A FEAST OF HEAVEN’S BLESSINGS – Ephesians 1:3-6
Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on May 6, 2012 under 2012 |
Preached Sunday, May 6, 2012 from Ephesians 1:3-6
Theme: God has blessed those who are “in Christ” with “every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places”.
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
But I don’t believe we should ever do celebrate the Lord’s supper with a sad and gloomy attitude. It’s true that it’s a very serious thing; because it’s how our Lord commanded us to commemorate the death that He died for us on the dreadful cross. But He didn’t remain dead. He rose again; and ascended again to the heavenly glory from which He came, and is seated this very moment at the right hand of the Father in great victory and joy. And I believe that He Himself rejoices over the remembrance of His own death for us; because it was by the shedding of His blood that He fully atoned for our sins and purchased us for Himself. One day, we will be brought into His presence in perfect holiness and glory; and we will share in His inheritance with Him forever
The reason He willingly gave Himself for us on the cross was in order to make that happen! He looks with great eagerness and anticipation for the day when His Father will turn to Him and say, “Go, My Son; get Your Bride!” He loves us so very much; and it is the great desire of His heart to finally have us with Himself forever! How appropriate, then, for us who have been redeemed by Him to come to His table of remembrance with humility, with genuine repentance from our sins, with reverent thankfulness for His sacrifice of love for us, and—most of all—with the attitude of overwhelming joy that He Himself has over the prospect of our eternal destiny in Him !
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To turn our hearts toward the joy with which we should come to His table this morning, I ask that you open your Bibles to Ephesians 1:3-6. There, the apostle Paul writes;
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who 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, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved (Ephesians 1:3-6).
Those words contain heavy theology. But they’re also very practical. I’d like to share with you how those words have impacted me recently.
I was driving around in the Hillsboro area a couple of evenings ago to take care of some errands. But I was heading-off a little weary and discouraged. It was near the end of what had been a very busy week; and I didn’t get everything done as I had planned. I wasn’t very happy with myself. I felt that I had neglected a few things, and had seriously blown-it in some others. And right then, I was on my way to do some more stuff that I just didn’t have the energy or ambition for. Frankly, I was a little grouchy. I’m sure that that’s how a lot of us feel at times. (Well—I sure hope I’m not the only one, anyway.)
But on the way to take care of my business, I was driving down a long road just as the sun was setting in the horizon on one side, and the moon was rising on the horizon on the other. The setting sun was painting the clouds with a bright orange hue on one side of me; and on the other side, the sky was a deep blue, and the clouds were gray, and the moon was bright and yellow and beautiful. All around, the signs of spring were showing themselves. Hillsides were green. Trees were budding. I drove past people’s homes; and saw the gardens and flowerbeds in bloom. And I found myself shaken from my gloominess, and said, “Father, I bless You. I’m sorry that I’m being so gloomy. This is a beautiful evening. You are truly wonderful.” I even found myself so struck by it all that I spoke in the words of this morning’s passage; and said, “Blessed be the God and Father of my Lord Jesus Christ . . .!”
Then—and I suppose it was the Holy Spirit graciously helping me out of my doldrums— I turned my thoughts away from the beauties of God’s creation, and started to think about the great affirmation of this morning’s passage. Look at it again with me. In verse three, Paul says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ . . .” What an amazing thing! Paul was saying that, right then—even as I was driving down the road amidst all this beauty—I could take it as very truth that God had already blessed me with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Those blessings would not merely be mine in the future. They were mine right then! And it’s not that I possessed just some of them, or even just one of them—which would itself be wonderful beyond words. Rather, I have a staggering wealth given to me in that every single spiritual blessing that heaven could offer is already my possession in Christ! What in the world do I have to complain about?
Now; what are those spiritual blessings? What do they look like? I haven’t the foggiest idea. I haven’t seen them yet. But I know that when Jesus prayed for His disciples before He went to the cross, He said, “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word”—(that’s you and me, by the way)—”that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me” (John 17:20-21). And He added, “And the glory which You gave Me I have given them . . .” (v. 22). It’s not just any glory, but His own glory!—the very glory that He spoke of earlier when He said, “And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was” (v. 4).
Jesus said that He wouldn’t just give that glory to His people later on; but that He already had given it to them! He said, “I have given them . . .”! He shares the riches of His eternal inheritance with us right now; and it is fully ours—even though we haven’t yet come into it. It’s in safe-keeping in heaven itself.
Just think about how the apostle Peter wrote,
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, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time (1 Peter 1:3-5; emph. added);
or about what Paul and Timothy wrote to the Colossian believers in Colossians 1:3-5;
We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints; because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven . . . (Colossians 1:3-5a; emph. added);
or about what Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 4—just before he laid down his life for the Lord Jesus;
For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing (2 Timothy 4:6-8; emph. added).
Here I was, driving along and blessing God for a beautiful sunset and moon-rise. And I began to realize that, as wonderful as those things are, I have far greater things than those to bless Him for! I have the very inheritance of the Lord Jesus Christ kept in store for me in heaven—and He Himself waiting for me; to welcome me into His presence so I can begin to enjoy that inheritance with Him forever! And long after that sun and moon have ceased to exist, I will have scarcely even begun to enjoy that inheritance in the eternal presence of my wonderful Savior!
I heard a story once about a poor country man who was being brought into town in a carriage to receive a very rich inheritance that a relative had left him. (I suppose you can tell this story took place long ago—because of the carriage!) It was raining, and the roads were muddy. And only a mile or so outside of town, one of the wheels of the carriage broke. The comfortable ride in the carriage came to an abrupt end; and frustrated and angry, he climbed out and began the long walk into town in the rain and the mud. He was grouching and complaining; but then, he began remember what it was that he was going into town to do. Pretty soon he was laughing at how silly he was. Here he was walking into town to receive an inheritance so rich that he could easily buy a hundred carriages if he had wanted to! Why was he complaining about having to walk a mile in the rain to receive it?
That’s how I began to feel as I was driving along! Why was I being so grouchy! I already have—as my current possession—every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ! He has already shared with me all the riches of His heavenly glory! He died to make me a co-inheritor of it with Him—and to make me His, and Himself mine! It won’t be long before I enter into it all; and begin to forever enjoy with Him all that He has secured for me! So what if things are a little imperfect until then? That pretty much snapped me out of my doldrums.
So; you can see why I’m pretty excited about this passage—and am very happy that we are coming to the Lord’s table together this morning!
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Let’s look a little closer at the details of this passage. I would like to just pull a point out here and a point out there—almost as if we were sampling bits and pieces of all the wonderful food that had been laid out for us at a great feast. And as we do, I pray that your sense of excitement and joy will also grow as we come to the Lord’s supper together.
First, notice what Paul says about . . .
1. WHO IT IS THAT GIVES US THESE BLESSINGS.
Paul writes, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ . . .” (v. 3). He is the one, as Paul said, that has “blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ . . .”
I don’t know if you noticed it; but three different forms of the word “blessing” appear in that third verse. They all come from the same Greek word. It’s in the form of a verb when we’re told that God had “blessed” us. Then, it’s in the form of a noun when we’re told that He blessed us with every spiritual “blessing” in the heavenly places. And finally, in the original language, it’s in the form of an adjective when we’re told that our response to it all is to recognize God’s goodness to us and confess Him to be “blessed”. And all of this tells us that it is God the Father—the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ—who has given these blessings to us. Our rich share in the very inheritance of His Son Jesus is something that it was in the Father’s heart to give to us.
Sometimes, we have a very unworthy idea of God the Father. We mistakenly believe that He is in heaven looking down upon us with a dreadful and angry scowl—and that He only puts up with us because His Son Jesus stands before us and pleads with Him on our behalf. We mistakenly think that the Father only loves us because of His Son. But that is not true at all. The Father Himself loves us; and is happy to bless us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. In fact, it was His plan to do so all along.
And do you remember what Jesus said after He rose from the dead? His atoning work on the cross for us was finished; and He told Mary to
“go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God’” (John 20:17).
Because of what Jesus has done for us, God the Father is now as much our God and our Father as He is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus! He Himself is the one who blesses us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in His Son!
When we come to the table this morning, we should thank the Father! We should say—just as Paul did— “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ . . .” He is now our God and Father; and He loves us deeply. He always has.
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And that leads us to another thing to notice about the heavenly spiritual blessings the Father has given us . . .
2. WHEN IT WAS THAT HE DECIDED TO GIVE THEM TO US.
We may be tempted, dear brothers and sisters, to think that the Father decided to give them to us on that very day that we trusted His Son Jesus as our Savior. But that would be wrong. Paul praised God for having 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 . . .” (v. 4).
Now; this verse touches on the doctrine that sometimes bothers people a little—the doctrine of election. But we should be careful to understand what this verse is saying to us. It’s saying that long before we ever were—long before the very foundation of the created universe was ever laid—God had us in mind. And having had us in mind before the foundation of the world, He chose us then to be “in Christ”—and thus to share in the blessings of His inheritance. We shouldn’t make this verse say any more than that. But all that it says should be accepted by us.
In my experience, the reason people struggle with the doctrine of election isn’t so much because of the idea that God chooses some for salvation. Rather, they are bothered by the idea that God doesn’t choose others. It doesn’t seem fair to them that He would choose some and not others. But we need to be careful about getting into that debate on the basis of this verse. This verse isn’t speaking about others, dear brothers and sisters. It’s speaking about us—we who have clearly been chosen by Him and who already believe. And when it comes to those of us who have placed our faith in Jesus Christ—and who thus become sharers in all the spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Him—God wants us to know that our share in that inheritance is something that He chose us for from eternity past—long before we ever were!
I suggest that we handle this doctrine best when we take our eyes off what God’s eternal plan is for other people, and just stand in awe of the depth of His love for us personally! We shouldn’t be asking, “Why didn’t God choose others?” We should instead be saying, “What wonderful love—what eternal love—that, before I ever was, God the Father should choose me to be in His Son and pour His eternal blessings out upon me forever!” If the doctrine of election leads us to thank Him and worship Him joyfully for His love to us, then we’re handling it rightly.
And when viewed that way, this doctrine becomes wonderfully practical! Look at what Paul says in verse 5. Our salvation is a matter of God the Father “having predestined us . . .” To “predestine” someone to something simply means to establish their destiny beforehand. And this means, dear brothers and sisters, that God destined us to salvation long before we were ever born—long before we could do anything to make ourselves worthy of salvation, and long before we could ever have done anything that would have made us unworthy of it. And now that we are saved—having been predestined to that salvation apart from anything that we could to make ourselves “save-worthy”—that salvation cannot now be lost to us by anything we could do to make ourselves “un-save-worthy”. In Christ, we can rest assured that we are absolutely, unfailingly secure in the salvation that God has chosen us for and predestined us to.
Someone might ask, “But how can I know for sure that I truly am someone that God chose for salvation?” And the answer is simple: Just come to Jesus for salvation, and you will have proven that it is so. If you have trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, and if you continue to trust in Him, and if keep your faith in Him to the very end, then you will never have to worry about it. You are chosen by God; and have proven it because you trusted in Jesus. You can place all your confidence in what Jesus Himself has said;
“All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out” (John 5:27).
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So; God the Father Himself has given us every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ; and He has Himself chosen us for those blessings before the foundation of the world. Though we haven’t fully come into the experience of them just yet, they are—nevertheless—fully ours right now; and we will come into the experience of them without fail in God’s perfect timing.
And that leads us, next, to consider . . .
3. WHAT OUR CONDITION WILL BE WHEN WE ENJOY THEM.
Right now, we aren’t in a condition to even begin to understand the nature of “every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places”; let alone to enjoy them in a manner that is worthy of them. But God the Father didn’t simply save us in order to give us something. He also saved us in order to glorify us and make us worthy of the eternal treasures He says are ours.
Notice how Paul says, in verse 4, that the God and Father of our Lord Jesus “chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love . . .” God’s purpose in saving us is to make us sharers—not only of the rich inheritance of His Son—but also of His Son’s own glory. No matter how frustrated we may be with our weaknesses and frailties now; we can rejoice that God will make us, who are in Christ, to stand in perfect holiness and without blame—not just in the sight of others, or even just in our own sight, but “before Him”!
And we won’t be simply be “made-over” on the outside—thus making us merely look like something that we’re not. He makes us truly fit to be sharers in the inheritance of His Son by making us “legally” His sons and daughters of God. As Paul says in verse 5, God “predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself . . .” To be adopted means that someone was, at one point, not a son or a daughter; but was then made a full, legal son or daughter—with all the rights and privileges that go along with it. And that’s what God does for us. He doesn’t make us merely His “foster kids”. He fully adopts us and gives us the right to posses the full inheritance of “every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” as that which legally belongs to us in Christ.
And He does this in such a way that we aren’t his sons and daughters merely as a legal reality, but also in a full relationship of deep love with Himself. The Father once said of His Son Jesus, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). And when we are in Christ—as Paul says in verse six—we are “accepted in the Beloved.” We can know that God looks upon us now—and will look upon us throughout eternity—and say the very same thing about us; “This is My beloved son and this is My beloved daughter in Christ, in whom I am well pleased.”
What a wonderful reason to be joyful as we come to the Lord’s table today!
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Now; the more you look at these things, the more you have to wonder why it is that God would pour such rich blessings on us. We’re certainly not worthy. Only the most arrogant person in the universe would dare to think that they were worthy of such things. But as we look further into this passage, we see in it that we’re told . . .
4. WHY GOD HAS MADE US FIT US FOR THESE BLESSINGS.
And what wonderful reasons we’re given! In verse four, we’re told that He did this “in love”. It may be that we’re meant to understand this to be saying that He chose us to stand “holy and without blame before Him in love”; or it may be that we’re to understand it to say that He acted toward us “in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself”. But either way, the point is the same. We’re being told that the reason He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in His Son Jesus Christ was because of His great love for us.
But we might then ask, “But why would He love us? There’s nothing that we could possibly do or be that would make us—in any way—so lovable to Him that He would love us so much!” And Paul goes on to say in verse five that He did this “according to the good pleasure of His will”. He has richly blessed us simply because it was His good pleasure to do so.
And notice finally that He did all this—as Paul says in verse six—”to the praise of the glory of His grace”. It is so that the angelic hosts of heaven will gaze in wonder at all the rich blessings that He has lavished on us poor, unworthy sinners like us, and will worship and praise Him for His amazing grace because of what He has made us to be. As Paul writes in the next chapter of this letter;
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:4-7).
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And before we prepare ourselves to come to the table of the Lord—now, I hope, with great joy—let me close with one more, very important thing that this passage tells us about these rich spiritual blessings. And that is . . .
5. WHERE WE MUST BE TO RECEIVE THEM.
We see it in verse three. We even see it all through this passage. In fact, if you read all the way through the Book of Ephesians, you’ll find that it is its constant theme. It’s that all these things are ours “in Christ”—and in Him alone. Paul writes, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.”
All that the Father gives to us is given through His Son Jesus. And the only way we may access all the Father’s rich works of grace toward us is by being united to His Son so that we are “in Christ”. And the only way that we become united to His Son is by deliberately, consciously, personally placing our faith in the very thing that we come to the Lord’s table to remember this morning—the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross for us. When we—from the heart—say “Yes” to the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for our sins, God places us “in” His Son—and blesses us with all the spiritual blessings in the heavenly places “in” Him. As it says in John 3:16-17;
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved (John 3:16-17).
Make very sure that you have placed your trust fully in the cross of Jesus Christ. And then, being “in Christ”, come; and let’s celebrate His supper together with joy! God the Father truly has “blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.”
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