Sunday Morning Service

Ephesians 1

“The Work Of The Father, Son And Holy Spirit” • 8.4.13 • Calvary Christian Fellowship, Sunday Morning Service

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Intro.

- The church of Ephesus began with a few disciples of John's baptism, zealous followers of  spiritual reform, but not yet born again. They had yet to receive the baptism into the Holy Spirit.

- Paul finds them unaware of the Holy Spirit's existence when he ministered to them and when those 12 heard the news, they received the Holy Spirit according to Acts 19:6.

- Three months in a synagogue and then two years in the school of Tyrannus later, and the church of Ephesus was running strong!

- It had become influential enough in that time to reach all of Asia with the word of God! (Acts 19:10) The local economy, based on the worship of Diana suffered, a riot ensued and Paul left!

- In spite of that chaos, the church continued on and a short time later, on his way to Jerusalem, Paul met for the last time with the Ephesian believers on the beach in Miletus.

- According to many commentators, this book was written 5 years later from a Roman prison and Paul is still beaming about what the Lord did during that time.

- This brings us to Ephesians 1, which for all intents and purposes is Paul's song of salvation, a sweeping, exulting tribute to the God who has acted with wonderful grace toward His people.

- This chapter reaches back into eternity past, carrying us up to the very present moment. Notice these three movements:

I. The Work Of The Father (v.1-6)

II. The Work Of The Son (v.7-14)

III. The Work Of The Holy Spirit (v.15-23)

Text

I. The Work Of The Father (v.1-6)

•  Ephesians 1:1,2 : "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." : Paul was an emissary, a go-between, a sent one on a mission prescribed for him by Jesus Christ.

- He was an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God the Father. Paul did not choose this life. It was chosen for Him and he served in light of that belief!

- As a Christian, it must be our first goal to discover God's will for our lives and then to live in it! What are you by His will or desire?

- Paul addresses this letter to the saints, holy and separated ones for God, residing in Ephesus, a major port city of it's time.

- They are described as "saints" and "faithful" in Christ Jesus. They belong to the faith, as much as they are living in it. Paul offers them his customary greeting: Grace and peace.

- Grace, the common greeting of the Gentile, peace, the common greeting of the Jewish world.

- I know that this is familiar to us, but imagine just how much grace and peace they would have needed in their world when becoming a Christian meant losing much more than your reputation!

- We would do well not to grow callous toward these words, nor allow them to lose their significance. It is God the Father's desire for them to have this!

- Paul does not simply say this for lack of a better opening. God's heart is that they would have grace and peace and I suspect that this would be His united desire for us as well!

• Ephesians 1:3-6 : "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved." : With no warning, Paul jumps into this song and showers God the Father with his praise. "Blessed" comes from the word "eulogetos" from which we get our word "eulogy" meaning to "speak praise."

- Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing. What He has blessed us with belongs in the spiritual realm.

- Notice that this "has" happened. Our being blessed has already taken place and every spiritual blessing is ours, held in the heavenly places in Christ, where neither moth nor rust destroy!

- These blessings will never be exhausted here on earth, nor altered. They are fixed in the mind of God! How do we know?

- We know because of what He has already done. He will bless us there because He chose us here! God elected, chose, His people out from the world from before the foundation of the world!

- Before God created the world, it was in His mind to bring together a race of people whose identity would be found in their faith and whose sole purpose would be to bring glory to Him.

- He envisioned our existence and picked us out from the world to be His Son's Bride!

- He chose us in order that we would be set apart, uniquely His and without blame before Him. The idea of this does not speak to sinless perfection, but that no blame could be assigned to them.

- Note that He did not choose you BECAUSE you are holy and blameless. Rather, because you are chosen, you are to be holy and blameless!

- Like Jesus, our lives must be so lived before God that people would have to make things up about us to condemn us! We are set apart and blameless in love. This is why we are this way.

- We are lovers of God, Christ's Bride, reserved for an everlasting relationship with Him!

- Paul continues by saying that God has predestined us, the word speaking of what is before the horizon line. The horizon line is an oft used metaphor for eternity in scripture!

- It's been often said that it's a good thing that He chose us before the foundation of the world, because He might not have done so after seeing our lives!

- In eternity past, He predestined the church to adoption as sons! He could have simply picked us out, saved us and left it at that. Not God! He made us His family!

- In the Roman world, adoption spoke of a complete joining to a new family and a complete break from the original family.

- An adopted Roman was treated like a natural born son, with all rights and privileges available to that adopted one immediately! Why did God do this?

- He did it according to the good pleasure of His will! He likes it this way! It brings Him pleasure to exercise His will this way! That was His internal motivation.

- Our praise and glory ascribed to Him is an external, secondary motivation!

- Those who understand their position as elect saints, adopted sons, have no qualms about lifting up their hearts to praise and give glory to God!

- This action of God has made us acceptable, literally, made us beautiful and charming, objects of His grace in the Beloved! Who is the Beloved? That would be Jesus! We're graced in Him!

II. The Work Of The Son (v.7-14)

• Ephesians 1:7-10 : "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him." In Jesus, we have, literally, THE redemption, as we know that there is no other, except through His blood. The word speaks of the payment of a ransom and the subsequent freedom enjoyed.

- In Christ, we who have believed have the forgiveness of our sins, which corresponds to the release from imprisonment.

- God who is rich, wealthy beyond our imagination, caused this to abound toward us!

- He has been lavish toward us when it comes to His grace. He has not merely met the minimum requirement. He has embarrassed us with His good grace!

- With all wisdom and understanding, He has unveiled the mystery of His will, again, because of His good pleasure that originated in Himself! This is the gift of revelation!

- God's grace is active toward us because He wants to be gracious toward us! Why? Because He is working toward a time when He brings all things under the Lord's rulership.

- The word "dispensation" speaks of management or administration. God is managing time and measuring it out to it's fullest degree.

- I always appreciate the picture created by the word fullness. The ship has taken on all it's passengers, all of it's crew and all of it's cargo. All that's left is to sail away!

- People have the opportunity now to get on board. That's the word for "time." But when that is finished and only He knows when that is, He will have brought all under things a specific heading.

- All who have trusted in Christ who have passed away, and those which are on the earth, will be joined together in Him!

- God is not sitting in heaven idly passing the time. He continues to orchestrate events and work through the faithfulness of the church, perhaps often in spite of it, to call people to Himself!

- There is a number of redeemed souls that will enter the house of God and be united to Christ. Only He knows it and only He knows the time that it will take to bring them in.

- These blessings available in Jesus Christ alone! No person in the world apart from Him can claim any part of Christ's good work, that is until they trust Him and then it's theirs as much as ours!

• Ephesians 1:11,12 : "In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory." : What will we be sailing toward? God has given His people a possession, a lot, a heritage, in Christ. This inheritance was decided again, beforehand by God.

- God's church was predestined to this according to the Lord's purpose, the One who works all things according to what He wills to do!

- God is not moved by anything other than His own desire. He simply wants to do these things. Those that first believed in the Lord, the Jewish church of Acts 2, came into this reality.

- They would be the advertisement to His greatness, the reality, the weight of His worth! Christians are God's trophy! We are what He shows off to the World around us!

- His goodness expressed toward us, the blessing that has been lavished upon us, issues in our showing the world that He is real and can really change lives!

• Ephesians 1:13,14 : "In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory." :  In Christ, you, the church of Ephesus, and you the church in Colton, also trusted.

- When they heard of Christ from Paul, they perceived and understood the personal significance. They heard the word of truth and it penetrated their hearts. They believed.

- There are some who hear the word of truth and don't comprehend it. It falls on deaf ears. But not the Ephesians. They trusted in Christ! How? Through the announcement of their salvation!

- How vital is it to know and share this with others! There is no salvation apart from the name of Jesus Christ and when a sinner believes, he or she can be a saint in a moment of time!

- Once they have believed, God sealed it, authenticated it with His seal, the Holy Spirit of promise! He's our guarantee! The word speaks to a security, a confirmation of the expectation.

- His presence in our life today, guarantees access to the inheritance stored up in our redemption tomorrow!

- Notice in salvation that God keeps giving us Himself. It's His eternal life in purpose. It's His own Son in sacrifice! It's His own Spirit in the experience of our life! This brings us to our final section.

III. The Work Of The Holy Spirit (v.15-23)

• Ephesians 1:15,16 : "Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers:" : Because of all the unbelievable blessings that are for those in Christ, when Paul heard of their faith in Jesus and their love for the saints, he gave thanks for them!

- Some believe that this points to a non-specified group of people who received this letter, making this a circular or general epistle. Others hold to this moment when Paul met the original 12.

- Either way, the reality of what they were caused great thanksgiving in Paul's heart as he prayed for them.

- What was he thankful for? Their faith in the Lord Jesus and love for all the saints! Does that mark you? It should! Paul lets them into the prayers that he prayed for them.

• Ephesians 1:17-21 : "that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come." : Beyond all that we have in Christ, we have need yet greater insight into who He is! We need to know how to live!  We need his enlightenment. Who gives us this? The Spirit who leads us into all truth!

- Our understanding, our discernment in all days, but these especially, needs to be keen.

- Paul is praying for their ability to see things in a clear light. That's what God's Spirit does: He makes clear what had been confused by shining His light on the circumstances. This is clarity.

- Next, Paul prays for their confidence! He prays that they would know what is the expectation of His calling! He has invited us into a relationship with HImself through Christ.

- We need a thorough confidence in the end of that, meaning that we must be confident in where this relationship is headed! God is not endlessly dating us! There is a marriage coming!

- We need confidence in the riches of the glory of His inheritance. We need to know, not wish, that God has a greater inheritance in store for us than what can be gained here on earth!

- Are your eyes more focused on what you have in Christ or in what you have on earth!?

- The third thing that we need to know with confidence is the exceeding greatness of His power. It's power that goes well beyond whatever we could face! That is available to us!

- What sort of power is it? It's power enough to rause Christ from the dead and raise Him not simply back to life, but to raise Him to the Highest place in the universe!

- There is no rank above Jesus, neither principality, nor power, nor might, nor rule! These words all extend to differing ranks of authority.

- In case Paul missed any or some have been added since, he also mentions any name that is named in any time or place! Jesus is above them all!

- This is the power of Christ in you! This is the power to change your life, to bless your work, to minister to your struggle! We need confidence that this is the case!

- This is the case with Jesus, who laid down His life in obedience, humbled Himself to the point of a humiliating death, and now, God has exalted Him to the greatest place in all the universe!

• Ephesians 1:22,23 : "And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all." : Everything is subordinate to Christ in the mind of God. Jesus has been given headship first and foremost, over all things, the church being first!

- Listen to this astounding word: The One without equal in the Universe, whose name is above every other name, is THE Sovereign authority over His Church, His Body!

- What a folly for a Pastor or a team of people to decide what they are going to do in the Church without consulting the One who is the head!

- The church is much more than an organization; It's an organism! His body is moved, directed by the One who has the vision and the mind and the heart for it's actions!

- How much do we need to take this in? Is He not our head? Is He not directing steps? We need to become increasingly dependant and ever more obedient in this way!

- His body is the fullness of Him who fills all in all! In other words, the church is the representation of Christ, who fills the church with His own presence everywhere!

- Every person in Christ's body expresses a little part of the character and attributes of Jesus!

Conclusion
- God the Father conceived a plan which became a reality. He elected, predestined, adopted and made graceful a people for His Son.

- God the Son carried out the plan, redeeming, forgiving, revealing His Father's will to bring all under His sovereign rule and sealing us with His Spirit.

- God the Holy Spirit continues the work, giving us clarity to walk in wisdom and understanding and confidence to know our destiny, our riches and our Lord's final power!

- This is our God! This is who we worship! This is why Paul could sit in a prison cell and exult in his glorious position! May we learn to do the same!