Why Worship?

This morning we jump off into the Book of Ephesians. I’m pretty excited. Some have called it pound-for-pound the most theologically significant book, and others have noted that if you took out the section on master/slave relationships, it could be written as is to the modern church. Further, it’s really practical, answering some of our fundamental questions as believers.

Brief Background/Greeting

As we get started, the greeting gives us a solid starting point before jumping in to the letter as a whole. Paul’s the author, and his story is one giant testimony of God’s transforming grace. He went from a church-persecuting all-star pharisee to an apostle of Christ after the resurrected and ascended Jesus powerfully confronted him on the Damascus Road. Now, as an apostle, specifically to the non-Jews, Paul traveled the ancient world sharing the gospel. One of those stops included Ephesus where he spent three years there preaching and teaching. Ephesus was an influential city and even boasted one of the seven wonders of the ancient world: the Temple of Artemis (Diana), and it was a city steeped in false worship, be it Artemis or the emperor himself.

Paul writes, based on his authority as an apostle—someone who is sent to represent someone else—according to God’s will.

And, he writes to the saints in Ephesus. This is Paul’s way of calling someone a believer. The two terms would be interchangeable for Paul. Saints literally means holy ones, and to be holy means to be set apart. And, this idea of set apart is two-fold: set apart or separated from the world and set apart for God and His purposes.

The letter itself, which is pretty common. As with all of Paul’s letters, it looks something like this:

Greetings:

Grace and peace!

Hold firm to the Gospel.

For the love of all that is holy, stop being stupid!

Timothy says, “Hi!”

Honestly though, Ephesians breaks into two sections, broadly defined as what to believe and what to do. You may hear us say orthodoxy—right belief, and orthopraxy—right practice. Paul hammers both of these home as he writes to the church.

With all of this in mind, what does he begin teaching us? First, why worship? What follows his greeting is one long, single sentence, over 200 words if memory serves me correctly!

The Work of the Father

The Father’s work in salvation comes through His choosing and His blessing. First, we are chosen by the Father. “These words concern some people, making them tense up, but they should not. These are Bible words. These words should inspire awe and worship.”

Tony Merida, Exalting Jesus in Ephesians (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2014), 22.

First, Southern Baptists have agreed on this definition: “Election is the gracious purpose of God, according to which He regenerates, justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies sinners. It is consistent with the free agency of man, and comprehends all the means in connection with the end. It is the glorious display of God’s sovereign goodness, and is infinitely wise, holy, and unchangeable. It excludes boasting and promotes humility.” So, what’s that mean?

God’s work in election is His gracious purpose to save. Using words like chosen and predestined, Paul shows God’s divine initiative in saving sinners, while also noting that we are responsible for responding to God in faith. Though this mystery stretches our finite minds, remember what Scripture clearly affirms—that His saving work is purposeful (v.4), perfectly loving (vv.4-5), sovereign (v.5), gracious (vv.6-8), and wise (v.8). At the same time, the call to personally hear and believe the gospel remains essential (v.13), showing that divine election and human response are not opposed but united.

Rather than fueling speculation, this should remind us that God’s ways are infinitely higher than ours and far beyond our full comprehension. Therefore, this doctrine leads us to humble worship. And, this is Paul’s point. We absolutely cannot miss the forest for the trees in this passage of Scripture. Beginning in verse 3 with the words “blessed be,” and extended through to the end of the 200+ word sentence where the final refrain is “to the praise of His glory,” and at two more stops along the way (v.6, v.12), worship is the heart of this passage. It is absolutely one long doxological refrain, a giant word of emphatic praise!

Second, concerning God’s work in matters of salvation, notice that He blesses “us in Christ with every spiritual blessing.” Verse three frames Paul’s entire discussion here—blessing God because of how He has blessed us. The pinnacle of His blessing is our unity with Christ. Which, this is we’ve called this sermon series “In Christ.” Here’s why this is such a big deal. Dr. Hammett, my theology professor at SEBTS, says, “While there are many ways to describe what happens in salvation (forgiveness, eternal life, justification, adoption, etc.), I think the best phrase for the essence of salvation is union with Christ.”

That’s heavy, and throughout this letter, Paul emphasizes the believer’s unity with Christ over 30 times, and he mentions it 11 times in these opening 14 verses alone! Because we are united with Him, everything that is His becomes ours. Here’s what it means for street-level belief:

Our lives are transformed and redirected because we are united with Jesus.

His death becomes our death, and His life becomes our life. Empowered by His Spirit, we embrace and follow His will, and our identity now revolves around Him. Who He is influences every aspect of who we are and how we live our life.

As we get to verse 5, we see that God’s sovereign work in salvation secures for us “adoption to Himself as sons through Jesus.” He does this “in love” (v.4b), showing that His work isn’t cold or impersonal, and He brings us into a loving relationship with Himself. Adopting us as sons—Paul’s intentional about that—guarantees that we receive full rights, identities and inheritances as God’s children. And, not to press the issue too far, it is significant that he says we’re adopted as sons, not just children. When sons were adopted in the first century, they shared all the rights and responsibilities as natural children, and they were often adopted to secure inheritances, manage estates, and continue family legacies. What we have as believers is full rights and full inheritances, not second-class status. This gives us insight as to why Paul calls ALL BELIEVERS sons of God!

Paul closes each aspect of this giant sentence with a word of praise. Notice verse 6: “to the praise of His glorious grace.” The point of all of this is worship. That’s why we cannot miss the forest for the trees. The title of the message is what? Why worship? Paul is letting us know. The point of our salvation—big picture—and the Father’s sovereign, purposeful work in the matters of salvation, is worship. God is worthy of our worship because in His grace and in His matchless love He has chosen us in Christ to be adopted as sons, fully sharing in all that it means to be a child of God!

So worship the Father from the depths of a humbled soul because He has called and adopted you as one of His own!

The Work of the Son

The bulk of this passage, both through our unity with Christ and Paul’s actually writing, land on the work of the Son. He redeems us, forgiving us of our sins and revealing the mystery of God’s will to us. Through our redemption, we receive an eternal inheritance.

Redemption here is a compound word—apolutrosin—and it means full redemption, probably carrying the idea of being to a greater or to the fullest extent. He has accomplished this “through His blood,” and I think this is another way of saying that when Jesus died on the cross, His sacrifice was absolutely sufficient and once-for-all. Hebrews makes this point saying Jesus offered Himself once for all (He 8:27; 10:10). In the ancient world, redemption was the price paid to buy a person out of slavery. When we trust in Jesus, that price is applied to our account—setting us free from the bondage of sin and its consequences forever! Now, when you consider this and take the three aspects of this passage together—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit all at work in our salvation—there is a finality to God’s saving work!

By His blood, He forgives us, no longer holding our sins against us, lavishing upon us the riches of His grace in all wisdom and insight. He has abundantly provided for us out of the infinite depths of the well of His grace. So, we rightly sing, “Where sin runs deep, your grace is more” and “our sins, they are many, His mercy is more.”

Further, the fact that His grace is lavished “in all wisdom and insight” assures us that the grace we need is exactly the grace we receive. Grace is the idea of something freely given as a gift, received and not earned. Have you ever received a gift and thought to yourself, “What in the world am I going to do with this?!” Conversely, have you ever received that gift where you said, “This is exactly what I wanted!” but then quickly find that thing sitting on the shelf collecting dust only a few months later? The grace that Christ gives is that pair of jeans that fit just right. Maybe you were disappointed at first, but now you wear them year-round because they are perfect in every way.

As we have received redemption and grace, God’s mystery unfolds, and it is making known to us God’s will and purpose, set forth in Jesus. Paul calls it a plan “to unite all things in Christ” at the fullness of time. Because Paul circles back to uniting things in Jesus when we get to chapter 3, I’ll briefly mention here that God’s plan and will center on Jesus and the redemption He brings through His death on the cross for all who believe. Dear friends, have you believed and confessed Jesus as your Lord?

However, what about this idea of mystery? B.B. Warfield captures the beauty of the mysteries hidden in the OT that come to light through Christ, saying: “The OT may be likened to a chamber richly furnished but dimly lighted; the introduction of light brings into it nothing which was not in it before; but it brings out into clearer view much of what is in it but was only dimply or even not at all perceived before. …The OT revelation is not corrected by the fuller revelation which follows it, but only perfected, extended, and enlarged.” As we saw last week on the Emmaus Road, the OT from beginning to end spoke of all that must happen to the Messiah for our sake.

Now through Christ and our unity with Him, “we have obtained an inheritance.” There is some disagreement in this verse because it can be understood in two ways. The first is how the ESV translates it: we’ve obtained an inheritance. But, all of this is a single Greek word and others believe it applies to believers being made and inheritance or heritage for God. Both have theological and Scriptural backing. The first would refer to our inheritance of eternal life, informed by the OT when we read of Israel’s land allotments when they leave Egypt. But the second option is rich as well and may be more in line with what the Greek intends, that we are God’s special possession, and 1 Pet.2:9 and Deut.7:6 both underscore this idea. Which is to be preferred? Maybe the richness of the text is that both are true!

Finally, notice that Paul does circle back to the idea of predestination. But here, I think there is something important to remember. Ephesians was a city steeped in pagan beliefs and ideas, and their false gods were fickle and often bound by arbitrary fate. This is not the case with our God, who works His purposes according to the counsel of His own will. This is why Tony Merida said that some may get the wrong idea about election, but it shouldn’t cast doubts concerning who is welcome. “Whosoever” is the invitation, and God’s purpose in election tells us that all who have confessed Jesus in faith are here on purpose.

Therefore, those of us who “hope in Christ” do so to the praise of His glory! So worship the Son from the depths of your thankful soul that you have been redeemed!

The Work of the Spirit

These final two verses reflect on the work of the Sprit, sealing believers and making them secure in Christ and guaranteeing the completion of their salvation.

Throughout the first 12 verses, Paul has said “us” and “we,” but now he pivots and says “you,” addressing the believers directly. As he switches up the verbiage, he also turns his attention to personal responsibility—when “you heard…the gospel of your salvation, and believed in Him.” What does the Spirit do? He seals and guarantees the effectualness of our belief. So, what is Paul emphasizing?

First, that we are sealed. The Spirit marks us as God’s own possession. This draws on imagery from the ancient world where a seal signified ownership and identity. The Spirit is clear evidence that a believer belongs to God as a part of His redeemed people. It is the validation of ownership that makes the believer secure.

Second, the Spirit is the “guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire…it.” We are assured of eternal life; our future is certain.

There is an interesting crossover between ancient and modern Greek for the word used here: arrabon. Here, the word is translated as “guarantee” or “deposit” in some translations. In modern Greek, it’s the word used for engagement ring. Unlike modern conceptions, where only about 50% of the people engaged to one another actually make it down the aisle, the sealing of the Spirit guarantees the promise of God. We are indeed betrothed and committed to Him and He to us, for we are truly His bride!

Finally, what’s the last refrain? “To the praise of His glory!” This passage is a passage of worship. It reminds us that we are redeemed fully and completely, and that God is intimately involved in every aspect of our salvation, purposing to draw us from creation’s foundation, providing abundantly for our redemption, and promising to make good on His work. Father, Son, and Spirit—the unified Triune Godhead—all at work in securing believers, redeeming them to be a people of and for God, all to the praise of His matchless glory.

So again we sing:

“Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty

Only Thou art Holy…

There is non beside Thee…

Merciful and mighty…

God in Three Persons, blessed Trinity!”