What God Has Done
If you are a child of God, then you are a saint. On the one hand, that title terrifies us. On the other, it is the sign of God’s great favor toward you. Can you live the life of a God-pleasing saint or will you display the arrogant hypocrisy you fear? As mentioned last week, it depends on whether you recognize the gift you’ve been given or somehow think you’ve attained sainthood by your own efforts. To be sure, diligence is required, but to what end? To what purpose? Who do you glorify in your pursuit of this godliness? God, through Paul, shows us the way. From Ephesians 1:2-14.
Grace and Peace
2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul concludes his introduction with a standard Christian greeting. As a child of God, a saint in Christ, you enjoy both grace and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Grace is that undeserved favor and kindness God extends to us, primarily in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the forgiveness and new life that brings us. It is because of His grace that we are saints, and it is because of grace that God is willing to forgive our every infraction of His ways, even as saints.
Peace is not just the declaration of a war ended, but the assurance and comfort that God delights in those who belong to Him. Both grace and peace from God should fill us with such security and gratitude that we, in response, delight to know Him and His ways and walk in them. It is because of grace that we have new life and His Spirit dwelling in us to guide us into all truth. And it is His Spirit dwelling in us, empowering us to walk in all godliness, that gives us an assuring peace with God and from God. We have nothing to fear from Him, if we truly trust in Him and humble ourselves to walk according to His direction by His power.
We don’t need to make much of this greeting, but Paul himself is about to unpack what grace and peace mean for us as saints in Christ Jesus.
Praise God
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.
First off, Paul makes it clear that it is God the Father who deserves all praise and thanks and honor, because He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ. It is easy to get caught up in what God has done for us and soak up all the blessing we enjoy, and inadvertently fix all our attention on ourselves. We are indeed the beneficiaries of great things, but God is the architect of our blessedness, and our blessings were secured by Jesus. In two verses, Paul has already turned the spotlight on God.
Watch as we move through the rest of these verses and see what Paul highlights: Who did the work? Who deserves the praise? Why did God do these great things for us? What response does that provoke in you?
Now Paul also says that God has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Does that excite you? I mean, Paul doesn’t say that God has given us in the earthly realm every material blessing. But there are some churches and teachers and Christians who make so much of this earthly realm and material blessings, things like business success, wealth, community influence, houses, lands, working your way up the career ladder. They teach that such things show God’s favor and approval of you. They say that God wants you to have and enjoy every good thing this world has to offer, as a witness to the rest of the world that they too should believe in Jesus.
Paul evidently didn’t get the memo.
But Paul was chosen to know God’s will, to see the Christ and be trained by Him (Acts 22:14). So I think Paul understands better what matters to God and what He was intent on doing for us and to us. And if you scan ahead through the next ten verses or so, you’ll see there’s no mention of material blessings—only spiritual blessings. And spiritual blessings are anchored in the heavenly realms, not the earthly. So if you believe in Jesus in order to prosper materially in this life and world, you’ve been deceived.
Just look at Jesus’ beloved disciples, the Twelve. Or Paul. Or even Jesus Himself? Which one of them won the lottery? Which one of them was made king or Fortune 100 CEO? Listen to Paul’s own words:
Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! You have become kings--and that without us! How I wish that you really had become kings so that we might be kings with you! For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like men condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men. We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world. (1 Corinthians 4:8-13, NIV84)
No, God didn’t send Jesus to make us materially blessed. Material blessing comes with its own set of traps.
Then Jesus said to his disciples, "I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." (Matthew 19:23-24, NIV84)
"But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets. (Luke 6:24-26, NIV84)
People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. (1 Timothy 6:9-10, NIV84)
I could go on. You do not want to be rich in this world; you want to be rich in faith. You want to be content with what you have or even less. You want to enjoy the favor of God displayed in spiritual blessings, because they bring rich eternal reward.
Jesus was sent by God to solve your most desperate need: The need for salvation from the righteous wrath of God upon you. If God had not extended grace to you and sent His Son Jesus to suffer and die for you in payment for your sins, and to rise again to life in order to raise you also from the dead, you could have all the wealth and fame of this world for forty or sixty years, then spend an eternity in torment for your rejection of the God who created and owns all things.
God cares enough about your materials needs to guarantee food and drink and clothing, but He doesn’t want you fixated on this life and this world. He wants you living for what is truly life: eternal life in His presence and kingdom. He wants you to live forever, where there are none of these material needs, where people are not controlled by their fleshly instincts of greed and and every kind of lust.
Yet His spiritual blessings have use in this mortal realm: They open your eyes to see that the things of this world are useless, but to walk in obedience to God in His ways is to gain eternal treasure. To live for His kingdom in this earthly realm is not merely to set aside a little nest-egg for eternity, but to prepare for yourself a glorious welcome into His kingdom.
So yes, Jesus says,
… Do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:33, NIV84)
And He says,
Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Luke 12:32-34, NIV84)
And He means these things! Literally! These are not just figures of speech. We have been given a kingdom! And it will be a kingdom in this material realm, but the wealth you store up in the Bank of Heaven does not consist of money or houses or lands or titles or any such things. It consists in trust and faith and obedience and sharing the Gospel to save souls to fill up that kingdom!
Listen carefully to the words of the Apostle John, the oft-called Apostle of Love:
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever. (1 John 2:15-17, NIV84)
And James, the brother of Jesus:
What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. (James 4:1-4, NIV84)
We who believe in Jesus Christ must no longer love the things of this world, and no longer fight and struggle to obtain the things of this world. Instead, we must set our hearts fully on the eternity God has promised us, and live in pursuit of God’s agenda for our days on this side of eternity. Are you disappointed that God only seems to have spiritual blessings for you now? Hear this clearly: These spiritual blessings are the only path to eternal material blessing, but lusting after the temporary material blessings of this world and life is a roadblock to gaining the spiritual and eternal blessings God freely offers you.
Remember what Jesus told His disciples:
Peter answered him, "We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?" Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. (Matthew 19:27-28, NIV84)
Twelve thrones for them to judge the twelve tribes of Israel. Real position and power. And not for 40 years or 80 years, but a thousand years! And who will judge all the other tribes of the nations? Could you be assigned a tribe? Could I? It is absolutely possible, if you and I, like the Twelve, give up everything to follow Jesus!
Are these spiritual blessings starting to sound a little more valuable? Let’s see what they are.
Predestined
4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love
Keeping verse 3 in view, we understand this verse to say: God chose us in Christ. Remember, it is “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” Generally speaking, every “he” as subject in these and following sentences will refer to God the Father. “In Him” will refer to Christ, because it is in and through Jesus Christ that God has accomplished His plans and purposes to bless us with every spiritual blessing.
God chose us in Christ before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. Let that sink in a minute. God chose you...before the creation of the world...to be holy and blameless in His sight.
Predestination. Election. Call it what you will, it is a real thing and it is absolutely true. Before God made anything, before Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” before any of this material realm came into being, God already mapped out all of history and all of mankind. And He saw you and chose you, to make you holy and blameless in His sight. To make you a saint. To save you from sin and purify you in righteousness and holiness.
Let that blow you away. Understand that with His choosing of you, He rejected countless others.
I’m sure none of you were ever the last guy chosen for any team. I feel sorry for you. You were always recognized for what you could contribute to the team’s success; you were always snatched up in a hurry. You can’t appreciate how unbelievable it is to be picked by God, the smartest and best player ever, to be on His team. Not picked last, but picked before the foundation of the world! God didn’t have to choose me; He didn’t have to be stuck with me. He had plenty of others to choose from, far, far better than me! But He did pick me.
Neither you nor I deserve it. It wasn’t because of some good thing He saw in us far in advance, as Paul makes clear in Romans 9. It wasn’t even about us!
5 he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will--
It was actually about His pleasure and His will. That He orchestrated all of history to bring you and me about and adopt us into His family—through Jesus Christ. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.
He did it for Himself, that He would be praised for His glorious grace, freely given to you and me in Jesus, whom He dearly loves.
You and I receive an incredible benefit, being chosen before the creation of the world to be adopted into a holy and righteous family, ourselves being transformed from wicked, rebellious people into blessed children of God through the work of Jesus Christ. All because it was God’s good pleasure to do so, to plan it, to make it happen, that all creation would marvel at His goodness and kindness that we especially did not deserve. It was really all about God.
Lavish Grace
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.
“In Him”—that’s Jesus again. Jesus shed His blood for the forgiveness of our sins—Jesus took the death we owed God in order to set us free from the condemnation we deserved. We so love to think of ourselves as sinners—and that is truly what we were—but as steeped in sin we were and as hell-bent on sin we still seem to be—God’s grace matched our filthy sinfulness and surpassed it. Not just one of us—but all of us! Jesus Christ “is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:2, NIV84)! Do you hear that? We have forgiveness of sin that reflects, that matches, that reveals the greatness of God’s grace.
Think of all your sins, piled high at the front of this hall. Not a lot of room left in here! And that’s just your sins. Now add all the sins of everyone else in this room—and all the people who have ever lived or will ever live. Can the world even contain all that sin? God’s grace is so abundant, so full, that it provides for the forgiveness of all of it! And He lavished all that grace on us. Poured it out. Think Niagara Falls. You’re at the bottom with all that water crashing down on you, but you’re not drowned, you’re not destroyed. It’s soft as feathers, but washes you clean.
That’s a wonderful picture of our cleansing and salvation, but don’t lose sight: He lavished His grace, the forgiveness of sins, on us. He did it by the blood of His precious Son. He did it, in Jesus, and we gain the benefit. It shows the greatness of His grace. And He deserves the praise.
Jesus’ death is sufficient for all the world to be saved, but not all will. Only those who recognize that they have sinned against God and are justly condemned, who humble themselves and plead with the Lord for forgiveness. Who turn from their evil ways to embrace and submit to His righteous ways. They will be forgiven. They will be made new. They will be adopted as sons and daughters to live forever with God.
The rest reject God’s free gift, God’s only solution to their rebellion. They remain in rebellion, either denying God’s existence or certain they can save themselves. They are doomed to an eternity of fire and torment.
Revealed Will
9 And 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 will have reached their fulfillment--to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.
Wow! Not only has God saved us to His own praise and glory, but He has revealed His plans to the end of this age. He is going to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, one Lord, Jesus Christ. He is handing all He has created over to the Lordship of His Son. Jesus will be king. He will rule over this entire planet. He will rule over angels and all created things.
Do you believe He will reward you when He reigns as king, for your service here and now? Do you believe He will remember your sacrifice and service on His behalf in these days, when He takes the throne of all creation? Do you believe He is a generous King or a stingy one? Remember, His Father chose you before the creation of the world to be adopted as His children. After six thousand years of history and billions of people, do you think He’ll lose sight of you at the last? Forget about you? No, He will reward all those who have served Him—in accordance with their service. To the degree that you employed the resources He entrusted to your care and shepherding in advancing His Kingdom and priorities, He will reward you in like measure. How much of yourself, your days, your finances, your home, your possessions did you commit in obedience to His Word and to make Jesus known to this lost world? He will repay you to that same degree.
Are you living for that coming kingdom? Is that what consumes your thoughts and informs your decisions and how you spend your time and resources?
Chosen for His Praise
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 hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.
Paul comes back to God’s sovereign choice of you and His plans for you that predetermined your salvation, if He has indeed chosen you, because nothing can thwart God’s plans. Though he appears to be referencing himself and his own salvation and commission in service to God, the next two verses make it clear, this applies to us as well.
Understand predestination: It does not mean you cannot know today whether you are indeed saved or not. His choice of you is not hidden or mystical or mysterious. It is in fact revealed by your initial response to the Gospel and by your continued response to His Word, His instructions and the direction of His Spirit.
Jesus put it this way:
"No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets: 'They will all be taught by God.' Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. (John 6:44-47, NIV84)
This is God’s sovereign choice in action: No one can come to Jesus, believing in Him as God’s only Son and Savior of mankind, unless the Father draws them. No one will hear and believe and obey Jesus’ words unless they also listen, believe and obey the Father. God is the gatekeeper. You know you are chosen by how you respond to God’s Word.
Now there are many who appear to love Jesus and the Father and speak highly of Him, but they do not diligently practice what He teaches. They may look like believers, but they are deceivers and deceived. You hopefully remember Matthew 7, where Jesus told us we could recognize false brothers and false teachers by their fruit, by their actions, by how they truly live. Though they call Him Lord and do many great things in His name, Jesus Himself rejects them, calling them evildoers.
This also eliminates the idea that if God is choosing people for salvation, then there’s nothing we can or need to do. God’s election of a person for salvation is revealed by their response to the Gospel message and God’s Word. We are given a part in revealing who God has chosen. We share the Gospel; God draws the hearer according to His eternal purpose; that person is saved. We absolutely need to be diligent in sharing the Gospel, but we need to step back and realize that we can’t force someone to believe. God controls that. All we control is who we share with.
You can earnestly, diligently, longsufferingly pray for a loved one or friend—or even an enemy!—but you cannot change the plans God made from before time began. That’s not to say that you waste your time. As long as the person you desire still lives, there remains a chance that they may be predestined to believe. But if they die without embracing Christ, then you know God didn’t choose them. It is a hard truth, but it is still truth. God doesn’t select everyone we want, but everyone He chooses. He is Lord, we are not.
If you can accept that and still love Him, that too is evidence that you belong to Him. And I hope you can find great comfort in that.
Marked with the Spirit
13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having 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.
That brings us to our last two verses this morning. You were included in Christ when you heard the Gospel and believed it. I’ve already covered that. But note this: Having believed, you were marked with a seal, and that seal is the Holy Spirit. If you have accepted the Gospel, then God has placed His Spirit in you as a deposit and a guarantee that you will be included in those who make up God’s eternal family. It is that same Spirit that did the washing and renewing of you, as we saw in Titus 3:5-6, making you a new, holy creation. The Spirit not only marks you as one of God’s chosen and adopted children, but helps you understand God’s Word and do it.
You dwell in the midst of thousands of people who have not been chosen, and God has no trouble picking you out in that crowd, because of His Spirit marking you. When the day comes that He gathers all His people out of this wicked world, He will not miss you. You will not be forgotten. If you should be left behind—you do not want that.
Today is the day of salvation. Today is the day of embracing Jesus as God and Savior and turning your life over to Him, to trust and obey Him and live to do His will. Do not put off repentance. Do not put off obedience to God’s Word. Do not trust that you still have time, that you’ll see the signs and get busy doing His will then. Then, it will be too late.
Conclusion
God has done great things for those whom He has chosen, who believe in Him. Do you want to know if you are chosen? Believe that Jesus is in fact your Lord and Savior, the Son of God and God’s appointed King. Honor Him with your life, with how you live, with the choices you make. God chose us and saved us and gave us direction in how to live, in order that He would receive the praise and glory—from those He saved, and from all those who look on and see what marvelous things He has done.
Living the life of a saint is all about God and His glory, not yours. Without doubt, you’re a beneficiary of His incredible kindness, but He did all the work and deserves all the praise—and all your trust and all your life. Do you marvel at being chosen to hear of and believe in His Son? Praise Him!—not just in word or song, but by your hunger to know what He wants of you and diligent obedience to His will. Show the world and all creation how much you love and trust Him by reorienting your life to fulfill His purposes.
Do not wait for some future date to change your ways. Do it now. While there’s still time to fill Heaven with praises to God for your changed life.