Rich beyond your wildest dreams! Part 1
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HOW RICH YOU ARE!
Ephesians 1:4–14
One of the funniest cartoons I ever saw showed a pompous lawyer reading a client’s last will and testament to a group of greedy relatives. The caption read: “I, John Jones, being of sound mind and body, spent it all!”
When Jesus Christ wrote His last will and testament for His church, He made it possible for us to share His spiritual riches.
Instead of spending it all, Jesus Christ paid it all.
His death on the cross and His resurrection make possible our salvation.
He wrote us into His will, then He died so the will would be in force. Then He arose again that He might become the heavenly Advocate (lawyer) to make sure the terms of the will were correctly followed!
In this long sentence, Paul names just a few of the blessings that make up our spiritual wealth.
Blessings from God the Father
Blessings from God the Father
4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love
5 He predestined us to adoption as sons and daughters through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, with which He favored us in the Beloved.
He has chosen us (v. 4).
He has chosen us (v. 4).
4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love
This is the marvelous doctrine of election, a doctrine that has confused some and confounded others.
A seminary professor once said to me, “Try to explain election and you may lose your mind. But try to explain it away and you may lose your soul!”
That salvation begins with God, and not with man, all Christians will agree.
16 You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.
The lost sinner, left to his own ways, does not seek God
10 as it is written: “There is no righteous person, not even one;
11 There is no one who understands, There is no one who seeks out God;
God in His love seeks the sinner .
10 For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
Note that God chose us even before He created the universe, so that our salvation is wholly of His grace and not on the basis of anything we ourselves have done.
He chose us in Christ, not in ourselves.
And He chose us for a purpose: to be holy and without blame.
How does God’s sovereign election and mans free will come together?
How does God’s sovereign election and mans free will come together?
The best way is to understand the difference between 2 words:
Ability vs responsibility.
The word ability means “That which you are able to do”.
Responsibility means “That which you are expected to do.”.
As sinners we are NOT able to save ourselves, we are not even able to seek God autonomously.
So God came to us and gave us the Gospel of His Son Jesus Christ.
This is why Paul said:
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
Notice: The Gospel is the power of God which leads to salvation to everyone who believes.
So by giving us His holy Word, which in itself is able to make us wise to salvation - we, though we dont have the ability, by faith which comes from the Word itself:
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
The Word makes us wise to salvation and thus we are now responsible for how we respond to it.
14 You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them,
15 and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
This is exactly why Jesus said he condemns people, not on the basis for their sin (over which fallen humanity is not able to overcome) but rather he condemns them for their rejection of him, which we ARE responsible for:
16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.
17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him.
18 The one who believes in Him is not judged; the one who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
Notice: He not judged because he is a sinner, he cannot help that. He is judged because he rejected Jesus, even though the Word is sufficient to both produce faith and make us wise unto salvation.
Lets see how all 3 persons of the God head were involved in your salvation:
Lets see how all 3 persons of the God head were involved in your salvation:
You will note that all three Persons in the Godhead are involved in our salvation.
As far as God the Father is concerned, you were saved when He chose you in Christ in eternity past.
But that alone did not save you.
As far as God the Son is concerned, you were saved when He died for you on the cross.
But that also did not save you.
As far as God the Spirit is concerned, you were saved when you yielded to His conviction and received Christ as your Saviour.
And it is only now through the Will of the Father, the Work of the Son and its Application by the Spirit that we are saved.
He has adopted us (v. 5).
He has adopted us (v. 5).
5 He predestined us to adoption as sons and daughters through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
Here we meet that misunderstood word predestination.
This word, as it is used in the Bible, refers to what God does for saved people.
Nowhere in the Bible are we taught that people are predestined to hell, because this word refers only to God’s people.
The word simply means “to ordain beforehand, to predetermine.”
So what is the difference between election and predestination?
Election to refer to people, while predestination refers to purposes.
Let see examples:
The events connected with the crucifixion of Christ were predestined.
25 who by the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our father David Your servant, said, ‘Why were the Nations insolent, And the peoples plotting in vain?
26 ‘The kings of the earth Took their stand, And the rulers were gathered together Against the Lord and against His Christ.’
27 For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,
28 to do whatever Your hand and purpose predestined to occur.
God has predestined our adoption.
5 He predestined us to adoption as sons and daughters through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
God predestined our conformity to Christ:
29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters;
30 and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.
God predestined our future inheritance
11 In Him we also have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things in accordance with the plan of His will,
Notice in all these examples that predestination is only ever applied to God’s purpose for the born again.
So what did God predestine us to?
So what did God predestine us to?
5 He predestined us to adoption as sons and daughters through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
Adoption has a powerful meaning.
You do not get into God’s family by adoption.
You get into His family by regeneration, the new birth.
3 Jesus responded and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless someone is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
23 for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable, but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.
So if we are saved by being born again and if being born again makes us children of God, then what is the point of adoption?
Adoption is the act of God by which He gives His “born ones” an adult standing in the family.
Why does He do this?
So that we might immediately begin to claim our inheritance and enjoy our spiritual wealth!
This means that you do not have to wait until you are an old saint before you can claim your riches in Christ.
He has accepted us (v. 6).
He has accepted us (v. 6).
6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, with which He favored us in the Beloved.
We cannot make ourselves acceptable to God; but He, by His grace, makes us accepted in Christ.
This is our eternal position which will never change.
Because of God’s grace in Christ, we are accepted before Him.
Let me show you how this works:
Paul wrote Philemon to encourage him to accept his runaway slave, Onesimus, using the same argument.
17 If then you regard me as a partner, accept him as you would me.
18 But if he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge that to my account;
19 I, Paul, have written this with my own hand, I will repay it (not to mention to you that you owe to me even your own self as well).
This is basically the same contract the Son made with the Father:
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
We are rich beyond our wildest dreams! and this is only 1/3rd of the blessings: We still need to hear about the blessings from the Sion and from the Holy Spirit.