Ephesians 1:7-14

Celebration of Salvation

 

Intro: We have been Studying the book of Ephesians – The Believers treasure Chest – Blessings that belong to us in the Lord

A) Paul is highlighting SOME of those blessings in v. 3-14

 

B) We have noted that these blessings can be divided into 3 Categories that illustrate for us the work of the Triune God Head: God the Father, …., HS

1) V.3-6 We see the work of God the Father  - Last time  –v.4  Chose us before the foundation of the world

 

C) V. 5 He Predestined us to adoption as sons – { Now this term adoption doesn’t speak of HOW we were brought into the family of God

1) But rather it speaks of our Status in the family of God

 

D) When ever you read in the Bible of God Adopting us – understand it is speaking of our status { Adult Sons & Daughters – Privileges

 

See Biblical days – adoption wasn’t so much the adopting of Babies like we do today –

A) But rather it was taking someone who was an adult – who wasn’t a part of the family & adopting them into the family to share in all the benefits

 

B) Share in the inheritance { to have all of the privileges of an adult son or daughter –

1) So when God says that He adopted us into His Family – there are two ideas being communicated here 1st is Status – Adult Privileges { Join work

 

C) The 2nd idea is INTIMACY – WE get to call Him Father !

 

D)So v.4 The Father Chose us / v.5 He adopted us / v.6 He made us accepted in the beloved !!! –

1) Why did He do all of this  v. 5,6 according to the good pleasure of His will, v6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, {Just who He is}

Tonight we come to verse 7 the FOCUS switches from the blessings of election PAST to the celebration of OUR PRESENT redemption

A) Focus moves from the Work of the Father – to the Work of the son

Jesus accomplished what the Father Decided

 

B) The Father Choose us / Adopted us / made us accepted in the Beloved

1) But it was the work of the Son – that accomplished or made each of those blessings Possible-

 

C) SO in v.7 We read In Him we have redemption: The word redemption tells us something about our former state :  

1) We were imprisoned – for the word redemption speaks of delivering someone from a bound or imprisoned state { We ….SLAVE PIT OF SIN

 

D) The word Redeem means to Buy Back – We once belonged to God

1) Changed in the garden ……………………………… man forfeited that relationship w/ God

 

E) Jesus came to buy us Back – Jesus came to delivery us from the slavery of sin !!!   From being slaves to the law

 

 

Back in Roman times, slavery was part of the culture.  And one of the things that people would do is go to the marketplace to purchase slaves. 

A)And there were those that would occasionally go into the marketplace, and purchase a slave, and buy their freedom for them. 

 

B) And that’s what’s being talked about here—being delivered, having your freedom bought for you. 

1) We were bound to sin.  And because of our sin we were under the judgment of God.  But Jesus came.  And He purchased our freedom for us

 

C) He set us free from the Slave market of Sin

A father and son who worked for months to build a toy sailboat. Every night when he came home from work the man and his boy would disappear into the garage for hours.

When it was finished, they traveled to a nearby lake for the boat's trial run. Before launching it the father tied a string to its stern to keep it from sailing too far. The boat performed beautifully, but before long a motorboat crossing the lake cut the string, and the sailboat drifted out of sight on the large lake.

 

They Both Looked feverishly for the boat, but it was lost – so sad !!!

   A few weeks later as the boy was walking home from school he passed his favorite toy store and was amazed to see  his toy sailboat in the window…..

 

The store owner explained that he had found the boat while on a fishing trip. "You may be its maker," he said, "but as a finder I am its legal owner. You may have it back--for fifty dollars."

The Boy worked hard for Months …… he joyfully walked into the toy store and handed the owner fifty dollars in exchange for his sailboat.

 

It was the happiest day of his life. As he left the store he held the boat up to the sunlight. Its colors gleamed as though newly painted. "I made you, but I lost you," he said. "Now I've bought you back. That makes you twice mine, and twice mine is mine forever."

 

Jesus made you & He has Redeemed you – Twice His …forever

 

Notice the price of our Redemption: Thru His blood

A) That was what it cost – Lev. 17 :11 Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins

 

1 Peter 1:18-19  knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers,19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

 

B) The Human soul is such a Precious commodity that it cost the Son of God His Life !!!!!  HIS BLOOD FLOWED

C) Now Paul proceeds to reveal to us some of the blessings of redemption   -     1st  in v.7 – Forgiveness of sins

1) This is an amazing truth – Our Sins – many Forgiven –

 

D) The Scriptures sing in Glorious Harmony about the fullness of our Forgiveness

 

Isaiah 44: 22 “I have wiped out your transgressions like a thick cloud

And your sins like a heavy mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.”

 

HOW FAR HAS HE PUT THEM AWAY !!!!!

Ps 103:12 As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

 

Jer 31:34  For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."

 

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

 

Ps 32:1  Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered.

 

For 8 Long months David had lived under the Guilt of His Sin

A) But once it was exposed and confessed – And forgiveness Came – it was like this incredible weight was lifted off his Shoulder

 

B) SO the first Blessing of our Redemption is that our sins have been forgiven – removed – completely

 

C) Now notice what Paul says next about   This Work of Redemption which results in the Blessing of Forgiveness

1) He says that it is v.7 according to the riches of His Grace which he made abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence

 

 

Note the verbiage here : God has given to us according to his riches – not just from but according to His Riches

A) JD Rockefeller – riches man – Photos – wayward kids a dime

Gave from his riches – but not according

 

B) God gives according to his  riches – Sins forgiven & removed

1) His Grace abounds –

 

C) Taken out of slave market –freed -  made sons – co heirs

1) Grace – Abounds – greatest mental picture of that statement – Niagara falls – caption – Amazing Grace – there is always more to follow!!!

 

D) Spurgeon, many years ago, wrote a book called, “Grace Abounding.”  And that’s how we need to think of grace. 

1) We need to think of it as floods of grace, torrents of grace. 

 

E) More than you can handle -  all the grace you could ever need is available the moment we call upon the Lord to save us,

1) the moment we call upon the Lord to deliver, the moment we call upon the Lord to forgive us, the abounding grace is right there, just overflowing.  2) He’s caused His grace to abound toward us. 

 

God didn't say let's give them 5 chances to toe the line

A) No He said let's open up the store room / break down the gates / open

      up the dam!  Let Grace Flow!

 

Charles Hodge "  God gives from an unlimited treasure house , Grace is unlimited favor , an overflowing abundance of unmerited love , inexhaustible & freely accessible through Christ"

 

B) God can never be Stripped of His Grace & it doesn't run out!

 

 

 

The 2nd Blessing of our redemption is stated in v. 9,10  having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself,10 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

 

Watching a movie w/ my wife can be a real experience !

A)     If she is " into" the movie 1000 Questions-  Why doing that what is happening . What is going to happen?  The Endurance - Shake ton

 

B) Now I wasn’t freaking out – because I know the story – I know how it ends I know what happens !!!

 

C) Watching the world today is a lot like watching a movie / we

          don't know what is in middle / all details /

1) But we do know where it is heading{ We know what is going to happen

 

When one stops to look at the world it is easy to ponder such questions like where is it all headed ?  when will  hit rock bottom?   Then what?

A)Although prognosticators give their views & opinions there is wide spread feeling of uncertainty growing throughout the world!

 

B)World leaders hold breath wondering when / where the next uprising

       will be!/  what is going to happen in Middle East -/ Israel / WW 3

 

C) We know that the Answer will not be found in a Political Agenda , a new Bill ; military Campaign ; Philosophical Ideology or Social strategy

1) The Answer is in a Person! Jesus It all comes together in Him!

 

D) That is what Paul tells us here/ Eph. 1 The world stays in the dark as it tries to move it's way through history

          1)But we in the Church have an advantage / to us the Mystery has been

          revealed /  We Know that history is really His Story

 

 

Now the word  Mystery = Musterion / once hidden .....now revealed

A) What is the Mystery that has been revealed?  That God determined in the Dispensation of the fullness of times to gather together in one all things in Christ

 

B) Now a dispensation is a period of time in which God works in a particular manner. 

1) Some people have looked at history from a theological standpoint.  And they’ve divided history into dispensations. 

 

C)  And they’re known theologically as dispensationalists.  And so they look back to the beginning of creation.  And there man was created.

 

D)  And they say that back in the time before Adam and Eve fell that that was the dispensation of innocence. 

1) And then they fell from their relationship with God.  Sin entered into the world.  And so a new dispensation began. 

 

E) And with the coming of the flood, & the destroying of the earth, and then the repopulating of the world through Noah, a new dispensation began there. 

1) And then with the coming of Abraham a new dispensation began there. 

 

F) And then Moses came.  And the dispensation of the law came through Moses.  And then Jesus came. 

1) And the dispensation of grace came along w/ the coming of the Lord JC

 

Now  there’s some validity to that thinking process. 

A)We are presently then, according to that particular view, we’re presently living in what we might call the dispensation of grace. 

 

B) But there is a dispensation yet in the future.  There are actually two more dispensations. 

1) There is a dispensation of wrath, which will come in what we commonly call the Tribulation Period. 

 

But then there is the dispensation of the fullness of times.  And this is where everything is HEADED. 

A)And the dispensation of the fullness of the times is when He will gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth in Him. 

 

B) So this is where everything is leading up to. 

1) This is the mystery of His will that we’ve been given insight into—that the Lord Jesus Christ is going to come back. 

 

C) He’s going to come back to this earth.  And He is going to reconcile the earth to God. 

1) He’s going to bring heaven and earth back together again like they were originally. 

 

So we know the mystery - we know where it is all headed

A.)The world is radically in the dark/we know the light of the world!

   

B)The world is like a house on fire!  The house is going to burn

  1)Do we try to save the house?  Splash water  or do we get the people out

       

C.) Lived in Oregon by a River Flood coming - house destroyed - wallpaper - new carpet - or warn neighbors to get to higher ground

 

3rd Blessing of our Redemption: v.11  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,12 that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.

 

1 Peter 1:3-5  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,

 

Incorruptible - won't perish - can't be destroyed nothing ruin it!

A) Things today - break – tarnish

 

B.)    Undefiled - It cannot be stained or cheapened in any way. Eternal

     1.)          New car - depreciates $1,000 drive off lot

 

C.)    Doesn't fade away - spoon in a coke glass

world is fading like spoon in glass - but our inheritance is forever

 

D.)    Reserved in heaven for you!

     1.)     Reservation: How know?  Name in Lamb's Book of Life

 

1 Cor 2:9 "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him."

 

C) Jn.14  Many Dwelling places

 

How do I know that I will receive this inheritance? God will deliver?

A.) He has given me a guarantee!  What a guarantee! V.13 -14

 

13 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,14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

 

B) Being sealed with the spirit speaks of 6 things...

 

#1 - Finished transaction:  Even today when legal documents are processed they are stamped with a seal to signify completion

A.)    You are sealed - signifying - it is finished - salvation is           complete there is no need to add to it!

 

 

 

#2 - Seal speaks of ownership  - Goods on a Boat  - God has put His seal on us because He purchased us as His own - by blood of Jesus

 

#3 - Seal speaks of security and protection -  Tomb of Jesus - Roman seal

A.)We have been sealed - John 10: "No one can snatch you out of my hand!"

 

 

#4 - Seal speaks of authentic:  a seal on a letter was like a signature or - personal letter head - King's seal - Authentic

A.)The presence of the spirit in a believer's life proves His faith in           genuine!

          1.)     The presence of the spirit will result in fruit!

 

 

#5 - The spirit is a guarantee – 2 ideas

A.)    Earnest money - down payment or a promise note that I will pay      -

       I will deliver          Holy Spirit in us is our promise note

 

 

#6 - Also -spirit as a guarantee -carries idea of engagement / Denise Ring

A.)We are His bride - given spirit as an engagement ring - He wants us to know He is serious!