Wednesday, September 27, 2023

Ephesians 1:7-8

Ephesians 1:3-8

3 Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens. 4 For He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love 5 He predestined us to be adopted through Jesus Christ for Himself, according to His favor and will, 6 to the praise of His glorious grace that He favored us with in the Beloved. 7 We have redemption in Him through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace 8 that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.

We have been in Ephesians 1:3-6 looking at the spiritual blessings we have in Christ Jesus. All these spiritual blessings are related to the spirit of a man and not the MATERIAL blessings. The spiritual blessings without fail outweigh and are eternal in nature. They do not disappear with time, and in fact get sweeter with time. The material blessings of the world are temporary and always fading. What we have today, we may not have tomorrow. As quickly as we come into the blessing, it can disappear.

Last week we looked at verses four and five which lists two blessings that I combined into one. First was that God chose us before the foundation of the world, as followers of and believers in Christ to be made holy and blameless in His sight. This is our positional righteousness and sanctification. At our death, or when Christ returns, our positional righteousness or holiness becomes the reality of being blameless in practice. We will go from being VIEWED as holy to actually being holy.

It is this move from positional righteousness to practical righteousness that is our adoption in Christ, mentioned in verse five, that is according to His favor and His will. He chose for His own favor to adopt you into His family as a child of God. God predestined, predetermined before the foundation of the earth was even laid, before you were born, before sin even existed, that as a believer in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, you are in His favor as His child.

Tonight, I want to add into these verses seven and eight.

Ephesians 1:7-8

7 We have redemption in Him through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace 8 that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.

Blessing one we are holy and blameless in his sight. Blessing two we are adopted into His family for His favor. And now blessing three, we have redemption through His blood.

Redemption is the key concept of the Bible. We find redemption in the Garden of Eden on behalf of Adam and Eve; an animal was slaughtered to cover the nakedness. We find redemption for Noah and his family from the flood through the Ark. We find redemption for Israel and his family from the famine through Joseph in Egypt. We have redemption of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt many years later through Moses and the Passover. In the wilderness there’s redemption from hunger, and thirst, and enemies. We could look through the entirety of the Old Testament and find redemption after redemption.

Of all those mentions of redemption, none was found to provide true and everlasting redemption as mentioned by Paul here in the Ephesians. Paul writes that our redemption is through the blood of Jesus and from our sins, our trespasses.

We are captive to or in several areas of life. First is sin.

Romans 3:23

23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

The Glory of God is perfection. All of mankind falls short of this expectation and requirement for entry into the Kingdom of God.

Romans 7:14

14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am made out of flesh, sold into sin’s power.

We are fallen, fleshly beings that are captive to sin’s power.

We are captive to the force of corruption and death due to this sin. But not only us, as humans, but all of creation is held captive to corruption. All of nature, all the animals, and all of mankind are captive to the forces of corruption. All that is, will eventually waste away. The vegetation will die and corrupt. The animals will die and corrupt. Man will die and corrupt. It was not only the corruption of man that happened in the Garden, but also the corruption of all of creation. Death is the final victor.

Romans 8:21

21 …Creation itself will also be set free from the bondage of corruption into the glorious freedom of God’s children.

And finally, as mankind we are captive to the force of Satan. He blinds the minds of the unbeliever to the truth of the Gospel. He deceives and prowls around, waiting on someone to attack. Satan works to destroy the witness of the Christian. He works to take away our joy and our peace in Christ. Even as followers of Jesus Christ, because Satan is the god of this world and the prince of the power of the air, we are all held under his influence.

1 John 5:19

19 We know that we are of God, and the whole world is under the sway of the evil one.

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Because of our captivity, because of being under the paw and the sway of Satan, mankind needs to be liberated and set free. Much as a prisoner of war who has no control of his release; and must be dependent on the work of others to free him from his capture. So are we in our captivity to Satan. We are powerless in our redemption process.

But Paul has declared we are redeemed THROUGH the blood of Christ. It is not our energy or efforts, but the saving power of the Cross. God has paid the ransom for our release.

Romans 10:13

13 For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

When we respond to God’s call, God literally buys us OUT of the marketplace of the corrupted life. This purchase is permanent and final.

Galatians 3:13

13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, because it is written: Everyone who is hung on a tree is cursed

In our redemption, we have forgiveness of sin. The word sin, means a transgression, a wrong doing, falling away, deviating from the way. The way of God is perfection; as was in the garden. To deviate from the law of God is to deviate from perfection and right living. No man, apart from Jesus Himself, has lived a life that has not deviated from the righteousness of God.

Jesus on the other hand lived a perfect, sinless life. He went to the cross as the perfect sacrifice. On the cross, God took the sin of all mankind and placed it upon Jesus.

2 Corinthians 5:21

21 He made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

He did not become a sinner; Jesus became the sin itself. In that moment, the sin of man was paid for and redeemed. The guilt and the penalty were sent away, or washed away by the blood of Jesus.

Leviticus 17:11

11 For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have appointed it to you to make atonement on the altar for your lives, since it is the lifeblood that makes atonement.

Redemption was by the blood. Without the spilling of blood, there is no redemption. The end of verse seven, says his redemption was according to the riches of HIS Grace.

Grace is God’s unmerited favor. It is the favor of God that is unearned and undeserved by those to whom it is given. In all matters of our sin, we should be, and without Christ already were, condemned to eternal judgment. The sinful man cannot stand in the presence of a righteous God. The sin must be dealt with before entering into His presence. Under no power or authority of our own, can WE remove the stain of sin; we are imprisoned to its power. When we look upon the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus and trust in it for our forgiveness, our Heavenly Father graciously, willingly, and because of His loving-kindness towards us, freely gives to us a new spirit which is righteous and holy. It is by the riches of His grace which never runs empty. The grace that was available in the day of Paul, is still available for you and I today. The riches are overflowing and unending. We serve a gracious God who offers redemption from our sins through the spilt blood of His Son on the cross.

Spiritual blessing number three was redemption by the Christ.

Spiritual blessing number four is found in verse 8:

Ephesians 1:7-8

7 We have redemption in Him through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace 8 that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.

Note that the gracious gift of salvation is not through the wisdom and understanding of man, but through the wisdom and understanding which is LAVISHED on us from the Father. Not only does the Father give us the grace we need for the forgiveness of sin, He also provides the wisdom and understanding toward it. The word translated here as LAVISHED can also be translated, “In abundance,” “abounding,” or “increasing.” The wisdom of God is that which abounds, exceeds, or surpasses the wisdom of man. The wisdom of man purposes to enact his own way to salvation through mechanical means of following the law. The wisdom of God says the only answer is through Christ.

Romans 11:33

33 Oh, the depth of the riches - both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable His judgments and untraceable His ways!

God lavishly bestows on us His wisdom. But not only wisdom, but also understanding. Understanding not only sees the direction to be taken, but also knows HOW to accomplish the solution. It is the insight and the ability to solve the problem.

1 John 5:20

20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know the true One. We are in the true One—that is, in His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

Proverbs 2:6

6 For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.

Proverbs 8:14

14 I possess good advice and competence; I have understanding and strength.

Ephesians 1:7-8

7 We have redemption in Him through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace 8 that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.

By the riches of God, we have redemption from our sins through the blood of Christ, that He not only lavishes on us, but does so with the wisdom to know what it is, and the understanding to apply it to our lives.