The Chosen
Ephesians Series
CCCAG January 2nd 2022
Scripture- Ephesians 1:1-14
Introduction-
When I first began the journey toward becoming a pastor I attended a pastors conference in Milwaukee where the district had flown in a ministry expert to help encourage the local pastors. One of the questions the expert asked was-
“If you had to choose three books of the bible you’d want to teach your church, what would they be”?
I wrote in my notes- “The Gospel of John and Romans” and then thought a bit about it and wrote a third book -Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians.
Since I have been here, we have gone through the Gospel of John, and the book of Romans, so now we will go through my third choice over the next several months.
Why Ephesians?
The central premise of this book is describing who you are in Jesus. From the basics of your election or calling to be a disciple of Christ, to the positions you currently enjoy in the heavenly Kingdom, to the ministry you are called to as the elect of God.
No other book in the bible does this to the extent of Ephesians.
It’s important, because people live according to their vision of themselves (repeat).
If you see yourself as a good, honest, trustworthy person, how will you act?
Like a good, honest, and trustworthy person!
If you see yourself as person undeserving of any love, affection, or is unworthy of anything good, how will you live your life?
Just like that.
That’s why Paul wrote this book, so we can see who we are in Jesus Christ, and live accordingly.
We can live, like we were the chosen of God.
Let’s read God’s word spoken through his apostle-
Eph 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.
NIV
Prayer
This morning we are going to focus on what it means to be the chosen of God. The bible, throughout both the Old and New Testament is pretty clear that God chooses certain people for certain things, including salvation.
When I said that last sentence, I know some might bristle a bit because it sounds like Calvinism. For the record, we are not a Calvinistic fellowship or denomination in that we follow the Arminian order of salvation.
Most of you probably aren’t theology nerds like me and know the difference, but if you are reading your bible, you will come across passages that seem to indicate God has a naughty and nice list, and already has determined who will go to heaven based off of his sovereign choice.
So we will spend just a few moments this morning discussing this-
I. Predestination- how are we chosen
Let’s review the verse in question from this morning-
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
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,
If you only had these verses from the bible, you would assume that God has indeed chosen those who would receive salvation- that the cross of Jesus Christ was only for those whom God has chosen to be predestined.
But they are not the only verses, and as I’ve frequently said over the last 7 years, I consider John chapter 3, particularly verses 16-18 the beginning and the end of our discussion of salvation.
Why do I think that- because it direct quotes the Son of God in this matter, and as much as I love, respect, and honor the Apostle Paul, Jesus being God is the final say-
John 3:16-19
16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Listen to verse 18-
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.
So is the bible giving us a contradiction?
Paul, and Peter use this same language regarding salvation- predestination according to God’s purpose and sovereign choice.
Jesus says whoever would believe- our choice, empowered by the Holy Spirit.
How do we reconcile these two points.
Rom 8:28-30
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
What does this mean?
God predestines or choses based on his foreknowledge of those who will accept Jesus as Lord, God, Savior, King.
That might bring up another question- does God know the future?
Yes! How?
Brief explanation of time being a created thing, and God existing outside and at all points of time.
Mice in a maze example
- Start them in the maze (their life)
- Reach down and guide them to the right path
- In the end if they follow your guidance, they get the cheese (anyone from Wisconsin know that is heaven!)
That is how God choses us, and predestines us, at least within the theology of our fellowship. A Baptist will argue differently, but God bless them, they are our brothers and sisters in Christ but they have a right to be wrong (joke).
Transition- now that we know how we are chosen-
II. What are the benefits of being chosen?
A. Holy and blameless/Redemption
How many people really don’t feel that?
There are two reasons that I believe that most Christians live under their calling-
1. They believe the enemy’s lies. Here are some of the examples-
a. God could never save you- you are worthless, and HE could never love you
b. You have messed up way too much and have committed unforgiveable sins and are doomed.
c. Here is a lie I hear all the time- hell isn’t so bad. It’s a party with all of our friends who went there also!
d. Finally we feel this way because fear, doubt, and unbelief are constantly being feed to us throughout all of this worlds media
2nd reason most Christians live under their calling-
2. Lasciviousness
a. Defined as living for your own pleasures rather than for the glory of God.
b. Carnal Christianity- it’s a contradiction in terms.
c. Live how you want, Jesus will forgive you anyway
This is probably the most pernicious lie the enemy tells people today, because if he can get people who claim to be Christians to live like hell- he wins, because they will never shine the light of the Gospel to the world.
The truth to both believing the enemies lies and to lasciviousness is this- back to the Roman’s verse-
For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son
You were chosen and called to a purpose- to reflect the glory of God through the character of Jesus being formed inside you and then shown to the world.
But if you live in the enemies lies, it’s like covering the windows of the lighthouse- the light inside might still be on, but you have allowed sin, fear, doubt, and unbelief cover the windows so no one else can see that light.
The second benefit of being chosen is-
B. Adopted into His family
I’m not a lawyer, but in my brief internet search I’ve read that once you adopt a child it’s almost impossible to reverse that adoption.
When God adopts you as his child (ie when you become saved), God never files for an annulment.
I want you think about that for a moment. Close your eyes if you will and think of the worst thing you have done in your life. Now think of the worse thing you have done since you became a Christian.
Open you eyes and look at me- God saved you anyway.
The blood of Jesus wiped away that sin and continues to do so as you walk with Him.
If that doesn’t raise a shout of praise in your heart I don’t know what will.
This is the first service of the new year- I want you to enter this year with a clean slate and not believe the enemies lies that you are unworthy of God’s love.
Listen, right now if you are here and have surrendered to Christ and been saved, you stand before God dressed in white robes washed cleaner than any bleach known to humanity.
You need to enter this new year believing that- and then living it.
God has adopted you, and wrote that adoption in permanent ink. You can try and leave HIM, but He will never leave you.
Why can I say that, because He gave us part of HIMself-
The 3rd benefit of being chosen- The Holy Spirit!
C. Most importantly for our lives- The Holy Spirit!
Eph 1:13b 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
Listen, I can be in the darkest depression. I can run into someone that seems to ask the unanswerable question, or challenge my faith in ways I was not prepared for. I can be in the darkest despair I have ever felt, but in all of that there is one thing I can cling to-
God loves me, and His spirit inside me is always bearing witness that I am HIS son, and He is calling me away to be with him.
I’ve often wondered how Paul and Silas can be beaten so badly that most of the skin was removed from their backs, and then chained to a wall in a dirt dungeon with bugs and rats and filth, probably freezing half to death and in horrific pain.
Yet they praised God to the point that God HIMself joined in and took the bass role and shook the jail apart, freeing them.
How- The Holy Spirit.
Listen, I say this over and over again, but we need to hear it over and over again-
We are living in a time were we need to shut of the media- TV, internet, phones, radios, and just sit in silence and pray. Let the HOLY Spirit wash over you, give you perspective, refresh, heal and reinvigorate you so that you can face these days we are living in, and that are coming on this earth.
Christian soldier- you are in basic training right now. It behooves you to listen to the Holy Spirit’s training so when the war comes you will survive and thrive in God’s army.
Finally the Holy Spirit will help you with the 4th benefit of being chosen-
D. Understand the times
While we have to be careful when it comes to watching the news and immediately trying to attach prophetic scripture to every news story, the Holy Spirit will remind you that the bible has foretold many of the events we are seeing today.
To me, it brings me a sense of peace because it assures me that God has this whole thing in control, and nothing is happening that HE hasn’t prepared a way for us to get through- even if it means martyrdom.
That’s a frightening thought, but only if your focus is only on this life.
Listen, when you came to Christ, your eternal life began- focus on that, because in a billion years you will probably not even remember this life. Live focused on that life, and what you will see in this life will be unable to affect your sense of joy, or happiness.
I want to close with this thought-
III. What are our responsibilities of being chosen
We have alluded to some of this throughout the message, but I want to frame this thought this way-
In the military if you are in uniform and do something that brings discredit to your military service they can charge you with the crime of “conduct unbecoming”. It means that as long as you wear that uniform and identify yourself as a member of that military branch, you have certain behavioral expectations that you have to meet.
Even in civilian life, if I am in scrubs with my hospital name badge on and go out and do something that reflect negatively upon the hospital I work for, they can discipline or fire me based on that.
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.
As Christians, Paul holds up the standard of Jesus Christ for us to live for, and does it in a way that isn’t just a list of do’s and don’ts, but helping us see it’s because of who God has called us to be in this world and not just to meet some nebulous standard of spirituality that changes from denomination to denomination.
It’s not about do’s and don’ts- its about the Glory of God.
1 Cor 6:20- Weymouth NT
And you are not your own, for you have been redeemed at infinite cost. Therefore glorify God in your bodies.
For the year 2022, I would be a good thing for us to remember that God bankrupted heaven to save us.
What does that mean?
God gave the most valuable thing in the universe- Himself through Jesus Christ to save us from our sin.
If we have that thought front and center in our minds, I think everything else will fall into proper perspective for us.
All rise
Altar Call
