Blessings from the Son

The author Daniel Defoe gave us some good advice through his fictitious character Robinson Crusoe. The first thing that Crusoe did when he found himself on a deserted island was to make out a list.

On one side of the list he wrote down all his problems. On the other side of the list he wrote down all of his blessings. On one side he wrote: I do not have any clothes. On the other side he wrote: But it’s warm and I don’t really need any. On one side he wrote: All of the provisions were lost.

On the other side he wrote: But there’s plenty of fresh fruit and water on the island. And on down the list he went. In this fashion he discovered that for every negative aspect about his situation, there was a positive aspect, something to be thankful for.

It is easy to find ourselves on an island of despair. Maybe we should sit down and take an inventory of our blessings.

In continuation from last week, let’s look at our blessings from the Son, Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 1:7–12 NKJV

7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, 9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, 10 that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. 11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, 12 that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.

Does each Person of the Godhead works independently? No, of course not. Because they all work together to make possible our salvation. But each Person has a special ministry to perform, a special “spiritual deposit” to make in our lives.

The first is:

We’re Redeemed

To redeem means “to purchase and set free by paying a price.” There were 60 million slaves in the Roman Empire, and often they were bought and sold like pieces of furniture. But a man could purchase a slave and set him free, and this is what Jesus did for us. The price was His own blood (1 Peter 1:18ff).

While He was here, Jesus redeemed us, and that redemption is through His blood. This is something which is not popular today. Most people want a beautiful religion, one that appeals to their esthetic nature. The cross of Christ does not appeal to the esthetic part of man; it doesn’t appeal to the pride of man. It’s considered repulsive.

Years ago a lady came up to the late Dr. G. Campbell Morgan. She was one of these dowagers who had one of those pair of glasses on the end of a stick. She looked through those glasses and gave him a sneer and said, “Dr. Morgan, I don’t like to hear about the blood. It is repulsive to me and offends my esthetic nature.” Dr. Morgan replied, “I agree with you that it is repulsive, but the only thing repulsive about it is your sin and mine.” Sin is the thing that is repulsive about the blood redemption, my friend.

A new pastor came to a great church in Washington, D.C., and a couple came to him and said, “We trust that you will not put too much emphasis on the blood. The former pastor we had talked a great deal about the blood, and we hope that you will not emphasize it too much.” He answered, “You can be assured that I won’t emphasize it too much.” They looked pleased and thanked him for it. He said, “Wait a minute. It is not possible to emphasize it too much.” And he continued to stress the blood that Jesus shed for us. It’s repulsive to man, but it is through His blood that we have redemption.

This means that we are free from the Law (Gal. 5:1), free from slavery to sin (Rom. 6), as well as free from the power of Satan and the world (Gal. 1:4; Col. 1:13–14). If we were slaves, we would be poor, but because we are sons, we are rich!

Secondly...

We’re Forgiven

Ephesians 1:7 NKJV

7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace

The word forgive means “to carry away.” This reminds us of the ritual on the Jewish Day of Atonement when the high priest sent the scapegoat into the wilderness (Lev. 16).

First the priest killed one of the two goats and sprinkled its blood before God on the mercy seat. Then he confessed Israel’s sins over the live goat, and had the goat taken into the wilderness to be lost.

Christ died to carry away our sins so they might never again be seen (Ps. 103:12; John 1:29). No written accusation stands against us because our sins have been taken away! Sin made us poor, but grace makes us rich.

We Can Know God’s Will

Ephesians 1:8–10 NKJV

8 which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, 9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, 10 that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him.

This letter has much to say about God’s plan for His people, a plan that was not fully understood even in Paul’s day. The word mystery has nothing to do with things eerie. It means a “sacred secret, once hidden but now revealed to God’s people.”

We believers are a part of God’s “inner circle.” We are able to share in the secret that God will one day unite everything in Christ. Ever since sin came into the world, things have been falling apart.

First, man was separated from God (Gen. 3). Then man was separated from man, as Cain killed Abel (Gen. 4).

People tried to maintain a kind of unity by building the Tower of Babel (Gen. 11), but God judged them and scattered them across the world.

God called Abraham and put a difference between the Jew and the Gentile, a difference that was maintained until Christ’s death on the cross.

Sin is tearing everything apart, but in Christ, God will gather everything together in the culmination of the ages. We are a part of this great eternal program.

Thankfully, Jesus has let us in on the secret. We can be saved.

And lastly...

We Have an Inheritance

Ephesians 1:11–12 NKJV

11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, 12 that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.

We read, “In whom also we have obtained an inheritance,” but “in whom also we were made an inheritance” is also a possible translation.

Both are true and the one includes the other.

In Christ we have a wonderful inheritance (1 Peter 1:1–4),

1 Peter 1:1–4 NKJV

1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied. 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,

And in Christ we are an inheritance. We are valuable to Him.

Think of the price God paid to purchase us and make us part of His inheritance!

God the Son is the Father’s love gift to us; and we are the Father’s love gift to His Son.

Read John 17 and note how many times Christ calls us “those whom Thou hast given Me.”

The church is Christ’s body (Eph. 1:22–23), building (Eph. 2:19–22), and bride (Eph. 5:22–23);

Christ’s future inheritance is wrapped up in His church. We are “joint-heirs with Christ” (Rom. 8:17), which means that He cannot claim His inheritance apart from us!

We are special to Him! We have been blessed beyond measure by the Son! Let’s live this week in light of those blessings.