Chosen, Redeemed and Sealed
Ephesians 1:3-14
September 22, 2019
Have you ever thought about life in the sense of do-overs? People say hindsight is 20/20, and we would tend to agree . . . it’s always easy to look back and see what we should have or could have done. If you could do certain parts of life over, would you change some things? Would you change what job you took, or who you dated, where you lived, those hurtful words you said, that injury you sustained. Would you change any of that?
It’s one of the reason I think I like golf. In golf, if you’re playing for fun and with friends, we often give one another a mulligan. It means you get a do-over. It’s as if the first shot, which was lousy - - didn’t count.
I remember shooting baskets by myself, especially in the Michael Jordan era. I would shoot and pretend the game was coming to an end and we needed to make the winning basket. The ball always ended up in my hands and I would take the shot and we always, always won. Why did we win? Because if I missed the shot, there was a mysterious time out called by the coach, or I got fouled and got a do-over. Do - overs can be fun.
But, as we live life, we realize do - overs are not reality. We wish we could, but we can’t get redos. We can apologize for hurtful words, we can ask for forgiveness, we can try to do better in the future, but we can’t take back the past.
Well, we’ve been looking at Ephesians 1, and it’s a great chapter, filled with examples of God’s love and grace. Today, and for the next several weeks, we’re going to be looking at so many of the great promises from God to us in this letter from Paul, which he wrote while in prison in Rome.
To give a recap. We’ve seen from Paul the following great news!
God wants to bless us with every spiritual blessing.
We are chosen because we are loved.
We were chosen before the world was created.
We are not condemned.
God considers us - - HOLY and BLAMELESS.
Jesus shed His blood for us
We are forgiven
His grace is lavished upon us.
So, that’s where we’re at. I want to remind you that God chose you to be His. He loved choosing you and He wants you to intimately know Him. So, He doesn’t want a redo.
Maybe you feel that you weren’t always wanted or you question whether or not your spouse would marry you again, or would your boss rehire you.
Maybe you've wondered the same thing about your Christian life. "If God had to do it over, would He save me again?" Maybe you believe you have been such a disappointment to God that He would have been better off not to have saved you in the first place.
The message in Ephesians 1 is the exact opposite. Paul wants us to really believe God chose us, not because He had to, but because He wanted to.
You were part of His plan from the beginning, before there was a planet Earth.
Two times, Paul tells us God chose us. He wrote --
4 God chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him.
11 In Him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined (CHOSEN) according to the purpose of His will,
I know I’m kind of repeating some of the past 2 weeks, but we need to believe this and know how important it is. Because without believing that God wants us and chose us, then we’re without hope, because then we really don’t believe God wants us. We may think we’re leftovers, but we’re not.
For some, probably most of us at one time or another, it's been a rough journey. There have been mistakes, disappointments and sins along the way, and we’ve all fallen short of God's glory more than we’d like to admit. We have lots of regrets and wish we had do-overs.
But God's love for you has never changed. From the beginning God knew what your life would be like. He knew you would be here this morning. There’s no surprises with God.
So, remember, God loves you, He chose you, He believes in you, He died for you and He forgives you!!
You belong to God, and that will never change.
Ephesians defines our relationship with God in permanent terms. Paul tells us in verse 5 --
In love 5 God predestined us for adoption to Himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will,
We may not fully understand what this means. We normally read the Bible with 21st century eyes, not with 1st century eyes.
You see, in Roman culture, when a baby was born and set at the father's feet, the father either picked up the baby, thereby claiming it, or he turned around and walked away, rejecting the baby. Maybe he wanted a boy and had a girl; maybe he wanted a girl and had a boy. Maybe he detects some kind of defect or birthmark that displeases him. Rarely in Roman culture would the baby be killed. Instead, the child would be exposed to the elements for the gods to decide his fate. Frequently, a child would be taken to the agora, the marketplace, and abandoned there. Sometimes someone would come along and take the child in but have them raised to be a slave or prostitute. It was to this culture that Paul was writing when he talked about adoption.
This was normal in that culture. It shocks us! We hear about those stories on the news, but that wouldn’t have been a shock to the people in the 1st century.
Adding to that, there was more to adoption - -
The people in Ephesus understood the significance of adoption. Just as child abandonment was common, so was adoption. Even major political figures did it throughout Rome. Adoption wasn't just a case of couples who didn’t have children, wanting to adopt and provide a home for a child in need.
Adoptions often occurred for business or political reasons. There were even instances of grown men being adopted. It was political and economic, as the one adopting wanted to ensure that their wealth and power were passed on in the way they intended it to be.
For example, the Roman emperor Claudius adopted his great nephew Nero, whom he wanted to be his successor.
Adoptions were permanent. Generally, when you adopted, it was a son, and after a week or two, change your mind. Adoptions were permanent. So when Paul compared our life in God to adoption, he was saying, "You're part of the family now. There’s no do-overs. You're here to stay."
So, when Paul wrote this, and tells the Ephesians that God loves them and adopted them, he’s writing to an abandonment culture. Paul is telling the people ‘if you have come to know Jesus, your most defining moment isn't who threw you out but who took you in. He picked you out, He picked you up, and He took you home.
Has anybody here ever been dumped? Dumped by a fiancé? Dumped by a spouse? Dumped by your child? Dumped by a company? Dumped by a friend? Has any of this ever happened to you?
Know that no matter who’s dumped you, God has chosen you to be part of His family!!
Another symbol of permanence is that the Holy Spirit is given as our guarantee. Listen to these great words from Paul –
13 In Him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in Him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of His glory.
Guarantee is a business term referring to pledge money paid up front to ensure full payment will be made later. It's a deposit. A prospective buyer puts up earnest money on a piece of land to give the seller assurance that he intends to come back later and pay in full.
Paul is saying that the Holy Spirit is that deposit, that guarantee.
I love the image of being sealed. It’s a powerful metaphor in the ancient world.
Again, let’s look at what was going on in ancient Ephesus.
The seal was a mark of ownership. For a paper document you could make a seal with melted wax into which you would press your family ring or crest, leaving an indentation. When the wax dried it made a seal. That seal marked the ownership of the document. This kind of seal wouldn't work for livestock, so people started branding with hot irons. A brand is also a seal—a mark of ownership.
How many of you have seen the movie "Gladiator?” Maximus, played by Russell Crowe, has four letters tattooed on his arm: SPQR. They mark him as a Roman soldier for the emperor—it's a mark of service. Soldiers were tattooed. Captives and slaves were branded.
Paul’s writing to this kind of culture — a culture in which people are literally sealed to show who owns them. Paul is saying, "Do you realize that when you came to believe, you received God's seal upon your life?" And the seal is a promise; the seal is God whispering, "You're mine. I've adopted you, and you are mine."
When we’re sealed it’s as if the book is closed, the deal is done. There’s no more discussion! You’re in! It’s like the King sealing you with his signet ring, telling everyone that this is a message from the king, so when you’re sealed with the Holy Spirit, know it’s a done deal. You’re in! It’s a guarantee.
So, here’s the confidence and trust we have in God, when we hear the word of truth, the Bible, the Word of God, whether reading it or hearing it, or seeing someone live it . . . when that happens and we believe in Jesus Christ, through the work of the Holy Spirit, we’re sealed with the guarantee of our redemption through the blood of Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins!
And to take it a step further, the Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance. For me, it’s a double blessing from God in the gift of the Holy Spirit. It’s a gift for today and tomorrow.
Firstly, the Holy Spirit comes into our lives when we say yes to Jesus. We may not feel anything or we may feel this power or spirit come upon us. Either way, when we embrace Jesus as Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit comes into our lives. The Spirit acts as our counselor, our Guide, our Helper, our Comforter, as the One who also convicts us about our sinfulness.
The desire to live a holy life — that's the Holy Spirit's work. That part of you that is deeper than a feeling and deeper than emotion and is drawing you into a relationship with God — that's the Holy Spirit's work.
It is the Holy Spirit that drives you to seek a deeper relationship with God. God gave you the Holy Spirit as a deposit, as a pledge, to guarantee that the work He is beginning in your life will be seen to completion.
And the second part is that the Holy Spirit guides us in our relationship with God and ultimately leads us to eternal life with God. It’s because of our faith in Jesus, but we gain this inheritance which is sealed by the Holy Spirit. It’s a guarantee that we can’t lose that inheritance and that we have all the rights and benefits and privileges as those experienced by the saints of the past. That’s the great news Paul is trying to pass across to the Ephesians.
God speaks of His relationship to you in permanent, irrevocable terms. Adoption. Ransom. Guarantee. You belong to God, and that will never change.
Sometimes we’re slow to grasp God's goodness and grace. He didn't bring you this far to abandon you. He didn't save you with the intention of leaving you.
As we prepare to conclude this morning, know and believe and trust that God adopted you, Paid for you, that you are His, signed, sealed and delivered, or redeemed.
That is who you are at your core. That is your primary identity. Not your house, not your title, not your children, not your looks. There is freedom in your true identity as a child of God.
I know that someday I'll be going home to be with the One who adopted me, who paid for me, who owns me. It frees me. Knowing who you are will free you. It will free you to serve. It will free you to obey.
When we remember that we’re loved, we serve differently. When we remember that we’re loved, we love differently. When we remember who we are, we give differently.
When I remember who I am, when I settle this identity thing, I'm free to give grace, because I've received grace. I'm free to give love, because I've received love. I'm free to serve, because God has lavished His mercy on me.
When I remember who I am, I live differently. We desperately need to remember who we are. We are sons and daughters of God, bought by the blood of Christ and sealed as victorious in Him.
