace with which he has blessed us in the beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace. We are blessed because God accepts us. We are accepted by God, not because of who we are but because of who he is and what he has done. It is only by his grace that his son to the cross to pay for sin, so that we could be seen as acceptable in God’s eyes. The wondrous thing about this active acceptance is that it has nothing to do with our past. We are all accepted by God. We put our faith in Christ Jesus. Our past no longer matters as we have become new creation born again washed by the blood of Christ. We have been delivered from the bondage of sin and the distresses of this world. If you have put your faith in Christ you have been blessed chosen adopted and accepted by the Father.
“Which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ. As a plan for the fullness of time, tonight all things in him, things in heaven and things in earth.” We are blessed because God has given us citizenship in his kingdom. Scripture says that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. God has blessed us by giving us the revelation of his word, so that we can know God. And in knowing him, we gain wisdom and insight to his purpose. The word that was available to the people at the time Paul wrote this letter was what we refer to as the Old Testament. And in this with the prophecies concerning Christ Jesus. This was the great mystery of how the Messiah would come and what his purpose would be. For those that are in Christ Jesus. We have seen the mystery unveiled before us in the life of Jesus. Jesus was the fulfillment of all these prophecies he was the fullness of time, uniting the things of heaven in the things of earth. Jesus declared many times behold, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Jesus brought heaven to earth, and those who put their faith in Christ Jesus have become citizens of that kingdom.
“In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, resealed with the promised Holy Spirit.” We are blessed because we have an inheritance waiting for us in heaven. Remember that we’ve stated before, but according to Roman law. If you were adopted into a family. You could not have inheritance removed from you. The same can be said for those who put their faith in Christ Jesus. You have been giving an inheritance which can never be taken away. You have been given by the grace of God, the gift of eternal life, a gift that will never be taken back. Once we accepted Christ as our Lord and Savior put all of our faith and trust in him. The promise was sealed by the Holy Spirit. When a person of importance would present a legal document such as the title to property or inheritance to the person who was to receive it. They would place upon it a wax seal. This would guarantee that the document was genuine and legal. Those of us who I’ve been accepted, adopted, and given citizenship into the kingdom of God have been sealed by the Holy Spirit. This seal is a guarantee that this is genuine and legal. It is a guarantee that our salvation based upon the gospel and our faith in Christ can never be taken away and a guarantee that our inheritance will be waiting for us in heaven for us to acquire possession of it.
Every day of our lives should reflect the fact that we know how much we have been blessed, Charles Spurgeon said, “We’re not sitting here and groaning, and crying, and fretting, and worrying, and questioning our own salvation. She has blessed us; therefore, we will bless him. If you think little of what God has done for you, you will do little for him, but if you have a great notion of his great mercy to you, you will be greatly grateful to your gracious God.” The results of a life that recognizes the many blessings that God has placed upon us is filled with praise to God, is a life that worships God and serves God. At the beginning of this section in the book of Ephesians it says “Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The word used for blessed here in the Greek is only used when referring to God. It is a word that means he is worthy of all praise and worthy the of all glory. He is worthy of our obedience to his will and our devotion to his word. When we accept Christ and put our faith in him and receive these blessings we are not to sit on our laurels. We are called to action. Every day of our lives should reflect the fact that we know how much we have been blessed.
