Ephesians 1:1-14 - The Purpose of Our Blessings

The Purpose of Our Blessings

Ephesians 1:1-14

Intro

Prayer

Read the passage

Initial Illustration: Being a kid and having parents (blessing) resenting the fact that we have parents (forgetting the blessing), reminder that we are blessed and our response (to God’s praise and glory).

Movie: Mommy Market – Three kids get frustrated with their single mom and decide that they’ve had enough. So they talk to a gardening neighbor who supposedly has some special insight into how they can exchange their mom That was me! I wanted to trade my mom in sometimes, because I forgot what a blessing she is.The blessing that she is to me now: She watches our kids, she gives me insight into who God is and how I might respond to my own kids.Transition: It’s easy to forget that we are blessed. We take for granted those things that we’ve been given, and we begin to expect them rather than to appreciate what we’ve been given and responding accordingly. But don’t forget, that God’s blessings are lavishly poured out on us for a purpose.BodyLead In: Paul writes to remind the readers not only of God’s blessings, but of God’s purpose behind the blessings. It wasn’t simply that God blessed us to bless us. God has a purpose.Background Information: As Paul writes from Rome he is writing from a prison to the churches in the Roman province of Asia Minor. There are some manuscripts that omit the statement, “…To the saints who are in Ephesus”. This coupled with the lack of personalization from Paul in this letter seems to indicate it was intended to be a circular letter, or a letter that would be distributed to multiple churches. So Paul is bound up in chains and writes of God’s blessings, praising God throughout the passage. Day and night he was bound by his right hand to a Roman guard. He was confident in the possibility of his death in the approaching trial, and yet still he praised God.1 Most of us would likely have trouble rejoicing as we sat in prison, awaiting a trail that we knew would result in some prison time, let alone end our lives. So how did Paul manage to praise God despite his circumstances?POINT 1: First, he remembered the blessings God poured out.He boldly proclaims that God has given the believers every spiritual blessing (v. 3), that they have been adopted as children of God (v. 5) that are redeemed through Christ’s blood (v. 7), whose sins are forgiven (v. 7).He goes on to point out that God’s will is being made known to the believers (v. 9) and that there is an inheritance that has already been set aside (v. 11) and that it has been guaranteed by the giving of The Holy Spirit (v. 14).When I was at Grace College, I had a professor who challenged each of his students in his class on prayer to write down 25 things for which they were thankful for each week and turn them in. Each item had to be different than all the others, and by the end of the class there were about 400 things for which you had thanked God for. Now, after about 50-75 I really had to start digging for new things for which to thank God for. But I had noticed that the bitterness that I struggled with, and my anger at my position in life started to disappear as I thanked God for all the small things in life.But Paul’s not focused in on the small things. These blessings have eternal ramifications! The very first thing that he points out is that God has granted us every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. Not just one, or two, or three, but EVERY spiritual blessing. So, don’t forget God’s blessings.God, the very one who was capable of predestining you for adoption as his children even before the foundation of the world, has taken on flesh just to live the life we couldn’t live and die the death our sins demanded so that he could raise again and give us hope of eternal life. There is more to be thankful for embedded in the gospel then a hundred journals could ever hold.I dare you to try. Try to fill those journals with things that the gospel has made you thankful for. Take time to dwell on what God has given you, not on what you are lacking.POINT 2: But don’t forget God’s blessings are lavishly poured out on us for a purpose.Have you ever thought about how lavish God’s blessings are? One of the definitions of lavish is “sumptuously rich”.2 Sumptuously rich! It’s like ordering the most expensive steak you can order and finding it to be the most tasteful steak you’ve ever had in your life. You don’t scarf a steak like that down. Instead you dwell on it. You take that first bite and you let it sit on your tongue, tasting it and enjoying every flavor that explodes in your mouth. This is how God’s blessings are! They are sumptuously rich! But we don’t eat the most expensive steak every day. We reserve it for a holiday, or a specific reason or purpose. God lavishly pours out his blessings on us, but there is a purpose for it.Verse four states that God’s blessings are so that we could be holy and blameless before him. As we dwell on what God has done for us, as we let our hearts explode with thanks, our actions then become in-line with what God has for us. He’s not giving us an impossible task to be blameless, he’s setting it before us as a result of dwelling on who He is and what He’s done for us.The next couple of verses indicate that it is for the praise of his glorious grace that he gives us the blessings he gives us. Do you know what happens to your face when you put that extremely expensive steak in your mouth? You close your eyes. Your mouth inadvertently smiles. And people look at you and say, “I want what he’s having.” People begin to crave what you have and as you rejoice in what has been given to you, others begin to be drawn to the very same blessings. God’s name is praised and glorified.Eventually, God will unite all things in Christ (v. 10). The end result of all that is happening is that God will bring together everything on earth with everything in the heavens. There will no longer be a separation of two domains, but rather there will be only one; one in which God reigns.In verse 12 Paul reiterates that God’s purpose is to the praise of His glory. God’s blessings are lavish, but they are not there just to benefit us. God’s obsessed and passionate about His glory. Remember, he has existed as a trinity before the foundation of the world. When he is seeking his glory, He’s seeking the glory of His Son, of The Holy Spirit, as well as himself. His obsession with His glory, serves to glorify those that He loves.Application: If God’s purpose begins with the obsession of His glory, this too should be our obsession. Is your heart set on bringing God glory? Are you willing to endure trials and tribulations, so that God can gain the glory from it? If not, are you taking the time to savor the flavor of his blessings? Are you finding your heart ready to explode with thankfulness for all that God has done and is doing?POINT 3: As we dwell on the fact that God’s blessings are lavishly poured out on us for a purpose, how are we to respond?If you are a believer, you have been adopted as a son or daughter to the one who created the very sun that sustains life on this planet (v. 6). We have been guaranteed an inheritance worth more than any fortune to be found here on earth (v. 12). And we have been sealed by God himself, through the Holy Spirit (v. 14). If you allow yourself to really grapple with these truths, it is hard to see how anyone could walk away from this passage unchanged.As a son or daughter of the all-powerful God, you are capable of sharing your heart with him and knowing he listens. You can ask or say anything and he hears you! The fact that you’ve been given an inheritance in heaven the likes of this world that has never seen is comforting when you realize you’re going to have to delay that student loan payment because you’ve got to pay for groceries. And that feeling you keep getting that somehow, you’ll mess up so much that God won’t even be able to save you from your sin? Don’t forget that God has sealed you with his Holy Spirit.

MBI: The Purpose of Our Blessings

Message Points and/or Outline:

IntroductionRead the passage.Initial Illustration: Being a kid and having parents (blessing) begrudging the fact that we have parents (forgetting the blessing), reminder that we are blessed and our response (To Gods praise and glory).Background:Letter written by Paul (v. 1), to either the church in Ephesus or more as a general letter to the various churches in the Roman province of Asia Minor.The lack of personalization seems to indicate it was intended to be more of a circular letter.According to Acts, Paul had previously spent more than two years in Ephesus, ministering to primarily the gentiles there.This letter was likely written as Paul was imprisoned in either Caesarea (Acts 24:27) or in Rome (Acts 28:30), though more likely Rome.3 He would only write three more books of the Bible after this one, thus giving us some of the later theology of Paul.TBI: God’s blessings are lavishly poured out on us, that we might be to the praise of his glory.BodyReiterate TBI: God’s blessings are lavishly poured out on us, that we might be to the praise of his glory.Parallel’s between Ephesus and Us:We’ve been blessed!(v. 3) Every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,(v. 5) predestined us for adoption as sons (and daughters),(v. 7) Redemption through his blood,(v. 7) forgiveness of our trespasses,(v. 9) His will being made known to us,(v. 11) we have obtained an inheritance,(v. 13) sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,(v. 14) guarantee of an inheritance.Our blessings have a purpose!(v. 4) that we should be holy and blameless before him,(v. 5-6) According to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace,(v. 10) To unite all things in him both in heaven and on earth,(v. 12) we might be to the praise of his glory.Our Response: To The Praise of His Glory(v. 6) God purposed that we should be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ.(v. 12) We have been predestined to a guaranteed inheritance.(v. 14) We were sealed with the Holy Spirit.ClosingExhortation to respond and worship.

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1 Philip Schaff and David Schley Schaff, History of the Christian Church, vol. 1 (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1910), 767. 2 Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson, Concise Oxford English Dictionary (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004).3 Harold W. Hoehner, “Ephesians,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 614.