Derek Thomas: Chosen in Christ: God’s Eternal Plan of Redemption

I have been given an extraordinary privilege of chosen in Christ and the wonderful benefits of redemption and I'm going to ask you now to turn with me to perhaps one of the Magnificent chapters of the Scriptures and you may pull me aside afterwards and say that all scripture is magnificent and we'll have that debate then and I agree but but Ephesians chapter 1 if he's ins chapter 1 and we'll read together the first fourteen verses bear in mind that verses 3 to 14 in the original Greek is one sentence Paul an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God to the Saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ 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 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him in love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ according to the purpose of his will to the praise of his glorious grace with which he has blessed us in the beloved in him we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of his grace which he lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time to unite all things in him things in heaven and things on earth 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 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory 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 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it to the praise of his glory well thus far God's holy and inerrant word and may he had his blessing to the reading of it CS Lewis has that phrase secret from the dawn of time secret from the dawn of time and in many respects that's what Ephesians 1 is about we have been made privy to a secret from the dawn of time when you and I become Christians when you and I believe on the Lord Jesus Christ when we are quickened and regenerated by the power of the Holy Spirit and we come to rest in Christ and in alone for our salvation when the Holy Spirit comes and dwells within us as the seal of God witnessing with our spirits that we are the children of God and if children heirs heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ we are shown part of a mystery we are made part of God's eternal plan and purpose we are what we are today in Jesus Christ because God has a plan it's not something uncertain it's not something wistful it's not some fleeting thing it is a sure thing a definite thing that goes back into eternity before Mount Ranier in all of its splendor and glory today before there was a creation when there was only God in three persons in communion with himself within himself Father Son and Holy Spirit in what the Greek theologians of the early church referred to as perichoresis what the Latin theologians referred to as circum in sessio in the dance of the Trinity there was a plan there was a purpose there was a will there was a resolve and the astonishing thing wonderful thing is that this afternoon as as we come apart from all of the things that concern us all of the family things work things the things that concern CNN or Fox News or whatever put all that behind you for these few days together and remind yourself you have been made privy to part of God's eternal plan and purpose and and we're going back but we're also going forward because what God has begun to do in you began in eternity but ends in eternity and I has not seen nor ear heard neither has it entered into the heart of man what God has prepared for those that love him this is one of the longest sentences in all the Bible in fact if you wrote this sentence and presented it to me as a as a paper I probably fail you it must have been surely it must have been the Paul was so caught up with the sheer excitement of it that he said forget about the rules of Greek grammar and it all just came out in a torrent all the wonderful blessings that God has bestowed upon those who are now in Union and communion with Jesus Christ Paul who is less than the least of all the apostles all of the saints a man of prayer called to be a minister of the gospel and he's writing to these believers in Ephesus and it's a theological treatise my dear friend Sinclair Ferguson I had the enormous privilege of being on staff with him I was his Lackey for a couple of years I was the evening preacher he was the morning preacher and they were two of the most delightful years of my entire ministry God had taken me home at the end of that it would have been fine and Sinclair and I face time probably four or five times a week and it's just one of incredible blessings of my life but I remember when I first came to First Presbyterian Church in Columbia South Carolina he said what are you gonna preach on and I said well I'm I'm not sure I said you know I suggested a few things no you're going to do a fusion she said and I said but but you've written a commentary on Ephesians its Sinclair it's kind of intimidating now you got to do officials because he said and I remember its phrase and it's stuck with me there comes a time in the life of every Christian when they need to be Ephesians he turned it into a verb that there comes a time in the life of every Christian when they need to be efficient and then I got it I understood what he was trying to say that there comes a time in the life of every Christian when you need a system of theology that's big enough to contain the whole of God's redemptive purposes and you see yourself not as an individual not just somebody who's been converted not just somebody who's been saved at such-and-such a moment but you see yourself as part of a gigantic immeasurable plan and purpose and that's what Ephesians 1 2 & 3 are about God's redemptive plan and purpose and it begins it begins well like a symphony and it begins with crashing chords now I love classical music I'm a bit of a nerd about it I get kind of obsessional about it so forgive me but but this is this is a bit like the opening of you know Beethoven's fifth symphony except that Beethoven's fifth symphony is more about fate but it begins and everybody knows how Beethoven's fifth simply begins da da da da and everybody knows that well that's how this begins it begins with these crashing poured pouring out as it were the massive privileges which are ours in the gospel in Christ blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us blessed be God because he is blessed us true versions of the same word literally to speak well off we speak well of him because he has spoken well of us in Christ BB Warfield once said about diffusions 1 3 to 14 that these words should never be read in church they should always be sung don't you love that they shouldn't just be read they should be something because they should engage the affections and emotions it talks about a mystery not not a mystery in the sense of a mystery novel and some of you might read mystery novels but but mystery in the sense of something that otherwise would have been hidden but now has been revealed now it has been disclosed he talks about it there in verses 8 and 9 making known to us verse 9 the mystery of his will according to his purpose you'll pick it up again in chapter 3 and verses 3 and 4 and a little later in chapter 3 and an unfolding an unfolding of the of the purposes and plans a little what we've been given a little insight into the mind of God it's like as though he's he's pulled back the curtain just a little and allowed us a little glimpse of the way things are of reality of who we are why we are where we're going and the reason for well for everything God's purpose is vast he says here in verse 10 to unite all things in him that's a pretty big purpose isn't it the world is out of joint oh my the world is out of joint the world creation itself groans and travels in in pain in pains of childbirth waiting for the renewal of all things it's straining and and groaning and in labor pains waiting for the renewal of all things here in Ephesians Paul especially is talking about how as a result of the fall we are out of sorts our relationships are broken broken in families broken in nations broken in international aspects he talks especially about Jews and Gentiles the middle wall of partition having been broken down by the gospel and the gospel comes in and unites those who are otherwise on on different sides of a wall or a fence and God's purpose God's goal in Redemption is to unite all things nature red in tooth and claw Tennessee and God's plan is to restore God has a plan God has a purpose now five blessings are mentioned here and where we're gonna be flying at thirty five thirty six thousand feet fasten your seatbelts we're not going to get down into all of the nooks and crannies of this chapter this is a series of sermons and addresses that could take you a year we're gonna fly over it we're gonna look at the panorama that this one greek sentence two hundred and twenty greek words is and there are five blessings that i want to mention first of all election and you see it there especially in verse four even has as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world and then if you carefully read through this chapter you'll see it's almost as though the apostle paul has taken a thesaurus he talks about god's purpose he talks about God's will he talks about predestination he talks about election he talks about choosing and he uses half a dozen more words all of which are like synonyms all conveying together a mighty sovereign unhindered plan and purpose of Almighty God Paul isn't Paul isn't seen doesn't seem here to be at all reticent or reluctant by talking about election or predestination or the will or the or the purpose of God he doesn't seem he doesn't seem frightened that he might offend someone in Ephesus he doesn't seem aware at all that there might be those who are reading what he's saying and listening to what he's saying who who are concerned about free will or autonomy and in the in the broadest terms of autonomy across in Chapter two he'll tell us what the condition of those of whom he is speaking actually yes and he'll he'll go on to say that while they are dead in trespasses and in since even when we were dead in trespasses and in sins God made us alive together in him in Christ and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ but but they are dead you see you understand what that means don't you when somebody is is dead we're not talking here about somebody who's sick we're not talking about somebody who's mortally sick we're not talking about somebody who's in in a in a room somewhere with tubes and machines but there's a heartbeat and there's respiration however minimal that maybe that's not the condition that Paul is thinking of here he's saying they're dead you and you and I outside of Union and communion with Jesus Christ are dead in trespasses and in sins that means there is no life there is no emotional life there is no cognitive life there is no volitional life we're dead dead dead people don't think dead people have no free will the issue of volunteerism is not something that dead people are thinking about two questions arise for us when Paul talks about chosen in price from before the foundation of the world even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world what about free will and what about justice those are two questions that arise whenever you think about the issue of election of predestination or God's choice chosen in him what about free will well whose freewill are you talking about are you talking about the freewill if somebody was dead in trespasses and in sins are you talking about the free will of someone who has no ability no ability to breathe no ability to think no ability to move no ability in respiration no ability in terms of responding to any outside stimulus whatsoever or are you talking about the free will of a sovereign omnipotent God who holds the world in the palms of his hands and none can say to him what are you doing you need to cast yourself on the free will of Almighty God if you're going to have any hope at all if there is going to be any future for you and what about justice well Paul of course would respond here I think in Ephesians at least in temporal terms if it's justice you want then we're all going to be damned because we are dead in trespasses and in sins and we are therefore unable to respond and we are therefore unable to regenerate ourselves or to prepare ourselves thereunto John Calvin the sixteenth-century Genevan reformer extraordinary the age of 27 perhaps converted three years or so produces the first edition of the Institutes of the Christian religion 1536 out of nowhere he comes Europe is hardly aware that he even exists and he publishes a book that 500 years later is still deemed to be one of the most important books in theology if you were to list a half a dozen books that are of prime importance in the history of theology whether you agree with Calvin or disagree with Calvin that's irrelevant but if you ask yourself the question named half a dozen books that have influenced theology since the closing of the Canon of the New Testament Calvin's Institute's would surely be one of them and then he revises it three years later in 1539 and large as it and revises it and he makes one change just one change he moves the doctrine of election from where it logically belongs in the doctrine of God what God does what God thinks what God wills the decisions of God he moves it from there to what becomes book three of the Institute's the application of redemption and he does that for pastoral reasons Calvin is saying there's absolutely no point in arguing with an unbeliever about election they don't understand election it's a family secret it's a family secret and once you're in the family once redemption has been applied then you ask the question how come this redemption is being applied to me and not to that one how come there are those who believe in there are those who don't believe how come there are saints and sinners how come what's the reason because bill before the foundation of the world before there ever was a universe in the mind and heart and affections of Almighty God Father Son and Holy Spirit God the Father chose you in communion with the Lord Jesus that's why it's a beautiful thing it's a beautiful thing you know actually as every Christian I've ever met instinctively believes this yes I'm not talking then what comes out of their mouth when they talk but instinctively they believe this you see when when you think about your salvation what do you think about and you get down on your knees and you begin to talk to God about your salvation what you say you see because if you if you really believe that this salvation is entirely due in the first place to human autonomy it's entirely due in the first place to volunteerism it's entirely due to a decision that you made then have the courage of your convictions say to God you know time at I made this decision mr. this was all me it was a good decision there was a very good decision I deserve some credit here so just for a minute I'm gonna thank myself I made a good choice now I've never heard anyone do that ever I have encountered our minions I've encountered semi-pelagianism to the sovereignty of God in some form perspective or other and I've had discussions with them but I've never heard anyone say I thank myself because that's the logic of that thinking but when you get down on your knees you say lord thank you for saving me thank you for rescuing me when I was converted and I'm I wasn't raised in a Christian home and and and didn't possess a Bible my prayer 1971 45 years ago now was Lord if you're there if you exist save me it wasn't terribly theological there was a cry of desperation and the experience of overwhelming sovereign omnipotent grace and light began to shine not literally but in my mind and in my heart and in my affections I began to see things and understand things and comprehend things and love things and respond to things and it was all of him I was born from above I was born by the omnipotent sovereign power of God and I realized that that sovereign omnipotent power of God was something that had been planned and purposed from all eternity and that's the first blessing that Paul speaks of and the second one he mentions in verse 5 is adoption because what does the plan the purpose the chosen in Christ what does it do what is it what does it lead to how does it manifest itself and it manifests itself in adoption for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ now I know we live in an age where we want to save adoption as sons and daughters I understand that instinct but it doesn't make sense in the New Testament because in the first century daughters did not inherit so for Paul's readers it wouldn't have made any sense whatsoever because only sons inherited in the first century and that was point that what we received is the kind of adoption that only sons received an adoption with an inheritance we are heirs and we are heirs of God and we are joint heirs with Jesus Christ God's only begotten son I remember I remember visiting Jerusalem I was leading a tour I made a vow that I would never ever lead a tour ever again I did it two times I paid my dues I'm not doing it ever again there were just too many things that went wrong but I remember being in Jerusalem and it's coming up to Shabbat and it's it's getting dark and we were heading towards the Wailing Wall and these this father and his son and and that their hassidim Jews and wearing all of the typical clothes of someone of that tradition and he's got a little boy and the little boys I'm guessing two and a half three years old something like that and it's barely able to walk and and he's late and and he needs to get to the Wailing Wall and so he's he's got ahold of this son by the hand and as he's walking very fast the boy is airborne for two or three steps and then he lands and then he's airborne again and lands and the whole time the little boy is saying Abba Abba Abba ABBA and then and then the the man stops and and he bends down and he and he picks him up and carries her and continuous at the same pace now I've been to seminary I know what the word Abba means I know it's Aramaic not Hebrew I know it was the the common word used in the first century by Jews speaking Aramaic for father I know that I know that but it was it was like a light bulb going off this here is this this is what this is what ABBA means this is what adoption means that I'm treated as a son and this this was a picture of it this is what my Heavenly Father had done for me it grabbed hold of my hand and then he bent down and he lifted me and drew me to himself and I have a relationship in Christ in union and fellowship with Christ I have a relationship by which I can call the God who created man premiere you can tell there's no mount ranier in South Carolina it's a beautiful state it's hot it's hot but when I saw that snow-capped mountain took my breath away don't you take it for granted before God created man Rainier in the mind and heart and affections of Almighty God Father Son and Holy Spirit there was a plan and that plan was that sinners yes he for some it was a plan that involved creation and the possibility that that God's created Adam and Eve would fall that was part of the plan but it was also part of God's plan that he would send a redeemer a redeemer who would who died in the room instead in place of sinners and it was part of God's plan that he would rescue these sinners and that he would adopt them into his family now I grew up in the 50s 60s and I love my family but they were dysfunctional my parents were heading towards a divorce and so on and these are personal things but as the 17 18 year old I felt the angst the pain of what it means not to have a great relationship with parents and lots of teenagers today can can experience something similar well I went through all of that I remember I remember what a joy what an incredible blessing it was when I came to put my faith in the Lord Jesus I need him alone for my salvation I was quickened I was renewed and I was born again and became a new creation in Jesus Christ but but more than that I had one that I could call father father I was in a family I was a son I was a child of God with brothers and sisters and a an elder brother by the name of the Lord Jesus and I had a heavenly father who loved me he'd always loved me and nothing can separate me from that love it was that love that sent the Lord Jesus into the world to rescue me adoption it's amazing how adoption was never considered a dominant part of systematic theology until almost the 20th century it was just a paragraph in birkhoff's systematic theology and who hasn't read birkhoff's don't put your hand up who hasn't read berker of systematic theology adoption is just a paragraph at the end of justification and here it is in Paul in this incredible lengthy sentence of the Apostle Paul is one of the great blessings the third one is in verse seven redemption in him we have redemption through his blood one of the great biblical words for the atonement what it is that Jesus has accomplished other words would be words like reconciliation other words would be non-biblical words but drawn from ideas and concepts in the Bible like substitution and satisfaction satisfying divine justice and yes this would Redemption from the marketplace a word that conveys the idea that we have been purchased that payment has been made to set us free and what payment we have been redeemed verse seven in him we have redemption through his blood there it is what did it cost to set God's plan God's purpose God's choice of you and me but it it cost you you understand and and and I don't think that it was possible for God simply to will our salvation just simply will it it has to be it has to be through it has to satisfy divine justice to use the language of the Westminster Confession and the cost of satisfying divine justice is that someone someone needs to pay the price of sin to set us free blood has to be shed he did not spare him he did not spare him but freely delivered him up for us all those awards that come from the eighth chapter of Romans another great chapter in the New Testament he did not spare him same word same Greek word in the Greek translation of Genesis 22 the offering of Isaac God spared Isaac same word God spared Isaac provided a lamb caught in the thicket as a substitute God spared Isaac he did not spare his own son whom he loved we can't even begin to imagine the love the father has for his son his only begotten son but he did not spare him freely delivered him up for us all we are redeemed the payment the ransom price has been paid to set us free it is the blood of Jesus Christ that's the cost there's a fourth blessing as in verse 9 the illumination of Christ making known to us the mystery of his will according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time to unite all things in him things in heaven and things enough one of the great blessings of the gospel we've been we've been made privy to a plan to a purpose and part of that purpose the the the great central part of that purpose is that God is going to unite all things in Jesus Christ through paying a Redemption price to set us free to break down the middle wall of partition between Jew and and Gentile so that in Jesus Christ we are we are one one church one body one Bride of Christ and and and to restore this fallen creation well Chris opened the door so let me tell you about my dogs I love my dogs I'm often asked the question and please don't be offended now but I'm often asked the question other dogs in heaven I love the question and I always answer the question in exactly the same way and I say of course why would there not be what kind of new heavens and new earth are you actually expecting because everything in the Bible to me says God is going to restore all things the wolf from the lion will lie down together is that is that just a picture or is it meant to convey that God is actually going to restore this fallen creation and it's going to be full of everything that God has ever created for his praise and glory Canton mansion a new heavens and new earth without dogs cats maybe but I should explain we have three cats God has led us into a little secret he's unfolded the mystery of his will he's going to restore all things he's going to unite all things in Christ in the gospel this is not universalism this this this restoration is in the gospel this restoration is about those who are in union with Jesus Christ there is a heaven and there is a hell there is an insight and then in the final chapter of the Bible there is an outside but inside you and I who believe in Jesus Christ were resting in him alone we are caught up in a plan that is bigger and greater and vaster than you have ever imagined it to be we are not excited enough I was in my hotel room this morning I was looking at this passage but the the TV was on news it was on CNN it was about the election of course and it was so utterly boring and depressing it was just depressing my dear friends if you if you immerse yourself in this from day to day and I'm not saying you don't get involved in the world of politics but if that's all that you immerse yourself in it's depressing because the salvation of souls does not ultimately depend on who's in the White House and God's incredible plan and purpose none can thwart is your God big enough to encompass all of them evils that have befallen this world because this little plan this little plan is saying God is going to accomplish something he's gonna work out all things all things work together for the good of those that love him yes even even the bad things and even the evil things so that you and I can say as job could say in the face of over whelming difficulties the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away blessed be the name of the Lord shall we not accept good at the hands of God and not evil he says to his wife now there speaks a Calvinist there speaks someone who believes in the total sovereignty of Almighty God we may not understand what God is doing right now but you know my friend it's not really important that we understand it what's important is that we believe it and that we trust it and that he understands we are chosen we are adopted we are redeemed we are let into the plan illumined by Christ and there's a fifth blessing and I can only just mention it in verses 11 12 and 13 we are sealed in him also we are sealed we've obtained an inheritance having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will so that we who are the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory in him Brazil 13 you also when you heard the word of truth the gospel of your salvation and believed in him was sealed with the promised Holy Spirit as that as a guarantee of our inheritance now there's a debate and a discussion as to whether the Holy Spirit is himself the seal or whether the the Holy Spirit does something in us which is the seal and on one side this the likes of John Owen and on the other side there's the likes of Richard sibs and Thomas Goodwin and that's a fascinating discussion and I'm gonna have to break through all of that now because I've only got a minute left but my view is that the Holy Spirit is himself the seal the downpayment when I was a little boy teenager I lived in a village where there was a horse sale there was a nationally-known horse sale I remember coming home from school getting off the school bus on a Thursday it was the last Thursday of every month and I would make my way down to the horse sale and there you know there would be the official sales ring and there'd be an auctioneer and so on selling below and then on the fringes there would be illegal trading using the facilities but not paying the fees you understand so no money would be passing there'd be little furtive and I was a little boy and I would just sidle up and no one take much notice and I would listen to what was going on there was they were selling trading and then they did something that'll offend you it was the seal they would spit in their hands and then they would shake hands now that may offend you you'd have to use some some antique antibacterial soap you know but that was the seal won't be tied you they would drive off 20 miles pullin a lay-by money would be exchanged the horse would be handed over and so on but that was the seal God has given us a seal a guarantee that everything that's part of this plan and purpose will be done and that seal is the holy spirit what an extraordinary what a wonderful thing it is to be a Christian chosen in Christ from before the foundation of the world and nothing and no one can separate us from his love father we thank you we are just barely scratching the surface of this magnificent passage pray for ourselves as we gather in conference together as we now take a trajectory through different speakers and different studies teachers but not just our minds don't just give us a munition so that we might be able to win an argument with someone who opposes us but fill our hearts and affections with an overwhelming sense of love and gratitude to you but you have loved us from before the foundation of the world a love that none can separate and foil and bless us we pray for Jesus sake amen you

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Keywords: ligonier, ligonier ministries, ligonier conference, ligonier conference 2016, derek thomas, derek, thomas, chosen in christ, chosen, christ, god's eternal plan, the eternal plan of god, redemption, god's plan of redemption, the eternal plan of redemption, god and redemption, god, election, god's election, doctrine of election, the gospel, gospel, god's plan, eternal plan, plan of god, election in christ, reformed theology, reformation theology, theology, reformed, bible, christian, jesus

Id: y6g97wdT3JA

Length: 51min 51sec (3111 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 09 2016