Sermon Tone Analysis

*Lesson 10*

*/The Mystery of God’s Will/*

*/Ephesians 1:9-10/*

 

Last week we looked at Eph 1:7-8.

Remember, we’re looking at the Trinity’s work in the Plan of Salvation.

vv.

4-6 give us the Father’s plan, namely predestination and election.

vv.

7-12 give us the Son’s execution of that plan in history, namely redemption.

In the coming weeks we’ll look at vv 12-14 which give us the Spirit’s work of securing the executed plan.

Presently we’re in the section on the Son’s work in the plan of Salvation, Redemption.

We saw last week that the phrase “in whom we have the redemption” = *we presently have redemption in connection with Jesus Christ*.

This redemption is a present possession if you are a believer here tonight.

The word “redemption” (/apolutrosin/) means that *Jesus Christ released us by making a payment*.

Turn to Revelation 1:5 to get the sense of this word.

He has */released us from our sins by His blood/*.

That’s what the word “redemption” means.

You’ve been released from your sins.

That payment is described by the phrase “through His blood”.

This is /dia/ with the genitive indicating the /agency /or /means/.

The means by which you were redeemed was the blood of Christ.

It was not the life of Christ which was substitutionary or redemptive.

It was Christ’s death that was redemptive.

And not just any death will do.

If Christ was poisoned or strangled would that have provided redemption?

I don’t think so!

The death had to be by the shedding of blood because without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin (Hebrews).

Further, it couldn’t be just any old blood, it had to be clean, precious blood.

The blood of bulls and goats merely covered sin temporarily, it did not take away sin.

The blood of Christ actually took away sin.

Further, this blood had to be the blood of the God-man and not a supernaturally created man with clean blood because then that man would receive all the glory of redemption, and God is the only one who deserves honor and praise.

It is for this reason that God had to provide Himself as the sacrifice.

The God-man is the savior of the world and God receives all the glory.

Therefore “through His blood” = *the payment was Jesus’ Christ’s blood*.

Every aspect of salvation was provided in Christ’s sacrificial death.

The phrase “the forgiveness of sins” stands in apposition to the redemption and therefore further defines it.

What did redemption accomplish?

It accomplished “the forgiveness of sins”.

*To be redeemed means your sins have been sent away*.

Your sins have been forgiven.

The word for forgiven means “sent away” or “released” as a prisoner is set free.

Your sins aren’t sitting alongside you (/paresis/; Rom.

3:25) like OT saints who looked forward to the cross.

Your sins have been permanently sent away.

The word for sins here is /paraptoma /and refers to treacherous willful acts against the holiness of God.

These treacherous acts had to be punished.

The gospel is that Jesus Christ took the punishment for your treachery.

“according to the riches of His grace” = *the cost of your sins being sent away can only be measured by His grace, which is infinite*”.

Paul’s point is not that Christ forgave you out of His grace, but rather that the only way the cost of your redemption can be measured is by measuring His grace.

The cost was infinite and therefore the value of the atonement is infinite.

Your redemption cannot be measured in finite terms.

It’s of infinite value.

Verse 8 Paul says of this grace; “which He lavished upon us” = *this is the amount of the grace toward us*.

The word for lavished is /perisseuo/.

It’s a beautiful word.

It basically means “superabundance”.

He lavished grace upon you.

One of the benefits of this grace in addition to your redemption is the availability of “all wisdom and insight”.

This is not a reference to God’s wisdom and insight but to what God has given believers who possess redemption.

He’s given you the ability to comprehend Divine wisdom and He’s given you the ability to put that to work by Divine insight.

So, “with all wisdom and insight” = *this grace toward you includes piercing knowledge and discretion to live skillfully*.

This means you’re able to understand the relevance of Divine revelation in the present time.

This is a much needed skill in the Church today.

We looked at Solomon’s ability to combine wisdom and insight (same Greek words in the LXX) in his day (1 Kings 3:17-28).

REVIEW that story.

Now, you have this kind of wisdom available to you, not a human wisdom based on pragmatism where we all get together and share our opinions to discover the best course of action, but divine wisdom graciously imparted to you which will give you the ability and motivation to apply doctrine creatively.

This wisdom is based on knowledge of God’s word for God’s wisdom is found only in God’s words.

The Psalmist expressed this by the words, */“In Thy light we see light”/* (Ps.

36:9).

That is, all knowledge, true knowledge, is derivative of God.

As every lamp that gives light is derivative of the sun so every piece of true knowledge is derivative of God.

God gives true knowledge that results in */wisdom/* and */insight/*.

But how do I attain to this knowledge or what is the beginning of gaining this knowledge so that I can have */wisdom/* and */insight/*?

The proverb tells us that */“/**/The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge”/* (Prov.

1:7).

But what is the fear of the LORD?[1]

It is the Hebrew word /yirah /meaning “awesome, reverence”.

It is to have a reverential awe for who and what God is.

This can only come when one understands particular knowledge regarding the nature of God and the nature of redemption.

The prior comes through an understanding of the Creator-creature distinction; the latter through diligent prayer and study.

If you wish to have a picture of this distinction which results in reverential awe, a true fear of the Lord, I suggest you read Job 38-42:6.

The words there taken at face value form the thoughts that place the individual in the position of beginning to know.

Do you have that reverential awe of who and what God is?

The beginning of knowledge is not Plato or Aristotle (observation of nature), it is not Bacon or Hume (logic and reason), it is not Kant (reason) or Kierkegaard (experience), it is not Marx (synthesis) or Darwin (empiricism); knowledge begins with a reverential awe of YHWH, the Creator.

Knowledge is not the mere assimilation of so-called facts, for even facts must be interpreted properly.

God gives just that, the divine interpretation of what we might call, the facts.

Notice Paul’s prayer for the Ephesian believers in Eph.

1:17 (also cf.

3:10).

He desires that believers come to /epignosis/, true knowledge, accurate knowledge, real knowledge!

In Eph.

1:8 Paul is telling us that God, by His grace, has lavished */wisdom/* and */insight/* on us.

If you are a believer here tonight you are at least at the beginning of knowledge.

Once on that trek through continued study and prayer you will have the ability to pierce into a problem and the will to insightfully apply it as Solomon did in his day.

*The Sequence*

* *

*Fear of the Lord**à**Knowledge**à** Wisdom**à**Insight**à**Epignosis*

 

This */wisdom and insight /*are what enables us to understand the mystery doctrines and to see the application in the present (Eph.

4-6).

Tonight we’ll look at the first mystery doctrine in Ephesians: The Mystery of the Will of God.

Paul prays that all believers will have (1:17; 3:10) a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Christ.

*/Greek Text: 1:9 /**/gnwri,saj h`mi~/n to.

musth,rion tou~/ qelh,matoj auvtou~/( kata.

th.n euvdoki,an auvtou~/ h]n proe,qeto evn auvtw~/|/*

*Translation: 1:9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Him,*