Altogether Now

INTRODUCTION

Ephesians is all about how God transforms your story, your identity, everything you are, and how, as God’s story becomes yours, you live that out, each and every day. Ephesians is about the union of heaven and earth in you. That union is God’s ultimate goal, the end of all things. What we find in the last pages of the Bible is a God who dwells eternally with mankind, where heaven and earth overlap, and we live wholly and completely under his reign and rule.

We know that this is not how things are right now. We live in a society that fights against that union, because since the foundation of the world, mankind has sought to rule for himself, to make his own way and live his own life apart from God. But see, God has these little pockets of heaven, little windows to eternity, spaced out around the globe. These pockets are his disciples. Followers like you and me, who have been rescued from darkness, saved by grace, brought into his family. And so, when the world sees us, they see heaven—if we live out the life we claim to have found in Jesus.

As I mentioned last week Paul divides this letter into two parts: The first half is all about who you are when God takes a hold of you and adopts you into his family. The second half is how that works out, how you live out this new identity in union with Christ.

This week we are going to explore the first of three declarations that Paul makes right at the beginning of his letter. These are the “in Him” statements. It’s all about who you are when you are In Christ, and we’ll explore that a little more in just a moment. Again, what I want you to take a way from this today is not a bunch of actions steps that you have to take to be a better person, or to earn your place in heaven, or to get favor with God. That’s is not your responsibility with God, and that is not the expectation of the church. I simply want you to rest in the promise of how the God of all things sees you and knows you and welcomes you in. And prayer is that as you rest in that, that you begin to see it for yourself.

PRAY

Ephesians 1:7–10 CSB

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he richly poured out on us with all wisdom and understanding. He made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he purposed in Christ as a plan for the right time—to bring everything together in Christ, both things in heaven and things on earth in him.

IN HIM

First, there are these two words that are going to shape the course of the next three Sundays of our teaching, but really they shape the whole of our identity, of what it means to be a Christian, what it means to be a member of the church, what it means to be a follower of Jesus. Two little words that define who you are; two little words that, when it comes down to it, reveals the most important thing about you.

In. Him.

If you believe them, those words will change your life. I’m serious.

On a theological level, “In Him” refers to our union with Christ. When you come to faith in Christ, and the Holy Spirit dwells in you, Paul says elsewhere that you join with Jesus in his death and resurrection, that you die to your sins and are raised to life as a new heavenly creature. And as a member of the realm of Christ, you become a member of Jesus’ very body, the hands and feet of Jesus and thus an integral part of his mission to reconcile the world with the Creator.

But, on a relational level, it’s much simpler than that. And for this, I just need you see this picture that I borrowed from a great resource called Bible Project. Jesus here has his arms wide open, embracing you and others and pulling you into himself as one who loves you. And on his arms are forgiveness and grace.

So while there are deep, theological, spiritual realities happening right now, uniting your very being with the heavenly realm, the simple truth that you need to know and hear is that the best place you can be is in the arms of the Savior. Your position with God, your standing with him, how he sees you and knows you and considers you, is directly connected to this. It’s the loving parent that embraces her frightened children. It’s the loving friend that hugs the hurting, and scared and broken brother. It means you are no longer alone, no longer left to fend for yourself, no longer wandering through the messes of your own making. You are now in him. And you are in him because of his faithful pursuit of you. Jesus Christ left his heavenly throne and went to the depths of death to find you and rescue you from sin and guilt and shame.

And like I said last week, this is your starting point. Safe in the arms of Jesus, that’s where you begin. You don’t need to prove yourself to him, you don’t need to ascend to some sort of spiritual high place wherein you earn the right to enter his presence. No, despite all you are and the burdens you carry and the guilt and shame you feel, Jesus draws near to you and wraps his arms around you and you are with him. Now. Growing and maturing spiritually, deepening your walk and faith in Christ and becoming more like him, starts simply with recognizing your place with him, and then just staying there—or, what the Bible calls abiding in Christ (John 15:1-8).

REDEEMED

Now, that recognizing is easier said than done sometimes. You may find it’s not so simple to stop and rest in what I saying to you right now. You may find yourself instead chasing and stressing and striving about something right now, hoping against hope that what you find, what you gain, will bring you the sort of rest I’m talking about here. And that’s because, inherent in our fallen natures, there are voices calling out to us from the darkness, beckoning us to come and join them. They are lies that we have come to believe.

So what I want to do for you today is share with you three truths from these verses. I want to speak them over you, so that you might be able to separate the truth from the lie.

Ephesians 1:7 (CSB)

In him we have redemption through his blood...

In him, you have redemption. You are redeemed.

LIE

Here’s the lie that you have been told all your life: If you want freedom and happiness, if you want comfort and security and well-being, you have to earn it. But at the same time, there are all of these obstacles you are going to face in life: addiction and hardship and poverty and abuse. And they are forever a part of who you are, they are your story, and you are either a survivor or a victim. But get used to these things, because they are a part of you.

TRUTH

Now, here’s the truth you need to hear: Jesus purchased your freedom by trading his life for yours. You are no longer a product of your chains; instead, you belong to God, who has written you into his story.

Redemption means you were once a slave. Perhaps not physically a slave; there may not be a physical title owned by another; you may not have real live chains on your wrists. But slavery is the act of being mastered by someone or something. That can take many forms. You may be slave to your job. You may be a slave to your money. You may be a slave to Netflix. Or your spouse or girlfriend or boyfriend. You may be a slave to your children. Look at your life and think, what do I value more than anything else in this world? What, if I didn’t have it, would devastate me? What do I need to have completely to be satisfied or safe or whole?

That’s your master. You are a slave to that.

But redemption also means that Jesus bought you from your master. He paid the price to release you from your slavery. It cost him his life, but it was worth it. You are now free from your chains to the created things of this world. But here me you. You are not totally free. You have new master. You have been transferred from the ownership of your previous master to Jesus. But the good news is that Jesus is a loving master. He is good and faithful and will never give up on you. The yoke Jesus sets on you is easy, his burden is light. You can rest knowing that master you have will not destroy you, but he will bring about the most good you could ever know.

FORGIVEN

Ready for the next truth?

Ephesians 1:7–8 (CSB)

...the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he richly poured out on us with all wisdom and understanding.

In Him, you have forgiveness. In the embrace of Jesus, you are forgiven.

LIE

There’s a lie you’ve been believing your whole life: You have follow your heart and do what makes you happy, no matter what. And some of those things have consequences or burdens that you may have to carry, and that’s on you, but if the fruit looks good, take it. That’s the path to satisfaction. That’s the path to glory.

TRUTH

That’s the lie. What’s the truth? Jesus shoulders your burdens and leaves them behind on the cross, so that you can follow him to real, perfect happiness.

This life is full of relational messes, betrayals, imperfections, and weights that crush us. The Bible calls that sin. That sin, which we have brought on ourselves because we have followed that path of self-glory, pulls us down and keeps us from ever finding true satisfaction and joy.

But forgiveness means Jesus comes and takes those messes and rebellions and weights and does not leave you to your own devices. He comes over and takes them on his shoulders. The Bible says that Jesus carries our sorrows, bores our grief, and nails them to the cross with him. And when Jesus dies, the penalty for your sin dies with him. Apart from Jesus, we are weighed down by the full measure of our grief and guilt and shame. These things occupy you and feed into the lie that you will never be accepted or loved because of the stains and sickness that cover us. And yet Jesus embraces you and absorbs the sins that condemn you.

UNITED

One last word for you today that I need you to hear.

Ephesians 1:9–10 (CSB)

He made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he purposed in Christ as a plan for the right time—to bring everything together in Christ, both things in heaven and things on earth in him.

The “He”: there in verse 9 is the Father, the Almighty maker of heaven and earth. From the beginning of time, God the Father has been revealing bits and pieces of his plan to reconcile the stuff of heaven and the stuff of earth, to make it one. And it all came to a head when the Son of God, Jesus Christ, came to earth and died. In him, all things have been brought together. In Jesus, the fullness of heaven and earth are united.

LIE

Yet, we continue to believe this lie: Earth is our training ground, the proving ground for mere mortals. God has no time for earth; it is utterly beneath him. In fact, he hopes to destroy it some day and be rid of it once and for all. Instead is sitting up in heaven, distant and far away, and ready to accept those who make there from earth, but only the best and brightest will ever reach him.

TRUTH

Instead, believe this truth: As both fully God and fully man, Jesus unites heaven and earth in himself. When we pulls you in to him, when you trust him and receive the Holy Spirit, your life as a heavenly creature begins now. You begin experience heaven now.

God’s plan has never been to keep heaven and earth separate. That was our doing, not God’s. Instead, from the moment Adam and Even left God behind to do their own thing, they separated the stuff of earth from the stuff of heaven. And from that time, man went on this endless pursuit to reach heaven on their own, without God’s help, to be like gods themselves. And even in the church, even though we have the story right here, we still fall into the lie that earth=bad and worthless, and we gotta get outta here, and the only way to do that is to live better, more holy and righteous lives than everyone else, and hope that when we die and get to the gates, St. Peter will look at all the good stuff we did and let us into our mansion, and that’s eternity. Until then, we just have to show God we’re worthy of heaven. And this becomes our focus, this becomes our goal: fighting and striving and living in fear until we die, and THEN we can experience heaven and Jesus and all that stuff.

But that’s not the biblical story. And this is where we end today. The union of heaven and earth is what the biblical story is all about. All of human history, from the garden to the cross, lead to Jesus bringing heaven and earth together in him. Jesus came to earth and spent his time healing people of their sickness and disease and forgiving them of sin and the penalty of death and saying things like “the kingdom of heaven has drawn near.” It is not far off, it is now here, dwelling with you. And from his resurrection onward, the story shifts. No longer are we hoping and praying and waiting for our chance to enter heaven. Instead, heaven comes and enters us, and the things we hope for: healing, comfort, joy, forgiveness, overflowing and abundant life—we experience that with Jesus when we are united with him.

STORY

PRAY