THE PURPOSE OF GRACE | Ephesians 1:1-14

a few months ago chance the rapper a hip-hop artist from Chicago featured a new hit song called blessings and while I'll admit that I'm not an avid hip-hop listener every time I've heard the song this summer I find myself singing along with it it's catchy it's provoking but is it true the repeated refrain of the song is when the praises go up the blessings come down now I will say that chance the rapper is clear to distinguish that in one of the verses that blessings are different than worldly possessions and I applaud the lingering power behind the refrained I'm gonna praise him I'm gonna praise him I'm gonna praise him till I'm gone and to this I say Amen but I want to call into question this idea that when the praises go up the blessings come down the progression here implies that when I praise God the result is that I experience his blessing I want to be careful in the way I say this because on the one hand it's true there is incredible blessing to be found in a life of praising God but I think that the song may have it backwards because I believe that what the Word of God teaches and I believe what we'll see as we turn to the book of Ephesians is that the blessings have already come down and when we realize this the praises go up so if you have your Bible I invite you to open up to that passage we read moments ago Ephesians chapter 1 verses 1 through 14 Ephesians chapter 1 verses 1 through 14 and Wendell if you can hit that first slide this morning we're beginning a new sermon series through the book of Ephesians and I've called it immeasurably more partially because that's what Paul prays in chapter 3 of Ephesians when he prays to him who is able to do immeasurably more than we could ask or imagine according to the power that is at work within us but it's my hope for us as we journey through the letter of Ephesians over the next couple of months is that we would realize is that for those who have put their faith in Christ there is immeasurably more to be experienced to be realized to be known to be cherished and practiced there is immeasurably more in the depths of God's grace than we could ever realize and that's the the purpose that the Apostle Paul writes this letter he wants crit the Christians and Ephesus to realize that there is immeasurably more to be experienced in the Christian life than our present experience of Jesus and so he begins here in Ephesians chapter one addressing the church in Ephesus give me a moment as I turn there he says Paul an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God is is how Paul often begins his letters he says to God's holy people in Ephesus to the faithful in Christ Jesus grace and peace to you from God our Father in 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 and then now I think we have to pause there and realize what kind of claim that Paul is making here when he says that he has blessed us with every spiritual blessing and and now now remember what I said moments ago is that the blessings have already come down and when we realize that the praises go up and that's how Paul starts his letter to the church in Ephesus he says the blessings have already come down in Christ Jesus as we read God's Word it's it's helpful for us that sometimes zoom out a little bit and notice the the major themes that we find throughout a book so I put the text up here you might not be able to read it because it's kind of small but I wanted to fit though the whole text that we are looking at this morning on here and as we read through this in the original language it it's a run-on sentence this is the the the craziest grammar you've ever seen because it's like Paul takes a huge breath before he talks and he tries to get out everything about the blessing of being in Jesus in one sentence and it's just this run-on sentence that goes on and on and and in English we break it up into different sentences but but what we have here is a sentence that is all interrelated interconnected because Paul wants us to realize that every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus is ours as believers in Jesus Christ and the reason that they are ours is that we are in Christ notice as we go to the next slide notice how many times in Christ or in him appears in this passage praise be to God the father of Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ and that's gonna become the major theme that drives Paul's letter as he moves on is that he wants us to realize that blessing has already come down in Christ in him in the one in him in Christ in him in Christ in Christ in him this becomes the major paradigm by which we are able to view ourselves in light of God is that when we put our faith in Jesus Christ God looks not at us as fallen and flawed and broken individuals but he looks at the perfection of Jesus and because of that we are in Christ we are in him and we experience every spiritual blessing and so as the passage goes on we will see that Paul wants us to realize that three ways in which this blessing of being in Christ is experienced and so I don't do this often as I preach but this morning I want you to remember three words as we go from here Missouri were dar chosen I don't actually have these window you can just leave it they are chosen redeemed and sealed chosen redeemed and sealed and this is how we as believers in Jesus Christ experience the blessing that has already come down notice verse 4 it says he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be blameless in his sight and now you say hold on a second I chose Jesus I chose to follow him I I have decided to follow Jesus no turning back and and I think that that Paul as he writes to the church in Galatians kind of captures this sense in Galatians chapter 4 verse 8 he says you have you have come to know Jesus and then he paused this for a second he says or rather be known by him and that's the reality for us as believers in Jesus is that God in his the mystery of his will before time even began chose each of us to be his children and I want us not to get caught up on the the semantics here of being chosen by God because there's been a lot of ink that has been spill over the years over this concept of God's election of him choosing and many will say well why didn't God choose choose everyone why why he got you some and not choose everyone and and I think it's important for us to not only notice what this passage is saying but what it's saying about what it's saying and so what what I mean there is what this passage is saying is that for believers in Jesus Christ God chose you before time even began but what's saying about that is that this is is God's grace this is God's love if this is this is notice at the end of verse four going into verse five it says in love he predestined to us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ and so we're given this picture of adoption and and here we are as as individuals who are fallen and our relationship with God is broken because because ultimately we chose our own way and we chose it you know I don't want to be part of your family god I'm going to choose my own way and all of us have fallen into that pattern and God comes along in His infinite grace and love and he and he chooses you to be adopted as his son he says come into my family and experience the joy of being my child in the ancient world the adoption was often a picture that a family would use when when when a family wouldn't have any children and they had an inheritance that they wanted to pass on and so often it is with great soberness that we realized this but there was slavery in the ancient world and what would often happen is that that family would choose to adopt a slave and they would bring them in and it would be a legal process where they would become a child and so they are no longer a slave but now a child and along with that comes an inheritance and what what Paul is saying about this this kind of election in which God chooses those who would believe in him is that this is about grace none of us deserve God's favor but God has extended his favor he's extended his blessing the blessings have already come down and we when we put our faith in Jesus we realized you know what I follow Jesus but now I'm beginning to realize that he chose me long before the creation of the world and so we have good that this picture of God the Father choosing us to be adopted as sons and in that we experience every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places notice notice the he chose us where in him in Christ you see when we become United with Jesus by faith in him we become sons daughters heirs of God he welcomes us as family so not only does the father choose us the son redeems us notice verse 7 it says in him in Christ we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of sins in accordance with the riches of God's grace and here here is here is the this magnificent reality that in order for God to adopt us as his children there had to been the score had to have been settled because we because of our sin because of our brokenness because of our rebellion against God were separated from him deserving death and so it's not that God says you know what I'm gonna forget about that I'm just gonna welcome you as my children forgiveness and doesn't work that way for a debt to be canceled it has to be paid for by somebody and that's what Jesus did at the cross it says in him we have redemption through his blood through his death we experienced this amazing reality that we call redemption this word was also used with wit with slaves when when when a slave would be bought out of slavery and be welcomed into a household this was the concept of redemption and it Paul picks this up but later on in in Galatians in chapter 4 as he says you are no longer slaves you are sons you are daughters you are heirs of God we have experienced redemption through Jesus Christ and so and so as this as we see this passage progress I'm using these three words chosen redeemed sealed because because there is so much here that we could we could we could dwell upon and I hope that you will spend some time this week just reflecting on the the depth of the riches of this passage but as we read through it these are the major picture them as hooks to hang the truths of this passage on chosen redeemed sealed were chosen by the father redeemed by the son but not only that we're told that we are sealed by the Spirit look down at verse verse 13 it says and you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth the gospel of your salvation when you believed you were marked in him with a seal the promised Holy Spirit an ancient world what would often happen when someone had something precious to them that they wanted to keep secure that no one got into it until the right time they would take wax they would put it in a container and they would take wax and put wax around the seal of that container and then they would mark it maybe like a signet ring but like I have with my initials they would mark the wax with their initials or their mark to identify this is sealed for me no one can tamper with that no one can mess with that no one can get into it until the right time it is sealed it is secure and that is what Jesus promises us promises all who put their faith in Jesus is that you are sealed with the Holy Spirit and so the moment and this is what he says in verse 13 you were included in Christ the moment when you heard the message of truth and put your faith in Jesus you receive the Holy Spirit and that is what the promised Holy Spirit in john 14 jesus is with his disciples and he says i have to go away but it's for your benefit because i am sending my spirit the comforter who will be with you and this is what he says this is a guarantee this is a downpayment to guarantee that i am coming back again to give you full redemption i'm coming back one day where i'm gonna make everything right I'm gonna wipe away every tear I'm gonna wipe away every sorrow suffering will be no more in my spirit I am giving you as a guarantee it's a down payment greater things are yet to come and that's what he says as the passage continues he says in verse 14 the Holy Spirit who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession you're chosen by the Father redeemed by the son sealed by the spirit and this my friends is the reality that we have every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus everything that is Christ is ours he's one with the Father and we become one with the Father he is an inheritance of God the hope of heaven and that is ours when we heard the message of truth placed our faith in Jesus as our only Redemption our only way to have forgiveness of sins and when we have done that we are given the Holy Spirit who seals us guarantees this is the real deal if you're like me many of us have had moments where we said is this the real deal how do I be sure have you ever heard any of those old preachers who say are you sure that you're sure are you sure that you're sure that you're saved ever heard that was that kind of an old revival thing here is the guarantee of salvation is that if you have put your faith in Jesus you've been chosen by the Father redeemed by the son sealed by the Spirit every blessing that is in Christ Jesus is ours the blessings have already come down they came down when Jesus came to us to offer redemption through his blood and that is the reality of our faith that there is immeasurably more to be experienced immeasurably measurably more of this reality for us to cherish and to love and to realize on Monday morning when we're in the grind of the week when we sit back and realize I'm chosen by the father I'm redeemed by the Sun I'm sealed by the Spirit this is every blessing you could ever wish for or imagined and it is ours in Christ Jesus but the purpose of all this the purpose of God's grace extending his hand a fever to you and me why what is God's purpose in all of this again and we we want to we want to step back and realize a repeated theme with each of these things we are chosen by the Father redeemed by the son sealed by the Spirit with each of these we find this repeated phrase to the praise of his glory to the praise of his glorious grace for the praise of his glory to the praise of his glory so what Paul wants us to realize is that the purpose of grace is to welcome us as participants and praise UCI I think the song could be better said when the blessing the blessings have already come down and when we realize that the praises go up the purpose of God's grace is to welcome us as sons and daughters as participants in the praise of God because this my friends is what you and I were made for there's an old saying in the Westminster catechism that says the chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever this is what we were made for you were chosen by the Father redeemed by the son sealed by the Spirit so that you could be to the praise of his glory and that my friends when we experience that when we live in that reality when we walk in that truth each and every day of our lives it's then that we realize we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus the blessings have already come down and so the praises go up and this is what fuels our worship we don't sing on Sunday mornings we don't we don't worship God through all out our week based on how we feel or what we what we we think that day or or whether we are in the mood the fuel of our worship is the reality that we've been chosen by the Father redeemed by the son and sealed by the Spirit so this morning I'm gonna do something a little bit different as I close this sermon and I've written a spoken word a piece of poetry that summarizes this from the reality of this passage you are chosen by the father you're redeemed by the Sun you are sealed by the spirit our god the three and one to the praise of his glory is the theme of our song from beginning to end he's loved you all along he poured out his grace he's called you his own adopted as children you'll never be alone you were bought with the price redeemed by his blood every sin washed away forgiveness like a flood to call this a mystery it goes without saying our union with Christ he won't be delaying to all who believe you're marked with a seal you're filled with the spirit I guarantee that it's real he's given us this promise with Christ we are raised chosen redeemed sealed let his name be praised

Channel: Peter Frey

Views: 21,084

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Keywords: union congregational church, peter frey, the frey life, blessings, chance the rapper, when the blessings come down, to the praise of his glory, poem, spoken word, sermon, preaching, ephesians, immeasurably more

Id: D_c7WWOWh74

Length: 27min 2sec (1622 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 12 2016