Blessed

Ephesians 1:1-14

Blessed

Sunday, June 11, 2023

Pastoral Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank you for the opportunity we have to gather here this morning in this place at this time to worship you. You are not a God of chance. You have placed us here and now for your purpose and for your glory. Father, so we pray that your glory would go forth this morning. We pray that your glory would be made known here and to the ends of the earth. In particular, Father, we pray for your glory to go forth this day in the United Arab Emirates. Father, we thank you for the strategic hub that the UAE is and its current role in getting the gospel out to the nations. How it is a hub for training godly men for pastoral ministry. We thank you for the many women’s discipleship groups that are meeting there and how these are all serving to model and encourage the work that will be done to other places, other nations. May you, Father, continue to bless this great work for your honor and glory. Father, we also ask this morning, that you not only be glorified here in our gathering, but in the gathering of our sister church down the road in Gateway Church in Mt. Vernon. We thank you for their pastor, Dustin Haile. Lord we ask that as he preaches this morning, Father, that your word would go forth to equip the saints there at Gateway Church to grow up in every way into Christ, our King. Father, will you do this mighty work for your glory? Father, we too this morning want to pray for those who have already and will soon flood the city of New Orleans for the annual Southern Baptist Convention meetings this week. We pray Lord, that messengers will act in a godly and loving manner to one another in a divisive time among Southern Baptists. Father, we ask Lord that the messengers would vote in a manner not swayed by men and the fear of man, but from a fear of you. God help them to vote in a wise and godly manner this week for the sake of your honor and glory. And Father, we now ask for you to do the same here. Help us to still and quiet our minds to hear from your word. May it renew our minds and our hearts, setting them on you….

Introduction

When you think of the word blessed, what do you think about? Do you consider being blessed to have health? Wealth? A roof over your head? A good family? Is your definition of blessed summed up like many who use #blessed on Social Media, a peaceful moment, a candid picture? The problem though when we use this definition of blessed, what happens when that moment fades away and the real world presses in? When suffering creeps in? Depression? Anxiety? Trials? Tribulations? Blessed in that way ceases to be blessed.

Friends, the world offers us a false understanding of what it means to be blessed. A blessedness that is wrapped up in the hear and now and will quickly fade away. But God, he gives true blessedness, an eternal blessedness that is far greater than the temporary here and now. And that is what we are going to look at this morning as we begin our study in the book of Ephesians. We read in the introductory verses in Ephesians 1:1-2 ….

In this introduction, we learn that the letter was written by the Apostle Paul. One chosen by the will of God as an Apostle. For on the Damascus road, Christ revealed himself to Paul. Therefore Paul was set apart as one who had learned and seen the risen Christ, meeting the qualifications for an Apostle. Paul is also one who first visited Ephesus with the gospel. And therefore in his appointed position, as well as his personal investment in the Church of Ephesus, Paul writes a letter to this church.

The letter is thought to have been written around the year A.D. 62 while Paul was being held prisoner in Rome (Acts 28). The theme and purpose of Ephesians is hard to trace down. Throughout the letter a variety of things are hit on. There is a heavy emphasis on Christology in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, particularly of what it means to be united to Christ. Ecclesiology is another important part of the letter. Ecclesiology is the doctrine of the church. Therefore in the letter, Paul emphasizes what it means to be the church, including the unity of Jews and Gentiles within the church. Then, throughout the letter, there is a strong emphasis on sanctification, that is one’s becoming more like Jesus. And all of these are pressing against a culture that was given over to a fascination with magic and occult practices. Therefore, the letter emphasizes that YHWH is the one true God, and he alone is over all things, and he alone is worthy of worship and praise. Without further delay, let us start this journey by reading the word of the LORD given to us in Ephesians 1:3-14….

Main Idea: All who are united to Christ Jesus by faith have been blessed by God in the outpouring of his grace and love in Christ, and therefore we are to respond with overwhelming praise to God. We are going to look at this in 2 points this morning, (1) Blessed be God and (2) Blessed by God.

Blessed be God

Ephesians 1:3…..

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is to be blessed, that is, he is to be praised. The opening of this letter is a resounding praise to God. In fact, as Paul labors to instruct the Church of Ephesus, and even us today about why this God is worthy to be praised, he himself gets lost in praising God for who he is and what he has done. Church, just as you heard last week from Brother Reed, God is the focus of our worship. And when we pause to reflect on him and who he is and what he has done, we should be like Paul, be drawn to worship and marvel at our great God.

And there is much to be praised and marveled at in our God. For it is our God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in Christ. This phrase in Christ is essential. The phrase itself is used 11 times in these 11 verses in some shape or form. When it says in Christ, it is referring to one’s union with Christ by faith. When we come to the point of true faith in Jesus, we are united to him and become one with him. As Paul will elaborate more in Ephesians 5, the picture of marriage points to Christ and his church. The two become one. Therefore to be in Christ is to be united to Christ, to be one with Christ. And it is through this union, this oneness, that God blesses his people. There is no blessing apart from one’s union with Christ.

So friend, if you are one sitting here this morning, and you have not believed in Jesus. Know that the blessings we are talking about this morning are not yours. They are not for you. For they belong only to those who have come to faith in Christ. But even as we talk about these truths this morning, it is my prayer that you will awaken and see your need to come and be united to Jesus by faith so that you can taste the sweet blessing of Christ and all the blessings we have in our union with him!

For in our talking about being blessed, more particularly about being blessed in Christ, we are not talking about just any blessing. We are talking about spiritual blessings. For Paul adds, he has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.

The blessings that God has poured out on those in Christ are spiritual blessings. They are of the spiritual realm. Even as we considered with the introduction this morning, what does it mean to be blessed? Blessedness by many is that of material possessions. Of earthly things. But the blessings that God pours out are far greater. For they are not tied to a moment, to a temporary circumstance. The blessings that God gives to those in Christ are far greater and eternal. For God gives every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places to those who are in Christ. There is nothing they lack. God gives it all. It is because of these blessings that God is to be blessed, to be praised by his people. And it is the specifics of these spiritual blessings that we we turn to in our second point this morning.

Blessed by God

As we move into our second point this morning, we are going to break it down further into four sub-points to help us consider the blessings in which God pours out on us. The four sub-points are, (1) God has blessed us in choosing us, (2) God has blessed us in redeeming us, (3) God has blessed us in giving us an inheritance, and (4) God has blessed us in sealing us.

God has blessed us in choosing us

First, God has blessed us in choosing us, Verses 4-5…..

Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world. This is the first spiritual blessing in which God the Father has blessed us in Christ. Now, in saying that God chose us before the foundation of the world, it is referring to that before creation began in Genesis 1:1. Before God spoke a word in saying let there be light. Before that moment, God chose us, those in Christ, to be united to Christ. Or as John Stott in his commentary puts it, “He determined to make us (who did not yet exist) his own children through the redeeming work of Christ (which had not yet taken place).”

This phrase, God chose us in him is what is known as the doctrine of election. And the reality is, for many it is a stumbling block of the Christian faith. In part, because many associate this doctrine with a few men throughout church history. But before they drew out these doctrines in their writings, the Apostle Paul records these words as one instructed by God in his work. And therefore, we must wrestle with this doctrine as it is not the doctrine of men, but of God.

One of the reasons that so many stumble over the idea of God choosing a people for himself in eternity past is that we think too highly of ourselves. We fail to see the effects of the fall in Genesis 3 and how it corrupted the whole of man, mind, body, and soul. Sin has left us without any moral compass except what we determine is right and wrong. For in sin, we threw off God as king and made ourselves kings. Therefore, in our sin, we could never choose God.

But here come the objections in our hearts, wait brother, didn’t I choose to come and follow Christ? To quote John Stott again, “Yes, indeed you did, and freely, but only because in eternity God had first decided for you.”

Brothers and sisters, consider these words from Romans 3:10-11 and what they reveal about the heart of man.

As it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.

There is not one of us in this room who would seek after God and choose Christ of our will apart from the intervention and work of God’s Holy Spirit. A work that God chose to do in us before the foundation of the world. A work that he pre-determined and predestined to do in order to turn back the curse of sin in our hearts and minds. For his aim in choosing us was to make us holy and blameless before him.

God’s desire in choosing a people for himself before the foundation of the world was to make a people holy and blameless before him so that they could stand before him in all eternity and praise him. So that they could stand in his presence as it was intended to be in creation.

And God knew before creation that sin would enter into the world. And as he knew this, he wasn’t sitting ideally by. He chose a people to call back to himself from eternity past to be with him in all his glory.

But here is where we must turn to another common objection against God’s election, his choosing of us before the foundation of the world. Many stumble as they fail to see that God chose a people for himself before the foundation of the world out of love. For look again at what it says, In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will.

God’s choosing us, those united to Christ, was done out of love. For again, as we have seen, none choose God of their own nature. Many stumble over the doctrine of election because they ask the wrong question. Those in opposition tend to ask the question, how could choose some and not choose others. But here is the question we should ask, given that all have fallen short of the glory of God, how could God choose any? It is out of his love that he chooses any of us to himself in Christ.

And because of his love, he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world for the purpose of adopting us to himself as sons through Jesus Christ. By adopting us, he adds us into the same rank with Christ, the beloved Son, the only begotten Son. We are not second class children. We have the same relationship with the Father as the Son does. And we have a loving father. Some of you have or had great fathers who loved you well. But for some, you didn’t. Thoughts of your earthly father are painful. Beloved, our heavenly Father is not cruel, but loving. He didn’t have to be our Father, but invited us to himself in Jesus and he poured out his love on us in Christ. Rest in him, embrace him as he embraces us in Jesus.

Brothers and sisters, do you see the rich blessing in which God chose us in Christ that we have been given? It is out of God’s love that he chose us to be holy and blameless before him in Christ. That he adopted such rebels to now be his sons and daughters. What an act of love and blessing given to us from the Father choosing us. And while still a complex doctrine, we should continue to study it more and more as it is from the Lord. And it should lead us to a deep worship of God our Father. Verse 6….

Let the praise to God continue. But there is more, for not only did God bless us in choosing us, he blessed us in redeeming us.

God has blessed us in redeeming us

Ephesians 1:7-10….

In our union with Christ we have redemption. In God’s choosing us from before the foundation of the world, he chose us for the purpose of adoption and redemption. God’s plan from eternity past was to redeem us through the blood of Christ.

The word redemption implies a release or liberation from imprisonment or captivity. In our sin, we were imprisoned, captive by our sin. We were slaves to sin. Another way Paul describes this as we will see in Ephesians 2, we were dead in our sins and trespasses. And if you are here this morning, and you don’t know Jesus, if you have not come to trust in him and him alone for your salvation, you remain imprisoned and held captive by your sin. But there is good news, for this same redemption that we as Christians celebrate already having, there is the opportunity for you to come and taste freedom from sin if you will come and believe in Jesus, trusting that by the shedding of his own blood, that payment for your sin has been dealt with if you will believe. Hear the call of Christ this morning and come and believe in Jesus.

For in Christ, in our belief of him, redemption comes. And it is in this redemption that the riches of God’s grace are poured out and lavished upon us. For grace is unmerited. It’s nothing in which we deserve. And yet, in the blood of Christ, redemption comes as grace is poured out. All who come and are washed in the blood of the lamb will find their garments white as snow. They will come and find that in Jesus, they have been set free from the imprisonment of sin and death.

Beloved, do you see what God’s plan of redemption has brought us in Jesus? We are set free. We are set free from the bondage of sin, from slavery. We are led out of our slavery just as Israel was led out of the slavery from Egypt. Pharaoh held Israel in bondage, sin has held us. But now in our union with Christ, by the shedding of his own blood at calvary we are no longer slaves, but sons and daughters of the Lord almighty as we have been adopted in Christ.

Even more, this plan of redemption has always been the plan of God. It was his plan in the very beginning when he chose us. It was his plan from the fullness of time to redeem a people to himself through the shedding of the blood of Jesus. The entire sacrificial system pointed to Jesus and his sacrificial atonement on the cross. Jesus going to the cross to redeem us from our trespasses was not plan B, it was plan A in creation. God created a people to worship him and glorify him. And that worship and praise and blessing of God comes as we have been redeemed. And it is this mystery that has now been revealed to us, God’s plan and purpose from long ago.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, our redemption has already come in Jesus, and still it is not yet complete. For we have already been released from our captive state, but we still struggle with sin and we still groan in this world along with the whole of creation. But pay close attention to the last words there in verse 10, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

God’s plan has been to unite all things in Christ. First and foremost, that means uniting God and us as sinners together once more. This is the primary part of redemption. This part has come already in the shedding of Christ’s blood as we have been talking about. But when it says all things in heaven and things on earth, God’s plan goes beyond just our redemption. It includes redeeming the whole of creation itself. For when creation was created, all was good. No death, no disorder. And yet, as we know, creation itself is now groaning.

In 2011, a series of tornado outbreaks wrecked through the south. The same storm system caused a massive tornado to strike Tuscaloosa, AL on the University of Alabama campus, killing many, slinging others in its path. That storm would later touch down in Dalton, GA along interstate 75, leveling trees and buildings. And then that same storm went over my apartment building to only drop less than 15 minutes away. The damage of that storm left one house untouched, another intact, but completely blown off its foundation, then the next few completely destroyed. Creation is groaning because it too has been affected by sin. But in Jesus, all things will soon be subjected and united under his rule. Things in heaven and things on earth will be united and good once more. The effects of sin on this world will be wiped away and they will be new again. Christian, we continue to long and hope for this redemption to come in its fullest. And until then, we continue to praise our God.

God has blessed us in giving us an inheritance

Thirdly, God has blessed us in giving us an inheritance. Verses 11-12….

In our union with Christ, we have obtained an inheritance that was predestined for us in Christ according to the purposes of the Father’s will. And as our choosing was according to the Father’s purpose, so his redemption, it is with the inheritance. And because the Father is the one who desires to grant us this inheritance, let it be made known, nothing can oppose his grand design to grant it to us who are in Christ.

This inheritance that we are given in Christ is that of our redemption, our adoption. An inheritance to dwell with God for all eternity, as we are built up into a dwelling place for him (Ephesians 2:21-22). And as with the purpose of God’s choosing and redeeming us, his inheritance is for the purpose of us turning to praise him and give him glory.

God has blessed us in sealing us

But, it is not just as if the Father has promised us an inheritance with nothing but a word. He has sealed us with a guarantee, and that is our fourth blessing from God. God has blessed us in sealing us. Verses 13-14…

Consider these phrases, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Paul here emphasizes that the gospel is the word of truth, its teachings are true. What is the gospel of your salvation? It is the good news of Jesus, that he came to live a holy life and to die in place of sinners to rescue us, to redeem us from sin. Upon hearing this news, this truth, and believing it, we were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.

In saying we were sealed, it communicates an old truth, much like a down payment today. A down payment is essential to making sure that no one acquires a good with no intention of paying it back.

Being a 90’s kid, I loved watching Full House, in fact, we now have our two girls loving watching it as well. The show is about a widower dad with three daughters. His two best friends move in to help him raise his daughters. In one episode, the oldest daughter, DJ, is given a sweater as a gift by her dad on Valentine’s Day. Unfortunately, the sweater doesn’t even last one full day, it is shredded by a lawn mower after being left on the ground during recess. DJ with her best friend try to come up with a scheme to go to the mall and replace the sweater before her dad finds out. As they are there, they realize they can’t pay for the sweater, but her younger sister, Steffanie learns about the idea of buy now, pay later. Or at least, she thinks she learns about it. So she takes the sweater thinking she is doing right, but has stolen it. The whole thing gets ironed out in the end, but a missing of this buy now and pay later caused much harm.

Friends, Jesus doesn’t just promise us an inheritance now without any credibility that it will be given. He seals this promise, guaranteeing a later receiving of the promise with that of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit which was promised long ago has come and it is now the seal for our promised inheritance. The very Spirit that draws us to belief in Christ, is the same Spirit that will make us new, and is the same Spirit that seals our promise of the coming inheritance. In coming to a true and saving faith in Christ, we are immediately sealed with the Holy Spirit who is our guarantee.

Brother, sister, if you are struggling, wrestling with doubts about your salvation, the best way to test yourself is to test yourself by the fruit of the Spirit as listed in Galatians 5:22-24. For if the fruit of the Spirit is at work in you, if you are seeing progress in one or many of these areas, rest assured your inheritance is safe and sealed by the Spirit. For the Spirit is the very one who brings these fruits about in you. But friends, if you test yourself and you do not see that fruit, or you test yourself by the works of the flesh from just a few verses earlier there in Galatians 5:19-21, and you are marked by these fruits of the flesh, then friend you need to repent and come to a true faith in Jesus.

The Holy Spirit is a comfort and an assurance for the believer in Christ. It guarantees our coming inheritance. And in the Holy Spirit we as Christians should be comforted and led to praise the glory of our great God.