"Spiritual Blessings"

Intro: Tony Merida introduces this idea that “We do not have issues of praise.” People praise a lot of things in their lives. We don’t struggle with that aspect. People praise their sports teams. People praise their favorite movies and TV shows. People praise their favorite places to eat. People praise the music they like. People praise celebrities and politicians. People praise the ones they love. Praise is never a difficult thing for us to do.

We come to the body of the letter of Ephesians. Remember that we are now venturing into Paul’s teaching on knowing who we are. He begins this teaching with an extended 202 word sentence in the Greek praising God for his spiritual blessings that He has bestowed upon us. And that’s the drive of our lives. The church’s identity begins with praise to the triune God for the spiritual blessings he has blessed us with. We worship what we love, and for those that believe in Christ, it should be natural for us to praise God, the one whom loved us from eternity past and will love us forever into eternity future.

READ EPHESIANS 1:3-14

CTS: Praise God for choosing to bestow on us the spiritual blessings of our salvation.

I am going to split up this text into two sermons, and this week I want to focus on verses 3-10, the spiritual blessings in regards to our choosing, adoption, and redemption...

The driving point of this text comes from verse 3. Blessed be. In other words, Paul is saying God is worthy of our praise because of the things he begins to list. This verse is the summary of what’s to come. We praise, worship, and glorify the triune God (which is evident in this verse alone) because of the spiritual blessings that are given to us. And remember, the locality of this blessing is in Christ, which is that important term that is used 11 times in this letter, with many more variations of that idea throughout. In Christ, we have these spiritual blessings.

So what are these spiritual blessings?

I. Chosen in Christ (4)

A. Chosen from eternity past

The first spiritual blessing is that God has chosen us. There is this doctrine throughout the Scriptures. It is something that perks up the ears of those that read it. But it should not make us afraid or bristle at the thought. As a matter of fact, it should cause us to praise!

God has chosen persons and people throughout history to carry out his purpose. Abraham, Moses, the Israelites, the prophets, etc. God sets out to choose people to do things. And here, he chooses to save people and make them his own. That should cause you to praise him this morning. You have been chosen by God to be saved. Now, how that relates to God’s sovereign plan means that God is in complete control. He knows all things and brings all things to pass according to the purpose of his will. And how this relates to the very clear call of Scripture that you must repent and believe, showing that we have responsibility to believe in Christ. This gospel message is also offered to all, as we know that God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).Yes, this is one of those debates on how that all works together that has been argued over and much ink spilt over the years. But ultimately, that debate is not the point of this text. You can hold varying positions how God chooses to save people by His grace, but you must affirm that He does choose. If you would like to know where I stand on this in more detail, come talk to me after service, give me a call, or let’s go and sit down and have coffee one day and we can have that discussion more in detail. I also tend to deal in more detail on these things when I do Sunday evening Bible studies. But one thing you must remember and that I have said before. Where you stand on this issue is an issue that does not indicate our salvation and doesn’t indicate whether I can work alongside people in the church that disagree with me on it. We all believe the same Gospel message and we all have the same mission. To go and proclaim that Gospel to all people, regardless of race, nationality, status, personality, political affiliation, or

But here is the takeaway. You should praise God that before the foundation of the world, God chose people like you and me to save us. And pay attention to where that choosing takes place. In Christ. You are chosen God to be saved in Christ. It’s only in Him. He is the “Chosen One” par excellence (F.F. Bruce) . He is the chosen Messiah, the means God has always planned to save His wayward and sinful creation. He is the Lamb of God slain before the foundation of world. Our salvation is located in the work of Christ. In Him we are saved, and we are only saved by grace alone through faith alone. It requires our own conscience decision. Have you trusted in Him today? If you have, you are in Christ! Give praise and honor that He has given you this gracious salvation! How could we not praise Him for choosing to save people like us! If you have not, know that this salvation is made possible by faith in Jesus alone. Respond to this gracious message today, and repent and believe in Jesus Christ alone for your salvation, for a new life, eternal life in him.

B. Chosen for a purpose

And that choosing has a purpose. It’s clear here. God chose you and me, individually and corporately as the church, for the purpose of being holy and blameless. That means that we have been chosen to be a people that is holy and set apart, blameless. That truth is described of us now, our identity because of the righteousness of Christ alone. But it also describes that we are to live this truth out. Before the One whom we have our salvation, we are to live set apart, different to live blameless. There is a transformative purpose for us. We are saved not to just get to heaven one day, we are saved to be set apart for the glory of King Jesus. Paul says this elsewhere in Colossians.

Colossians 1:22 ESV

22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,

And one day, that will fully come to fruition. We will stand fully redeemed, holy and blameless before God because of what Christ has done for us, to us, and through us. It is the already, but not yet aspect of our choosing. Live who you are in Christ. Live holy in your life. Live differently. Stand strong for the gospel. Love people radically. Be bold for Jesus. Be compassionate and gracious, ready to forgive because Christ forgave you.

You are called to live holy and blameless, wherever you are. Not just at church. But at home, live out the Gospel. At work. At school. Teachers should be different. Students should be different. Healthcare workers. Lawyers. Doctors. Businessmen and women. Stay at home moms and dads. Every person is to live set apart and blameless for Jesus, to be Gospel-saturated and reflecting the One whom we have salvation in!

We can also rest in this truth: If God has saved us from eternity past, wouldn’t it be true that we can trust that where we are and where we are going as His people can be trusted? Christian, if you are struggling this morning with life, whatever the circumstance might be, you can rest knowing that God hasn’t abandoned you. He chose you, and He did so in love, and we will see that in clarity in the next line.

II. Adopted in Love (5-6)

The second spiritual blessing we see in the text is ADOPTION.

A. His family

Another part of this praise that is directed to our Father is that he has predestined us to adoption into his family.

First, we cannot miss that this is done in love. Out of the love of God, he has chosen to make you part of his family. John 3:16 reminds that this love is incredible, so incredible that The Father was willing to send the Son to save us. Out of his love, His desire to save sinners such as us, He willingly sent His Son to sacrificially die in our place, that we might become the “sons of God.”

In the same realm as the chosen, our purpose is that we are marked out to be part of the family of God. The idea of adoption is primarily found to be a in Roman context, but it also has plenty of Old Testament backing as well.

Exodus 4:22 ESV

22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, Israel is my firstborn son,

Hosea 11:1 ESV

1 When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.

Adoption is significant because it takes someone who is not part of that family by blood and giving them the full rights and privileges thereof of being part of that family. I know that we have some adopted children here at the church. Anna Grace, Elizabeth, and Evan are all part of their families in full. They are treated as full members and there is no lesser treatment of those children. We in the very same way have been chosen to be part of God’s family, because of the grace of God through His Son Jesus Christ. The Son of God gave His life that we would become sons of God.

Galatians 4:4–5 ESV

4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

This also reminds us, as I said last week in our identity section about being saints, that we are brothers and sisters in Christ, a family of God’s people. The church itself is to be a picture of a family. I would venture to say this, and I know it may make you bristle a little bit, but the blood by which you are connected as a earthly family pales in comparison to the blood that connects us and redeems us as God’s people. That doesn’t diminish the important of your earthly family, but it also reminds us that our earthly families need to be intimately connected to the church family. Jesus made it clear that even He himself will divide earthly families at times. Those that are unbelievers will not be as close to you as to your brothers and sisters in Christ, even your close family members. Remember, you are part of the blood-bought family of God called the church. We must not neglect this family in our lives. As a matter of fact, it must be a priority because Jesus loves the church. To neglect the church is to neglect Jesus!

B. His purpose

And we are adopted into the family with purpose. Don’t miss this. You are part of the family for a reason, and that reason is God’s will. He saved you and made you His own so that His will would be carried out, that His glory would be exalted through you.

Your purpose is two-fold: Your salvation declares that God is the sole author of salvation. You cannot boast in yourself. God saved me, and boy, does that show God’s grace, mercy, and love, since I was in rebellion and an enemy of the King. The King came to save His enemies and make them His own, part of His family.

Second purpose: Your salvation is not the end of that. You are saved for a purpose, for however long you are on this earth or until Jesus comes again. Your purpose is to carry out His will, revealed to us through the teachings found in the OT and through the revealed and completed teachings of the NT, all culminated in what we call the Scriptures. We are called to carry out the will of God, that He desires the salvation of sinful humanity

1 Timothy 2:4 ESV

4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

That is then fulfilled in the church who is called to the Great Commission and continued in us today.

C. His praise

And you were adopted to the praise of His grace. Your adoption shows that it was all of God and none of yourself. Jesus’ life, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension declare that it is not we are righteous enough to get to heaven, but that only Jesus could do what was necessary to save us. It is God’s work alone that saves human beings. We declare with great authority and great praise that it is only by grace we are saved. I am only a part of the family of God because of the salvific work of the Son Jesus Christ, who was sent by the Father, and it was sealed by the Holy Spirit through conviction and regeneration. It is a gift of grace recieved by faith alone. Praise God for His grace, his undeserved merit and favor toward us!

III. Redeemed by Blood (7-8)

The third spiritual blessing we have in Christ is redemption

A. Redemption

In Christ, we are bought back from the slavery of sin. Sin has held us captive and we are indebted to our sin. We deserved all the wrath against unrighteousness that God could muster against sin. That wrath is culminated in an eternity in hell. We were held captive to sin, enslaved to it, and nothing we could to release ourselves from it. All of humanity is held captive to it, and all of our own doing.

This picture is given clearly in the OT, when God’s people were in captivity in Egypt, and there was nothing they could do to save themselves. They cried out to God to save them, and He heard their cries and delivered them from slavery. Through the plagues that culminated in the death of the firstborn of the Egyptians, and the Passover Lamb was sacrificed with the blood on the door posts to save the Israelites.

God gave his Son to take our place, to cover us in His blood to buy us back from sin.

Romans 3:25 ESV

25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.

So that we would be delivered from the kingdom of darkness. This kingdom is “ruled” by the enemy, but we have been brought into the kingdom of the beloved Son.

Colossians 1:13–14 ESV

13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

B. Forgiveness

And that last line in Colossians passage also is found here. This redemption includes the forgiveness of our sin. The blood sacrifice of Jesus was necessary for this, because sin had to be taken care of through the sacrifice of blood throughout the biblical history. Jesus is our ultimate and perfect sacrifice, and He is completely sufficient for our salvation. HE is the one time perfect sacrifice. You don’t need to ask Him over and over again to forgive you to get into heaven. You don’t have to get saved every time you sin. The work of the Son is complete and sufficient. That doesn’t mean we don’t confess our sin. We do that as part of our Christian walk in our desire to honor Jesus and live holy as He has called us to. But we are forgiven in complete manner because of Christ, the all-sufficient One. In Christ, your redeemed and forgiven completely! Amen! Praise God!

In all wisdom He lavishes us with grace

This is done through the riches of His grace. He lavishes this grace upon us. It always amazes me to watch new couples when they get married or when they have children in how much people lavish gifts upon them. I remember it well when me and Bethany got married. Our church at New Liberty threw us a wedding shower. The church I grew up in New Mexico gave us a shower. When we had children, the church in Bailey threw us a shower, I had church friends also throw us another shower, Bethany’s family threw us a shower. I mean, it’s gifts upon gifts. It’s the love of God’s people and our families wanting to bless us and help us start our family.

But think about God in how he lavishes His grace upon us. These spiritual blessings. In even greater form, He lavishes us with great grace our eternal salvation. Every sin forgiven. Everything that is Christ’s is ours by virtue of our adoption. We are indwelt with the Holy Spirit, we are given spiritual gifts to glorify and fulfill His will in this world, we are blessed with a new spiritual family, the church, we are given peace that surpasses all understanding, we are given purpose. WE are given so much, and we could go on and on. And it was with great wisdom and insight. He did it with purpose. He didn’t do it recklessly. Yes, sacrificially, but not recklessly. He lavishes grace upon us.

Grace that leads us to see His One purpose: Uniting all things in Christ. (9-10)

And God’s ultimate will, the reason for this incredible grace, is that all things will be brought into redemption in Christ. That which was broken, the world, will be made whole and new. IT is in Christ that the world will be made right. He redeemed you and saved you so that you would be part of the redemption and that you would proclaim that redemption to the world. The church is the means by which we point to the Christ who is uniting all things in Himself.

We often get so distracted, and we often praise things that are subpar. We really don’t have a hard time praising, we juts often praise the wrong things. And we often get distracted from our call to live life to the praise of God who did this incredible work of slavation in us. John Stott says this

Easily and naturally we slip into a preoccupation with our own petty little affairs. But we need to see time in the light of eternity, and our present privileges and obligations in the light of our past election and future perfection. Then, if we shared the apostle’s perspective, we would also share his praise. For doctrine leads to doxology as well as to duty. Life would become worship, and we would bless God constantly for having blessed us so richly in Christ.

The solution to our broken world is Jesus. That’s why we praise Him today. He did this incredible work, from eternity to eternity, fully revealed at the right time in Jesus. From past choosing, to current redemption, and looking forward to Christ fixing and uniting all things in Himself. That’s the end goal. And we are now called to keep pushing forward in praise and honor and glory to God. Our message is powerful, the Gospel. Our lives are workmanship, a means of God’s proclaiming this plan. Your own life is a testimony of God’s grace. Our church is a testimony of God’s grace. We praise through song. We praise through preaching and proclaiming the Gospel (that’s not just for pastors/preachers btw!). We praise by living out as holy people, offering a better way of life, testimonies to God’s powerful working in us. We praise by living for Jesus in all things.