God-sized Changes from Christ
Ephesians 1:1-7
Sermon by Rick Crandall
Series: The Book of Ephesians
Grayson Baptist Church - February 17, 2019
(Revised March 1, 2024)
BACKGROUND:
*Today we begin a verse by verse study of the Book of Ephesians. J. Vernon McGee explained the background by saying, "Around the year 60 A.D. four men left Rome bound for the province of Asia, which was located in modern-day Turkey. Each man carried a Holy Spirit inspired letter written by the Apostle Paul. The Roman authorities never realized the significance of these letters from one of their little known prisoners. But if the empire had any idea of the power in those Heaven sent words, those four men would have been arrested and the documents seized.
*When the men said goodbye to their brother-in-Christ, the Apostle Paul, each was given a letter to carry to his particular church. These four letters are forever part of God's Word. And they are designated the 'Prison Epistles of Paul,' since he wrote them while he was imprisoned in Rome.
*Paul was there waiting for a hearing before Caesar Nero who was then the emperor of the Roman Empire. As a Roman citizen, Paul had appealed his case to the emperor, and he was waiting to be heard.
*The four men and their home cities can be identified: Philippians 4:18 tells us that Epaphroditus was from Philippi, and he had the Epistle to the Philippians. Colossians 4:12 tells us that Epaphras was from Colosse, and he had the Epistle to the Colossians. In Philemon 1:10 we see Onesimus. He was a runaway slave from Colosse, and carried a letter to his master Philemon. The last of the four men was Tychicus. We will see him in Ephesians 6:21, and he carried the letter we begin to explore today." (1)
*With this background in mind, let's begin by reading Ephesians 1:1-7. And as we read, please think about the God-sized changes that come from Christ.
MESSAGE:
*You know, people generally don't like change. Mark Twain once said, "The only person who likes change… is a wet baby." (2)
*There's a lot of truth to that statement. Many times, we think of change as being a bad thing, and we've seen a lot of bad changes in our lifetimes. But change can also be good, and that's especially true when it's a change made by God.
*The truth is that all of us need some changes in our lives, and Jesus Christ can give us the changes we need. The Lord wants to change us for the better! And today's Scripture shows us some of the God-sized changes Jesus makes when we put our trust in Him.
1. FIRST: WE ARE BLESSED WITH ALL SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS.
*Believers, we are blessed! Paul stressed this truth very strongly in vs. 1-3, when he said:
1. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus:
2. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
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,
*Christians: We are blessed! These verses show us that the Heavenly Father has already blessed us, and He has blessed us to the fullest. We know this because vs. 3 tells us that He "HAS BLESSED US WITH EVERY SPIRITUAL BLESSING."
*Right now, we can't begin to comprehend all the spiritual blessings we already have in Jesus Christ. I say that because in Ephesians 2:4-7 Paul will tell us that "God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, THAT IN THE AGES TO COME HE MIGHT SHOW the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus."
*In this current age, we cannot fully measure the blessings we already have in the Lord. But we can get a glimpse of our spiritual blessings:
-Think about our salvation: We are saved! We are rescued forever from sin, shame, and the everlasting torment we deserved.
-Also think about our justification: When I am in Jesus Christ, God sees me "just-as-if-I'd never sinned!"
-Think about our regeneration: We are born again as new creatures in the family of God.
-And think about our liberation: We are set fully free from the punishment for sin, the power of sin in our lives, and one day we will even be free from the presence of sin.
*That's just a taste of the boundless spiritual blessings we have in Jesus Christ. And one thing is sure: nothing is left out, because "the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. . . has blessed us with EVERY spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ!"
*Nothing is left out, Christians, and no one is left out. The Father's blessings are for every believer. And His blessings will never end! Verse 3 reminds us that God's blessings are for all eternity, because God "has blessed us in the heavenly places in Christ." Paul is talking about things that will last forever! And all these blessings come from our Heavenly Father.
*He's not like we are dads. Our Heavenly Father never fails His children. And we are blessed with all spiritual blessings. That is a God-sized change from Christ.
2. BUT CHRISTIANS: WE ARE ALSO CHOSEN AS GOD'S CHILDREN.
*We see this great truth in vs. 3-5, where Paul said:
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,
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,
5. having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
*The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ "chose us in Him before the foundation of the world."
[1] THIS TRUTH HIGHLIGHTS THE LORDSHIP OF GOD.
*God is in control of His universe! The Bible strongly stresses this truth in both the Old Testament and the New. Openbible.info lists 100 Bible verses about the sovereignty of God. (3)
-For example, Psalm 103:19 says, "The LORD has established His throne in heaven, And His kingdom rules over all."
-Psalm 135:6 says, "Whatever the LORD pleases He does, In heaven and in earth, In the seas and in all deep places."
-Proverbs 16:9 says, "A man's heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.
-Proverbs 21:1 says, "The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, Like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes."
-And in Revelation 19:6, the Apostle John "heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, 'Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!'"
*God is in control of His universe! And one dimension of His sovereign power is that God can see into the future. God has always seen the end from the beginning. In Isaiah 46:9-10, God says, "Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure."
*As human beings in this world, we are perpetually stuck in a moment of time. But God is not like us. He is bigger than time. In fact, God created time. And He sees the end from the beginning, so He foreknew who was going to be saved.
*Christians: Before the beginning of time, God looked into the future, saw you, and chose you to obtain His salvation. This means that when Jesus Christ was on the cross, we really were on His mind. And since He is the Good Shepherd, Jesus was seeking for us long before we ever thought about seeking Him.
*Ravi Zacharias told about a little girl who got desperately lost in the deep woods. She called and screamed as long as she could, but all of her efforts were in vain. Her terrified parents and a group of volunteers searched frantically for the girl. But when darkness came, they had to give up for the night.
*Early the next morning the search began again, and it was the girl's father who found her. She was fast asleep on a rock, when Dad called her name and ran toward her. Startled awake, his daughter threw her arms out to her daddy. Then as he picked her up and hugged her close, she said, "Daddy, I found you!" (4)
*Well, that's not what happened at all. And yes, as believers, we did find Jesus, but God the Good Shepherd found us first! And all the glory for our salvation goes to Him!
*The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ "chose us in Him before the foundation of the world." This highlights the lordship of God.
[2] AND IT TAKES US TO A NEW LIFESTYLE.
*That's because in vs. 4, God chose us in Christ "that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love." God chose us to be holy. That means separate from sin, different from the world, dedicated to God.
*William Barclay explained: "Here is the challenge that the modern Church has been very slow to face. In the early Church the Christians never had any doubt that they must be different from the world. They knew, in fact, that they were to be so different that the world would probably kill them, and certainty that the world would hate them.
*The tendency in modern Church has been to play down the difference between the Church and the world. But a Christian should be identifiable in this world. It should be possible to identify Christians in school, in the shop, the factory, the office, the hospital, everywhere." (5)
*Christians should be identifiable in this world by the way we live. Paul stressed this in Philippians 2:14-16. There Paul tells us to:
14. Do all things without complaining and disputing,
15. that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,
16. holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.
*God wants us to "shine as lights in the world." We also see this truth in the Lord's Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 5:14-16, Jesus said this to His followers:
14. "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.
15. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lamp stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.
16. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
*We are supposed to shine for Jesus! But what does that mean? Rodney Fry gave us some possibilities:
1-First, light is to be seen. Jesus said you don't light a lamp and then put it under a basket. You put it up on a stand to give light to everyone in the house. Our faith ought to be visible to everyone who knows us. They ought to be able to see Jesus Christ living in us.
2-Light is to be seen. But it is also to help guide. When an airplane approaches a landing strip at night, the pilot sees a line of lights that marks the right way. Our lives should help other people see that Jesus Christ is the right way in life.
3-Light is to guide. But it is also to warn. The light from lighthouses kept many ships from crashing into dangerous rocks. And it can be hard for us to warn someone that they are heading the wrong way. But we must be the warning light to help save them from danger. (6)
*Christians: We are the light of the world! And what a difference it makes when we shine for the Lord!
*The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ "chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love." This highlights the lordship of God, and it takes us to a new lifestyle.
[3] BUT IT ALSO HELPS US SEE THE BIGNESS OF GOD'S LOVE.
*That's because in vs. 5, God "predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will."
*Christians: We have been adopted into the family of God! And yes, all believers are born again into God's family by the Holy Spirit of God, but I am also glad God tells us that He's adopted us.
*The love of a parent for an adopted child is a special, big kind of love. My parents didn't choose me, and there were probably days when, given the choice my Mama would have said: "Mmmm, no thanks!"
*But God has the kind of love that He could look at us warts and all, and still say, "I choose you!"
*I've been blessed to know many wonderful Christians, and today C.L. and Peggy Johnson are on my mind. During World War II, C.L. was a Navy Seabee. He helped clean up the destruction after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor.
*Then, C.L. was on ships that were attacked by Japanese Kamikaze planes. Three times, those ships were sunk, and one time, C.L. was in the water for several days. He was a real hero, and it’s a wonder he survived the war. But God had a plan for his life.
*God wanted C.L. to come back home and meet Peggy, and they did meet in the café where she worked. C.L. was working for the railroad back then, and the crew always stopped in to have coffee.
*It was the beginning of a great life with 54 years together in marriage. But at first, Peggy didn’t think it would come to much, because she already had a young daughter named Ann. Most men wouldn’t want to take on that responsibility, but C.L. wasn’t like most men, and he fell in love with little Ann, too.
*One day C.L. asked Ann what she wanted for her birthday, and she said, "I want you to be married to my mom!" "Wow!" C.L. replied. "Well, -- we’ve got to talk to Peggy about this."
*They got married on Ann’s birthday that year. And C.L. always said, "I got the deal of a lifetime, because I got two beautiful girls for the price of one."
*Church: That's a small taste of the kind of love God had for us when He adopted us into His family. We are chosen as God's children, and that is a God-sized change from Christ!
3. BUT WE HAVE ALSO BEEN GIVEN GOD'S GRACE.
*Please listen for God's grace in vs. 5-7. Here, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ:
5. having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
6. to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved.
7. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.
*God's great grace! In vs. 5, it's connected with God's good pleasure. In vs. 6, grace leads us to give Him glorious praise. But most important for us in vs. 6, God's grace makes us "accepted in the beloved".
*God's grace makes us accepted, when we are in His beloved Son Jesus Christ. Being accepted by God is indescribably good, and it puts us in the same company as the Lord's own mother.
*Think about when the angel Gabriel went to tell the Virgin Mary about the miraculous way she would become the mother of our Savior. In Luke 1:28, the first thing Gabriel said to Mary was, "Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women."
*"Mary: You are highly favored!" Gabriel said. And surely she was, but Christians, so are we! You see, the original word for "highly favored" comes from the word we translate as God's grace. And this original word for "highly favored" is only used one other time in the whole New Testament. That's right here in vs. 6.
*"Mary, You are highly favored!" Gabriel said. That is the very same original word God uses here when He say we are "accepted." We are "accepted in the beloved," and that's grace!
*But vs. 7 reminds us that it never could have happened without the cross of Jesus Christ! "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace." Thank God for the cross of Jesus Christ! Our forgiveness comes only through His blood, and that is the riches of His grace!
*But notice that this all takes effect only when we are in Christ. All of the blessings God has for us come when we are in Christ. You see, when we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, His Holy Spirit comes to live in our spiritual hearts. But at the very same time, God's Holy Spirit puts us into the spiritual Body of Christ.
*1 Corinthians 12:13 is talking about this when it says, "For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free. . ." This means we have been totally submerged into the spiritual body of Jesus Christ. And Christians: From the moment we believe, we are literally in Christ.
*This is an extremely important truth about Christianity. We know this because phrases like "in Christ" or "in the Lord" are used almost 100 times in the New Testament!
*Think about Christians being in Christ as you hear today's Scripture again:
1. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful IN CHRIST JESUS:
2. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
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,
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,
5. having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
6. to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted IN THE BELOVED.
7. IN HIM we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace
*Five times in those seven verses, God mentions us being in Christ. And right now, Christians, that is where we are. We are in Christ! And that is an amazing, miraculous place to be!
*Pastor Harry Ironside gave this testimony to help us understand: "Years ago, I was the guest of friends who were sheep-raisers. It was the time for new lambs, and every morning we went out to see hundreds of lambs playing on the green pasture.
*One morning I was startled to see a mother followed by the strangest looking lamb I had ever seen. The little lamb apparently had six legs. And the skin seemed to be partially torn from its body in a way that made me feel that the poor little creature must be suffering terribly.
*But when one of the herders caught the lamb and brought it over to me, he explained the mystery. That lamb did not originally belong to that mother. She had a lamb which was bitten by a rattlesnake and died.
*This lamb that I saw was an orphan and needed a mother's care. But at first the childless mother refused to have anything to do with it. She sniffed at the orphan lamb when it was brought to her and then pushed it away. She was saying as plainly as a sheep could say it: 'That is not in our family!'
*So, the herders skinned the lamb that had died and very carefully pulled the fleece over the living lamb. This left the back-leg coverings dragging loose. When the newly covered lamb was brought back to the mother, she smelled it again. This time she was thoroughly satisfied to adopt it as her own.
*It seemed to me to be a beautiful picture of the grace of God to sinners. We are all outcasts and have no claim upon His love. But God's own Son, the 'Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the World,' has died for us on the cross.
*And now we who believe are dressed up in the fleece of the Lamb who died. Thus, God has accepted us in Him, and Romans 8:1 says, 'There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.' We are as dear to the heart of the Father as His own holy, spotless Son." (7)
CONCLUSION:
*Talk about God-sized changes from Christ! Christians: We are blessed with all spiritual blessings. We are chosen as God's children. And we have been given God's grace. Praise God as we go back to the Lord in prayer!
*And if you have never received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, do it right now! Ask our crucified and risen Savior to save you, and He surely will, for Romans 10:13 says, "Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.''
(1) Adapted from THROUGH THE BIBLE WITH J. VERNON MCGEE by J. Vernon McGee - Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville - Copyright 1981 - "Ephesians Introduction" - Downloaded to e-Sword by Rick Meyers - Copyright 2021
(2) Original source unknown
(3) What Does the Bible Say about Sovereignty of God? - 100 Bible Verses about Sovereignty of God - https://www.openbible.info/topics/sovereignty_of_god
(4) JESUS AMONG OTHER GODS by Ravi Zacharias - Thomas Nelson - 2002
(5) Adapted from BARCLAY'S DAILY BIBLE STUDY SERIES - NT by William Barclay - Revised Edition - Copyright 1975 - First published by the Saint Andrew - Press, Edinburgh, Scotland - The Westminster Press, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - "The Chosen Of God" - Ephesians 1:3-4 - https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/dsb/ephesians-1.html
(6) Adapted from SermonCentral sermon "Pass the Salt and Turn on the Light" by Rodney Fry - Matthew 5:13-16
(7) Adapted from: Accepted in the Beloved - H. A. Ironside - Pastor of Moody Bible Church - Illustrations of Bible Truth, Page 33-34, Moody Press, 1945 - Source: Precept Austin - Ephesians - sermon illustrations
