Praise God for the Riches of His Grace

BLANK SLIDE TO BEGIN RECORDING (Please don’t wait for Matt to be on podium.)

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Introduction and Scripture Reading

Have you ever watched the “Director’s Commentary” on your favorite movie? In the commentary, you get to watch the entire movie, but instead of listening to the original soundtrack and dialogue, you get to listen to the director and usually the screenwriter talk about each scene. They dive into the plot, lighting, important bits of dialogue, nuances, and back stories.

Essentially, you’re welcomed into the depths of the story and discover insights into what exactly is happening, what the writer’s intent really was, and it adds a whole new level of understanding. If you know the story, these “movie extras” are incredible! However, if you’ve never seen the film and don’t know the story, the director’s commentary is simply noise.

Ephesians functions somewhat like the Director’s Commentary to the Story of God. It’s written to the Church to remind us of the Story, to tell us once again: “This is what was going on when Jesus died and rose again.”

Paul is pulling back the curtain and saying, “You might not have noticed, but when you were saved, you were saved into a Church, and the Church was created for God’s purposes. Maybe you weren’t fully aware, but this New Life is ushered in and upheld by both the power and grace of God, and was planned to unfold in this way before the foundation of the world.”

Paul is giving us the “movie extras” to the greatest story ever told. It’s the true story of the universe, humanity, and God’s relentless pursuit to make Himself known.

Scripture Introduction

In Greek, verses 3-14 comprise one compound sentence relating the past, present, and future activity of God’s eternal purpose for the church. It’s God’s master plan for salvation. This morning, and for the next two weeks we’ll read this entire passage (3-14) to keep it in it’s unified context, and each week focus on one section. This morning this will be verses 3-6.

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Proposition

If you are in Christ, God chose you before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless so that we would live to the praise of his glorious grace.

Scripture reading

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Past

Ephesians 1:3–6 ESV

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

Present

Ephesians 1:7–10 ESV

7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

Future

Ephesians 1:11–14 ESV

11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

Prayer for Illumination

Heavenly Father, open our spiritual eyes to understand a glimpse of your marvelous sovereign love, which you gave us through Jesus that we would be in him and, empowered by the Holy Spirit, would live so that our lives shout to the praise of your glorious grace! In a human-centered world this seems nearly an impossible feat. Would you help us trust you and your Word with every fiber of our being, by your grace and for your glory. Amen.

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I. Praise God for Every Spiritual Blessing

Paul begins with a common OT or Jewish style of blessing (berakah), connected by the word “blessed” (εὐλογητός). Hear the repeated pattern in vv 3 and 6:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places…(v6) to the praise of his glorious grace, which which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

We praise our God and Father who is also Jesus’ God and Father

What an interesting way of putting it. Paul is helping us realize that in one sense we are praising the same God and Father of our Lord Jesus as he praised in his earthly ministry. In a similar fashion as Jesus spoke of his God and Father, so we are to praise our God and Father.

After Jesus rose from the grave Jesus said to Mary Magdalene,

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[emphasize my and your]

John 20:17 ESV

17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ”

And yet, while there are some similarities in the relationship we have with our God and Father, there are also some magnificent differences.

Jesus has a very different relationship with our God and Father because he is God’s natural son.

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Matthew 27:46 ESV

46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

God was forsaken by the Father so that you who trust him for salvation would not be forsaken.

Jesus could only do this because he was the only divine son given to offer his life.

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John 1:14 ESV

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

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John 3:16 ESV

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

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Romans 8:32 ESV

32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

Because God gave up his only Son, Jesus, to death, we have been given every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.

In other words, God is not holding back any blessing from heaven.

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Eph. 1:20 tells us that he has seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

Eph. 2:6 tells us it is so God’s wisdom might be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.

We have every spiritual blessing we will ever need, because we live for a kingdom that is eternal, not temporal.

The gospel begins and ends with God, not with us, so we are to praise God for every inexpressible gift.

Application

? But how do you do this if you’re not feeling God’s love or feeling loved by others? How do you do this when the pressures of life seem to be crushing you?

Remember who you are! You are in Christ!

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C. S. Lewis saw this when he wrote,

“The Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have begun thinking less of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. Aim at heaven and you get earth thrown in; aim at earth and you get neither.”

(Source in Lewis unknown; cited on: http://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/onsite/sermonmanuscripts.html.)

Or, as Paul commands in Col. 3:1–2,

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Colossians 3:1–2 ESV

1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

Our treasures or blessings are all in Christ, in the heavenly places. Our greatest need is spiritual and we have every spiritual blessing in Him.

If you’re still thinking, “But this is so impractical,” keep in mind that when Paul wrote this, he was in prison. Every time he moved he could hear and feel the heavy chains clanking around his wrist and his ankle. He could have been depressed and complaining about his circumstances. He could have said, “I don’t need spiritual blessings right now! I need to get out of this stinking cell and have my physical needs met!”

But, instead, he breaks into this doxology, this praising God for giving him every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. If understanding those blessings could sustain Paul in a Roman prison and give him the sustaining, joyous hope that he exudes in all of his letters, then this is about as practical as you can get! It will sustain you in whatever difficulties, stresses, or complexities you face.

Transition statement: But the doxology is an act of praise, not just a mental exercise, so praise God for every spiritual blessing you have in Christ.

[slight pause]

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Ephesians 1:4–5 ESV

4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,

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II. Before the foundation of the world, God chose you to display his grace.

When Paul says, “even as” he is amplifying his message. “Even as he chose us.”

Wait? When did this happen? Before the foundation of the world. That is, before Genesis 1:1.

The response here, it to see this as marvelous grace, not to look in every nook and cranny of our understanding for why God would choose me. The reality is that there is no reason, apart from his marvelous mercy and grace.

I have done nothing to deserve or earn God’s love. This includes choosing of my own free will to repent and become holy.

If you are in Christ, you have done nothing to deserve or earn God’s love. This includes choosing of your own free will to repent and become holy.

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2 Timothy 1:9 ESV

9 who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,

In Genesis 12:1-3, God chose Abraham so that he might bless him to bring blessing to the nations of the earth through him.

The Psalmist (Ps 135) praises God for choosing Jacob (the man) for himself, Israel (the man to become a nation) as his own possession).

The word, “chose” here in Eph 1:4 is in the aorist tense and the middle voice, meaning that it happened in the past and was an action that was done to us.

ILL: If I threw a ball, the ball was thrown. The ball (despite the fact that it is an inanimate object) didn’t throw itself.

Scholars speak of three kinds of election:

Theocratic election of Israel (Deut. 7:6);

Vocational election for some from the tribe of Levi to be priests;

Salvational election which Paul speaks of here.

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1 Corinthians 1:26–31 ESV

26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

God’s grand purpose for election is to display his grace through those who are in Christ by making them holy and blameless which can only result in the praise of our Heavenly Father.

In love, not simply knowing beforehand, God predestined us for adoption

Transition statement:

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III. God predestined you for adoption so you can call him, “Father!”

The writers of the Old Testament only referred to God as Father fourteen times in the huge span of its thirty-nine books — and these rather impersonally. In those fourteen occurrences of “Father,” the term was always used with reference to the nation and not individuals.

But when Jesus came on the scene, he addressed God only as Father. The Gospels record Jesus using “Father” more than sixty times in reference to God. He never used any other term except when quoting Psalm 22 on the cross. No one in the entire history of Israel had spoken or prayed like Jesus. No one!

But this amazing fact is only part of the story, because the word Jesus used for Father was not a formal word. It was the common Aramaic word with which a child would address his or her father — “Abba.” This was astounding!

Even more astounding, it became the subconscious and conscious refrain of the elect, who were “adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ.” Paul says of this,

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Romans 8:15–16 ESV

15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,

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Galatians 4:6–7 ESV

6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

Do we have a “spirit of adoption”? Do we sense that God is our Father? Do we think of him and address him as our “Dear Father”? If we cannot answer in the affirmative, it may be because he is not our spiritual Father, and therefore we need to heed the words of Scripture and receive him.

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John 1:12 ESV

12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,

J.I. Packer put it beautifully in Knowing God:

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What is a Christian? The question can be answered in many ways, but the richest answer I know is that a Christian is one who has God for his Father…Adoption is the highest privilege that the gospel offers: higher even than justification. To be right with God the Judge is a great thing, but to be loved and cared for by God the Father is greater.

Our highest privilege and deepest need is to experience the holy God as our loving Father, to approach Him without fear, and to be assured of His fatherly care and concern.

When the Holy Spirit takes up residence in our lives, we too can cry, “Abba, Father.” The same Spirit that proceeds from the relationship between the Father and Son is implanted in us. The difference between us and Jesus is that He is the natural Son of the Father, whereas we are adopted into the family through His sacrifice.

Apart from Jesus, we are all spiritual orphans. Our rebellious and sinful nature cut us off from God the Father. The Bible says quite clearly that we are not born children of God and therefore must go through an adoption process. The price of our adoption was the death of God’s Son. C.S. Lewis wrote in Mere Christianity, “The Son of God became a man to enable men to become the sons of God.”

Conclusion

Oh, what joy awaits everyone who is in Christ, to fellowship with our Father in prayer, sharing your cares, concerns, stresses, joys and triumphs by his grace with the One who has adopted you.

Oh, what joy awaits you when you cast our anxieties on the Lord, because he cares for you (1 Pt. 5:7; Ps 55:22).

What a wonderful way to live to the praise of his glorious grace!

Recap

Friend...

Praise God for every spiritual blessing you have in Christ, because

Before the foundation of the world, God chose you to display his grace.

III. God predestined you for adoption so you can call him, "Father!"

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If you are not in Christ, would you come to him? Entrust your soul to his fatherly care and saving love?

Transition to Communion

If you are in Christ, you and I possess the greatest treasure known to man: to stand before God as holy and blameless, adopted as beloved children.

Sometimes communion is a somber, contemplative remembrance, while at other times, like this morning, it is a visible expression of praise to the Lord.

We’ll worship with a bit more of a driving rhythm in this song because our hearts are overjoyed by God’s riches toward us in Christ.

So we invite you to stand if you’re able and pour out your heart in praise to the Lord. We want to be so focused on glorifying the Lord that we don’t want to be inhibited by what our singing sounds like as we walk to any of the four corners to receive communion.

If you prefer to remain seated, or are unable to come to a communion server, just lift your hand and keep it up and we’ll gladly come to serve you!

Closing Prayer