The Work of the Trinity
Scripture References: Ephesians 1:1-14
2 Thessalonians 2:13
Mark 10:45
Hebrews 9:15
Other References: The Bible Knowledge Commentary
1. Introduction
a. Yesterday we went to see The Passion of Christ. I have never been touched or moved by a movie like I was by this one.
b. Pastor Stanley mentioned before the movie started that a study group at their church had been discussing the things in the movie that had touched them the most. I would like to take a few minutes this morning and do the same thing.
c. I will start. There were so many things in the movie that touched my heart, but there were a couple that touched me more than others.
(1) The scene where Jesus fell and Mary ran out to Him, with the flashback to when He was a child and fell really touched my heart. It made the human side of Jesus more realistic to me.
(2) The continued beatings got to me pretty bad, but after all He had been through and before they placed the cross upright, the scene where they turned the cross over so they could bend the nails over where they wouldn’t come out really got to me.
d. Let’s take a few minutes for each of you to share how the movie touched you.
e. The biggest thing The Passion did for me was to drive home just how much God has done for me and on my behalf. When I revisit those things, I have to ask myself, “What have I done for Him lately?”
f. Read Ephesians 1:1-14
2. We Have Been Blessed. (v 3)
a. What we saw in The Passion yesterday was the culmination of a plan designed and put into place long before any of us were born, long before the world was even created. We were blessed even before we existed.
b. Paul begins this passage by stating that we have been blessed in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. The breakdown of this verse shows that we have been provided everything we need to survive as Christians.
(1) When?—eternity past
(2) With what?—every spiritual blessing: Refers to every spiritual fortification needed for spiritual life.
(3) Where?—in the heavenly realms: Implies the blessings are spiritual, not material; heavenly, not earthly; eternal, not temporal.
(4) How?—in Christ.
c. The spiritual blessings we receive are because of or on the basis of the work of the Trinity: God blesses believers because of the Father’s electing, the Son’s dying, and the Spirit’s sealing.
3. We Were Chosen before We Existed (vv 4-6)
a. Read vv 4-6.
b. Verse 4
(1) Paul explains that we were predestined or chosen to be His children before the creation of the world.
(2) The spiritual blessings we receive, that Paul mentioned in the last verse, are because He chose us.
(3) Though it is an act of grace, based on His will, a person is responsible to believe. “God chose you to be saved…through belief in the truth.”
(4) Read 2 Thessalonians 2:13—But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.
c. Verse 5
(1) Why were we chosen or predestined?—To be the adopted children of God through Jesus.
(2) The emphasis of predestination is more on the what than the who in that the believers’ predetermined destiny is their being adopted as full-fledged sons of God through Jesus Christ, the Agent of the adoption.
(3) By adoption we are brought into the family and are given the same rights as a child who is born into that family.
d. Verse 6
(1) The ultimate goal of God’s election is that we, as believers, will praise His glorious grace.
(2) Since salvation is all of God’s grace, Christians certainly should praise Him for it! That is why we were chosen: to give Him praise.
(3) “In the One He loves” stresses the expression of God’s love to His Son.
(4) Herein lies on the “spiritual blessings in heavenly realms” we receive—God the Father loves His Son; and believers, being in the Son, are also the object of God’s love.
e. Our election or predestination is not simply for salvation, but for holiness as well. By sin, we lost the privilege of fellowship with God. By God’s grace—in Christ—we are restored as His children.
f. Let me tell it like this:
A man had a strange dream one night. He was in Heaven and saw a large arch through which the redeemed were entering. Over it was written the words, “The Elect of God.” He walked around to the other side, facing earth. On that side he saw written above the arch, “Whosoever will may come.” Those who hear and answer the gospel call are the elect of God.
4. We Were Redeemed at His Expense (vv 7-12)
a. Read vv 7-12.
b. Verse 7
(1) Redemption usually means release from slavery by the payment of a ransom.
(a) The Israelites were released from Egypt; they were freed after being slaves in Babylon.
(b) Even today, when a kidnapper receives the ransom money, they are expected to let the prisoner go.
(2) Jesus gave His life as a ransom for our Sin.
(a) Read Mark 10:45—“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
(b) We were sentenced to eternal separation from God (death), because of our sin.
(c) Read Hebrews 9:15—For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.
(d) God—in Christ—paid the price for our redemption.
c. Verses 8-10
(1) God’s gives us His grace to enable us to understand His will.
(2) He gives us wisdom and understanding so that we will be able to grasp something of the divine purpose of the ages and to see its relevance in the present time.
d. Verses 11-12
(1) Because of the spiritual blessing of insight into the mystery of God’s will Paul discussed the Jewish believers’ inclusion in Christ.
(2) Though both Jews and Gentiles participate in God’s blessings, the Jews were called first.
(3) Christ has set the sinner free from his sin and has revealed His will that all things will be headed up in Christ at the end of the ages, including the Jewish believers who first trusted in Him.
e. A simple analogy sums it all up.
A woman carried some wet sand to a preacher. “Do you know what this is?” she asked. “Wet sand,” he replied. “No, sir. This is me—the multitude of my sins is more than you can count.” Then she began to cry. Asking her where the sand came from, she pointed to a nearby beach. The preacher said, “Go back and take a shovel. Pile up as big a mound of sand as you can. Then leave it. Stand back and watch the time come in. See the effect of the waves on it.” His meaning came home to her. The blood of Christ can wash all your sins away.
5. We Are Sealed for Eternity (vv 13-14)
a. God’s spiritual blessings for believers are based not only on the sovereign election of the Father (vv. 3-6) and the redemptive work of the Son (vv. 7-12), but also on the seal of the Holy Spirit.
b. Read vv 13-14.
c. The last part of verse 13 is literally, “They were sealed in Him [Christ] with the Holy Spirit of promise.”
d. Having believed in Christ, we are marked with a seal—the Holy Spirit.
(1) In the ancient world the seal was the personal sign of the owner, or the one who sent an important document. This distinguished the true from the spurious. It guaranteed the contents were intact.
(2) The word “seal” indicates security, authentication and approval, certification of genuineness, and identification of ownership.
(3) God is the One who seals; Christ is the sphere in which the seal is done; and the Holy Spirit is the instrument of the seal.
e. The Holy Spirit who seals is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance.
(1) The “deposit” is more than a pledge which can be returned; it is a down payment with a guarantee of more to come.
(2) It guarantees our “inheritance” of salvation and heaven.
(3) In essence, the “deposit” of the Holy Spirit is a little bit of heaven in the believer’s life with a guarantee of much more yet to come.
f. The believer is sealed with the Holy Spirit until the redemption of those who are God’s possession.
(1) This redemption is not release from the guilt of sin. That was addressed in verse 7 and at this point, the believer is already “God’s possession.”
(2) Rather, this is the believer’s ultimate, final release from the presence of sin.
6. Summary
a. As we think back on what we witnessed during The Passion, we witnessed what was done on our behalf.
(1) The scriptures are very clear on what transpired. In fact, they were foretold.
Read Isaiah 53:5—But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
(2) Christ new, before he ever came to earth, what His role was to be on our behaf.
b. Mel Gibson, during an interview in which he discussed making The Passion, said that he saw his own hands wielding the hammer and the nail that secured Christ to the cross.
c. When we see what God has done for us, we must ask ourselves some painful questions:
(1) “What have I done for God lately?”
(2) Have I accepted the salvation He offers?
(3) Am I serving Him faithfully in the church?
(4) Am I living a holy life?
d. Ray Boltz, a Christian vocal artist, asks some equally painful questions in a song he sang entitled “Does He Still Feel the Nails”—“Does He still feel the nails, every time I fail. Does He hear the crowd cry crucify again. Am I causing Him pain? I know I’ve got to change. I never want to hurt Him again.”
e. Now is the time to drop your hammer and your nails at the foot of the cross, never to pick up them up again.
7. Invitation
