Ephesians 1:7-12

Text for today:

Secure Interest:

Imagine with me for a moment that all of your hopes and your dreams were bound up into one object.

In the world of investment, this would be ridiculous.

One would not live their whole life placing all of their hope for financial gain into one investment, hoping that it succeeds.

From a business perspective, this would be ludacris!

Imagine what would happen if you had your entire life savings invested into Chevrolet, believing the company to be a wise and solid choice for future financial gains.

Now what would happen if that company went belly up tomorrow?

You’d be out of luck.

Everything you had with would be a wash.

You could sit around and talk about everything that you used to have, yet none of that would matter because it would all be gone.

From every single perspective in our society, if you’re going to trust in something, you spread out that trust in order to try and maximize both stability, as well as profits.

In every aspect of life, this is generally what we do.

We place our trust in multiple items instead of limiting it to one.

Yet as Christians, we are called to rest fully and wholly in one person, one God for something that is so much more worthwhile than investments.

We are called to trust in the one and only, Jesus of Nazareth.

We are called to stake our entire eternity on this one God-man.

Yet this is contrary to what all of society tells us.

Religions such as Buddhism, Mormonism and many others allow for a multitude of gods and or variations of who god is and how many there are.

Yet, when you read Scripture, it is abundantly clear.

There is but One God!

And that One God exists co-eternally within the three persons of the Trinity.

So how do we know that when Scripture calls us to look unto Jesus and place our trust in Him and Him alone with no other forms of investment or hope, that we are doing right?

How do we know that Jesus is not also going to be like General Motors and one day need a bailout from someone else to measure up to what they had promised?

Flesh and Blood Scenario

My assertion to you this morning is that not only is Christ Jesus faithful, He is faithful of a verifiable reality which we can’t look backwards on and know of His faithfulness.

We are not like Moses who, while he was yet in his sin and worshipping his pagan gods was called out by God to walk blindly.

While we are walking to a land full of milk and honey, we do not do so blindly.

We have a verifiable authoritative source which always points us back to our redeemer and lets us know of that which is to come on the basis of what He has already accomplished.

Vital Personal Questions:

So this morning, I want to ask you a very personal question.

Do you ever have doubts?

Doubts about how in the world the promises of this book could ever truly be real?

How it is that we in our sin filled state could ever truly have forgiveness and be given something beyond our ability to comprehend?

I mean if we’re being honest, there are times that I look at Scripture and what the Lord promises to come to pass and in my sin filled mind;

I wonder if it could be so!

I know who I am as a person.

I know who I am before a holy and a righteous God.

I am a rotten, vile and miserable wretch.

The only thing I deserve is straight punishment and death for the which I have lived my life.

Yet the Word of the Lord tells me that because of everything that Jesus has done and nothing to do with me;

I get to inherit a promise beyond comprehension.

I get forgiveness of my sin.

Pardon for everything that I have ever done, am doing and will do.

Not to live in some form of sin filled life by any means.

But true forgiveness.

And if that wasn’t enough, there’s more.

God would have been perfectly just in forgiving me of my sin and then completely annihilating me.

Yet He doesn’t do that.

Instead, on top of forgiveness, He offers a life of eternity within the presence of the divine forever.

Not to live another hundred or two hundred years.

Not for another thousand years.

An eternity!

For an eternity I get to offer praise to this King who has redeemed me.

Crucial Assertions:

Yet I think that if we really got to the heart of this, most of us would admit to not truly believing this.

And I say that because I think that if we truly believed this we would live our lives completely different.

We would truly be Christocentric in our lives instead of being selfish and only focusing on who we are.

And I can say that because if we were focused on Christ, our sin life would look totally different than what it looked like yesterday!

Our longing to partake in that little desire of the flesh would be running away in light of who Christ Jesus is and what He is done.

Determinative Difference:

And I honestly think that if we were to look at this text the way which Paul intended us, we would have a completely different outlook on Christ.

And because of that, there is no question that this text will change our lives in light of Him if we would merely try to apply them to our lives.

Purpose:

Contextualization:

Connection to previous sermon:

Now if you’ll remember, I told you last week that in the previous portion of Scripture, we found three ways that living in light of Christ as a Church changes us.

The first was that no matter what, God was and is always worthy of all of our praise, regardless of our situation or circumstances.

The second was that we are to be living life in light of the eternal at this very moment.

The third was that what unites the Church together is nothing less that Jesus Christ.

White, black, poor and rich, felon and non-felon;

We are all united in the beauty of the Gospel and not on the basis of our personal preferences.

So today I want to try and tie that message in with this text as well.

Where am I in the outline of the book:

Restatement of PNP and Theological Principles:

PNP with Theological Principles:

Today we will be looking at three ways which we can rest fully assured in Christ Jesus.

He has accomplished a greater salvation than we will ever understand.

He has poured that salvation out onto His people in ways which should cause us to pursue Him.

All that Christ has done shows us that He is worthy of all glory.

Restate PNP:

Body of Sermon:

PNP:

Once again, we will see three ways which we can rest fully assured in Christ Jesus.

I. He has accomplished a greater salvation than we will ever understand.

a. preaching point

II. He has poured that salvation out onto His people in ways which should cause us to pursue Him.

a. preaching point

III. All that Christ has done shows us that He is worthy of all glory.

a. preaching point

Conclusion:

Synopsis:

Restate PNP:

Restate Structure:

Resecure interest:

Vital Transition:

Vital Assertions and questions:

Closing appeals: Forceful Obedience encouraged and disobedience rebuked.

The Purpose: What now

Clinching Element of Persuasion:

The Gospel: