Blessing Inventory redeemed in the Son

Blessing Inventory: Redeemed in the Son

Ephesians 1:7-12

A story is told about media mogul William Randolph Hearst. Hearst spent a fortune collecting fine works of art. One day, he read about some valuable pieces of art and decided he must add them to his collection. His agent was sent abroad to locate and purchase these items. Months later, the agent returned. He told Hearst that the items had been found. They were being stored in Hearst’s own warehouse. He had purchased them years before.

Like Mr. Hearst, there are believers who are seeking something more when they already have a warehouse full of spiritual blessings which they have long forgotten. In the first section of Ephesians one, we are drawn into a blessing inventory. I remind you of the introduction of this section found in verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ…

Last week we noticed the first magnificent blessing mentioned here. We were chosen by the Father before the foundation of the world by an act of His gracious will to the praise of His grace. Today, we continue our blessing inventory by noting that we are not only chosen by the Father, but redeemed in the Son.

Look again at vv. 7-12. Here we find that what the Father planned in election, the Son purchased in redemption. As we look at this text, we need to approach it as though we are opening a treasure vault to rejoice in what we have been given.

I. In Christ we are set free and forgiven (vv. 7-10).

            A. We have redemption in Christ.

                        1. Redemption is the deliverance from bondage which

                            is accomplished by the payment of a ransom.

                                    a. Redemption is our present possession. We

                                        have redemption.

                                    b. This means that we are free from the slavery

                                        of sin.

                                                1) the penalty of sin (justification)

                                                2) the power of sin (sanctification)

                                                3) the presence of sin (glorification)

                        2. The price of our redemption is Christ’s blood.

                                    a. Through his blood means that it was the

                                        sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross which

                                        accomplished our redemption.

            B. We have forgiveness in Christ.

                        1. Forgiveness (aphesin) is a word which means to

                            release from an obligation. In this connection, it is

                            used to speak of the release from the guilt of sin. It

                            is an official pardon from God.

                        2. The forgiveness is of trespasses (paraptomaton). It

                            refers to specific false steps wherein we transgress

                            against the law and will of God. It is not sin viewed

                            as a controlling power but specific acts of sin.

                        3. So, in Christ’s redemptive work, we are released

                            From the guilt of each wrong step we have made

                            Against God’s law.

            C. Our freedom and forgiveness are results of God’s grace.

                        1. It is according to the riches of His grace. We did

                            not earn our freedom from sin. We did not earn our

                            release from guilt. It is only through the grace of

                            God that we have these blessings.

                        2. This grace was lavished on us. The term means to

                            have a superabundance of something. It is used to

                            describe the baskets of food collected after Jesus

                            fed the 5000. So, this is not value menu grace. This

                            is buffet grace. It is superabundant, overflowing,

                            more than enough, kind of grace.

                        3. This grace provides to us spiritual wisdom and

                            insight or understanding. The wisdom is the truth

                            about  Christ in the gospel (1 Cor. 1:24). Insight is

                            our ability to understand that truth.

APPLICATION: Dear believer, by the lavish grace of God you have been released from the guilt of your sins. The enemy will from time to time try to hold your sin up in your face and discourage you. He will try to paralyze you with accusations and reminders of your sins.

Luther wrote that when the devil tried to vex him by facing him with his sins, he would say, “"Dear devil, I have heard the record. But I have committed far more sins which do not even stand in your record. Put them down too. . . . . " Luther taunted the devil because he understood the power of Christ’s redemptive work. Jesus died for our sins, all of our sins, and freed us from the guilt and penalty of them.

When Satan faces you with your sins, you simply remind him of Ephesians 1:7. You are free because Jesus paid your debt. His infinitely precious blood was spilled for your sins. He bought you. He freed you from sin’s slavery. As Charles Wesley wrote, “He breaks the power of cancelled sin, He sets the prisoner free. His blood can make the foulest clean, His blood avails for me.”

            D. Our freedom and forgiveness are part of God’s sweeping

                 plan to sum up all things in Christ.

                        1. God revealed the mystery of His will. A mystery is

                            something once hidden but now revealed. Here it

                            refers to the person and work of Christ in relation to

                            redemption.

                        2. It was God’s good pleasure and purpose to reveal

                            this mystery about Christ.

                        3. The ultimate culmination of the mystery is that all

                            things will be summed up in Christ.

                                    a. This will happen in the fullness of times. That

                                        is when the proper time God determined has

                                        arrived.

                                    b. This will be cosmically comprehensive. It

                                        will include all things in heaven and earth.

                                    c. It will be the ultimate restoration of order in

                                        the universe centered upon Christ.

                                                1) This is not universal salvation of all.

                                                2) This is the final punishment of sin and

                                                     Banishment of chaos.

                                                3) It is the gathering of all things under

                                                    The Lordship of Christ (Philip. 2:11).

APPLICATION: Friends, we must understand that history is moving toward a final culmination in which all things in this universe will be ultimately summed up under Christ. Either by redemption or by subjection, all things will line up under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Since that is the case, let me ask you, “Does your life line up under His lordship now?” The goal of God’s purpose, the goal of human history is the ultimate glory of Jesus Christ. Why not make that your ultimate goal now. You and I should be seeking, by the grace of God, to bring every portion of our lives under Christ’s Lordship in order to serve His glory.

The truth is that our greatest happiness comes from glorifying Christ. Our ultimate joy comes from finding joy in Christ and glorifying Him. We have been redeemed for this purpose. When we seek our own glory or we try to hold areas of our lives for our own desires instead of subjecting them to Christ, we are working at cross purposes with God’s eternal plan.

The goal of your career should be the ultimate glory of Jesus. The goal of your marriage should be the ultimate glory of Jesus. The goal of your sports should be the ultimate glory of Jesus. The goal of getting your degree should be the ultimate glory of Jesus. The goal of your ministry should be the ultimate glory of Jesus. God is moving all of history in that direction. We need to get in the flow of that movement.

This is what it means to have a “Christ-centered” life. It is not just filling your head with facts about Jesus. It is not just singing songs about Jesus. It is not hanging a plaque about Jesus on your wall. It is herding every area of your life into the corral of Christ’s Lordship. It is seeking to bring every attitude and action into correspondence with His will.

II. In Christ we are heirs to a spiritual inheritance (vv. 11-12).

            A. We have an inheritance in Christ.

                        1. The verb has been taken in two ways. First, some see

                            it as referring to the church being God’s inheritance.

                            They translate “we have become an inheritance…”

                            Others take it the way NASB translates. We have

                            obtained an inheritance.

                        2. The second meaning, I think, is correct in light of

                            the context of v. 14 which speaks of the inheritance

                            we will receive. In the OT, the inheritance was the

                            land that was given to the Israelites by lot.

                        3. This inheritance consists of all the promises of God

                            in Christ which will be fully realized in heaven. Peter

                            speaks of it as an inheritance that cannot spoil or

                            fade, reserved in heaven for us.

            B. Our inheritance is secure because of God’s elective purpose.

                        1. We who trust in Christ have been predestined to

                            receive this inheritance.

                        2. This is according to the purpose of God who works

                            all things after the counsel of His will.

                        3. Again we see the emphasis that our blessings were

                            planned by God from all eternity.

            C. Our being chosen and blessed in Christ is intended for the

                 glory of God.

                        1. It is “to the end” or for the purpose of our being to

                            the praise of His glory. In other words, God’s choice

                            of us and blessing of us ends in His glory, not ours.

                        2. This goal is particularly applied to the Jewish

                             Believers in v. 12. They were the first to hope in

                             Christ. It is later applied to Gentile believers in

                             v. 14 and earlier in v. 6.

CONCLUSION:

If you know Jesus Christ, you are redeemed by His blood. You have obtained, through your union with Him by faith, an eternal inheritance. You are an heir of God’s riches in heaven. All of this is by His grace.

Of all people on the planet, the followers of Jesus ought to be the most grateful, humble, and joyful people. If you have Christ, you have all. You need not seek some extra spiritual experience. You need not seek some esoteric, hidden wisdom. Just look in the warehouse and recall what you already possess in Christ.