Ephesians 1:1-10 | Every Spiritual Blessing | Nathan Walker

God's kindness in Christ goes beyond human history

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Today's reading is Ephesians 1, verses 1 to 10. It can be found on page 100 sorry 1173. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to God's holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 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. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Christ Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will, to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has really given us in the one he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. He made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment, to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ, here in Serena.

SPEAKER_02 1:43

It's lovely to be with you today, and I'm looking forward to being with you again the next two weeks. One of my favorite places that I've been able to visit is Queenstown in New Zealand. If you've ever been there, you'll know that off to the left there is a magnificent mountain range. It's called the Remarkables. And it's a perfect name for these mountains because that's what they are. They are imposing and they are majestic and they are remarkable. And wherever you go, they just sit there staring right back at you, unmoved and impassive. And after a little while, it's a bit humbling. It changes your perspective on things, gives you a new way to look at reality, and helps you appreciate just how small you really are. Now, of course, there are places in Australia that do much the same thing, but there are passages in the Bible that do it as well. Passages whose subject matter is so big and so majestic, and their form and content is so marvelously laid out that it's almost impossible to read them and not be humbled by them and given a new way to look at things. You think of Romans 8, for example, that I mentioned before. You think of Isaiah 40 or Job 38 or the Sermon on the Mount. Passages that lift our eyes, expand our vision, and grow our sense of joyful wonder at just how great and how praiseworthy are the plans and purposes of God that meet us in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, our passage today is just such a passage. It isn't long. It's only around 200 words in the original Greek, but its theology is like a vast and majestic mountain range, and its depths are like the great ocean valleys. So after the opening greeting, verse 3 is really where the guts of it kicks off, and Paul says, 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. If we are familiar with Paul's letters, we will know that this is slightly different to what he normally does. Normally he begins by giving God thanks for his work in the lives of his readers. And what Paul writes here should certainly prompt a lot of thanksgiving to God. But actually, what Paul is doing in this passage is simply praising God for what he has done in the lives of his readers. There is joy here, there is delight, there is adoration of God. And it's very difficult to do this in English, but in the Greek that Paul wrote, everything from verse 3 down to the end of verse 14 is just one long mega sentence. You can't really translate it like that in English. But this is a gloriously full outburst of praise. And verse 3 is its subject. I once heard it said of this passage that its main point is to teach us who we truly are if we belong to Christ. And don't get me wrong, I think there's lots in this passage that will help us answer that question. But to say that that's the passage's main point is, I think, to put the cart before the horse. Because this passage is not in the first place about us. This passage is about God. And it's about how God in Christ has blessed us. Now, if you're reading a different translation in English, perhaps you'll see that the first word in verse 3 is not praise, but blessed. Kind of older, sort of slightly older use of that English word. Up on the screen, literally, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. So the language of blessing is all through this verse. But what we need to remember is that when we bless God and when God blesses us, those are two very different activities. When we bless God, that simply means we praise God, we lift up his name, we exalt him, we honor him. Whereas when God blesses us, it means he treats us with undeserved kindness. He lavishes on us the riches of his glorious grace. He shows us his favor and he gives to us abundantly, even though we don't deserve it. Now, doubtless, there are many ways that God blesses us. If you are familiar with the Anglican prayer of general thanksgiving, we give God thanks for life and health and safety, for power to work and for leisure to rest, and for all that is good in creation and human life. And we should give God thanks for all of those things. But those blessings are really independent to the gospel. And by and large, my unbelieving neighbor knows them just as much as I do. But what Paul is talking about here, well, these are much more like the things that the Anglican prayer goes on to talk about when it says, But above all, we praise you for our Savior Jesus Christ. See, these are the special blessings of the gospel, and they belong to those who belong to Christ. And that's why Paul names God here in verse 3 as the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's why the blessings have only been given in Christ. See, from the beginning of this letter, we're already at the fourth and fifth times that Christ has been named. Because he sits at the heart and is the very focus of all God's plans and purposes. If we minimize Christ, the gospel is distorted. If we leave Christ out altogether, the gospel is lost. He is the heart and the focus of all God's plans and purposes. And so he then is the great subject with which Paul begins this letter. Every spiritual blessing with which God has blessed us in the heavenly realms in Christ. As we come to verses 4 to 10, though, what we're going to do is just focus on each of the four sentences that are here in the NIV translation. Because although for Paul it was all done in one sentence, the four sentences in English, they do a good job of showing us Paul's big ideas. And so, first in verse 4, for he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In theological terms, this is the doctrine of God's election. The idea that the underlying and ultimate responsibility for our salvation rests with God's choice of his people rather than their choice of him. I don't know if this was your experience, but back when I was in primary school and it was time for school sport, the normal procedure was that the teacher would choose two of the students to act as the captains of the two teams, and everyone else would be lined up, and the captains would then get to choose who they wanted to come and be on their team for whatever sport we were playing. And of course, there were two kinds of people that always got chosen first: sporty people and their friends. And for those of us who were always left to the end, it was a very scarring experience. Because you see, we choose on the basis of merit. We choose on the basis of skill, we choose on the basis of influence and power. That's the way we make choices. But not God. When God chooses people for salvation, it is never on the basis of merit. How could it be? For if he chose us before the creation of the world, it was certainly before you or I ever did anything to deserve it. How could it be again? Given that in chapter two, Paul is going to go on and argue that each of us by nature is dead in our transgressions and sins and we are objects of God's wrath. I mean, if salvation comes by merit, it will be withheld from every one of us. And so Paul says, God chose us to be holy and blameless. Not because we were holy and blameless. Again, though, see how Paul emphasizes that God's choice was made in relation to Christ. He chose us in Him before the creation of the world. Can you see what a firm anchor this gives us for our confidence before God? Our salvation depends not on us, but on the choosing of God the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ. Okay, next blessing, verse 5. In love, he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will, to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the one he loves. When Paul says that God predestined us, that is very similar to what he meant in verse 4 when he said that God chose us. It's a way of emphasizing God's absolute initiative in our salvation. But in my experience, for some people, the language of predestination can easily arouse particular anxieties. Anxieties about what does this mean for the possibility of people to respond with faith to the message of the gospel. And if they can't do that, then is it really fair for God to judge them? Those are important questions. Maybe we can talk about them over lunch. We won't have time to get into them here. But what I would say is that if we regard as troubling something that Paul clearly considered was to be a reason for God's praise, I reckon there's a better than even chance we haven't yet understood him correctly. Because just have a look with me now, and it'll be up on the screen. All the other words and phrases that Paul includes in this sentence. It's in love that God predestined us. Which he has freely given us in the one he loves. See, clearly for God, this is something that he has delighted to do. And it's meant to delight his people as well. Because it's a testimony to us of his goodness and of his power for salvation and of his overflowing generosity that meets us in Christ. We don't deserve it. We cannot repay it. And its goal is our adoption. Our adoption into God's own family of salvation. It's not a family we belong to by nature, that's why it's called adoption. But it isn't a pretend family. Because it's adoption into sonship with all of the rights of inheritance that go along with that. Once again, do you see what a firm anchor we have for our confidence before God? This gives us a rock from which our feet will not slip. Alright, third blessing, verse 7: In him that is in Christ, in him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us. The Bible uses different words to explain the salvation that comes to us through Christ. Justification, for example, that is the language of the law courts. It's the judge's verdict that a person is not guilty. Atonement. That's taken from the temple. It's the turning aside of God's anger, of God's wrath, as a sacrifice is made on behalf of the sinner. Adoption that we've just seen, that's family language. It's all about the rights and the privileges of inheritance. And now here in verse 7, redemption, that's the language of the slave trade. The process of slaves being bought and then set free from their bondage. You think back into the Old Testament, the great example, of course, was when God redeemed the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt. And the normal course of events, redemption was a costly business. And so that's why Paul talks here about redemption through his blood. That is, through the blood of Christ shed on the cross, when he gave his life as a ransom for many. That Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for sin in the place of sinners so that we might be forgiven and receive God's gift of eternal life. If you're here this morning and this all is new to you, you know that you're not yet a Christian. But you're interested, you're trying to understand. This right here is really the centerpiece of the grace of God that is offered to you today. Apart from Christ, your sins are an immovable obstacle between you and God. You need redemption. And I don't say that with any sense of superiority, because apart from Christ, I would be in exactly the same situation. As would every one of us here this morning who has trusted in Christ. In fact, that's why Paul has written this extraordinary sentence of praise. To remind God's people of how indebted we are to the lavish riches of God's glorious grace. We mustn't forget it. We must never take it for granted. And if this is all new for you, we long that you would come and join us in living by this precious gospel truth. That redemption comes, forgiveness of sins comes through the blood of Christ shed on the cross. And that begins simply by asking God, acknowledging your sins and seeking his forgiveness because Christ died for you. And for those of us who live already by this precious gospel truth, may it be as precious for us today and every day, and just as much a cause for joyful praise as it was the day we first believed. Finally, then at the end of verse 8. With all wisdom and understanding he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment, to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. I wonder what you make of this blessing. Chosen in Christ before the creation of the world, predestined for adoption to sonship, redeemed by Christ's blood for the forgiveness of sins. And then finally Paul says, Oh yes, and we've also been given some new information. It's not bad, but it just doesn't seem quite as amazing as the first three, does it? I wonder though if that's because we we don't really appreciate the significance of the word mystery in verse 9. I grew up in a family that played a card game called 500. Some of you may know it, some of you may not. Generally, it's played in two against two, and uh each team is trying to win as many rounds of cards as they can. There is a special round called Mazare, where what happens is your partner sits out and then you play against the other two, and instead of trying to win as many rounds of cards as you can, you try and lose them all. It's kind of a back to front version of the game, just for one go. Now there's a special version of Mazare as well called Open Mazare, where not only do you have to play by yourself and try and lose all of the cards, but you you need to do that once you've laid all your cards down on the table face up so that your opponents, I nearly said enemies, but they're just your opponents, so that your opponents can can see exactly what your plan is, how you're gonna try and play this game. Now, I also grew up in a family that played mahjong. I don't think there's a mahjong equivalent for it, but imagine somehow in Mahjong you get your tiles and you've just got to lay them all down right at the start so everyone can see what you're collecting. It's you just you just it it lets everything be clear, right? Well, if you can follow all that, I think what Paul is saying here is that in terms of salvation history, God is now playing open Mazair. That is, all of his cards are now out on the table so that we can see what his plan is. It hasn't always been like this. For a long time, God's plan was kind of somewhat veiled, it was a little bit hidden. But now that Christ has come into the world, now that Christ has died on the cross and been raised to life again, and more than that, now that Christ has been raised into the heavens to sit at God's right hand in glory, far above every rule and power and authority and dominion. And now that Paul has been appointed, verse one, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to proclaim the gospel especially to the Gentiles, to people who weren't Jewish by birth. Well, now that all those things are in place, what was once veiled has been revealed. No more mystery. It's all completely clear. And verse 10 spells it out for us. That when the times reach their fulfillment, all things in heaven and on earth, all things will be united, they'll be brought together, they'll be summed up, they'll be organized in proper relationship before God in Christ, who is Lord of all. Now, this is not what we see when we look out at the world with the eyes of our physical sight. But it is what we see with the eyes of gospel faith. Because by raising Jesus from the dead and then sitting him at his right hand in glory, God has laid out his cards on the table. The end of the story has been made fully clear. Jesus Christ is Lord of all. And an eternal day is coming when that will be the only reality we can see. See, there's nothing really anticlimactic here at all, is there? Not when we understand it properly. For God already to have made all this known, that is the very capstone of what he has done so generously for us in Christ. Well, we need to finish up. What are we going to do with all this? How should we respond? It's worth noticing that Paul himself hasn't really given us anything on this front. There's not a single instruction here towards godly living, although remember that's not the point. The aim of this passage isn't to teach us how to live, it's to remind us how we've been saved. Actually, that's not quite accurate either, is it? Because the aim of this passage is not to remind us of how we've been saved, although it does that. Now, the aim of this passage is simply to praise God for how he has saved us. To bless God for how he has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ. The Christian author, C. S. Lewis, he made the simple but profound observation that we praise the things that we delight in. It's obvious when you think about it, isn't it? If you're into coffee, you praise your favorite cafe. If you're into quilting, like my wife is, you praise your favorite fabric shop. If you're into football, you praise the soccer roos when they make it to the final round of 32. We praise the things we delight in. But actually, Lewis made one more observation, which takes it a step further, which is that when we praise the things that we delight in, our praise does not simply express our delight, it also completes it. That is, to praise who and what we love isn't only a reaction, it's also what makes our love whole. This is why Christians are to be people of praise. It's why singing is such a great vehicle for praising God. It isn't the only way we should do it. We should praise God as we speak, we should praise God as we pray. Paul is praising God as he writes a letter. But there's something in our singing so suitable for praise because it doesn't just engage our minds, it also stirs our affections. The psalm writers knew this. In Psalm 147, how good it is to sing praises to our God. Our great hymn writers have always known it. Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer's praise. And still that would not be enough. Give me a thousand hallelujahs and a thousand more. And still there could be others we could add. Christians are to be people of praise. How could we not be when we know and understand from a passage like this all that God has done for us so generously in Christ? It must surely grow our love for God. And that love grows as we then praise Him for what He has done. Do you want some help with that for the week ahead? Because I've got a suggestion for you. On each of the five days this week, Monday to Friday, as you sit down to pray, begin by reading out loud one of the five final psalms, 146 through to 150. Uh, they're all the hallelujah psalms, the praise psalms. And then after you've read a psalm, just take one of the five sentences that we've considered together this morning: verse 3, verse 4, verse 5, verse 7, verse 9. And then spend a minute or two praising God for what he has done. Uh if you like singing, sing your favorite praise song. If you can only remember the chorus, just sing that. If you can only remember the verse, just sing that. If you can't sing, it doesn't matter. We sing and make melody in our hearts to God. You might need a suitable space. But if you're into singing, do that. Let's praise God this week. And as we do those things, let's observe that effect that C.S. Lewis spoke about. That our love for God grows and is made complete as we praise him for what he has done. Let me lead us in prayer. Will you join me? Psalm 103. Praise the Lord my soul. All my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord my soul, and forget not all his benefits. Our gracious God and loving Heavenly Father, thank you for feeding us with your word this morning. Help us always to remember the things you have so generously done for us in Christ. Praise be to you, Father, who have blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Amen.

SPEAKER_01 32:10

Thank you, Well. Well, today I it's a lot of takeaway, and uh, well, thank you for the analogy saying the ma jung. Probably I don't know the 500 board game, but I know ma jung. I it is just to feel like God does not hold up again, but show us and generously showing us what he is applying and through.