Eternal Blessings Now | Ephesians 1:3–14

Introduction

The book of Ephesians was written to a massive ancient city called Ephesus

Population 300,000

Center of Worship for goddess Diana, her temple was one of the wonders of the ancient world it was so massive and beautiful.

Ephesus was beautiful, rich, worldly, sophisticated

In a culture that wide and diverse, Paul wrote this book to encourage Christians to continue their growth in God in a culture trying to pull them away from Him.

Culture began to make it’s way into the church

Sounds like America today doesn’t it? Sounds like school today doesn’t it? Culture is constantly pulling at you and trying to rip you away from God.

Bring student up and have them stand on chair, pull them down and then have them try to pull me up.

It’s much easier for culture to pull us down than it is for us to pull culture up

but the bible has a solution.

read with me today as we start Ephesians:

Body

Ephesians 1:1–14 CSB

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will: To the faithful saints in Christ Jesus at Ephesus. 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in love before him. 5 He predestined us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ for himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace that he lavished on us in the Beloved One. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace 8 that he richly poured out on us with all wisdom and understanding. 9 He made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he purposed in Christ 10 as a plan for the right time—to bring everything together in Christ, both things in heaven and things on earth in him. 11 In him we have also received an inheritance, because we were predestined according to the plan of the one who works out everything in agreement with the purpose of his will, 12 so that we who had already put our hope in Christ might bring praise to his glory. 13 In him you also were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed. 14 The Holy Spirit is the down payment of our inheritance, until the redemption of the possession, to the praise of his glory.

So how do we stand up for Christ in a culture that doesn’t care about him?

It must influence culture without becoming identified with the institutions of the culture.

Bruce Riley Ashford

In other words, part of the Christian mission is to influence those around us toward Christ, without allowing them to pull us away from Christ.

How do we do that?

We cling to Christ and his Eternal Blessings

We have an eternal attitude, one that isn’t torn to pieces by our problems here on earth

Our outlook is eternal

We are adopted, redeemed, and sealed by the eternal blessings of Christ.

Adopted in the sense that as Christians, God is our heavenly father and he loves us. He has a hope for our eternity.

Redeemed in the way that Jesus put our sin on his back as he was beaten and died on the cross for our sins.

Sealed because we can’t be perfect, but we need to constantly pursue Jesus who is the definition of perfect.

We remember the Great Commission

Matthew 28:18–20 CSB

18 Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

We are told to go, this is an action. We aren’t called to simply stand by but to be intentional about reaching those lost in the culture with the hope of Christ.

We are to make disciples, making disciples means more than just making people who kind of, sort of, know Jesus. Making disciples means making believers who are equipped to live all of life all for Jesus.

We can’t forget that God is with us always, to the end of the age. We can’t make disciples, Jesus does that. Our job is to plant the seed in obedience to the Lord. God is in control.

When I was in high school, I played on a baseball team, it was very wordly, but I knew God had a plan for those guys and I started a bible study.

Conclusion

So where do you stand today? Are you pulling people down into the culture or as hard as it might be, are you trusting God to draw people up to him?