Blessed Be Our God Ephesians 1:1-14 Introduction M.P.S. God is worthy of our blessing and praise because of His work in Christ for us. Ephesians 1:1-14 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 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. 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. 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. Exposition I. Historical Background and Epistolary Form (Vss. 1-2) It was customary in ancient Greek letters to begin with a greeting, a word regarding the sender of the letter, and a word regarding the audience of the letter. In Ephesians, we find Paul writing as a messenger of Christ according to the will of God to the church in Ephesus. There is some debate as to whether Paul originally wrote this letter to the church in Ephesus to address a specific issue in their city or if Paul wrote it as a circular letter to many churches, with Ephesus being the most prominent church in the cycle. For the purposes of our study, it is enough to realize that Paul is writing to a church that he knows well and loves deeply. He writes to provoke their praise in the grace of God as they live as the body of Christ, which consists of people from all walks of life and background. The audience was primarily Gentile, but, as we will see, Paul wanted the people to see their identity in relationship to the expansive grace of God in Christ. II. The Aim To Call His Audience to Bless God (Vs. 3a) Paul blessed God because of God s blessing upon believers in Christ. The aim, then, of his message is to induce blessing and praise of God from God s people. But to why should they bless God?
III. The Reason Because God has blessed us in Christ (Vs. 3b) The reason for Paul s call to blessing is because God has blessed us in Christ. We bless the one who has blessed us. But Paul realizes that we might not always recall the blessings that are ours in Christ. We might forget God s blessings. And if we forget God s blessings in Christ, then we will not fulfill our call to bless and praise God as His people. T.S. - So, in order to help us bless God appropriately, Paul enumerates the blessings that God has blessed us with in Christ. There are at least four blessings in Christ that Paul details IV. Our Blessings in Christ (Vss. 4-14) We have been chosen in Christ (Vss. 4-6) What does it mean to have been chosen? It means that in God s loving grace, apart from any work that we could ever do to win His favor or affection, God set His affection upon us in order that through us, in our weakness, in our frailty, in our powerlessness, His greatness, His Power, His mercy might be demonstrated to the world. We have seen this often in the New Testament. God has chosen a people for His own possession, a royal priesthood, a holy nation (1 Peter 2:9-10), and this people is not many powerful, not many of noble birth, but God chose what is foolish in this world to shame the wise chose the weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, to bring to nothing things are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God (1 Corinthians 1:26-31). In the past, the doctrine of election, of God s choice, has been ridiculed and misunderstood as being exclusionary and arbitrary, yet this cannot be sustained from God s Word, especially in the book of Ephesians. The point of election in Ephesians is not about exclusion, but inclusion. As we will see, Paul is going to argue that the identity of the chosen people is no longer wrapped up in ethnic identities with physical ties to Abraham. In other words, election is not about belonging to the people of God on the basis of one s relationship to Abraham as a physical Jew, but rather it is about belonging to God on the basis of one s relationship to Christ, which includes both Jew and Gentile. Any understanding of election that stresses the exclusion of people from God s grace is a misunderstanding of God s Word. Election, as taught in Ephesians, is about how you and me, even though we are not Jews by blood, are part of God s chosen people in Christ by faith. Which is the clear point in verse 3, which states that the spiritual blessing of being chosen is one that we experience in Christ. So, what does this passage teach us about being chosen in Christ? What does this look like? What is the basis? What is the aim? What is the reward? Why has it occurred? Look with me at verse 4. We have been
Chosen on the Basis of His Mercy (Vs. 4a Before the foundation of the world ) In other words, chosen on the basis of nothing that I had done, lest I boast in myself. God s choice humbles us, because it was on the basis of His mercy. But, to what end? What has He chosen for? Chosen to be Holy and Blameless (Vs. 4b That we should be holy and blameless before him ) We have been chosen to no longer be conformed to the sinful and rebellious patterns of this world. We have been called to holiness before Him. And He has done this in love that we might be conformed more to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29), reflecting his character to others as children, which is the next point Chosen for Adoption as Sons (Vs. 5 Predestined to adoption to himself as sons ) We, who were by nature, children of wrath as we will see in more detail in Ephesians 2, we were chosen, predestined, that is, pre-determined to adoption to Himself, as sons entitled to the full blessings and rights of a child of God. We who were once not a people, as Peter would say in 1 Peter 2, have become God s people. We who were once not near to God have been brought near to Him in Christ, as we will see in chapter 2. So, as you see from these few verse, God s choice is not about excluding people from His mercy, but in fact, the exact opposite. It is about including people who once were alienated from His mercy because of their sin and rebellion against Him. His election is about appointing people for the pursuit of holiness and conformity to Christ. It s about the spiritual orphan finding a home in Christ. And to what end? Why has God done this? Chosen for the Praise of His Grace (Vs. 6 To the praise of His glorious grace ) God has chosen us that we might rejoice in His grace! That we might make His grace famous! That we might not boast in our goodness, but in His goodness! That we might bless God for having been chosen in Christ. T.S. But is not just God s choice of us that should cause us to bless Him. He has done even more, as we see in verses 7-10 We have been redeemed by Christ (Vss. 7-10) What does it mean to be redeemed? Well, this language of redemption is deeply rooted in Paul s understanding of the Exodus event from the Old Testament. Exodus 6:6 speaks of how God would redeem the people of Israel from their slavery through his mighty deeds. Like the Israelites in Egypt, we are, by nature, enslaved to sin and in desperate need of someone to ransom us from our slavery. According to Ephesians 1:7-10, God in Christ has ransomed us, that is, redeemed us from slavery to sin, through the blood of Jesus Christ. Romans 3:21-26 puts it in the following terms, 21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his
grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 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. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. And all of this redemption was on the basis of God s abundant grace, not our heritage, not our works, not our human efforts. God has lavished His grace upon us in Christ in order that we might be set free from slavery to sin and live in righteousness by faith. This is only possible because Christ has paid the penalty of our sin by bearing the curse of the law Himself. As Galatians 3:13 tell us, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse in our place, for it is written, Cursed is the one who hangs upon a tree. By the means of Christ s substitutionary work in our place, the wrath of God has been satisfied toward our sin and the enemy of our soul has been defeated. And we are justified, that is, declared just, righteous before God, on the basis of Christ s work in our place, when we receive the gift of His grace by faith in Jesus. And this redemption, as Ephesians 1:9 tells us, is in keeping with the mystery of God s grace that has been revealed to us in Christ Jesus. And what is the mystery? Well, while we will take a closer look at the mystery in later portions of Ephesians, for now, in light of Paul s talk about God s election in Christ, we know that God has shown mercy to both Jews and Gentiles because of Christ Jesus. In other words, through Christ, the blessings of God s redemptive work are meditated to those who believe in Jesus. The mystery now revealed is that God s grace has been extended to the nations in Jesus. And through this plan, all things find their climax and ultimate point in Christ, which is the point of verse 10. T.S. And these blessings, which have found their climax in Christ, depend upon our become even more clear to us as we move on to verses 11-12, which teach us that We have obtained an inheritance according to God s plan in Christ (Vss. 11-12) What does it mean to have obtained an inheritance? As we will see later in Ephesians, the inheritance that we possess is one of hope rooted in the grace and glory of God. As adopted children into the family, all the blessings that belong to us are secured for us by Christ. There is no risk of our Father removing us from His family. We belong to Him as a direct result of his choice of us in Christ. He has started a good work in us that He is faithful to complete in us. Thus, while outwardly we are wasting away, inwardly we are being renewed, day by day, in the hope of the fulness of salvation that we are yet to receive, which brings us to the final blessing that Paul speaks of in Ephesians 1:1-14 We have been sealed by the Holy Spirit (Vss. 13-14a) The Holy Spirit has marked believers as those who belong to God. In the ancient world, a seal was a mark of ownership. As one scholar noted, Seals were often made of hard stones or precious metals and had a distinctive image engraved on them, such as the figure of a deity, a hero, or a portrait. All of a person s significant possessions were marked with the impression of
the seal. In a similar way, believers have been sealed by the Holy Spirit. They bear the mark of God s ownership, which is the Holy Spirit. And when, according to verse 13, did this sealing work occur? When you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him. In other words, our bearing of the mark of God s ownership begins when we repent of our sins and trust in Christ as revealed in His gospel. And what is that gospel? That God has redeemed us, ransoming us from slavery to sin by sending Jesus to die in our place under the curse of God s wrath in order that we might be adopted as children, obtaining an inheritance in God, bearing the mark of the Holy Spirit! Thus, this gospel that we have believed is a gospel that calls us not only to repent of our sins and believe in Jesus, but also to acknowledge and live under the lordship of Christ as those who bear the mark of His ownership through the Spirit. We were once slaves of sin have now become slaves of righteousness! And all of this has occurred in Christ! These blessings are ours in Christ! If were not for Jesus, we would not know these blessings! T.S. In sum, according to Ephesians 1:1-14, the blessings that God has blessed us with in Christ and for which we are to bless and praise him are our election, our redemption, our inheritance, and our sealing by the Holy Spirit. So, why has God done this in Christ? Why have we been chosen, redeemed, given an inheritance, and sealed by the promised Holy Spirit? To what end has God done this in Christ? Conclusion (Vs. 14b) To the praise of His glory! So that when we reflect upon God s merciful, electing, redeeming, and generous grace in Christ Jesus, we might praise Him! That we might bless Him! That we might shout for joy! Yet, how often to do we remain unmoved by the grace of God? How often do we take His mercy for granted? How often do we feel entitled to His salvation? Is God not worthy of our praise? Is He not worthy of our blessing? Yet, how many other things in this world receive our praise and blessing? How often are we so caught up in the dim glory of this world that we forget the brightness and glory of the God? Paul begins His letter to the church in Ephesus to prepare them to respond the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The glory of the blessed God. Paul would not settle for an unenthusiastic congregation. Paul was not pleased with a people who could behold glorious realities and yet remain unchanged. Unaffected. So, before he ever gets to the body of His message. Before Paul ever gets to heart of His message. Paul stresses the need for His people to be captivated by the glory of the grace of God in Christ that is confirmed by the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit. Brothers and sisters, God is worthy of our blessing and praise because of the blessings that He has bestowed upon us in Christ. May we reflect deeply on God s grace and bless Him accordingly this morning!