In Christ #3 Eph
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Continue the topic of who we are in Christ. Did you know for every scripture that states Christ is in us there is 10 that describe who we are in Him.
Point 1 - Review verse 3
Lets look at Eph
Then He goes on to describe those areas that He has blessed us with.
9 Things God Has Done for Us (1:3)
I Blessed us (v 3) With all spiritual blessings
2 Chosen us (v 4)
3 Predestinated us (v 5, 11) to adoption as sons
4 Grace freely bestowed on us (v 6)
5 Redeemed us (v 7)
6 Grace abounded toward us (v 8)
7 Made known unto us (v 9)
8 Given us an inheritance ( v 11, 14)
9 Sealed us with Holy Spirit (v 13)
Because God has already blessed believers, we need not ask for these blessings but simply accept them and apply them to our lives. Because we have an intimate relationship with Christ, we can enjoy these blessings now and will enjoy them for eternity.
Point 2 – He has Chosen Us
You know the opposite of chosen is rejection. Have you ever felt rejection? We all have. In fact it is an experience that is so universally understood that it requires no definition. We all know what it means. Our world is filled with rejection.
Babies are unwanted by their mothers
Children are assaulted or abused by their parents
People curse and rail each other
Others are mocked for their physical or metal qualities.
Friends discard friends
Divorce rips families apart.
Shrewd business dealings violate victims
And the list goes on and on
No one understands rejection better than Jesus.
Is 53:3 foretold that He would be rejected by men.
John says He came to His own and His own did not receive Him.
Jesus said if the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.
On one occasion Jesus stopped by His hometown and they tried to through Him off a cliff.
Jesus life illustrates a simple truth. Even if you’re perfect, you’ll still experience rejection.
His greatest trial came when the when the religious leaders of the day rejected Jesus, mocked and ridiculed Him, and sentenced Him to death.
How do we combat this rejection?
1st we to forgive.
2nd we need to accept the the Love that the Father has for us and know that we have been chosen by Him.
3rd know that when God has chosen and accepted me, I need acceptance from no one else.
Faithlife Study Bible Chapter 1
he chose Here Paul applies to believers a concept that formerly applied to Israel alone
Faithlife Study Bible Chapter 1
Just as God chose Israel as His treasured possession, He now elects believers to receive the blessings mediated through Christ
6 “For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
So unconditionally elect One is Jesus Christ, and individuals are elected to salvation upon belief in Christ as they become a part of the corporate body of Christ.
Does God chose some before the foundation of the world to be lost and others to be saved?
It took three hundred years before anyone in Church history interpreted the New Testament to teach that God individually predestines certain people to go to heaven, and “leaves” (viz. a nice way of saying “predestines”) all others to go to hell.
Ephesians 1:3-4 concerns the election of a corporate body of believers in Christ. It is not an election of the individual, but rather a choice of a body that all those who will trust in Jesus Christ for salvation can be a part of.With this view, Christ is presented as the foundation of the election of the church in Ephesians 1:3-4, and as the object election in 1 Peter 2:6. As the church is the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:27), Christ’s election includes the election of his body. Thus, there is a strong connection between the election of the church and Christ’s election.5
Notice that our election, including the spiritual blessings that stem from this election is realized and centered in Christ.
Two nations - Goat and Sheep Nations
34 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
Point 3 – He has predestined us to the adoption as sons.
5 so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
Bob Yandian Pg 123
Here God has predestined all children of God to be adopted into His family, but who becomes a child of God is left up to each individual (Jn. 3:15-20; Rev. 22:17. Cp. 1 Tim. 2:4; 2 Pet. 3:9).
CSB Study Bible: Notes Chapter 1
Adopted as sons through Jesus Christ: Through God’s purposeful love, believers are adopted into God’s family. Adoption is the legal declaration that we are God’s children with all of the rights, privileges, and duties belonging to believers.
Point 4 -
Our relationship with God is like one in which a judge “throws the book” at a lawbreaker and then comes out from behind the bench and pays the penalty for the guilty one. Yet that analogy doesn’t go far enough. According to Ephesians 1:5, the judge not only pays the penalty, but he then takes the offender home and adopts him or her into his family.
What amazing compassion! We stand guilty as charged and convicted before God, the righteous Judge. But thanks to the atoning sacrifice of Jesus, we are “pardoned”—declared not guilty—and set free. Even more, we are taken into God’s family and given the status of sons and daughters. When you consider your standing before God, do you see yourself as a pardoned convict or as an adopted child? Devote your life to fulfilling God’s purposes and show your true status as his child.