The letter to the Ephesians

Ephesians 1v3-14 - Blessed in Christ: Past, Present and Future

Theme : God chose us, adopts us and guarantees our inheritance.
Aim : holy and blameless, for the praise of his glory

We heard earlier of the ministry which Doreen is involved with – Christians writing letters to those who are in prison, and ministering to them. It is a great work, and much good comes from it. It is interesting to consider the turnaround which we see in many of the NT letters, including this one – since it was written by the apostle Paul while he was himself a prisoner, in order to encourage Christians who he knew in the city of Ephesus.

Paul often starts his letters with theology, and then continues with practical application in the latter half of the letter. Typically these epistles are very densely written, with hardly a wasted word. Over the next few weeks we are going to be making our way through the first half of this letter, and hopefully getting to grips with some of the wonderful truths about Gods plan which is revealed in them.

Right at the start of this letter we are invited to think about the tremendous scope of Gods plan.
God has been thinking about us from before time began, he has plans for us now and in the future. Pretty amazing, huh?

In these first 14 verses we see the idea that we are chosen in the past, adopted in the present and assured of the future described in v3-10 and then reprised in v11-14.

Chosen in the past (v3-4, 11-12)

God has blessed us (that is, Christians) with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

How has he done this? v4 starts the explanation. Because he chose us in Christ.
When did he choose us? Before the creation of the world!
Why did he choose us? To be holy and blameless in his sight.

It is at the same time remarkable and reassuring that God didn’t choose us on the basis of how good we would be, or how clever we would be, or how handsome we would be – on any of those issues I’m sure I would have failed whatever grading was used!

As we’ll see in more detail in a couple of weeks time, God chose us out of pure grace. Before even the world was created God looked forward in time and saw you and saw me – and chose us for no other reason than he wanted to.

The idea that God chooses people is a biblical fact, it is not a human theology that was dreamt up by Calvin or Augustine or any other great theologians. Even though the idea may be difficult to understand, and difficult to bring together with our conceptions of free will, it is Gods way of doing things and always has been – you just have to look into the OT to see God choosing Israel on exactly the same basis.

Notice that he chose us to be holy and blameless. It certainly wasn’t our natural condition, but it is something that is to become true of us.

The fact that we are chosen is an incentive to holiness, not an excuse for sin. Someone might think “well, if God has already chosen me then it doesn’t matter how I live now – I can forget holiness and live just how I please”. This would be appalling arrogance, and in fact is almost the opposite way round from the way that we see this in practice (and in other scriptures). Effectively it is the continuing holiness of our lives, the pressing on with God which is the actual evidence that we are chosen by God.

So, long before we were born, long before the world was formed, God saw us and chose us in Jesus. Everything we have is through Jesus and in Jesus.

Adopted in the present (v5-8, 13a)

The next thing that we gain through Jesus is adoption – God chose us to be adopted as his sons. Adoption in those days was probably more complete than it is now – someone who was adopted into a family gained absolutely all the rights and privileges of the new family, and became indistinguishable from a natural son (or daughter).

I remember hearing a story about an adopted boy. His parents desperately wanted children but couldn’t have them. In the end they started the adoption process, and eventually were allowed to adopt a baby boy. They never told him that he was adopted, and the boy only found out one day at school when a teacher accidentally revealed that he was adopted. Some of the other kids laughed at him and said that he wasn’t his parents real son. He came home tearful that night and asked his parents whether it was true. They told him that it was, and explained how much they had wanted a child, and that when the time came they saw him as a little baby and chose him. The next day the boy returned to school and the other kids said “so, did your parents admit you are adopted?”. The boy smiled and said “yes. And you know what? I’m glad. You see, your parents didn’t have any choice about you, but my parents chose me!”

Adopted as sons, we have in the present all the privileges and responsibilities that come with it. As Christians we are part of Gods family and are expected to bear the family likeness, to behave in appropriate ways.

Our adoption is possible because (v7) of the redemption through Jesus’ blood and the forgiveness of sins that Jesus brings to all who accept him. As it says in v13 “you were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation”. The riches of Gods grace are lavished upon us(v8). Who can see all this and still turn away from the cross?

Assured of the future (v9-10, 13b-14)

Finally, we are assured of the future. This is what is meant in v9 when it talks about making known to us the mystery of Gods will… which he purposed in Christ. We know that it is the future because it talks about coming into effect “when the times will have reached their fulfilment”. Paul is talking about the point in time in the future, which might be veyr near, when Jesus Christ returns and all things on heaven and earth will come together under him as Lord and King.

v13b reminds his readers that the Holy Spirit is sent upon every believer in Christ to mark them out as his, and to assure them that they are guaranteed their place in heaven. We have just started looking at the Holy Spirit in our alpha course, just started thinking about how incredible it is that the third person of the Trinity actually comes to dwell within us when we become a Christian… that our lives are opened up to a spiritual reality which we had never really been aware of before.

Our present experience of the HS in our lives is this seal, this guarantee that all God has promised for us will come true. We are assured of our future with Christ in heaven.

All of us in this room today are here because we have been chosen by God. He loves you and he is for you and he has chosen you. That is why you are here rather than anywhere else this day and this time.

We are chosen because God loves us. John 3v16 “For God so loved the world…”

What is more, God’s love changes us. I’d like to finish with a short story that I read in Readers Digest. The author went to the Philippines, and travelling around some of the islands he often heard people mention “Johnny Samo”. He was the man who could get anything, arrange anything, fix anything; only he’d moved away to another island. Then they’d smirk. Eventually I got to hear the whole story, about how old man Fernando had managed to get one over Johnny Samo. You see, when someone wanted a bride, they had to provide a bride price, measured in cows. For a plain girl, it would be one cow. For a pretty girl it would be two cows. For a beautiful girl it might be as much as three cows. Fernando’s daughter had been barely pretty, yet Johnny Samo had paid an incredible SEVEN cows for her! No wonder he had moved away, he could hardly show his face around here again!
Intrigued, the writer set out to find Johnny Samo, and he found him some islands away. Where he lived, everyone spoke well of him and the author arranged to meet him. On the appointed day they met and were talking when a stunningly beautiful woman walked in, with tremendous poise and grace. She served them and left. Johnny noticed his gaze and said “I expect you heard the story of how I was fooled into paying too high a bride price? Let me ask you a question. How do you think a woman feels if she knows that her husband only paid 1 or 2 cows for her, if she was valued that low? Then how do you think she’ll feel knowing that I value her so much that I’ll pay a price that has never been made before or matched since? They still talk about the seven-cow bride back in those islands, don’t they? He smiled. “And you know what? I’ve got a seven-cow wife!”

Conclusion

God has chosen us to be holy and blameless for the praise of his glory. In other words, it brings praise to God when we live holy and blameless lives. The presence of the Holy Spirit in believers makes it possible to do this and, like Johnny Samo’s wife in the story, the magnitude of the price God has paid for us – the life of Jesus Christ given on the cross – Should give us the encouragement to press on and grow into what he expects of us!

Alex White