A Walk That is Worthy Part 1
Understanding The Baseline
Text: Eph 1:1-10
Intro:
This morning I would like to begin a series entiled “A Walk that is Worthy.” In the coming months we are going to be traveling through the book of Ephesians.
In this process we are going to be hearing the heartbeat of the Father through the Apostle Paul concerning you and I. The title of the Series is taken from Ephesians 4:1 “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.” This is the theme that runs throughout the entirety of this letter to the church in Ephesus.
Specifically my message this morning is entitled…
”Understanding the Baseline”
Illus:
In our EMT training we are told taught to gather vital sign readings such blood pressure, pulse, respirations, skin color and condition, as soon as we possibly can. These first readings of the most vital indicators concerning the patients health are so important. Because with out them we cannot tell if the patient in getting better or worse as we roll down the road. It is a place of evaluation that we must begin with.
In our text this morning we have been given some baseline vitals concerning our position with the Lord.
For us to walk worthy of the calling that God has given us, we must understand exactly the position He has placed us in.
Illus:
Have you ever stepped into a situation in which your information was wrong. Maybe it was a wedding rehearsal that was announced as casual attire.
But what you soon discovered was that your definition of casual and their definition of casual were two different things. Maybe it was a potluck dinner in which you were instructed to bring finger food.
But your finger food did not quite fit in the same category. I remember a potluck dinner for my high school wrestling team in which my mother brought cabbage rolls. As we sat down as a family to eat, my dad broke his cheap plastic fork trying to cut up the meaty cabbage roll. I remember eating that supper to the sound of many forks breaking as people tried to cut up their cabbage rolls with cheap forks. slightly embarrassing for my mother.
Paul gives us a baseline estimation as to exactly what our position is as believers. I would like to take a look at 7 things this morning that give basis to the entire book of Ephesians, and basis for my title this morning.
7 things that should cause us to live a life that is worthy.
1. Blessed With Every Spiritual Blessing v3
Who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. The first thing we must understand is that God has opened up the resources
of His kingdom to equip us.
Illus:
Whenever you are working on a project you want somebody helping who has all of the tools. I can remember my dad getting so frustrated with us spending a lot of time trying to turn a bolt loose with a box end wrench. He would go get a ratchet and say here … use this.
The proper tool for the proper job. This is what God does for us. He blesses us with exactly what we need.
Eph 3:17b-19 “And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God”
Through salvation Christ paid the price for us to have a bottomless cup of the fullness of God.
We can keep coming back and getting a refill.This is our baseline…this is where we begin.
2. He Chose Us in Christ v 4
For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.
How many remember those brutal playground games where you two captains got to pick sides.
What was the biggest fear? That you would be picked last! Listen Christ has chosen you. He has chosen each one hear this morning. John 3:6 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” This is where we all begin.
We are all chosen in Christ to bear his name if we so choose. How does this work…well it leads us to the third point.
3. It was His Pleasure to Adopt us as Sons
vv 4b-5a
He predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will.
Now we could get into a heated discussion here concerning predestination. Does man have the choice as to whether or not he turns his heart to God. I believe when we look at scripture as a hole we see overwhelmingly that man does have this free choice…although it is God’s desire that all repent and turn their hearts to Him. Specifically what I want to look at is the word adoption. Our text says that it was His pleasure to Adopt us. By doing that he has now brought us into His family and called us Sons…He has changed our name.
Illus: When we adopted our boys we and to sign a title transfer. On the top was their old information and on the bottom was the new information. Before we put the form in a legal envelope the clerk of court asked us to review it carefully to make sure everything was correct. Because she was going to seal the document. That document remains sealed until the boys come of age. They now carry our name and any information linking them to their past is sealed to be opened only by a court of law or by our boys in they so desire when they come of age. In fact their birth certificates list us as the birth parents.
Can you see how the adoption process works in our lives. He chose to adopt us…and not only that it was His pleasure to do so. And with that we now bear His name…the old is gone…sealed away and only opened by the Judge or us.
1 Cor 5:17-18
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:
It was God’s pleasure to adopt you….This is where we all begin.
4. He has Freely Given Us His Glorious Grace v6
To the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. This goes hand in hand with the last point. He freely gives us his grace.
Eph 2:8,9
We all begin here…it is our baseline vitals so to speak.
5. In Him we Have Redemption Through His Blood v7
In him we have redemption through his blood. We will get into this more later…but the word redemption speaks of a transaction. It is a purchase of our debt through the blood of Jesus Christ. The adoption of us as Sons had to be paid for…that purchase price was the blood of Jesus.
There was a price that was paid for each one of us.
Let us never forget, no matter how white you think your garments are today, there was a price that was paid. No one cost more or less, we all had the same penalty on our heads. Romans 3:23 says that “All have sinned and have fallen short of the Glory of God”
6. In Him We Have Forgiveness of Sins v7
The forgiveness of sins in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. This redemption process brought about the forgiveness of sins. Once again this afforded us the privilege to bear the name of Christ. How many times today does the enemy try to make us think that it is a chore or a burden to bear the name of Christ,,,no it is a privilege.
7. In Him we Have Understanding v8
Illus:
Assumptions can be quite dangerous. For example, the photographer for a national magazine was assigned to get photos of a great forest fire. Smoke at the scene hampered him and he asked his home office to hire a plane. Arrangements were made and he was told to go at once to a nearby airport, where the plane would be waiting. When he arrived at the airport, a plane was warming up near the runway. He jumped in with his equipment and yelled, "Let’s go! Let’s go!" The pilot swung the plane into the wind and they soon were in the air. "Fly over the north side of the fire," yelled the photographer, "and make three or four low level passes." "Why?" asked the pilot. "Because I’m going to take pictures," cried the photographer. "I’m a photographer and photographers take pictures!" After a pause the pilot said, "You mean you’re not the instructor?"
And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ. When God comes into our lives he gives us understanding. Primarily he does this by empowering His creation to do what it was originally intended.
Until Christ comes to dwell within us…we are not running at full capacity. We were designed to have relationship with God and worship Him…if we are not
doing this than this vessel is not be used for its intended purpose.
When Christ comes into our life and we are used in our intended purpose our understanding immediately becomes entlightened because our we are being used the way we were designed.
Our lives finally feel right.
Conclusion
These seven things are our baseline.
This is where we all begin.
These things according to Paul is where we begin when we come into relationship with the father through Jesus Christ. Scripture says that we need to be ready for the hope that lies within…
Our answer is contained in these 7 things.
