"Spiritual Blessings, Part 2"

Introduction: The blessing of knowing whom we belong to. Sometimes, it is a blessing to be a part of something. To be proud to be a part of a group or an organization. Proud to be on a sports team or to be in an academic honor roll. To be with a company that does good work and serves their communities. Sometimes we can say that even of our last name because of we know what that last name implies with those that have gone before us.

But today, I want you to see that one of the greatest spiritual blessings you can have is to know that you are the possession of God, part of His own people. To be one of His, to be part of His church, is something that we should be ready and willing to praise Him for with our lives.

CTS: Praise God that He made us His possession!

This spiritual blessing of being God’s possession means we are...

I. Inherited by God (11-12)

Obtained as an inheritance

The ESV text here says that we have obtained an inheritance. The Greek has this implied, but to a further extent and more of the inheritance being pointed that we are the inheritance ourselves. The NIV i think translates it a little more clear:

Ephesians 1:11 NIV

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,

The idea of the this verse and really, the whole of the text is that God’s people are chosen, and in particular, in Christ that this is made possible.

One aspect that is important is that these verses in 11 and 12 are Paul saying “we,” and differentiating that later by saying “you.” Why is that important? Paul is stating that the Jews, of which he is a part of, are the first to be chosen as God’s people. And those that hope in Christ, the Jews that believed that Jesus is the Christ, the Promised Messiah, the Chosen One par excellence, are made an inheritance of God. They are God’s possession. This includes the 12 apostles, the hundreds of disciples, and the consequent thousands that came to faith in Jerusalem when Peter preached that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, the Chosen One, whom was crucified for us to save us from our sins.

These Jews were chosen by God to carry out the Gospel message. They were to first to hope in Christ because they were expecting the Christ. That doesn’t mean that they were more important than any other people in that world, but they would be instrumental in Jesus uniting all things to himself, and that includes that Jews and Gentiles would be made one people, which Scripture brings in further clarity and detail later in the book in chapters 2 and 3. This paragraph is a good introduction to the themes present throughout the book. None greater is that the hope of Christ began with the Jews but continues on to all people and all nations, so that God’s people, the church, will be diverse and unified in Jesus by His blood.

Application: To the praise of His glory

This is the will of God, that His message would go forth and redemption sinful mankind throughout all the nations would be accomplished. God saved sinful people to the praise of His glory. His people’s overriding purpose of redemption is that we would become his inheritance so that we might be to the praise of His glory. The overriding assumption of being God’s people is that they would glorify whom they belong to.

Illustration: This isn’t something that is foreign to us as people today. Did you have a brother or sister that was older than you and when you went through school, their reputation was then sort of assumed upon you when you went through, good or bad? Were expectations set for you?

Isaiah 43:21 ESV

21 the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.

By being in Christ, the expectation of God’s people is that they would glorify Him. The expectation of these first Christians, particularly the first Jewish Christians, because they were the first to hope in Christ, would pass the glorious message along. What could glorify God more than lost sinners being saved? What could glorify God more than His people who know this glorious salvation sharing it with the lost and broken world around them? It may seem like an application that I make every Sunday, but it bears repeating and one that I and you need to take to heart and actually begin to do in our own lives. We have a hope. We that are in Christ have the great calling to glorify Christ by making Him known. This is how we live to the praise of His glory. The assumption of every believer, every person considered part of God’s people, has always been that His people would live to glorify Him.

Deuteronomy 7:6 ESV

6 “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.

Exodus 19:5 ESV

5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine;

Those that are God’s people obey His voice. Do we obey the Scriptures? Do we do what Jesus tells us to do? Are we growing in Him, living holy, and making His kingdom our priority, and not our own little kingdoms? Our earthly kingdoms pale in comparison to the kingdom of God, and His desire is that we make it our priority. Do our actions reflect our identity as God’s people?

II. Sealed with the Spirit (13-14)

Necessity of the Gospel

The focus then shifts to whom Paul is writing to. The Ephesian church is primarily made up of Gentile believers. And he begins to show them that their identity is also intimately related to their position in Christ. Because of being in Him, they are also part of God’s people.

We have spoken about much the choosing aspect of God making His people His own, but there is still the human responsibility and the call of the Gospel to all people. We hold both in balance, and Paul has no problem doing so as well. As he says here, there is a necessity of the Gospel message being proclaimed and the conscience decision of the person to believe. Let’s look here at three aspects of the necessity of the Gospel in God making us His people:

Three Aspects of the Necessity of the Gospel

1. The Gospel must be heard:

You heard the word of truth:This reminds us that the Gospel message is a heard message and must be vocally shared. The way that people are saved is through the expressed preaching of the Gospel.

Romans 10:14 ESV

14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?

Does that require that a preacher say it in order for someone to be saved? No. The point here is that God has ordained the Gospel proclamation of the church, God’s people, for people to hear and to believe.

2. The Gospel must be be believed:

Believed in Him: But you can’t just hear the Word and be saved. You can’t say you sat in church and heard good Bible teaching and preaching and claim before the Lord that you know Him. You must believe. The word for “believe” in the Greek implies complete trust. You must trust in the Lord Jesus Christ to forgive you of your sins and surrender your life to Him who is Lord. You cannot have a Savior that is not the Lord. Implicit trust in who He is and that He is now Master is the biblical view of salvation. This is also implied throughout this text, that those that truly believe are considered His people that live for His glory.

3. The Gospel is Good News:

Though it came between these two other necessities, it is upon us to remember that this is Good News. The Gospel is ultimately a telling of that which Christ has done for us. Yes, it reveals that we are sinners, but in that revealing, it shows that God is gracious and merciful to provide for us a Savior, His own Son.

Colossians 1:5 ESV

5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel,

It shows the love of God for sinful humanity. It shows that God desires for His created order to be redeemed, despite our sin and rebellion against him.

This also should remind the church that we have Good News to give. We are not to be people that are angry and hateful, screaming and yelling about the state of the world. We are to remember that lost people are gonna act lost. Regardless of what the world does, we proclaim Jesus to those that are lost. We proclaim Jesus to all nations. We proclaim Jesus to those that hate us. We proclaim Jesus to people that desire to silence us. We proclaim the Good News to the politicians that we vehemently disagree with. We proclaim the Good News to other people that hold to those political views. We proclaim the Good News to prisoners and criminals. We proclaim the Good News to all people, regardless of who they are, and we do so not with anger and hatred hoping they reject God and go to hell, but that they would see the grace of Jesus and repent and believe in Him for salvation.

Promise of the Spirit

And because we have believed in Christ after hearing the Good News of the Gospel, we receive, we inherit the gift of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The third person of the Trinity does this incredible thing in our lives called “sealing.” What does this mean?

Sealing implies ownership: Just like a seal on a letter, this shows that the contents of the letter are officially from that person. We don’t do seals very much anymore, but if you have seen one, that seal was only one seal and it was recognizable. Cattle and other things during that time were also branded, sealing them with ownership.

2 Corinthians 1:22 ESV

22 and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

This continues the theme that we are His people, His inheritance. Without the Holy Spirit, we are not considered His people:

Romans 8:9 ESV

9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

Sealing implies security: Because we have the Holy Spirit, we can be confident that the Holy Spirit will indwell us, sanctify us, and sustain us until we take full possession of our salvation. If God indwells you, you can be assured you will be His for eternity. That mark and sealing cannot be taken away.

Sealing implies promise: The Holy Spirit is found in verse 14 to be the guarantee of the inheritance. A good way to illustrate this is down payment on a house. The Holy Spirit is our down payment and our promise that one day we will obtain an inheritance. That inheritance is bound up in the same promise for the Jews. We are made His people. God will in essence make good on His promise to make us His people in full. We are His now, but one day, He will eliminate all sin and bring justice to the nations.

Remember, we are God’s possession, and that is part of our inheritance. Being God’s people is enough. Being the church is the wonderful inheritance that we have.

That inheritance will be God’s redeeming His people in full, when we will be fully made His and made new. Yet until then, we get to enjoy the benefits of who the Holy Spirit is in our lives. He is our Comforter. He is our Counselor. He guides us in truth. He is the unifier of the church. He is the empowerment of every believer. He is God in us and always points to Christ in all He does.

Application: To the praise of His glory

Its the same application as the point above, but how that relates to us here is that we are all now made one people. Because of the Gospel message and the love of God for the world and the desire to save Jew and Gentile alike, we are made one people. And we are made one people, that the diversity of the people of God would be made clear in the church and that we would reflect that He is a global God who saves people from all races and backgrounds. And he has made us one race, one people.

1 Peter 2:9 ESV

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

You are made one people called the church. It is the most important institution in all the world. Jared Wilson says this:

There is one institution greater than all others, greater than any nation, more important than any group or organization, more permanent even than marriage and familial blood. It is the Church.

This has implications for us as the church:

We must take church membership seriously. Why? Because the church is to be comprised of truly born-again believers who follow Jesus. Church membership isn’t just a walk-down the aisle decision. It’s rooted in our position as God’s people. We must be mindful and encourage serious church membership. Faithfulness to the body that God has intended for us to be a part of. Service to the God within the body of Christ. Holiness in our walk, killing sin daily and walking after Christ. Discipleship of one another, across all generations. Discipline for when we sin and confession of that sin so that we reflect God’s glory. Unity as one people, regardless of our opinions and backgrounds. This is who we are.

Churches are often the one area where we don’t put a lot of requirements. Churches should regularly be reminded of their covenant with one another as God’s people. We should regularly be reminded of that covenant and recovenant often. Why? Because the identity of the church is at stake. Unbelievers in God’s body cannot bring it glory. It’s impossible. That doesn’t mean that unbelievers can’t come and worship and attend. We desire that lost people would hear the message of the gospel if they come to a worship service. This isn’t about who can or can’t come to worship. This is about church membership, and our rooting in who we are as God’s people is vital to it.

To the praise of His glory. That is a purpose statement of a church if I have ever heard one. That should be on our hearts in everything we do in our daily lives as God’s people. It should be the question we ask whenever we worship or do anything in the church. It is the question we must ask always ask when we do our work, when we are at home, when we are on Facebook, IG, Snapchat, Tik Tok, Twitter. Do my actions reflect who I am in Christ as His possession, his inheritance? Is this to the praise of Jesus’ glory?