Ephesians 1:3
Notes
Transcript
Handout
To God be the glory, great things He hath done
To God be the glory, great things He hath done
Everything about us will be addressed.
Last week we saw from the first two words in the first two verses of Ephesians that everything had changed for the Apostle Paul. He was given a new name and new identity, a new calling and was given grace and peace.
Not only did we see that everything changed for Paul, but everything changed for the Ephesians as well (and what was true for the Ephesians, we said was true for us “who believe.” The Ephesians were given a new name…they were addressed as “saints” they were no longer “without hope and without God in the world” they were “set apart” for the purposes of God. Yes they were still residing in Ephesus and we are still battling with our “old nature” because we exist in a body of death, but our primary residency is “in Christ.” We have a new name…we are Beloved of the Lord and a new identity.
And we have been given “grace and peace.” In the first two verses of this Epistle we can see that everything about us has changed…and the rest of this epistle will explain how everything about us must continue to change.
Our Christian doctrine (Chapter 1-3) should empower our Christian duties (4-6). What we know about God and what He has done for in Christ MUST affect the way we live. Throughout the epistle Paul is going to use a metaphor to describe what must occur in our lives. It is the idea of walking.
2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—
But now we are saved by grace and have been created to walk into the good works that God has prepared for us.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
and after all the theological groundwork is laid in Chapter 1-3, Paul opens the practical section of his epistle with these words...
1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,
and again in
17 Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.
and again in
2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
and again in
8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
and again in
15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,
Do you think Paul was trying to get something across to these people? Do you think the Spirit of God might be trying to communicate something to you today.
Illustrate: Walking is a progressive action. One foot in front of the other.
“Keep doing the next right thing…and repeat indefinitely.” We can’t do that unless we are we are saved by grace through faith. We need a rebirth. We will see that here in a moment when we get into the concept of what it mean to be “in Christ.”
This book is going to address every aspect of our lives. It will call us us Christians UNITY. It will instruct us on how to SPEAK TO ONE ANOTHER. It will insist that we RELATE to our brothers and sisters in Christ, our spouses, our parents, our employee / employer relationships in a Christ exalting way. EVERYTHING WILL BE ADDRESSED. We will even be informed as to how to make war with our former capture Satan. How can we make war with Him? All of it, addressed in 6 chapters. This is why it is John Calvin’s favorite epistle.
We will also run head first into some things that are just hard to grapple with. Tune in next week because we will be heading full tilt into one of the most profound mysterious doctrines of the bible. We will witness the Sovereignty of our God…primarily seen in God’s election and predestination. We will attempt to tackle that next week.
What are some of the biggest head scratching questions you have when it comes to God?
READ THE TEXT:
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.
We are only going to look at 1 verse today…(VERSE 3)
Textual Idea: God is to be praised for what He has done for us.
Textual Idea: God is to be praised for what He has done for us.
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,
God is to be praised...
God is to be praised...
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,
Last week I suggested Eph. 5:8 to be one of the key verses of this epistle. This is as it relates to us.
8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
As it relates to God…verse three is really ground zero of this epistle. This is where it all starts. It doesn’t start with us…it starts with God and what He has done and then, only then…what we should do in response.
Paul is going to write some glorious things in 3-14 that can only be understood through the enlightening power of the Holy Spirit…that is why Paul is going to close this little section in prayer 15-23.
So let’s look at the text:
First word is “BLESSED” - This is epic (in the emphatic position)
This is not the main verb of the section. We will see that in a moment.
This is a Verbal adjective - it is describing the noun that it is attached too (God), and denotes action. “the idea of someone who deserves appreciation, honor or praise.” Not only “ought” he be blessed…but He IS INDEED blessed. He will be revered, honored, and praised. This isn’t just a, “o man I really hope God is honor and revered” it is “He IS honored and revered…not just by us who have been brought near to Him, but ESPECIALLY by those who have been brought near to Him.
Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
This first word is like the initial downbeat to the Main Title track of Star Wars (count off 1, 2, 3, 4…BAM) - It just startles you and makes you sit back in yours seat (Or acapella version of the Hallelujah Chorus).
First thing we need to learn today: Whenever we learn something true about God…we must allow it to lead us down the pathway of praise. He is to be praised for it.
Do you think that might be a major theme? To the praise of his glory…over and over again in this section.
God must be glorified by His people.
God will be praised by His kids…if we don’t the rocks WILL cry out.
When was the last time you would say you were “ecstatic” about something? Explain what you felt and how you acted. Have you ever felt this way about God?
21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
The reason you have been saved it to make much of God. You have been saved to the praise of HIS glory.
Why is God to be praised???
…for what He has done for us.
…for what He has done for us.
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,
The main verb of the who passage (3-14) is who blessed us.
What is the main verb in verse 3?
God blessed us…in Christ…with every spiritual blessing…in the heavenly places.
Verse three is the equivalent of the moment the MVP of your favorite sports team is handed a bottle of Champaign after winning the championship. In great triumph and celebration he starts violently shaking this thing until the structural integrity of the bottle itself is compromised. And then he pops the top. There is an exuberant explosion of celebration that follows.
Verse three is Paul shaking the bottle…Verses 4-14 are the exuberant explosion of celebration that follows.
There is so much here in this 202 word run on sentence that we are devoting three separate preaching segments for it. And, we easily could have a dozen more.
We have are all going to have a drinking problem here. There is simply too much to take in. Have you ever been thirsty and gotten a drink out of a drinking fountain and you are so thirsty and your mouth is filling us so much that you don’t even care that some of the water is not making its way in…in fact it is just kind of dripping down your chin? That is what this is…except it’s more than that.
We have been building the ministry center for sometime now and one of the steps in the process of occupancy is getting the right pressurized water for the fire suppressing system. That means, if i understand right, we new waterlines for each building on our campus. Now imagine if you will, when they are installing the new water lines they accidently installed the fire suppression line to the water fountain. And you open that thing up and you are drinking from a fire hose. That is Ephesians 1:3-14.
We are going to open up this word and get completely drenched and it will quench our thirst and we will be given over to exuberant praise.
What we will see is almost beyond description - describe your life to me. (immense) so many subordinate clauses) - this is what happens here…verse three MAIN VERB - followed by a whole bunch of subordinate clauses.
This is the opposite of the conversation parents have with there teenage kids when the get home from school. “How was your day?” “Fine.” “What did you do?” “school work.” Short, true…to the point. In reality a ton of things happed, but you just don’t talk about it.
Tell me about (cool teenage thing) - AHHHH, bla, bla, bla, bla.
This is Paul going bla, bla, bla. He is ecstatic over this.
Did I fail to mention he was writing this while being chained to a Roman Soldier…because he was arrested? For Paul, his circumstances didn’t stop him from counting his blessings.
Thankfulness begets thankfulness (and misery loves company). Paul is offering praise to God…the Ephesians likewise will offer praise to God. How about you? What are you focused on? How positive have you been these days?
Okay enough preview…let’s get in it.
God has blessed us “in Christ.”
God has blessed us “in Christ.”
The Ephesians and you and I are blessed “IN CHRIST.”
That means a whole bunch of things and we will only scratch the surface, but essentially what that means is we are so identified with Christ, we are so unionized or one with Him that when God the Father looks at us he sees Jesus His Son. This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased.
There is a blessing for ya.
Think about the encounter with Stephen in the book of Acts. In Acts 7 Stephen is being killed by stoning. (BY Stoning)…let that sink in…and those who were doing it were laying their cloaks at the feet of Saul. Saul was approving this…probably overseeing it. Acts 9…Saul is confronted by the Risen Christ with these words,
4 And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”
Stephen, the follower of Jesus was so identified with Jesus, that when Stephen was being stoned by a mob at the approval of Saul and Saul is confronted by Jesus…Jesus says, “why are you persecuting me?” Saul could have argued…I am not persecuting you…I gave approval to kill Stephen! But Jesus is makes himself the recipient of death blows given to Stephen. You are persecuting me.
This is breathtaking!
Being “in Christ” means that all Christ has is mine.
We are “one.” We are connected. In fact, not only are we united to Him, but it is a double union, He is united to us. We are “in Christ,” but Christ is also, “in us.” that is what Paul says is the hope of glory. We are so connected to Christ that we have received all the benefits that He has attained so far and will attain in the future when His Kingdom comes and HIs will is done on earth as it is in heaven.
What is true of Christ is true of us…his resources become our experience. When humans are born, they are born into the human race of which Adam is head.
When Adam sinned everyone born after him was under the tyranny of sin which brought death. (Romans 5:12-21).
Christ, who knew no sin, became flesh and dwelt among us as the God-in-flesh man. He became a human and lived the obedient life we were supposed to live, but didn’t, and He died the death that we deserved. And with His death he paid the penalty of sin, which is death, and turned away God’s just wrath because it was poured out on Him. He who knew no sin, became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God.
Anyone who believes in God’s provision, namely Christ…that person is a new creation, the old has passed and behold the new has come.
New creation? The new has come? What’s new? What’s come? New birth. New headship. For those of us who believe in the sacrifice of Christ on our behalf have a new “head” - Christ. He now represents and controls us. We are “in Christ.”
In this epistle…we will see “in Christ” 13 times.
In this epistle…we will see “in Him” 9 times.
We will see this glorious truth again and again…to the praise of God’s glory.
God has blessed us “every spiritual blessing.”
God has blessed us “every spiritual blessing.”
Every - Not one of them is missing. It’s all there in Christ. There is nothing lacking in Christ. God is not holding out more blessings outside of Christ. He is the whole package.
Have you ever opened up a present on Christmas or your birthday and were super super excited about what you got? Elijah and I got matching Red Rider BB guns for Christmas! How cool is that?!? It was what he wanted (me too). Like we opened up all the other presents and there was some cool stuff, but where’s the BB gun? Behind the left side of the tree leaning up against the wall was a tall rectangular shaped box…and it was the only one left. Could it be? The anticipation!!! He tears into this thing and his countenance erupts with joy. He, we are so excited we carefully take them out and read through the instructions and identify all the different parts on the gun and read through all the safety precautions and then we were ready. We were ready a long time ago…but now we were ready…let’s go shoot something. Awesome! Ok…where’s the BB’s? None. no BB’s. No stores open on Christmas to go buy BB’s. Being “in Christ” is not like that at all. We have been given “every spiritual blessing.”
Spiritual - We get so caught up with the physical that we often fail to realize that as human beings we exist body and soul. We are material and immaterial. So often our downfall in life is because we focus way too much, or only on the hear and now. The blessings that we have been blessed with are “spiritual” in nature but one day they will also be physical.
The essence of what Paul is referring to here with this phrase will ultimately be fleshed out in verses 13-14 of this chapter. Pastor Danny will be preaching those verses outline the role of the Holy Spirit in a few weeks. Namely, we have been indwelt and sealed by the Holy Spirit of God.
Remember what we said last week? The world needs the fruit of the spirit…but they can’t consistently produce it…Christians are the ones who can…
I don’t say that arrogantly…I say that because that is what has been modeled for us by the one we honor and revere most. Jesus. On the night he was betrayed he got up from the tabled, de-robed and started washing feet. When he was hoisted up on a cross he asked for his executioners forgiveness. Father forgive them. (We have been empowered and blessed with “every” spiritual blessing to bring about that which we couldn’t bring about on our own.
God has blessed us “in the heavenly places.”
God has blessed us “in the heavenly places.”
This phrase is a preview to what Paul will teach on in Ephesians 6:10-20. There he will demonstrate how we can withstand the onslaught of the devil. Do you know that the devil hates you? Do you know that he is continually , accusing you, deceiving you, assaulting you with FLAMING ARROWS?! How are you going to combat that? Well we have been equipped with “every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.”
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,
Application: shotgun style
Was there any particular “shotgun style” application point that stood out among the others? What are the potential next steps for you to consider and then do?
Some of you need to start praising…because you already know these things…Like a wave crashing on the shore, your knowledge of doctrine should spill over into doxological praise. God is too be praised…and some of you know it and aren’t doing it for whatever reason. Do it.
Some of you need to start praising, despite your present circumstances. Paul writes a letter of how he has been blessed by God even though he is in on house arrest.
Some of you need to start focusing more on the spiritual provision of the Lord instead of just wanting more physical blessings.
Some of you, who think you got God all figured out, or that you have heard this all before need to put your hand over you mouth and marvel.
Some of you, may need to turn off the live stream right now and get down on your face before your God and cry out, “I am a man of unclean lips...”
Some of you, may need to weep before the Lord because of your doubt or your unbelief…and in your weeping you need to utter the words, “Lord I believe, help my unbelief.”
Some of you little ones, gather round (listen up)…i want to show you something amazing.
8 To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,
Some of you, might have been so pricked by the Holy Spirit that you need to start the process of a theological education.
Some of you, need to sit down and write a letter to someone telling them about awesomeness of our God. maybe to yourself.
Verse 3 is like a 30,000 foot, cruising altitude view of the forrest (bunch of trees down there)…verses 4-14 we will begin to descend into the forest of blessings and start to look at the individual trees.
All of them…not one is missing. (4-14 recount them)
We have been chosen
We have been made holy
We have been made blameless
We have been loved
We have been adopted
We are true sons and daughters of the King
We have been given redemption through the blood of Christ (not the blood of a bull or a ram, or even your own…this was done by His blood.
We have been forgiven of our trespasses
We have had grace lavished on us.
We have been given insight into the mystery of God’s plans.
We have been united to Christ.
We have obtained an inheritance that we will be given in the future.
We have the comfort of knowing that nothing can come at us outside of God’s knowledge or purposes for us. no person, no plan, no demon, no devil can come at us outside of God’s knowledge and purpose.
We have the assurance of knowing that nothing happens anywhere outside of the purpose and pleasure of our Almighty God.
We have been given the priceless gift of true “biblical hope.” This is different from wishing. This is unfounded and unattained outside of being “in Christ.”
We have had the opportunity to “hear the word of truth.”
We have had the opportunity to respond to what we have heard…and we have believed.
We have been sealed by the promised Holy Spirit.
We have the certainty that we will acquire our inheritance in the future.
We have the opportunity to be a part of the most important thing in all the world…we get the opportunity to bring praise to Him who reigns above in majesty supreme.
Which, if any, of the 20 blessings that were mentioned at the sermon resinated with you the most?
Whenever we learn something true about God…we should be lead down the pathway of praise. He is to be praised for it.
Close in Song - Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus
Role the Credits