Ephesians 1:3-13 - Spiritual Blessings

Introduction

Ephesians 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:”

I have preached through all of Paul’s epistles with the exception of Ephesians. The last couple months the Lord began to burden my heart to preach through this glorious book. 2 weeks ago, I began an introductory survey. I did not get very far. The Holy Spirit captivated my attention on verse 3; especially, the second phrase: “who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.”

Usually, when I study a text, I will print the text out. This allows me to circle key words and concepts, draw lines connecting these key words with concepts, and on the side of the paper, ask questions regarding key words or concepts. I find that asking and answering questions helps me to better understand a text in a way that allows me to dig deep into the root of the truth.

What captivated my attention with the second phrase of verse 3 is: “who hath blessed us.” I want down three questions: who is doing the blessing; who is being blessed; and, what does the word “blessed” mean?

“God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is doing the blessing.” The “us” in verse 3 have received the blessing. I had to ask a follow-up question: who is “us?” Verse 1 identifies the us as saints and faithful - this includes Paul.

With the first 2 questions answered, I wanted to better understand “blessed.” First, “blessed” is a active verb. This means “God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” was active in blessing the “us.” Second, I needed to define the word “blessed.”

Love

Ephesians 1:4–6 “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.”

God loves those whom He saves! He loves us with the same tenacity and passion that He loves Jesus! John 17:23 “I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.” Honestly, getting beyond that statement is hard!

I know why the Father loves Jesus: Matthew 17:5 “While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.”

The Father is “well pleased” with the Son because the Son is:

A perfect image of Himself

A perfect reflection of His essence

A perfect imprint of His nature

A perfect expression of His glory

I do not know how the Father could have ever loved us! Romans 3 gives a perfect description of every person regardless of upbringing, political or religious views, color or gender.

Romans 3:10 - There is non righteous

Romans 3:11 - There is none that understands God

Romans 3:11 - There is none that seeks after God

Romans 3;12 - We have purposely gone out of the way

Romans 3:12 - We are unprofitable - Useless

Romans 3:12 - No one is good

Romans 3:13-14 - Our words are deceitful

Romans 3:15 - We use our feet to shed blood

Romans 3:16 - Destruction and misery are in our way

Romans 3:17 - We do not know the way of Peace

Romans 3:18 - No fear of God

Romans 3:19 - We are guilty

God the Father does not love me becasue of me; He loves me becasue of Him! Ephesians 1:3–4 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:”

God the Father chose us in Him before the foundation of the world

Why? So that we would be holy and without blame before Him in love!

God the Father chose us in Him to be a people that we cannot be and He did this out of love. How are we holy and without blame before Him in love? The answer to this question links back to the conclusion of verse 3: “Who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.

God’s love for us is rooted in His love for Jesus! Ephesians 2:3–9 “Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

God the Father could not love us without Jesus.

God’s love for us is evidenced in adopting us into His family - Ephesians 1:5–6 “Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.”

When - before the foundation of the world

How - By jesus Christ

Revelation 13:8 “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”

What - What are we predestined to? The Adoption of children to Himself.

Why do this?

According to the good pleasure of His will

To the praise of the glory of his grace

Accepted in the beloved.

Beloved - a verb, that is perfect and passive.

Redemption

Ephesians 1:7–8 “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;”

We have been redeemed! The word redeemed means to be purchased or ransomed. Four questions that need to be answered:

What have we been redeemed from?

Titus 2:14 - We have been redeemed from iniquity.

Colossians 1:13-14 - We have been redeemed from the power of darkness.

Galatians 3:13 - We have been redeemed from the curse of the Law.

We have been redeemed from our sinful nature, the power of darkness and the debt we owe to the law.

What was the cost of this redemption?

Ephesians 1:5 - Through His blood

Colossians 1:14 - Through His blood

Galatians 3:13 - By dying on the cross!

What did redemption do for us? In Ephesians, Colossians, and Galatians redemption is tied to forgiveness of sins. The word “forgiveness” means “freedom.” Forgiveness provides us a firm foundation to have a relationship with God.

Why? Why did God the Father send His only Begotten Son to bleed, suffer, and die an undeserved death? According to the riches of His grace! Today, people are invested in net worth. What is the net worth of the riches of God’s grace? Ephesians 3:8 “Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;”

Grace

Ephesians 1:8–10 “Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:”

“Wherein” links back “to the riches of His grace.” The word “abounded” means to “overflow.” The riches of His grace overflows towards us in wisdom and prudence. God’s wisdom and insight speaks of the riches of God’s grace. Keep in mind, how unsearchable are God’s riches. Now, link this to the riches of God’s grace. God is the only one who could have come up with the plan of grace. For God to save one person required infinite wisdom and planning.

I believe in T.U.L.I.P. or as Tom Ross wrote in his book “The Abandoned Truth: the doctrines of grace: Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Particular Redemption, Effectual Calling, and Perseverance of the Saints. It does not matter how many books I read on the topic, my mind cannot grasp the doctrines of grace completely and wholly. I am left with so many unanswered questions. If I spend too much time trying to figure out all the nuts and bolts to the doctrines of grace, my head will blow up. The inability to grasp fully all the nuances of the doctrines of grace and have all my questions answered points to the unsearchable riches of God’s grace!

However, God’s does allow us to catch a glimpse of the riches of His grace in verse 9 - Ephesians 1:9 “Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:”

God has allowed me to know the mystery of His will. “The mystery touching on or concerning His will, not the mystery originating in His will.” In other words, I know the effects of His will, not how His will came to life.

Ephesians 1:10 gives more insight: “That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:” “That in” is a preposition that allows me to know the direction of His will.

What is the direction of His will, which is according to the riches of His grace? “In this context summing up describes God's supernatural bringing of all things to a head so to speak in Christ. In a word, History is His story. Jesus Christ is the chief subject and chief end of all human History.”

One pastor put it this way: “"History is written and directed by its Creator, who will see it through to the fulfillment of His own ultimate purpose—the summing up of all things in Christ..”

H. A. Ironside: “Here, succinctly, clearly, in one brief verse, we have the summing up of the mystery of God’s will. Everything is working on to this one near-at-hand, divine event toward which the whole creation moves, when God will head up everything in Christ.”

C. H. S. - “Everything that is in Christ shall be gathered in; all his chosen, all that the Father gave him, all that he hath redeemed by blood, all that he hath effectually brought into union with himself shall be gathered together in one. There shall be one flock under one Shepherd.”

Inheritance

Ephesians 1:11 “In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:”

Because we have been predestinated unto the adoption of children, we have “obtained an inheritance.”

“Obtained” is on the passive - meaning an inheritance has been given to us. The inheritance has been given to us because of predestination. Our predestination occured becasue God works all things after the counsel of His own will.

That we should be to the praise of His glory!

God wants our adoption and inheritance so that He can receive praise. “In our humanly–oriented society, God’s wanting exclusive credit seems inappropriate only because men have no concept of His greatness, holiness , (and) glory.”

Holy Spirit

Ephesians 1:13–14 “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.”

We have been “sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.”

“At the moment you believe the gospel of your salvation, your were sealed with the Holy Spirit. Your salvation is eternally secure. What God's omnipotent Spirit sealed, finite man, even our faltering faith, cannot unseal this secure seal!”

The Holy Spirit living is us is the earnest (pledge) of our inheritance.

This means:

Every time God’s word feels like a dart penetrating our heart. This means God is speaking to us through the person of the Holy Spirit. This is proof that I have an amazing inheritance awaiting me. Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

Conclusion

Perhaps this is an unorthodox way to get to my point in the sermon.

I assume everyone hear believes God has chosen us, predestinated us, graced us, gave us an inheritance and the Holy Spirit.

Take note who are the people that are within this group:

Ephesians 1:12–13 “That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,”