A Sealed and Secure Inheritance (1:11-14)

If you have your Bibles this morning, I invite you to turn with me to Ephesians 1, where we will continue our study of this passage that Stan just read for us. As I was preparing for this sermon this week, I was reminded of one of those dark days in the life of my family. It occurred about 14 years ago as the church I was serving in decided to host a fall festival, where kids would dress up and we would have games, food, and opportunities to share our faith with the community. I’ll never forget the day we took Elijah to the store to pick out his costume. He was only about 3 or 4 and was so excited to dress up as one of his favorite superheroes. And so we walk into the store and Elijah is just beaming with that great smile that he has, and we started narrowing it down… And it came down to his two favorite marvel characters at the time, Spiderman and Wolverine. Would Elijah be spinning imaginary webs around the fall festival or would he be thrashing everyone in sight with his plastic claws?

As parents, we had no idea how hard this decision would be for our child, nor what was soon to come. For as it finally dawned on Elijah that he couldn’t be both but had to make a final decision, he literally broke down, sobbing in tears. Not throwing a fit because he couldn’t get both, but just heartbroken that he had to choose between the two. And Joy and I were completely dumbfounded on what to do. At that time, we really couldn’t afford both, and so we sat there trying to console an inconsolable heart and offer him our opinion. After what seemed to be forever, he finally decided he would be wolverine.

Now why would I think about that story? Well, because we all have moments like that. Countless less dramatic, mundane moments where we must decide who we are going to be. Are you going to be loving and patient or you going to be short and impatient. Will you easy going or intense? Will you be easily offended or cool and calm? Will you self-centered and self-absorbed or will you be considerate and selfless? Will you be the same person with or without coffee in the morning?

For the past several weeks we have been laying a foundation for all that is to come in the book of Ephesians, and it all begins with this theologically profound call to worship God, where we are reminded of the believer’s true identity of being “in Christ.” That’s the repeated phrase we see over and over again in this opening statement. In 2 Corinthians 5:17, the Paul wrote, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” Listen, the moment we place our faith in Christ, our identity is radically transformed and settled. Though we will certainly have moments of spiritual amnesia, and act out of character, the Bible repeatedly reminds us of our new nature of being in Christ. It’s as if God knows we need these countless reminders of this because He understands that we are somehow inclined to live out of our perceived identities. So, Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit intently reminds us of who we are as believers… So far in the first 10 verses of Eph. 1 we have seen, that if you are “in Christ”, then…

a) you are supremely blessed (v. 3).

b) you were chosen to be like Jesus (v. 4).

c) you were predestined to be adopted into God’s family (v. 5).

d) you are redeemed from both the bondage and penalty of sin (v. 7)

e) you are forgiven of all your sin through His blood (v. 7).

f) you are lavished with unlimited and unending grace (vs. 7-8).

g) you are blessed with the gift of spiritual wisdom and insight (vs. 8-9).

h) you are full of hope because God is in control (v. 10).

Now, read with me once again, verses 11-14 which form our text this morning….

Today, we will see three more spiritual realities of our Christian identity. Three more truths that should inspire us to live out our faith with hope and confidence in a dark and confusing world.

1) In Christ believers belong to Jesus as His costly inheritance (v. 11-12).

As we just read our passage this morning, you perhaps noticed the keyword, which is inheritance. It appears twice in these four verses: first in verse 11 and then again in verse 14. So, at the beginning and the end of this subsection of Scripture we have bookends speaking of inheritance. In the original Greek language, the phrase “we have obtained an inheritance,” is simply one word, it’s a powerful verb that means “to obtain as inheritance.” The New America Standard Bible translate this phrase as “we have obtained an inheritance.” But the idea in the Greek is more profound, it expresses the idea that I Christ “we are an inheritance,” or to say it another way, Inn Him “we have been made an inheritance.”

Now this certainly does not deny the fact that we have an inheritance in the Lord. Both are theologically correct, they two sides to the same coin, and we will see both expressed and expounded upon here in this passage today. But here in verse 11, I believe the Holy Spirit’s intent is for us to understand that we belong to Christ. We are His inheritance, purchased by His precious blood which was poured out on Calvary’s cross for us. Oh, how our inheritance came at a very high cost, His blood, His life was the price of our redemption and forgiveness. Peter said it well in 1 Peter 1:18-19… “you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with the precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished ad spotless, the blood of Christ.”

In light of His Son’s work on the cross, God the Father has offered forgiveness and redemption from sin to all who believe, so that they might become Christ’s inheritance, so that we may be the bride of Christ that the Father lovingly presents to His Son. You see, God the Father expresses His eternal love to His Son by giving the Son a redeemed and forgiven humanity who will love Him, serve Him, honor Him, praise Him, and glorify Him forever and ever.

Both John chapter 6 and 17 remind us of this spiritual reality. Jesus said in John 6:37-40… “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.” Then in John 17:6-9, in His priestly prayer, Jesus said, “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You; for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me. I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me.”

If you have placed your faith in Christ, and have been born again, you are a costly gift of love given from the Father to the Son. This is why we read in verse 14 of Ephesians 1, that redemption has made us God’s possession. He own’s us, and yet He gives us to His Son as His Bride and inheritance.

During the dark days of the protestant reformation several catechisms were written to assist in teaching sound doctrine and uniting the young protestant church together. They were composed in a question-and-answer format so that their theology could be easily memorized. One of the most well-known is the Heidelberg Catechism that was written in 1563 in Heidelberg Germany. It begins with this question: “What is your only comfort in life and in death? A. That I am not my own, but belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven; in fact, all things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.”

In this broken world of ours, we are so quick to seek our comfort in things that can never produce an ounce of true relief. We run to secular counsel, psychology, and life coaches for their so-called wisdom and insight. We spend thousands upon thousands of dollars on vacations, hoping that we will return refreshed, relaxed, and ready to go to work. We fill our homes with expensive furniture just so we can be comfortable and at ease. Yet, all these pursuits prove futile because true comfort comes only from knowing to whom we belong. And the One to whom we belong watches over you to the extent that if one single hair falls off you head, its only because He willed it, and because He is working all things to work together for your good and salvation. Christian, take great comfort in the fact that you are not your own, you belong to Christ to serve Him, love Him, enjoy Him, to praise Him, and live for Him.

In fact, verse 11 reminds us repeatedly that this is God’s will for your life. That we would glorify God in all things. That we as believers would be His inheritance, His bride. Notice, here in verse 11 that we are once again reminded of our predestination. You see, before time even began, God had a purpose in mind for your life. The Greek word “predestined,” is proorizo, of which we get the English word “horizon” from. It literally means “to mark the boundaries.” Therefore, God literally before time began marked out His own people and boundaries of their life. He chose them specifically as part of His plan, His will, and His purpose to be eternally connected with Jesus Christ His Son.

Notice how Paul continues in verse 11, “predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will…”. Here the apostle Paul uses three terms for God’s will: the English words “purpose,” “counsel,” and “will,” they each emphasize the truth that God’s has a specific intention that directs all His actions. Notice also the words “who works all things”…. They emphasize the fact, that God energizes everything. He’s literally behind all things, as we talked about last week, summing up all things in Christ, bringing all things together in unity.

This verse screams and shouts the absolute sovereignty of God, who is over all things, especially as it relates to the salvation of man. In Christ, He is restoring that which has been broken and destroyed by sin. He’s literally working all things together for the good of those who love Him and bringing them into conformity of His holy and righteous image. Though our world may seem like it is just spinning faster and faster out of control, the Bible reminds us that God’s will, His eternal plan and purpose can never be thwarted.

Church family, we were created with a purpose. We were created to be Christ’s inheritance, His Bride, we are the great love Gift that the Father longs to present to His Son, holy blameless before Him. This truth should give all believers great comfort and joy, it should inspire us to keep our chins up in the midst of chaos knowing that we are loved, treasured, protected, empowered to do His will, and it should produce in each of us an endless song of praise. That’s the emphasis of verse 12, is it not? “to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.”

Christian, you belong to the Lord! He is your hope! You are His inheritance. Let that humbling and comforting truth settle in your heart and let it shape the way you live, to the praise of His glory!

2) In Christ believers are sealed and secured by the Holy Spirit (vs. 13-14).

It is truly and profoundly noteworthy that immediately after expounding on the Sovereign role of God in our salvation, the apostle Paul turns our attention to man’s responsibility, or mankind’s role in salvation. Look at verse 13 again, “In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation– having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit.” Yes, the Bible clearly says that God choose, elects, and predestines those who are in Christ. We must affirm those truths that are clearly laid out in Scripture, even though we may struggle to make sense of it all. But notice also, that Salvation never occurs apart from faith. That’s the truth we must joyfully affirm that is found in verse 13.

Again, as I said several weeks ago, it is impossible for us to harmonize what appears to be contradictory truths. If salvation is completely of God, if its monergistic, if God chooses, if He predestines, if God must give spiritual life to a spiritually dead person, if God must regenerate, if He must give faith, and open the eyes of the blind– then how is mankind responsible at all?

I can’t explain the dynamics of it, salvation is greater and more glorious than what I can ever explain, but I do know that God’s purposes in election never come to fruition unless someone hears and believes the truth of the gospel. And we have been called of God to go and preach this good news of the gospel to every person on earth. That they may hear the message of truth and respond in faith and repentance.

You see, the message of truth, the gospel must be heard, and believed in such a manner that it begins to transform the life of the one who responds in faith. Now, noticeably absent from this divine equation is the role of our feelings and emotion. We will live in sensual culture, do we not, where feelings are emotion are the litmus test for the validity of our spiritual and moral convictions. If it feels good, if it gives us goose bumps then it must be real and authentic.

This is why or culture so naturally says things like, well that may be true for you, but not for me. Listen church family, truth is not determined by your feelings. Truth has nothing to do with our emotions. Feelings and emotions naturally change over time, and they change often and even at times drastically. But truth never alters, its eternal by nature, because it was determined and defined by God.

And our salvation depends on hearing the truth, the gospel, a word that simply means “good news.” Yet sadly, many of us today are more interested in hearing good advice than we are in hearing good news. We want to hear advice on how we can have a great marriage, or we can get our kids to stop doing stupid stuff. Those things we believe are helpful where truth, let’s be honest, can be rather offensive and painful to hear.

Sadly, few want to hear the good news of the gospel. Why? Because the good news is only good if you understand the bad news about yourself. You see the painful truth that we must first understand is that we are sinners. We are not inherently good. We are not born innocent. Instead, we come into this world broken, radically selfish, self-centered, prideful, and longing to be sovereign over our domain. We naturally view people as either expressways who assist us in getting what we desire, or roadblocks who stand in our way, and keep us from it. And out of our self-seeking and self-glorifying hearts we live in sin, we do that which we know is morally wrong, we lie, we cheat, and hurt people, and then we attempt to justify our sinful actions, words, and thoughts.

The Bible repeatedly reminds us that in our sin we are enemies of the Holy God, who must perish because of our sin. Romans 6:23… For the wages of sin is death. Listen we deserve death, our sin merits His Holy Wrath, not His love. The wages of sin is death, that’s the horrible news we must understand before we get to the good news, which is explained in the second half of Rom. 6:23… “but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” God in His grace offers a gift, something we don’t earn or deserve, and that gift is eternal life, or as Paul has explained here in Ephesians 1, the gift of forgiveness, redemption, adoption, being made holy and blameless before Him, and being blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.

Such priceless gifts are available, because Christ Jesus endured the wrath of God as He suffered and died in your place on Calvary. You see on the cross, Jesus paid your enormous sin debt in full. He died the death that you deserve, and was buried in a tomb, but three days later He arose, proving that God accepted His sacrifice and that there is life after death.

Listen, if you are here today and you have not believed in the message of truth, you have not placed your hope and faith in the gospel, then you stand condemned. You will one day die and will eternally experience the wrath of God for every sin you have ever committed. Every sinful thought you have ever pondered, every sinful word you have uttered, every sinful choice you have made, and every act of righteousness you have ignored will justly condemn you to an eternal hell.

And there, as you suffer, I have no doubt that part of that suffering will be you remembering this day, you will remember with vivid clarity this message and the other messages you have ever heard in your lifetime calling you to repentance and faith, but you ignored the call. Perhaps, you thought one day, I’ll change my ways. Oh, sinner don’t delay, for we have no promised of tomorrow. Will you respond in faith to the message of truth? True life, grace up grace, peace, joy, hope, mercy are yours today, if you simply believe, repent of your sin, and chose to live for Him according to His Word.

If you would like to place your hope and faith in Christ today, I want you to come find me after the service. I want to pray with you, encourage you, and answer any questions that you may have. Listen, its so important that you share that decision with someone today, because its impossible to live for Christ on your own. You need a church family and some really good friends who love the Lord and His Word to help you as you learn to walk with Christ. So please come find me or one of the elders, go to the welcome table in the foyer, find someone to share your decision with before you leave.

Church family, God elects, calls, and predestines, but we must respond in faith or die in our sins. And notice what our text says next..., “–having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise.” As Paul begins to land the plane and bring this length theologically rich run-on sentence to completion, he brings our attention to the role of the Holy Spirit.

As previously mentioned, the apostle began rightly with the role of God from eternity past, then he transitioned to Christ who redeems and forgives sinners here in the present, and now with his eyes set on our future hope and glorification, the apostle Paul explains the role the Holy Spirit plays in our salvation. All three members of the Trinity are directly involved in salvation.

Notice, (v. 13) that when you believe, when your place your faith in Christ, you are sealed with the Holy Spirit. You see, every believer is given the gift of the Holy Spirit of God at the exact moment they trust in Christ. It’s at that very moment where faith is born, that the Holy Spirit takes us residence in the heart of the Christian. He comes upon us to empower us, equip us for ministry, protect us, convict us of our sin, and lead and guide us throughout all of life.

The Scriptures call Him our Helper, Comforter, Counselor, Advocate, and Teacher. He is the One whom Christ promised would come. In John 14:26, Jesus said… “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” Notice, the Spirit is sent in Jesus’ name and will remind you of everything Jesus said in the scriptures.

You see part of the role of the Holy Spirit is to constantly direct our attention to Christ, the Son of God, the living Word of God, who is the way, the truth, and the life. J. I. Packer explained it like this… “The Spirit’s message to us is never, ‘Look at Me; listen to Me; come to Me; get to know Me,’ but always, ‘Look at Him, and see His glory; listen to Him, and hear His word; go to Him, and have life; get to know Him, and taste His gift of joy and peace.” The Holy Spirit personally reminds us, that the church’s focus must not be on the dove of the Spirit, but on the cross of the Savior. He always and faithfully points us to Jesus.

And Paul says we are sealed in Christ, with the Holy Spirit. The idea behind our being sealed with the Holy Spirit refers to an official mark of identification that was commonly placed on letters, contracts, and important documents. It usually made with hot wax, that was placed on a document and them impressed with a personalized signet ring. And everyone would know that the sealed document was thereby officially identified with and under the direct authority of the person to whom the signet belonged.

Therefore, being sealed with the Holy Spirit signifies four primary things: it signifies security, authenticity, ownership, and authority.

First in the ancient world, the seal of a king, or nobleman represented security. In Matthew 27, when Jesus’ body was placed in a tomb, you may remember the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate in fear because they worried Jesus’ body would be stolen by the disciples and they would proclaim a resurrection had occurred, they asked Pilate to secure the tomb. And in verses 65-66, Pilate said to them… “‘You have a guard of soldiers. Go make it as secure as you can.’ So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard” (ESV). The breaking of this seal would certainly have been punished by death.

We read a similar story in the Old Testament. When Daniel was thrown in the lions den, the king and his nobleman sealed the tomb with their signet rings, to ensure that no one would let Daniel out before his time was served. Church family, in an infinitely greater manner, the Holy Spirit secures each believer with His own unbreakable seal. Therefore, those who are truly in Christ, are completely secured in their faith, by the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives.

This sealing of the Holy Spirit also signifies authenticity and ownership. When Joy and I adopted our two sons, and we endured the exhausting adoption process. We longed for the day where we would appear in court and the judge would finalize the adoption process by signing the papers with his name and having a new birth certificate stamped state’s seal on it. That official document authoritatively proclaims that Elijah and Cooper Wright belonged to Joy and Kevin Wright. You seal of the Holy Spirit acts in the same way, it’s the official mark of authenticity, the royal signature. So, God seals us with the Holy Spirit it labels us as belonging to Him, and we are forever authentic sons and daughters of the most High God.

But that’s not all, lastly, the sealing of the Holy Spirit signifies authority. In biblical times when a king gave orders to his men, they were often written orders that contained the king’s seal to validate authority. You may remember in the story of Esther, when the king wanted to give Haman the delegated power to kill the Jews, he sealed it with a signet ring. Yet, later on in the story, the king would give to Mordechai and to Esther his pledge and promise to protect the Jews and to destroy Haman; and he would once again place his seal on those official documents. You see the seal was a sign of authority, it declared that you had the delegated authority to carry out a specific action.

Church family, as believers sealed in the Holy Spirit, we have been granted delegated authority to access all riches of heaven. All the divine resources that we need to accomplish our mission are available to us. Jesus, said in John 14:13-14… “Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.” When we ask anything according to His will, He will. What a glorious thing it is to be sealed and secured by the Holy Spirit. It’s a sign of eternal security, authenticity, ownership, and authority. That again, is who we are in Christ Jesus.

3) In Christ believers are assured a wonderful and glorious inheritance (v. 14).

As I mentioned earlier, the fact that we are Christ’s inheritance does not discount the reality that we also have a wonderful and glorious inheritance in Christ. Notice in verse 14 there is revealed another important role that the Holy Spirit plays in the life of the believer. Not only were you “sealed in Him” in verse 13, with the Holy Spirit of promise, verse 14, “who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession…”.

The word pledge was used a couple of ways in the original Greek language. First, it could be used to define a “down payment.” In that regard, the Holy Spirit is the first installment on our inheritance to come. This means the Spirit is God’s superb down payment in our eternal inheritance. So the fact that the Holy Spirit has sealed us and taken up residence in our lives means that God has given us the initial installment on our eternal inheritance. That’s the first way, pledge was used in the Greek.

Secondly, the pledge was used in another significant way. It was used as a name for what we call the “engagement ring.” You see the Holy Spirit isn’t just our down payment on our future inheritance, but He’s the engagement ring that proclaims to the world that we are the bride of Christ. This implies that Christ is forever faithful to us, and we are to be forever faithful to Him. It also suggests that what is His is rightfully ours as we stand united in Christ. You see the down payment and engagement ring pictures ensure us that our inheritance is certain and guaranteed.

If you are a Christian who has placed their faith and hope in Christ, you have a glorious inheritance. In Matthew 25:30-34 we are given insight to the second coming of Christ, where God will finalize this summing up of all things under the Lordship of Christ. Look and listen to what it says… “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’”

In one magnificent day, believers will fully inherit the kingdom that has been specifically prepared for them from the foundation of the world. This promised kingdom, to which the Holy Spirit is our pledge, is the sinless environment where everything that was broken and marred by sin, is fully redeemed, and restored to glory.

Oh, church family, in Christ we are heirs with Christ and have a coming eternal inheritance that far beyond our best imagination. Charles Spurgeon said, “We talk about pearly gates and golden streets, and white robes, and harps of gold, and crowns, and all that; but if an angel could speak to us of heaven, he would smile and say, “All these fine things are but child’s talk, and ye are little children, and ye cannot understand the greatness of eternal bliss.”

We can barely begin to comprehend how wonderful our inheritance is. Yet, God in His abounding love and grace allows us to begin to taste it in this life. You see here, right now, believers in Christ begin to experience His peace, love, grace, wisdom, joy, victory, hope, strength, guidance, contentment, knowledge, mercy, forgiveness, righteousness, truth, spiritual discernment, illumination, protection, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and all, all the other spiritual blessings in the heavenly places that our rightfully our in Christ Jesus.

Can you taste it church? Oh, the glories to come for those who believe. Such thoughts must grant us peace here in the chaos while they also inspire our hearts with passionate praise and worship.

Did you notice, twice in these four verses we studied today, the apostle Paul calls his readers to worship. He ends both verse 12 and 14 with the same phrase… “to the praise of His glory.” This phrase he already penned back in verse 6, which begins, “to the praise of the glory of His grace.” So, three times... Paul from His dark and lonely prison cell where he is awaiting trial, joyfully calls us to praise the Lord who is worthy to be praised.

In our dark world, it is so easy to grow discouraged, anxious, angry, depressed, and hopeless. It so easy to get distracted from keeping our minds saturated with the marvelous truths of Scripture and the rich theology that gives such incredible hope, strength and inspires passionate praise and worship. As our world grows darker by the day, oh how important it is for the church to be in the Word of God, and be reminded of who we are in Christ our Lord.

Paul, in this theologically deep and rich run-on-sentence, that began in verse 3 and concludes here in verse 14, reminds believers over and over again, that they are “in Christ.” And no matter how dark the world becomes, they have countless reasons to praise God, have hope, peace, and be of good cheer. For every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places are yours in Christ Jesus.

Pray with me!

KSW