Blessed way beyond what we can Imagine!
Ephesians 1:3-14
Praise for Spiritual Blessings in 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[b] predestined us for adoption to sonship[c] 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 he[d] 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 reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.
11 In him we were also chosen,[e] 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 put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you 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.
This morning if you don’t hear anything else today, I want you to hear this.
As a Christian, We have been given, blessed with Way More than we will ever totally Understand or Comprehend in Christ. But, we should try to figure it out!
Let me try to help you understand what I’m talking about with an illustration…
Is anyone here a member of Farm Bureau? Nola and I have had our insurance through them for years… do you know what I just found out this week as I was preparing for this sermon, as I was praying about how to try and convey this idea to you… I found out that we have all kinds of perks, all kinds of savings that are available to us…but we have NEVER even noticed!!!
Listen to some of these benefits….
Member Benefits
• Wyndham Hotel Group. As a member of Arkansas Farm Bureau you can receive up to 20% off the “Best Available Rate” ...
• Life Line Screening. ...
• Infant Car Seat Program. ...
• Grainger Discounts. ...
• Alamo Rent a Car. ...
• AVIS Discount.
This list goes on, but you get the point… membership benefits, going totally unused, unappreciated, unnoticed….no benefit. Is it Farm Bureau’s fault? No, it’s my fault for not understanding what has been offered.
This morning You do believe that what the Word of God says is True don’t You?
Martin Luther once was so depressed over a prolonged time that one day his wife came downstairs wearing all black. Martin Luther said, “Who died?” She said, “God has.” He said, “God hasn’t died.” To which she replied, “Well, live like it and act like it.”
(Preaching Today)
Let’s look at verse 3… 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.
1. Do you have any Idea what the Father has blessed you with?
The Greek word for “blessing” is the word eulogia which means “benefit.” These spiritual blessings that Paul referred to weren’t just nice ideas. They were realities to him that were attached to real benefits when he lived in and through them. Ultimately, we live in and through them as we live in Christ, but it’s helpful to breakdown what that actually means.
1. Chosen Before the Foundation of the World (v.4)
To know you’ve been chosen before the foundation of the world is to know that your life matters. Your existence isn’t an accident or by-product of natural selection. God has been thinking about your destiny before He ever said, “Let there be light.”
2. Holy and Blameless (v.4)
In Christ you are holy and blameless. This means you are fit to serve Him and worship Him despite your shortcomings. God enjoys you when you approach Him and He gladly moves through your life to touch others, not because of your own righteousness, but because of the righteousness of Christ that has been imputed or attributed to you.
3. In His Love (v.4)
In Christ you stand in agape or unconditional love. You cannot earn it. Today, you are unconditionally loved in Christ. Have you received it? Make the following confession today, “Jesus, I receive your unconditional love.”
4. Predestined to Adoption (v.5)
God has predetermined to call you His own in Christ. He has selected you to be His son or daughter. You are a part of His family. He is your Father. Many times when parents adopt a child, they go through a selection process for making a decision on who they will adopt and who they won’t adopt. God already went through His decision-making process about you a long time ago and decided to adopt you as one of His children.
5. Accepted in the Beloved (v.6)
You are not rejected. You are not an outcast. You are not unworthy of approval. The Creator of the universe accepts you in Christ. You have been relationally reconciled in Christ and are pleasing to God. You might not have health in all of your relationships right now, but, in Christ there is nothing between you and God today.
6. Redemption through His Blood (v.7)
Outside of Christ you were a slave to sin and eternal death. You couldn’t buy or earn your way out of it. The price for your freedom was the precious blood of Jesus. Jesus wasn’t a slave. Jesus was already free. Jesus paid for your freedom anyways.
7. Forgiveness of Sins (v.7)
In your life you have turned your back on God morally. You have consciously rebelled against His law in your heart. You have ignored His wisdom and thought yourself to be the wiser many-a-time. In Christ, you are forgiven today.
8. Riches of His Grace Abound To You (v.7-8)
Grace means “unmerited favor.” Abound means “to have in abundance.” In Christ, there is an abundant measure of unmerited favor flowing to your life like a river that will last from here into the never-ending depths of eternity.
9. Made Known to You the Mystery of His Will (v.9)
In a fallen world of war, suffering and disease; a sinful world where bad things happen to good people; God has revealed His solution to us. He wrapped-up every answer to every aspect of the human condition in Christ and He gave it to us.
10. Obtained An Eternal Inheritance (v.11)
Revelation 21:4 describes Heaven in the following manner: And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.
11. Heard the Word of Truth (v.13)
God’s truth is a light in darkness. We are not without counsel. We are not left in the dark. We have heard His good news and discovered the path of life.
12. Sealed with the Holy Spirit of Promise (v.13)
The Promise of the Holy Spirit that was prophesied about by Isaiah, Ezekiel, Zechariah, Joel, John the Baptist and Jesus has been made available to you in Christ today!
13. You Know the Hope of His Calling (v.18)
His calling over your life is the basket you can put all of your eggs in. It’s an anchor. It’s a rock. It will never end in vain.
14. You are the Riches of His Inheritance (v.18)
You are of great value to Jesus. As Christ brought you back to God, God gives you back to Jesus as His inheritance. You are valuable in Christ; you are the righteousness of God in Christ. You are His eternal reward that He cherishes.
15. The Exceeding Greatness of His Power (v.19-20)
Paul says the exceeding greatness of His power is toward you who believe. What kind of power of this? It is the same power that raised Christ from the dead! It is the same power that conquered sin, death and hell. In Christ, this same power is present in your life today!
My friends, these are just the ones found in this passage….God’s blessings are poured out to us throughout the scriptures…find them and believe them, and then I’m challenging you to live like you know in whom you believe.
2. Holy and blameless in His sight….
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[b] predestined us for adoption to sonship[c] through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will
Friends, this message is for all of us. God has been challenging me in the area that I’m about to challenge you with… it has everything to do with knowing our Identity in Jesus… Do you understand How the Father Sees YOU?
God chose me, knowing how I would sin, knowing how I would rebel, He chose me anyway. Because He loved me from the beginning…my worth has never been based on my performance, it’s always been based on His Love for His Creation and His Desire to have intimacy with me…and you.
God chose me, to be Like HIM… Holy and Blameless. He has always known that I wasn’t capable of pulling it off on my own…so He sent Jesus to shed His precious blood, so that through Him, we could be counted as Holy and blameless…not because of our own action, but because of what Jesus has done for us. God still chooses me, every day, every minute… why? I’m family.
“For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.” Do you get it?
How many of you have heard this passage before?
Let me ask you another question this morning…. How many of you have felt unworthy this week? How many times have you had a thought that you are a failure? A nobody? Not smart enough? Not healthy enough? Not wealthy enough? Not attractive enough?
Has anyone heard those whispers of the evil one this week… you’re not enough?
Satan and his demonic forces have to lie to you… the reason they have to lie to you is because they know who you are…. They can’t touch you, so they lie.
The question is, why are we listening?
Friends, it’s time that we started to understand what God has been offering to us? It’s time that we start operating our lives from the heavenly perspective, from a Biblical perspective, from a Spirit led perspective, instead of operating out of this perspective of this fallen world we live in. Whose world do you belong too?
Do you know who you are? Have you ever really understood the Blessings that God has poured out into your life?
Or are you living like I have been with my Farm Bureau insurance, totally ignorant of what has been sitting there the whole time?
You have been adopted by the King of Kings. Satan has no claim on you.
Satan has no power over you, unless you give it to him.
It’s time that as Christians we come together and understand How God wants us to live our life in this fallen world, we need to live it operating out of the perspective of the Heavenly Realms…because that is where we are seated in Christ.
Look what I found later in this chapter. Ephesians 1:18-23
18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
Paul is praying for those that read this, that their eyes of their heart may be enlightened in order that you (we) may know the hope to which he called us… and (that we would know) his incomparably great power for us who believe.”
Resurrection power… for who?
Christ has it, and with His Spirit living in us…His Resurrection Power is in us.
Who are you? You have been resurrected with Christ, you have been adopted into the Family of God, You have been counted as Holy and Blameless… You have been found to be Enough… your identity isn’t in what you used to do, it’s not in what you were addicted too, it’s not in what you were chained to, your identity is not found in what used to control you…. Christian your identity is found in Christ alone…and that’s is everything you need.
Quit listening to the whispers; Start listening to the King.
Quit believing the lies; Build your life and Identity on the Truth of God’s Word.
Quit believing your not enough…. You have Resurrection Power Living Inside of you!
Believe it, Know it, Let’s start living Like it.
Prayer.
