that? 1241. Good. All right. Now you all have no excuse but to turn there. Oh, 976. Okay.
So if you turn to 1200 and you just get a list of like metric conversions from old ancient things,
you know, you've got the wrong addition, according to Jonathan. Thanks, Jonathan. Thanks, Eric.
Great. All right. Hey, we are in Ephesians chapter 1 verses 3 through 14. Let me read this text for us.
Paul writes,
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.
It was the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it to the praise of his glory.
Well friends, imagine you're visiting a new city for the first time. Let's say it's New York City.
You've never been there. You're visiting for the first time and after you do some sightseeing around
town, you decide to take an elevator up to the top of one of the great skyscrapers. Maybe it's the
Empire State Building or maybe it's Rockefeller Center, say, and imagine that at each floor as you go up,
you could sort of take a look out the window. So, well then, you'd say maybe 10 stories up,
you could look out and you could maybe see around the whole city block. And then as you went up maybe
20 or 30 stories, maybe you could start to see the whole neighborhood. And then 40 or 50 stories up,
maybe you could see the whole borough, maybe you could see all of Manhattan. But then as you kept
going 60, 70, 80 stories up, well from there you can probably see the whole city or most of it
stretching out in every direction. And from that height, you get to see things you never noticed
before when you were down on the ground. You start to see how all those streets and avenues,
which just felt like a jumbled mess down below, now sort of make this beautiful grid of intersecting
lines and pathways. And you get to see how all those green spaces and parks, which before just sort
of felt randomly tucked here and there, now they sort of dot the landscape and they add margin and they
add nature to what you're seeing, almost like brushstrokes from an artist all around the city.
In other words, you're able to kind of take in the whole of it from that height and the whole
actually starts to become gloriously more than all of its parts. And for a moment, as you're standing
up there sort of taking the whole thing in, you're in awe. It's actually a bit breathtaking
to stand up there and to see the scope, to see the grandeur of this city as it kind of stretches out.
Well, in our passage tonight that we just read, it's as if we've taken an elevator up,
as it were, to the 80th or the 90th floor so that we can see the grand scope, not merely of some
earthly city, but to see the grand scope of God's eternal plan of redemption.
And when we take it in, as Paul sort of pushes us up to the heights, as we take it in from this
kind of dizzying height, we're meant to be awestruck. We're meant for a moment to have our breath taken
away. We're meant to be swept up in worship and praise of God. That's how this whole section begins
in verse 3, right? Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now the word blessed here is
just another word for praise, an expression of praise, of delight, of wonder. Blessed be this God.
Now chapter 1 as a whole is actually structured very simply. Verses 3 through 14 are praise to God,
and then verses 15 through 23, prayer to God. Very simple chapter. But you know, it's worth pointing
out that this praise of God in verses 3 through 14, that kind of extends for like a whole column
in our English Bibles. In the Greek, in the language that Paul actually wrote it in, it's actually one
long, intricate sentence. It's one long, 12 verses worth of one long, unbroken, unfolding,
firework display of praise to God. This is the kind of long sentence that your composition teachers
would say, fail, too long, cut it up. But no, for Paul it's this long, unfolding thing.
Now in the next three coming weeks, we're actually going to look a little more closely
at each section of it. But you know, even if we do sort of break it down in that way in the coming
weeks, I want us to see tonight that we're meant to view it all as one piece. We're meant to actually
sort of take it all in together to get the kind of rooftop view of the whole thing. Because if you
read the sentence in the original, as we just said, Paul almost doesn't let you stop reading.
He doesn't stop the sentence. You're actually driven further and further and richer and richer
until you step out onto that 80th floor observation deck and then gasp in wonder at who God is and what
God has done. Now, as we sort of stand up here, viewing at this sort of skyline view of God's
redemption, I think Paul wants us to see, and I think we can at least take in four things.
First, something about God's nature. Second, something about God's story. Third, God's goal.
And then fourth, our participation in all of this, our way in. So first, let's take a look at God's
nature. Scan your eyes over the whole of this text. And although it is one long sentence, you kind of
discern a three-fold structure here, do you not? Verses 3 through 6 speak mostly of the Father who
chose us. Verses 7 through 10 focus on the Son who redeems and unites us. And then verses 11 through
14 highlight the work of the Holy Spirit who seals us for an eternal inheritance. Father, Son, Holy Spirit.
Look again closely at verse 3. It's actually right there from the start if you kind of have eyes to see it.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in Christ the Son with
every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. And most commentators will point out that the word
spiritual there is actually a pointer at least to the work of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, as verse 14 says.
So you see, in the unfolding of God's grand work of redemption,
we see an expression of his eternal nature as the triune God. That this one God has existed
eternally in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Now, of course, if you were to grab your concordance or if you would go online and jump on Bible Gateway and
do a search for the word Trinity, you would find it nowhere in your Bible.
It wasn't until the third century that Christians started using that word Trinity with frequency.
But it is a word that captures and summarizes a very basic biblical truth about God.
So it's a very helpful word. It's a very helpful language for us to describe a biblical reality.
You know, if you were able to kind of go back in time and ask the Apostle Paul or the Apostle Peter or the Apostle John
and you would sort of pull them aside and say, hey, Paul, do you believe in the Trinity?
Paul would probably say, what the heck is the Trinity?
And then you would say, well, here's what we mean.
We mean that there's one true God, but he's eternally existed in three persons, the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.
And then Paul would say, oh, yeah, that's exactly what I believe.
In fact, that's a pretty good way of talking about it. I wish I would have thought of that.
And in fact, you know, this idea of God being by nature triune is something that Jesus himself actually taught.
After his resurrection, Jesus instructs the church to go make disciples and baptize them, do you remember,
in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Notice very carefully the language that Jesus uses there.
In the name, singular, not names, but the name, one name, one God,
but three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
In fact, in the book of Ephesians, you see God's triune nature coming up actually all over the place.
It's like water in the ground that just keeps seeping through all the cracks.
Look down at chapter 2, verse 18.
Skip ahead another chapter.
So we've seen it in chapter 1.
Now look at chapter 2, verse 18.
Paul's speaking of our peace with God and our peace with one another that comes through the work of Jesus' cross.
And he says, through him, through Jesus the Son,
we both, that is Jews and Gentiles, have access in one spirit to the Father.
Through the Son, by the Spirit, to the Father.
And at the end of chapter 3, look at the end of chapter 3, verses 14 through 19.
Paul prays now for spiritual strength and insight.
And again, it's unmistakably Trinitarian.
He says,
And it keeps going on and on and on and on through this book.
I'd actually encourage you this week, take some time, read through this whole book of Ephesians in a sitting or two,
and take note of how many times you see this kind of Trinitarian shape or structure to Paul's thinking.
And then note the context.
What's the context in which Paul is saying?
Is he talking about redemption?
Is he talking about prayer?
Is he talking about ethics?
And you'll see that it just colors everything.
That for Paul, God's nature matters for almost everything.
Once you start looking for it, it's all over the place.
Now, why is God's triune nature so important?
Who cares, in other words?
Well, there are a lot of things that we could say here.
If you're looking for a good book recommendation, I'm going to recommend a book.
So, this is a book by a guy named Fred Sanders called The Deep Things of God.
How the Trinity Changes Everything.
A friend of mine gave me this book, and I probably wouldn't have read it otherwise, but I read it, and it's really good.
So, if you're looking for a good book to just start to get your toes wet in this understanding of God as Trinity, that's a good one.
The Deep Things of God by Fred Sanders.
He's a theologian out of Biola in California.
But, let's stick to our text tonight.
What is Paul doing here?
He's praising God for his work of redemption.
And we see here that the work of the Father, and the work of the Son, and the work of the Holy Spirit are like unbroken links in a chain.
That they can't be divided, or separated, or staved off from one another.
Augustine, the great church father, put it this way.
He said, the external works of the Trinity are undivided.
In other words, what God does in creation as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit can't be broken up into bits.
What the Father does can't be cut off from what the Son does.
And that can't be separated from what the Spirit does.
And you see that in our text, don't you?
The Father chose.
But if the Father chose, then certainly the Son will redeem those that the Father chose.
And if the Son has redeemed those that the Father chose, then certainly the Spirit will seal those that the Son has redeemed.
They can't be broken, and they can't be divided.
What the Father plans, the Son accomplishes.
And what the Son accomplishes, the Spirit applies and brings it to completion.
And friends, that means that God's very nature, who He is from all time, ensures that the whole of our salvation is complete.
That it will be done.
You know, I often have plans that never come to completion.
I began a project painting the exterior of my house this summer.
And it started out as a plan.
I chose the wall of my house that was going to get painted.
Because I knew I wasn't going to get the whole thing done.
So I just picked one side.
And then it took me a few weeks to go out and purchase the materials to redeem them from Sherwin-Williams to get the job done.
And then I worked on it for a few weeks.
And the summer got busy.
And I still haven't brought that project to completion.
I got the primer coat on and all the sanding done.
But I still need to actually put the final coat of paint on the thing.
And at this rate, I'm hoping just to get it done before Christmas.
Before it snows.
And then it's too cold to paint.
And it won't dry.
Now friends, how many of our best laid plans are like that?
The best laid plans of mice and men often go wry.
Wrote the Scottish poet Robert Burns.
That's true of us.
Often our best laid plans go wry.
But friends, what's true of us is not true for God.
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The one true God.
His plans will not be thwarted.
They will not go awry.
What he plans, he performs.
And what God performs, he perfects.
You see.
It's in the very nature of God.
In saving you, Christian.
Brother and sister.
It's in the very nature of God.
In saving you.
To save you all the way.
God's not going to stop halfway and get distracted.
He's not going to leave off three quarters of the way.
He's not going to purchase a salvation for you in Christ.
And then wait around to see if you're going to get it.
He's going to make sure that it sees you the whole way home.
He's not going to leave us until he's done.
He cannot.
It's in his very nature.
Friends, I wonder if we meditated on that fact.
How much of our anxiety and our worry and our fear would start to subside.
To know that what God plans, he performs.
And what he performs, he will perfect.
Well, let's move on to the second thing that we see.
As we take in this skyline view of God's redemption.
What do we notice here?
We notice.
We notice God's story.
Take a look again at the movement from father to son to Holy Spirit here.
And you'll see that it's also a movement from election.
Which is just another word for choosing, by the way.
To elect, to choose in verse 4.
It moves from election in verse 4.
To redemption in verse 7.
To inheritance in verse 11.
Election, God chooses his people for his very own.
Redemption, God sets them free.
Purchasing them from slavery.
And then inheritance, God gives them a home.
Gives them a place where they can dwell with him forever.
Where they can have this intimate relationship with him.
Now, if we were to keep those three movements in mind.
And we were to go back to the very beginning of the Bible.
Go back to the very beginning of the Old Testament.
And we were to just start reading the story.
What would we find?
That this is exactly the story of Old Testament Israel.
God chose them.
First Abraham, then Isaac, then Jacob.
Then all of Jacob's family, Israel.
God chose them.
And then what happened?
God redeemed them from slavery in Egypt.
Well, that one happened.
God gave them an inheritance in the promised land.
God chooses and he redeems.
And he gives them a home.
But you know, the Old Testament was actually just the first movement of the symphony.
This is a story that God's been telling from the very beginning.
But in the Old Testament, we just sort of get the first movements.
The first sort of melody line of the great symphony that God's telling.
In the New Testament, that melody starts to just blow open into full shape.
And suddenly, all the instruments are playing.
And all the harmonies.
And all the transpositions are added.
It's being played in this higher key.
With full orchestration.
And suddenly, we find in the New Testament, as the gates are sort of opened up,
that it wasn't just about Abraham's family.
But it was about men and women from all nations.
And it wasn't just about redemption from Egypt.
But it was about redemption from sin and redemption from death.
And it wasn't just about an inheritance in Palestine.
But it was about an inheritance in the new creation.
And the whole earth made new.
Paul says, church, this is your story.
You know, friends, whether you like it or not,
you're actually living your life according to some story.
There's some plot.
There's some narrative that's running at a deep level in your heart
that shapes your thinking and your feeling and your acting.
You might not have thought of it that way.
But I guarantee you it is true.
Have you ever taken a moment and just examined what that story is?
Have you ever taken some time to reflect and ask deep down,
what is the narrative that's shaping my life?
What story do I see myself a part of?
Am I a collection?
Of just time and chance and energy?
A big pile of chemicals and stimulus and response?
And is the best that I can hope to do
is leave things a little better than I found them
and hopefully get a little happiness
before my brief spark is extinguished
and we all return into nothingness?
Well, that's a bit existential for most of us.
That's probably not the story we think we're living by.
Most of our stories are a bit more mundane, aren't they?
Get a good job.
Earn a decent wage.
Find the right person.
Live comfortably.
And hopefully when my life ends,
well, I don't really want to think too much about that.
What's the story for you?
Friends, the Bible here is inviting us
into a whole new story.
It's actually inviting us into God's story.
The true story of everything that is
that begins with God's creation
and ends with God's new creation.
In fact, the way Paul would tell it here,
it begins in eternity past
with God's burning desire
to redeem his people.
It begins with creation
and ends in new creation.
In the middle,
in the middle of that story,
in the face of our rebellion against God
and in the face of the death and decay
that it brings,
this story tells us of a God
who chooses and redeems
at the price of the blood of his own son
and who seals and secures us
by the person of his own spirit.
And if you lived in that story,
it would begin to change
your view of everything.
And it wouldn't just change
your view of everything again.
It would change how you feel
and how you think
and how you act.
You know, suddenly,
the material world that we inhabit
isn't just raw material
to be used and manipulated.
No.
This world is a gift of God
to be cared for
and to be cultivated
if we're living by God's story,
the one true story of all that is.
And suddenly, your job,
your job isn't just a means
of building wealth,
but your job is an avenue
to serve others
and to play a part
of shining God's kingdom
into the world.
And suddenly,
your relationships
don't just exist
for a little mutual pleasure
and a little mutual help,
but suddenly,
they become these opportunities
to call forth in one another
the image of God.
And they become opportunities
to exercise forgiveness
and grace
and on and on and on.
Suddenly,
nothing gets untouched
when you begin to live
into God's story.
And Paul's inviting us.
We're being invited
to step into it
and to realize
how much better it is
than so many of the parodies
that we try to live our lives by.
Third thing.
Third thing we see
in this skyline view
of God's redemption
is God's goal.
Now,
what's the end
that God
is after here?
Why is God doing all this?
Why does the Father,
Son,
and Holy Spirit
choose and redeem
and steal for an inheritance?
What is God doing?
What is his chief end,
his ultimate goal
in doing all this?
Well,
again and again
it came through
that refrain.
Did you catch it
when we read it earlier
in the service?
Again and again
we read
to the praise
of his glory.
To the praise
of his glory.
In other words,
God does
all things
to put on display
how beautiful he is.
to communicate
his infinite
splendor
to his creation.
Now,
at first this sounds
a bit strange,
doesn't it?
It sounds a bit,
I don't know,
how would you put it?
It sounds a bit
kind of egocentric
of God,
doesn't it?
I mean,
think about it.
If you did something
noteworthy,
let's say you gave
a very generous donation
to a charity
of some kind
and a news reporter
found out about this
and they came to your door
and they asked you,
hey,
why did you give such this,
why did you give
such a generous gift?
That was really amazing.
What would people think
if you answered
and said,
well,
I did it to show
how incredibly glorious
I am?
I guarantee you
that social media
would explode
with people calling you
a self-centered jerk
and all sorts of other names.
You would be trending
on Facebook
but not in a very positive way.
But you see,
friends,
it's very different
with God.
And it's different
with God
because,
well,
because God is God.
A number of years ago,
my wife and I
took a trip to Italy
and in Rome,
as it turns out,
there are a number
of museums
that you have to get
tickets to
like weeks in advance.
And even if you have
a ticket to these museums,
you have to wait hours
in line to get in.
Now,
why?
Some of you are thinking,
I would never wait hours
to see a bunch of dead art.
That sounds dumb.
Why do people
wait hours
and plan weeks,
months in advance
to be able to get in
to see these things?
Because the things inside
are worthy
to be beheld.
Because they're beautiful
and they're worthy
to be taken in
and experienced
and enjoyed.
But friends,
if that's true
of human works
of art,
of just artifacts
that we've made
in our finite
human capacities,
how much more
infinitely is it true
of God
to see God
in his beauty,
to really get a glimpse
of God's splendor.
You know,
oftentimes,
the psalmist
had it right.
I'd rather sit
in the house of God
and behold the beauty
of God
than do anything else.
God's splendor
and what Paul
is saying here
is that God
has blown
open the doors
and he's done
something
to put
his heart-thrilling,
his soul-satisfying
glory
on display
for everyone
to see
and to savor
and to know
and to enjoy.
So you don't need
a ticket
and you don't need
to wait hours
to get in.
God's goal
is the praise
of his glory
and that's really
good news
because praising
God's glory,
savoring his beauty,
knowing his just
manifold splendor,
that's the thing
our hearts were made for.
It's what we're
starving for,
really.
It's the thing
that haunts us
every time
we encounter
some finite beauty,
whether it's
beholding nature
or a piece of art
or taking in
a breathtaking
city skyline.
In each of these things
there's an echo
of a voice
that says
there's a deeper
beauty to be had.
A beauty
that won't fade
and that won't
grow old
because behind
these finite
encounters
with beauty
stands the glory
of the
infinite creator.
And this
infinite creator
has put
his glory
on display
in redemption.
salvation.
And he says
anyone now
can come
and they can
drink without
price.
And that leads us
to our last point.
We've seen
God's nature
and God's story
and God's goal
but then how do we
participate in all of this?
What's our entry
point into this
thing?
How do we get
in?
There's a new
candy store
on Chapel Street
I forget what
it's called
but when I walk
by it with my
kids
it's like a
magnet
and we're just
stuck to the
window
staring at these
stacks and
stacks of
sugary
confectionery
beauties.
And we never
go in
because they'll
never take a
nap if they
eat all that
sugar
but there we
are sort of
standing at it
and it's like
bright pink
and we can't
get away.
But friends
is that us
with respect
to God?
Are we always
looking through
the window
at God's
glory and
redemption?
Always out
on the street
never partaking
always just
separated and
one step off?
What's our
way in?
Look again
at verse 3
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.
Now we've
just been
rehearsing
those spiritual
blessings
and we're
going to
unpack them
in the weeks
to come
to be chosen
by the
Father
to be
redeemed
by the
Son
to be
sealed
by the
Spirit
to have
our hearts
unleashed
in the
praise of
God's
glory
and how
does all
of that
come to
us?
In
Christ
He has
blessed us
in Christ
with every
spiritual
blessing
in the
heavenly
places.
In other
words,
all that
heaven has
to give,
every
spiritual
blessing
that never
fades
and never
decays
and never
grows old
has been
gifted to
us free
of charge
in Christ.
Christ.
Do you
notice how
many times
that phrase
in Christ,
in Him,
through Him
occurs in
verses 3
through 14?
That's almost
a dozen
times.
In Him,
in Him,
in Him.
Christ is
the mediator,
the channel
of all
these blessings.
God hasn't
left us
out on the
street forever
staring through
the window.
No,
He's come
out to
us and
He's put
His arm
around us
and He's
led us
personally
inside and
He said,
welcome,
it's all
yours.
Friend,
if you are
in Christ,
if you have
united your
life to
Him in
faith,
then you
are chosen,
redeemed,
sealed.
Every
blessing
in the
heavenly
places
is yours.
Not a
single
one
has God
withheld
from you
in His
Son.
Every
spiritual
blessing.
And of
course,
that's so
much better
than every
material
blessing in
the earthly
places,
isn't it?
I remember
studying this
book quite
some time
ago and
coming across
verse 3 and
thinking,
that's great,
every spiritual
blessing in
the heavenly
places.
What about
some material
blessing once
in a while,
right?
But you
know,
God doesn't
promise us
that in
Christ.
He doesn't
promise us
material
blessings in
the earthly
places.
But what He
promises us is
so much
better.
And why is
it so much
better?
Well,
lots of
reasons and
we could
enumerate
them all,
but I
mean,
just to
get right
down to
it,
to put it
bluntly,
because
material
blessings
won't
make you
happy.
They
might for
a little
while,
don't get
me wrong,
if your
car breaks
down,
a new
car will
make you
happy.
I get
that,
right?
They
might make
you happy
for a little
while,
but not
for long,
not in a
lasting
way.
And of
course,
God isn't
against
material
blessings.
He wants
us to
care about
economic
injustice.
He wants
us to
care about
the poor.
It's not
what this
verse is
about.
But friends,
you and I
both know
that if your
bank account
is full
and your
heart is
empty,
that you
would cash
out the
bank account
in an
instant to
fix your
empty
heart.
You would
cash it
out in an
instant to
find someone
who loves
you and
who looks
at you
with all
of your
flaws and
chooses you
and who
would lay
down their
life for
you and
who would
stick by
you to
the end
no matter
how many
times you
screw up.
You would
cash out
your bank
account in
a second
for someone
like that.
And don't
you see,
friends,
that's exactly
what God
has done
for you
in Christ.
He has
looked at
you,
he has
loved you,
he has
bled and
died for
you,
and he
has promised
to be
with you
to the
very end
and let
nothing
tear you
away.
And you
know now
in him,
whether you
have material
blessings or
not,
your heart
is full.
And that
means that
if you
get material
blessings,
they won't
rule you.
And if you
don't get
them,
it doesn't
crush you.
You're free
because you
have every
spiritual
blessing in
the heavenly
places.
every
spiritual
blessing in
the heavenly
places in
Christ
Jesus our
Lord.
Friends,
are you in
him?
Or are you
still outside
looking in?
God has
unleashed from
heaven.
We've been
staring out the
80th floor
observation tower
out at God's
plan of
redemption,
and there's
God's nature,
and there's
God's story,
and there's
God's goal,
but at the
end of the
day,
it all comes
down on
this razor's
edge that
is pointed
directly at
each one of
us.
Are you
in him?
God has
unleashed from
heaven every
spiritual blessing
in Christ.
There's not a
single one he's
withheld right
there in his
son.
And all you
have to do
is lay down
your pride and
lay down your
despair and
trust in him
and take hold
of him.
And suddenly
God's goal
becomes the
thrill of your
heart and
God's story
becomes your
story and
God's nature
becomes the
one that you
get to
commune with
for all
eternity.
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.
Let's pray.
God, thank you
tonight that we
can draw near to
you and call
you our
Father because
of our Lord
Jesus Christ
and because of
your spirit.
Lord, help us
tonight to
really believe
these things that
you tell us in
your word.
And give us,
as Paul will
pray later in
this letter,
give us
strength in
our inner
being by
your Holy
Spirit to
really grasp
Jesus in
all of the
manifold,
unrelenting
love that you've
given us in
Christ.
God, wake up
our hearts
because they're
so sleepy.
Remind us
because we're
so forgetful.
Lord, even
for some of
us here
tonight, call
us forth from
death into
life.
For those who
are far off,
God, bring
them near.
Bring them
near in
Christ so
that we might
live to the
praise of
your glory.
Amen.