Well, good morning. Good morning to the Zoomers, and the ones in Montana.
So turn in your Bibles to Ephesians.
Chapter one.
We're going to look at Ephesians one this week.
We're gonna look at first, Peter, one next week, and both of these passages are so in that verse 3 begins the same way, and there's another passage as well.
That begins the same way, and and I'll just read it for you.
It's in Second Corinthians, chapter one, and verse 3, where Paul says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
So these 3 passages, second, Corinthians, 1, 3 Ephesians, 1, 3, first, Peter, 1, 3.
They all begin the same way. Paul is pronouncing a blessing on our God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In it, and in second Corinthians he says, the Father mercies, and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we are ourselves are comforted by God, so the second, Corinthians.
passage which we're not going to get into. Paul is blessing God because he is the God of all comfort.
He has comforted us, and Paul's in Paul's afflictions, and you can read about Paul's afflictions, especially in chapter 11 of Second Corinthians, it's it's kind of mind-blowing the things that he's gone through and what's even
more mind-blowing is. He calls it momentary light.
Afflictions. Yeah, I've been beaten times without number.
Offer in danger of death. Momentary LED afflictions. Yeah, no big deal.
But here in Ephesians, so in Ephesians, chapter one, I'll just read the first 2 verses, Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, so he's an apostle by God's will.
And you can read about that in in Acts chapter 9, and and even in the beginning of Glacians and Galatians, chapter one to the saints who are at Ephesus, who are faithful in Christ Jesus, graced you and peace from God our Father.
In the Lord Jesus Christ. Okay. Typical, Paul. Introduction. So he begins, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And and what's interesting about what he writes here, beginning in verse 3.
From verse 3 to verse 14 is a single sentence in Greek Paul has no problem with a run on, I mean, he just goes on and on, and on, and on, and it's just one giant sentence, and then verse 15 to 23 is another single sentence, so basically, chapter
one of Ephesians in Greek is only 3 sentences, but for us it's 23 verses.
So he just keeps on going and keeps on going, and when you read this chapter it's at least 3 to 14.
He talks about the father, he talks about the sun, and he talks about the spirit, and each one of those sections ends with to the praise of His glory.
So he begins talking about the father. Any ends it to the praise of His glory.
He talks about the sun, and he ends it to the praise of His glory.
He talks about the spirit, and he ends it to the praise of His glory.
So he begins in in verse 3, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!
So? Why is he pronouncing this blessing? Well, you just go through the chapter and point after point after point after point are all of the blessings, so He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing.
In the heavenly places in Christ, and and we could, we can dissect that verse.
He says, the reason we're blessing God is because God is blessed us.
Any every spiritual blessing. Not just most, not some, not a lot, but every every spiritual blessing that is available.
God is blessed us with. And He just lists a few of them in this chapter he talks about adoption.
He talks about Grace, he talks about redeemption, he talks about forgiveness, he talks about the knowledge of his will, our inheritance, the ceiling, and the pledge of the spirit, the hope of our calling again our inheritance the surpassing greatness of
his power. All of these things God is just heaping upon us, and I like what John says.
In in the first part of his book in John, chapter one, Grace upon Grace.
It. It just keeps on rolling in grace upon Grace and and Paulo kind of get into that as well, and he says the spiritual blessings are in the heavenly places in Christ, and one of the things about if you've got to have a point of reference, and paul's point of
reference in Ephesians is the heavenly places, and he mentions it.
A number of times he mentions it here, jumped down to verse 20.
He mentions it, seated at his right hand in the heavenly places, into 6, seated us with him in the heavenly places.
310, the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places, 6, 12.
The spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
So 5 times he talks about the heavenly places, and and the heavenly places.
Is Paul's point of reference. That's where everything starts and ends.
And the reason that's important is because of a common.
He makes in chapter 4, verse 9, and it just kind of a a side note or a little rabbit trail. He.
He talks about. He ascended. What does it mean except that he also had descended and and this is where you get into all sorts of some translational problems.
New American standard, which I like not always the greatest, but I like it, gets it wrong.
New American standard, says, he descended into the lower parts of the earth, and the reason that's wrong is because it ignores your point of reference.
If I'm descending into the lower parts of the earth, then my point of reference is earth and I'm going down from there, or a sending from there.
The problem is, earth is not my point of reference in efficiency.
Heaven is my point of reference. So I'm descending from heaven to her.
So the lower parts is not the lower parts of the earth, the lower parts is the earth.
He descended from heaven to earth, and ascended from earth back to heaven.
And John. Chapter 3, brings that point out really well. So you got to keep in mind your point at point of reference, and all of the spiritual blessings that God is giving us, come from heaven to us, and they're in Christ.
And Paul is, gonna use that idea in Christ or in Him.
Multiple times throughout Ephesians. That that's a really interesting study.
Just go through a fusion some time and and highlight in him, or in Christ, or in Christ Jesus.
You'll be amazed at how many times it's there.
And in Paul's writings he almost uses that phrase as a technical designation for the Church, for example, when he writes in first, Thessalonians for the dead in Christ will rise first, it's a designation of the Church.
It's not all believers of all ages, which is how some people use it.
The dead in Christ is a reference to those who have died who were part of the body of Christ.
The church, so he uses it in almost a technical way.
So he says he is, blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
Just as he chose us in here before the foundation of the world.
So throughout history God has chosen 2 entities.
He's chosen Israel in the Old Testament, and those who are born into Israel are the chosen.
He has chosen the Church. Those who are born again into the Church through faith are the chosen.
So he says he chose us in him. He chose the entity, and those who are in that entity are chosen.
That's how he looks at us, and the choice of that entity is before the foundation of the world, and God has chosen us in Him.
And there's a reason for it that we would be wholly and blameless before him.
So that's the purpose of God's choice, holiness and blamelessness.
So!
Notice. He says he 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.
So in the same way that God has chosen a church in Christ before the foundation of the world, that same way he is blessed us with every spiritual blessing.
As sure as the one is just as sure as the other is, so that we would be wholly and blameless before now.
Most Bibles.
This is. This is one of those places we you gotta wonder the guys that divided up these verses.
What were they thinking?
Sometimes verse divisions are just crazy. The last 2 words are actually the beginning of a sentence.
Why, they're at the end of verse 4 is beyond me now.
Some translations, tack it on at the end of a sentence, and they would say that we would be wholly emameless before him in love, which makes absolutely no sense.
The in love is actually the beginning of the next sentence, and it should be the beginning of the next verse.
So in love he predestined us to adoption as sons.
So this is one of those places where God doesn't just talk about His love.
He does something about it, you know God so love the world that He gave.
He doesn't say, Oh, I love you too bad! You're all going to hell.
He does something about it. He doesn't. Oh, yeah, talk is cheap.
I love you, and this is what I'm going to do to show you my love.
God still loved the world that He gave His only begotten.
So Paul says in in Romans, in Romans 5, God demonstrates his love for us.
When, while we were yet sinners, what did he do? The price died for us?
He doesn't just talk about it. He does something with it.
God demonstrates His love. Peter's or John says the love of God is men.
He sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins.
God doesn't just say I love you. God does something with it.
And here it's. It's a step after salvation.
It's a predestined adoption, and and there are a number of times that he talks about predestination twice here in this chapter.
And then once again he talks about it. In Romans 8.
So here he has predestined us to adoption.
A little bit later he has predestined us to an inheritance in Romans 8.
He is predestined us to confformity, to the image of his Son.
So these are things that God has determined ahead of time.
When you place your faith in my son, I have determined.
Predestined that these 3 things are going to happen to you.
Once you believe you will be adopted, you will have an inheritance, you will be conformed to the image of my son.
Now some people might be conformed, kicking and screaming, but they will be conform to the image of his son, and he didn't have to do those things.
He didn't have to adopt us. He didn't have to give us an inheritance.
He didn't have to conform us. He simply could have saved us.
And made a servants.
But he didn't do that. He took it a step further.
I don't just want servants. I want children. I want sons and daughters.
So the first thing he did he predestined us out of love. As to adoption and adoption means the placing of a son.
When we believe God adopts us, he brings us into His family so that we can have all of the privileges, all of the blessings of being sons, and all of the responsibilities as well.
We don't get the the privileges without the responsibilities, and it's because of a adoption that we can call him father.
We don't just call him Lord, we call him Father.
So, for example, if in Romans 8, he says, you've received a spirit of a adoption as sons, by which we cry out, Aba father, we call him father, because we've been adopted.
Galatians, that we might receive the adoption of sons, because your son's got us, send forth the spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying out of a father, so we're, and later on he'll talk about our inheritance which is connected with that
so we're adopted through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will.
So our adoptionist sons into the family of God is the result of God's kind intention.
His his kindness toward us. His patience, his forbearance, brought us into this relationship, and bestowed on us.
Extra privileges, extra blessings that without adoption they wouldn't be there.
And then he ends to the praise of the glory of His grace.
So everything God does he does to the praise of the glory of His grace.
Now!
I'm not sure I should even bring this up.
But I'm gonna anyway. Sometimes people will say everything God does is for the salvation of man.
And you know, yeah, there's a lot of things that God does for the salvation of man.
But that's not the end goal.
The end goal is to the praise of the glory of His grace.
The end. Goal is the glory of God. The cellvation of man is one of the means to achieve that goal.
So you gotta weigh these things. Everything He does is to the praise of the glory of His Grace.
And he says, This is freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
His Grace is freely bestowed. He doesn't. Yeah.
You only need this much. Yeah, I know you want more, but no, I'm I'm only gonna give you this much that's not what he does.
His Grace is freely bestowed, and and later on, once we get to the next verse versus 7 and 8, his Grace is lavished on us.
We've got more grace than we know what to do with.
I don't think we realize that sometimes we think of.
You know I need an extra measure of grace, and I've even caught myself praying that sometimes youing for somebody.
Lord, give them an extra measure of grace, and I think, why did I say that?
I mean, we've got more grace than we know what to do with.
It's freely bestowed. It's lavish.
There isn't an extra measure to give everything we need, and beyond what we need is already bestowed freely and lavishly.
And then he says in the God's grace is freely bestowed and lavished in the beloved.
This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased, and in him I am giving you more grace than you know what to do with, and this again goes back to that verse in in John one grace upon grace.
It's just like waves crashing on the shore.
They just never act. And that's God's grace.
It just keeps on rolling in, rolling, in, rolling in, and then he switches.
Now now we move from the father to the son, so he's been talking about the beloved, and then he says in him, Now, now we're switching.
This is what the Father has done.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, now let's look at what the Lord Jesus says done in him, and there's that phrase again in Him we have redemption through His blood.
We've been redeemed. We've been purchased, and redemption.
Usually carries with this, with it. This idea of being slaves, and we're in the slave market, and God comes along, and we're slaves of sin.
You. You can go to Roman 6 and look at our slavery to sin, and God comes along.
And he prayes us, he redeems us, and the price of our redemption is the blood of Christ.
So take a look at, for example, first, Peter, chapter one, and we're gonna look at this next time.
So first, Peter, chapter one.
Peter says.
Down in verse 18, knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, and he's going back to the Old Testament, and the rare instances where redemption could be accomplished with
silver and goal. 5 shekels of silver you're redeemed, he says you're not redeemed that way.
You're redeemed with precious blood as of a lamb unblemished and spotless.
The blood of Christ, the price of your redemption was blood.
It's the blood of Christ, and the idea of redemption.
Usually we think of the person's been purchased, and that's where we stop.
There's more to it than just the purchase.
Take a look at Revelation. Chapter one.
And verse 5.
The last part of the verse to him who loves us.
And released us from our sins by His blood. One of the ideas of redemption is not just.
God purchasing us, but setting us free.
We've been purchased. We've been taken out of the slave market, and we've been set free.
Paul says back in Ephesians, in him we have redemption through his blood.
The forgiveness of our trespasses. He links redemption with forgiveness, and the idea here is, we had a debt we couldn't pay.
And if we attempted to pay that debt on our own, we would be spending eternity in the lake of fire, attempting to do so.
And eternity is a long time, and you're not going to get the debt paid.
So God comes along, and He redeems us. He pays the debt for us.
And now our debts been forgiven. So he links these ideas of redemption and forgiveness.
You had a debt you couldn't pay. You were a slave of sin.
God paid that debt God purchased you, he set you free.
Your debt is paid in full.
We've been released. We've been pardoned.
And again, according to the riches of his grace. So when Paul says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, this is another element of that.
This is why Paul is pronouncing this blessing.
Everything he's done is according to the riches of his Grace, freely bestowed and lavished.
Jump over to the next chapter. Chapter 2 in Ephesians.
And here he begins the chapter by painting this dismal picture.
You were dead in your trespasses in since, and by dead.
He means you're separated from God. Isaiah, 59.
Provides a really good definition of that in which you formerly walked, according to the course of this world, according to the prints of the power of the air, the spirit that is now working in the sons of Disobedience.
Among them we, too, all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, and dulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and we're by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
But God.
Being rich in mercy.
Chapter one. He talks about the riches of his Grace here he's talking about God being rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us.
God is love, John says, and because God is love, and because of His great love with which He loved us, he's rich in mercy, and he's rich in grace.
Even when we were dead in our transgressions he didn't wait for us to get our acts to get our acts together.
Yeah, we wasn't standing there with us hands on his hips and capping is, what are you guys gonna get your acts together every I've got all these things I want to give you.
And I'm just waiting.
No, even when we were dead he showed us love. He showed us mercy.
He showed us grace, and he did 3 things. He made us alive together with Christ. And and here, he adds parenthetically, by grace, you've been saved.
And remember, mercy is not getting what you deserve.
Grace is getting what you don't deserve. So he talks about mercy, mercy!
In verse 4, not getting what I deserve. Well, that's the end of verse 3.
I deserve the wrath of God.
But in mercy I didn't get it.
I don't deserve salvation, but in grace I got it.
Made alive.
Verse 6, raised us up with him. Those are all that's past tense.
Now I can understand, made live. Okay. That happened to me 40 some odd years ago I was made alive the moment I placed my faith in Christ, but he says, raised up with him, that's also past tense.
I haven't gotten there yet, but as far as he's concerned, it's a done deal, and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
Haven't gotten there yet, but as far as he's concerned, it's a done deal.
Why? So that in the ages to come he might show the surpassing riches of his grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
This is what he's getting at in Chapter one. The riches of his Grace in the ages to come.
He might show the surpassing riches. Freely bestowed, lavish, survpassing riches of his grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus in the ages to come.
He's going to show.
So right now we're only getting a little glimpse of it.
We've got more grace than we know what to do with, but we're only seeing a little bit of it, and in the ages to come he's gonna show us the surpassing riches of his grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus we're gonna see a
panorama of our lives, and God is gonna show us all the times he keep the upon us, grace upon grace, upon grace, and we didn't even notice it all the times he did it to others, and we didn't even notice it in the ages to come he's gonna show it
so he goes on, and he says, back in Ephesians, in all wisdom and insight.
And and again, this is this is one of those places where, why did they put the period where they did?
In all wisdom and insight, is as actually part of the next verse in all wisdom and insight he made known to us the mystery of his will.
He didn't have to do that.
What he did in the eternal wisdom and insight of God.
He made known to us certain things, the mystery of His will.
Take a look at chapter 3.
This mystery? Paul. He's gonna spend a chunk of Chapter 3 talking about.
So. Chapter 3, verse 3, he says, by revelation there was made known to me the mystery.
So at some point, maybe when Paul was blind, sitting in Damascus, wondering what's gonna happen.
Do I mean he's blind for 3 days. I can only imagine what was going through his mind, or when he went down to a god revealed to him this mystery, and he says verse 4 by referring to this when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ which in other
generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit.
Well, what's this mystery of Christ to be specific?
That's a Gentiles, our fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the Gospel.
In other words, it's not just a Jewish thing.
And he makes this Jew Gentile distinction.
Another number of times in Ephesian. He's gonna do it in Chapter One.
He's gonna basically split. Chapter 2 and half talk about this due Gentile distinction.
And and here he explains it. The mystery of Christ, the mystery that was hidden for ages and generations is the fact that the Gentiles, our fellow heirs, fellow members of the body, fellow partakers of the promise in Christ, Jesus.
Of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God's grace, was, which was given to me according to the work of his power.
To me the very least of all saints.
He's the least of the apostles. He's the least of all saints.
He says he's the greatest of sinners.
To me the very least of all saints. This grace was given to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ.
If we try and fathom the riches of Christ, it's never gonna happen.
I mean, you can try, but.
Lifetimes wouldn't be enough, and to bring to light what is the administration and that's an interesting word as well.
It could be translated the dispensation of the mystery.
We're living in that dispensation. We're in.
We call it the dispensation of grace. The church age, I call it the Gap, you know.
There's this gap between the 2 comingings of Christ, and we're in the gap.
This is the mystery, the dispensation of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God, who created all things, so that the manifold wisdom of God and he's going to talk about that as well might now be made known through the Church, the
manifold wisdom of God is, may known to the world, to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.
The angels through us. So back in any chapter one, all of this is according to his kind intention.
Again. Just like you said in verse 5, which he purposed in Christ, with a view to an administration.
And again, this word administration is is a word that you could translate dispensation suitable to the fullness of the times and the fullness of the times.
Pulses in Galatians began when God sent forth his Son, and it's going to end when every knee bows, every tongue, confesses that Jesus Christ, just Lord.
The summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth, in Him again, also, we have obtained an inheritance.
So this, this is part of the adoption we have an inheritance.
We're heirs of God! Were fellowares with Christ, and I really like what Peter says.
If you look at first, Peter, chapter one, and again, we'll get into this next week.
But first Peter, chapter one. He talks about being born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
That's the end of verse 3, verse 4.
To obtain and inheritance, and given what Paul says in Romans aid, we are fellow heirs with Christ.
What he inherits. We inherit. What's his is ours.
And so Peter describes it. It's imperishable.
It's undefiled, it will not fade away.
And this is where you've got to be careful that you don't confuse.
Your inheritance with your reward. Rewards. Come and go.
They can fade away, they can grow bigger, just depending on how we behave as believers.
Our inheritance does not.
Our reward is based upon what we do. Our inheritance is based upon who we are.
We are a adopted sons of God. Our inheritance is imperishable, undefiled will not fade away.
Reserved. It's set aside. It's reserved.
It's not gonna grow bigger or shrink, based upon how I behave as a believer.
My reward? Will my inheritance will not. So in him we have updated an inheritance having been predestined.
So again, God has determined ahead of time, that when you place your faith in my son, I will adopt you.
You will be my son or daughter, and as my son or daughter, you will receive the same inheritance as my only begotten, imperishable, undefiled, will not fade away.
Reserve, according to his purpose, who works all things.
After the counsel of his will. That is a very comforting thought.
Everything that we go through. God is not surprised by it, and He can work all things according to the council of His will.
God causes all things to work together for good.
We might not see it, but we have that promise. All things will work together for good.
All things work together. After the counsel of His will, to the end that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, would be to the praise of His glory.
And here's where Paul begins to make this. We you distinction.
He's talking about the Jews. Here we Jews, who were the first to hope in Christ, would be to the praise of His glory in Him.
You also, you Gentiles, you're no different. And remember, back in in Chapter 2, he says you were dead in your trespasses and scenes.
You formally walked according to this world, and then he says, we too.
All formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh.
You Gentiles did this, and we Jews were no better.
Now we saying we Jews were the first to hope in Christ, you Gentiles, you're no different.
You may have come second, but you get the same thing, and you know you just look at at romance to the Ju first, and also to the Gentile.
So in him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation.
There's, there's another interesting study. Just look at in Scripture descriptions of the gossip.
It's the message of truth. It's the gospel of your salvation in in Romans.
One. It's the power of God for salvation in first Corinthians, one.
It's the word of the cross.
After listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation.
Having also believed you were sealed.
In him with the Holy Spirit of promise. The moment you placed your faith in Christ, God put His seal of ownership on you, you are His, and nothing, and no one, and break that seal.
It's not possible we were sealed in him the moment we believed we replaced in Christ.
We were sealed in him, and nothing can pluck us out.
And this is why Jesus says in John 10, My sheep hear my voice, they follow me.
They will never perish, and no one can pluck them out of my hand, and no one can pluck them out of my father's hand.
You are sealed, and no one can break that seal.
And he says, the Holy Spirit is given as a pledge of our inheritance.
A pledge is a down payment.
God thought it necessary to give us a down payment.
He didn't have to do that. I mean, it's not like he can say, Yeah, I'm going to give it to you and then change his mind.
God can't lie!
But he gave us a down payment. Hey? Promised us an inheritance, and then he said, Here's my Holy Spirit.
He's my down payment. He's my pledge that you're gonna get what I promised.
That's Grace. He didn't have to do that with a view to the redemption of God's own possession.
So God has redeemed us. This is why so many times in the New Testament redemption is viewed as a past tense thing.
But there's also a future element, and Paul talks about this in in Romans 8 where he says, we've got the first fruits of the spirit, and we grown within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption.
The redemption of our body. So we've already been redeemed.
We've already been adopted, but we're still waiting for it to happen, just like he says in Ephesians, too, you're made alive.
You're raised up you're seated, but we're still waiting for it to happen, and he gives us the Holy Spirit as a down payment.
It's going to happen. You've got my spirit, that's my word.
Here's my spirit. Just wait. It's yours.
To the praise of His glory. So Paul, when he talks about, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Here's a list of all the reasons we can utter. Those same words.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, rich, and mercy, rich in grace, freely bestowed, lavish, adopted inheritance, the Spirit as a seal, the spirit as a pledge, redeemed and forgiven.
We can say these same words, and for the same reason, so 100 that today, let's pray, father, thank you.
Once again for all that you've done for us, and we do declare this blessing.
Upon you, father, blessed be you are father, the Father, or Lord Jesus Christ, for all that you've done for us.
All of these spiritual blessings which we have in the heavenly places in your Son, and we thank you that we can ponder these things.
We can think about these things when the world gets us down or the world gets us upset, we can go back to these passages.
The things that you've show us in your word, and we can have comfort.
We can have home, we can have assurance that you are ultimately in control, and there's nothing that can separate us from your love.
We thank you for that, father, and we we thank you for the time that we can look into your word and study it, and we pray for that.
You would bless us with these reminders throughout the days ahead, and we pray this in Jesus, name.