Believers possess every spiritual blessing – Ephesians 1:3
God has given every one of His children an abundance of grace upon grace “in Christ Jesus”. We are not lacking any good thing in Christ. We are complete “in him” and we have everything thing we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). Jesus became poor in coming to earth, leaving the glories & privileges of Heaven so that we, through His poverty, might become rich (2 Cor. 8:9). Why do we feel at times that we don’t have the resources to be who God has called us to be & do what God has called us to do? I believe it is because we don’t see what we have in Christ and we need to have the eyes of our understanding enlightened (Ephesians 1:18). That is what Paul requested in prayer for the church to see.
Let’s look at some of the spiritual blessings that believers in Christ have been given through the Gospel of Grace.
We are chosen – Ephesians 1:4
You are not a Christian merely because you chose God at one point in time. You are a Christian because God chose you before the foundation of the world. You are not an accident or an afterthought. God thought about you and picked you before He ever said “Let there be light”. If God loved and chose you then how could you do anything to earn His love or choice of you? No, He didn’t choose us because He saw something good in us. He chose us on the basis of His grace and for His glory, according to His good pleasure and His will. Salvation is about God the Savior. Salvation is of the Lord, His gift of grace granted to us for the praise of His glory. He has chosen us to be holy & blameless and this should be the mark of those who are chosen. Their lives ought to look different than the world. Peter exhorts the church to make their calling and election sure and growing in godliness, holiness & Christ like character is how one can do that.
We are predestined-Ephesians 1:5
Many Christians have trouble understanding, believing and receiving this glorious truth as the bible presents it. But this is a blessing from God, an expression of God’s grace that should “humble the best of saints and give hope to the worst of sinners”, as John Piper put it. Because many Christians struggle to understand & receive this biblical truth there has been much debate over it, but for the Apostle Paul it was a reason to praise and thank God (Ephesians 1:3, 6). Praise Godthat has made plans for our lives before we existed. Praise God that He foreknew us and predestined us to be conformed into the image of Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:29). Praise God that by His grace He determined that we would become His very own for all eternity. Let this gospel truth humble you & stir up gratitude & praise to your Heavenly Father. Rest assured that He who began this God work of salvation in your life will be faithful to complete it (Philippians 1:6, Romans 8:30).
We are adopted – Ephesians 1:5
We are now children of God and He is our Father. We are greatly loved and cared for. We belong to a family and are highly valued by God. God has promised to provide for our every need according to the riches of His grace and we don’t have to live like orphans striving to survive. Our Daddy in heaven is watches over us and everything in life is Father-filtered. Nothing comes our way in life without first being approved by Him. And He will work together all things for our good (Romans 8:28). Every good and perfect gift that we experience in life comes down from our faithful & unchanging Father. He is good to us all the time and He always has our best interest in mind.
We are accepted – Ephesians 1:6
We are accepted on the basis of Christ and what He has done on our behalf. He is the Beloved in whom the Father is well pleased and through Christ we also are pleasing to the Father. He delights to be our Father and gives us free access to His presence. Through the gospel of Christ we can boldly approach our Father’s throne of grace (Hebrews 4:14-16). Never do we have to earn our acceptance from God because Christ has earned it for us. Never do we have to seek acceptance from men to meet our emotional needs because Christ meets our deepest need for acceptance. No longer should we fear the rejection of men & seek the approval of man because we can be content with God’s acceptance & approval.
We are redeemed – Ephesians 1:7
We have been bought by the precious blood of Christ and rescued from slavery to sin & Satan’s captivity. We have been transferred from the domain of darkness to the kingdom of God’s Beloved Son (Colossians 1:13). No longer are we ruled by the god of this world or love for this world. Our God & King is the God of gods, the King of kings & the Lord of lords and He has overcome the enemies of our soul. Jesus is now our Savior & Redeemer and no one can pluck us out of His hand (John 10:28).
We are forgiven – Ephesians 1:7
Our sins are forgiven and forgotten by God. He remembers them no more. As far as the east is from the west so far it is that God has removed our transgressions from us (Psalm 103:12). The penalty of our offenses has been paid for by Christ and the guilt of sin is gone. The blood of Christ has washed & removed the stain of our sin. Our accuser who seeks to remind us of our past sins is overcome & defeated by the blood of Jesus (Revelation 12:11). We don’t have to work to make up for all the wrong we have done or try and outweigh our bad deeds with good deeds. Christ’s good work on the cross is finished and He has provided forgiveness of sins through His blood. Now we must freely forgive others because we have been forgiven (Col. 3:13). Now we must freely carry this good news of forgiveness to others because we freely received it ourselves (Luke 24:47, Matthews 10:7, 2 Cor. 5:18)
We have revelation – Ephesians 1:9
God has not left us in the dark but He has shared His secrets with us and entrusted to us knowledge of His will. We now know of God’s purpose & plan to unite all things in heaven & on earth. God will restore creation from corruption through what Christ has done. He will make all things new and there will be no more mourning, crying, pain or suffering and God will wipe every tear from our eyes (Revelation 21:4-5). We have been granted wisdom & insight from God to grasp what He is up to.
We have an inheritance – Ephesians 1:11
We have become children of God, heirs of God & fellow heirs with Christ. We can say with the Psalmist “the lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance”. (Psalm 16:6). We can be content with the lot that God has granted us and not desire the passing pleasures of sin nor love the world with its lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes & the pride of life (1 John 2:15-17)
We have the Holy Spirit – Ephesians 1:13
Perhaps this is the greatest blessing we have been given, namely God himself. Believers have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, by whom we have been sealed as God’s own for all eternity. God has granted us His constant presence to lead and to guide us, to teach & to instruct us, to comfort & to help us, to convict & to change us, to empower & to strengthen us, to fill us & to refresh us, to heal us & seal us (John14:26,16:8, Acts 1:8, 2Cor. 3:18). He is our God and we are His people (Revelation 21:3)!
To hear the sermon I preached on Ephesians 1, entitled The Riches of His Grace, go this link:
http://citychurchintl.sermon.tv/4368646
One of the first things we learn about God in the Scripture is that He works (Genesis 2:1-3). Not only did God work in creating but He also works in sustaining and caring for His creation (Psalm 147). The theological word for this is called providence. All of God’s work creating and caring for creation is good (Genesis 1:31, Psalm 145:9). But there is another good work that God has begun in every Christian that He will certainly be faithful to finish. The Apostle wrote about this good work in addressing the Philippians saying “I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6 ESV). The good work that God has done in every believer is called salvation. Just as God spoke creation into existence He has spoken to each believer through the gospel of Jesus Christ, and has made us come to life from the dead. “For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6 ESV).
For The Gospel's Sake 