Chosen: Blessed to Be His Children

Ephesians 1:3–14 NIV

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, 9 he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. 11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

Introduction

Happy New Year! Most of us use the new year to do some evaluations of where we have been and what we have done. We evaluate our life and compare to where we were last year at this time. Some years I have done a deeper assessment than others, and I don’t know how much you have assessed this year, but I came across a list that I really like. It is a list of resolutions prepared by the Rev. Walter Schoedel. He calls them ‘7-UPS for the New Year.’ No, this has nothing to do with the soft drink. These 7-UPS fall under the heading of attitudes and actions. The first is WAKE UP--Begin the day with the Lord. It is His day. Rejoice in it. The second is DRESS-UP--Put on a smile. It improves your looks. It says something about your attitude. The third is SHUT-UP--Watch your tongue. Don't gossip. Say nice things. Learn to listen. The fourth is STAND-UP--Take a stand for what you believe. Resist evil. Do good. Five, LOOK-UP--Open your eyes to the Lord. After all, He is your only Savior. Six, REACH-UP--Spend time in prayer with your adorations, confessions, thanksgivings and supplications to the Lord. And finally, LIFT-UP--Be available to help those in need--serving, supporting, and sharing. Maybe you have already made some New Year's resolutions this year, but may I suggest that we should all add these 7-ups to our list?

John Wesley, who is known as the founder of Methodism and in many ways is our forefather in the faith in the holiness movement to which the Church of the Nazarene is part would gather people together early in the New Year for what he called a covenant renewal service. As part of that service, the people would repeat this prayer together: would you read it together with me?

I am no longer my own, but thine. Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt. Put me to doing, put me to suffering. Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee, Exalted for thee or brought low for thee. Let me be full, let me be empty. Let me have all things, let me have nothing. I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal. And now, O Glorious and blessed God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Thou art mine, and I am thine. So be it. And the covenant which I have made on earth, Let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.

May we be, in Christ, whom God has called us to be!

In Christ, you have been elected!

An old American Indian legend tells about a brave who found an eagle’s egg and put it into the nest of a turkey. The eaglet hatched with the brood of turkeys and grew up with them. All his life, the changeling eagle, thinking he was a turkey, did what the turkeys did. He scratched in the dirt for seeds and insects to eat. He clucked and gobbled. And he flew in a brief thrashing of wings and flurry of feathers no more than a few feet off the ground. After all, that’s how turkeys are supposed to fly. Time went by and the changeling eagle grew very old. One day, he saw a magnificent bird far above him in the cloudless sky. Hanging with graceful majesty on the powerful wind currents, it soared with scarcely a beat of its strong golden wings. “what a beautiful bird!” said the changeling eagle to his neighbor. “what is it?” “that’s an eagle—the chief of birds,” the neighbor gobbled. “But don’t give it a second thought. You could never be like him.” So the changeling eagle never gave it another thought. And he died thinking he was a turkey.

Many Christians have an identity crisis as well. They have been so “imprinted” by the world that they don’t know who they really are in Christ. They see themselves as turkeys while God sees them as eagles. They have been conditioned to think, talk and act like turkeys. Ephesians is a wonderful book, because in its pages we see our true identity in Christ. Isaiah 40:31 says; “But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles.”

You have been elected! I have never been interested in getting involved in politics, it is just too brutal. It seems as if every election the ads get more slick and the campaigns more dirty! But without even getting involved in politics, did you know that we have been elected? God, in His mercy, looked out upon us and saw how we were lost, and without hope in the world and He elected us. Can you imagine the campaign that we could have run in order to get Him to elect us? I wonder how much imagination we could have put into it? It would have been pretty difficult to convince God. After all, He knows all about our past! He knows all about our secret sins! God knows all about US! I don’t know about you, but if I was God, I wouldn’t be able to elect ME with a clean conscience! But God did something amazing! He elected all of us! Every single Christian has been elected. No matter who you are or what you have done, if you have given it all over to Jesus, then YOU have been elected!

We have been elected to be adopted into the family of God, with all of its privileges! We were not born into the family, even if we have been in church from our earliest days. Jesus is the only one to have been born into the family into which we have been adopted. Jesus, God’s only begotten son! But God chose you and me to join that family! And what a family it is. Some of us have great families that are very supportive and close – others have families that are somewhat estranged or dysfunctional. I guess if we were to be totally honest, all of our families probably have some dysfunction. Being part of a family gives you your identity. In America, we have somewhat lost this identity as people have moved away from home, or have become estranged from their families, but being family still usually carries with it certain rights and privileges.

When I lived in Kansas City, I worked at H&H colorlab. It is a lab where professional photographers have their work done. It was a very successful business with about 200 employees at the time. There was one employee, however, that seemed to get special treatment. There was this teenage girl that would come in almost every day at around 4:00 and work for a couple of hours after school. She would work in different departments, and learn about the business. Everybody treated her with great respect, even though she was so young, and was only there a few hours a week! You see, she was the owner’s daughter, and being part of the family gave her certain privileges! Being adopted also gives a person certain inheritance rights. Being adopted into the family of God gives us the greatest inheritance that we could ever dream! Adoption was not a Jewish custom, but a Roman one. The laws that governed adoptions in the Roman world were clear as to the relationship of the adopted one. The adopted child would receive all rights, equal to a child born into the family. When I think of the family into which I have been adopted, it makes me want to shout. For if there are privileges associated with certain families here on earth, imagine what privileges come from being a child of the almighty King of the Universe.

When I think of being adopted, and all that God has done, there is only one reaction that is fitting: PRAISE! That is one reason why we offer our praises to Him! It is why it is not enough to simply sing about our testimony, but we must sing about Him, and this marvelous, wonderful, incredible gift that He has chosen us to receive! And so, when we come into the house of the Lord, and always in our hearts, there ought to be a song of praise. We ought to sing because of all that He has done in our lives, and for the glorious inheritance that awaits us.

I was privileged several years ago to preach at a funeral of a man that led the worship for our church in Cambridge for many years. He and his family, along with his wife and her family were always singing. At his funeral, the two families came together to form a choir, and they sang praise to God for His goodness, grace, and hope in the face of their great loss! We have great privileges because we belong in the family of God!

There is more to adoption than the privileges, though. Paul says we are chosen and as a follower of Christ, we are predestined to be made holy and blameless in His sight. Being a part of a family has certain responsibilities that go with it.

We are chosen to be blameless. Blameless, we like!

It does not imply that we are without fault. It does not imply that we don’t deserve blame. For you see, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” God’s forgiveness places us in a state of blamelessness before Him! It is not because of anything we have done, but because of what God has done in us. If we looked at our past, all of us are full of fault. We are full of sin, but if our sins have been nailed to the cross with Jesus, then we are no longer blamed! The guilt is gone. Jesus has wiped the slate clean. That is easy for us to accept. For all it takes on our part is repentance, and He wipes away the blame.

But the kind of blamelessness that Paul has in mind comes with holiness!

Holiness, to be set aside, separated from this world. We have been chosen by Him to be holy. We have been set aside for holy actions. It is as we are like God in His holiness that the world sees who He is. I think of the song that says, “You’re the only Jesus that some may ever see.” Wow, what a responsibility we have! We must live like Jesus in the world to let the world know what He is like. If I am a Christian, I have taken His very name upon myself! And the world will get their idea of what Christ is like from Christians.

I read a poll once that said that the number one reason that people come to know Christ is through other Christians. That makes us feel great, but there was another side to the poll, it also said that the number 1 reason people did not accept Christ was because of Christians! We have a responsibility to the world to live like Christ!

Holiness also prepares us for heaven. For one thing, we will never see heaven without holiness. Hebrews 12:14, says, “Make every effort to live in peace with all individuals and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.” Holiness is not just an option, it is a command! Sometimes we get the idea that holiness is something that is only for the “super christian.” It is easy to look at that second work of God’s grace as an add on feature. Kind of like when you buy a new car. When you look at the sticker price of a car, you see the selling price of the vehicle as it comes standard. Then are listed all of the add-ons, with a price by each that doesn’t come standard. And so, if you buy a new car, you can lower the cost simply be taking off some of the add-on features. Holiness is not an add-on feature, it becomes the natural result when someone is committed to Christ! If I am serving Him, then I no longer want my life to be ruled by sin - I want to live in holiness - I want to live for Him in all that I do. As we said together earlier: “Put me to doing, put me to suffering. Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee, Exalted for thee or brought low for thee. Let me be full, let me be empty. Let me have all things, let me have nothing.”

If you have been adopted into the family this morning, you have been predestined to holiness. That is not just something that is for the few – it is God’s design for every believer in Christ. If you have not been adopted, I want you to know this morning that He has chosen you for adoption!

As our final act of covenant this morning, we will celebrate together, the Lord’s Supper. Let us use this time to reflect on our relationship with Him and recommit to a life of holiness and blamelessness before Him. If you have not yet been adopted into the family, I invite you to let this act of celebration serve as your adoption ceremony as you apply God’s grace to forgive your sins and cleanse you from all unrighteousness.

The Communion Supper, instituted by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is a sacrament, which proclaims His life, His sufferings, His sacrificial death, and resurrection, and the hope of His coming again. It shows forth the Lord’s death until His return.

The Supper is a means of grace in which Christ is present by the Spirit. It is to be received in reverent appreciation and gratefulness for the work of Christ.

All those who are truly repentant, forsaking their sins, and believing in Christ for salvation are invited to participate in the death and resurrection of Christ. We come to the table that we may be renewed in life and salvation and be made one by the Spirit.

In unity with the Church, we confess our faith: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. And so we pray:

Holy God,

We gather at this, your table, in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, who by your Spirit was anointed to preach good news to the poor, proclaim release to the captives, set at liberty those who are oppressed. Christ healed the sick, fed the hungry, ate with sinners, and established the new covenant for forgiveness of sins. We live in the hope of His coming again.

On the night in which He was betrayed, He took bread, gave thanks, broke the bread, gave it to His disciples, and said: “This is my body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

Likewise, when the supper was over, He took the cup, gave thanks, gave it to His disciples, and said: “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in remembrance of me.” Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Matthew 26:27–29, Luke 22:19)

And so, we gather as the Body of Christ to offer ourselves to you in praise and thanksgiving. Pour out your Holy Spirit on us and on these your gifts. Make them by the power of your Spirit to be for us the body and blood of Christ, that we may be for the world the Body of Christ, redeemed by His blood.

By your Spirit make us one in Christ, one with each other, and one in the ministry of Christ to all the world, until Christ comes in final victory. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen.

And now, as our Savior Christ has taught us, let us pray:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

The body of our Lord Jesus Christ, broken for you, preserve you blameless, unto everlasting life. Eat this in remembrance that Christ died for you, and be thankful.

The blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, shed for you, preserve you blameless unto everlasting life. Drink this in remembrance that Christ died for you, and be thankful.