help, we'll be having six or seven sermons now on a new series called Life in the Father's House.
As we saw in Sunday school, this is a reference to what Jesus promised in John chapter 14. He said,
in my Father's house are many rooms, and I'm going to prepare a place for you, that where I am,
there you may also be. And he says, I'm not leaving you as orphans. My Holy Spirit is with you.
And we'll see in Ephesians what else he says about this glorious promise. So biblical church,
Life in the Father's House. And our sermon text today is Ephesians chapter 1, starting at verse 3.
It's a longer passage. We're going to go all the way through chapter 2, verse 10.
As I read this, remember, this is God's inspired, inerrant, infallible, clear, and sufficient word.
This is God's very own word for you, his people. So when I'm done with the reading of scripture,
I'll say, this is the word of God, and you can respond with joy and gratitude. Thanks be to God.
Ephesians 1, starting at verse 3.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ.
According as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before him in love,
having predestined us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself,
according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace,
wherein he has made us accepted in the beloved.
Verse 7.
In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,
according to the riches of his grace, wherein he has abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence,
having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure,
which he has purposed in himself.
Verse 10.
That in the dispensation of the fullness of times,
he might gather together in one all things in Christ,
both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in him,
in whom also we have obtained an inheritance,
being predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things after the counsel of his own will,
that we should be to the praise of his glory,
who first trusted in Christ,
in whom you also trusted after you heard the word of truth,
the gospel of your salvation,
in whom after that you believed you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.
Verse 14.
Which is the earnest of our inheritance
until the redemption of the purchased possession
unto the praise of his glory.
Wherefore I also,
after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus
and love unto all the saints,
cease not to give thanks for you,
making mention of you in my prayers,
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of glory,
may give unto you the spirit of wisdom
and revelation in the knowledge of him.
Verse 18.
The eyes of your understanding being enlightened,
that you may know what is the hope of his calling,
and what are the riches of his glory
and his inheritance in the saints.
That is the exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe,
according to the working of his mighty power,
which he wrought in Christ,
when he raised him from the dead
and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
far above all principality and power
and might and dominion
and every name that is named,
not only in this world,
but also in that which is to come.
And he has put all things under his feet
and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
which is his body,
the fullness of him that filled up all in all.
Chapter 2.
And you,
he has quickened,
who were dead in trespasses and sins,
wherein in time past you walked
according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air,
the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience,
among whom also we had our conversation in time past,
in the lusts of the flesh,
fulfilling the desires of the flesh
and of the mind,
and were by nature the children of wrath,
even as others.
Verse 4.
But God,
who is rich in mercy,
for his great love,
wherein he loved us,
even we who were dead in sins,
he has quickened us together with Christ.
By grace,
you are saved.
And he has raised us up together
and made us sit together
in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
That is,
in the age to come
that he might show the exceeding riches of his grace
in his kindness toward us through Jesus Christ.
For by grace you are saved through faith,
and that is not of yourselves,
it is the gift of God.
Not of works,
lest any man should boast.
For we are his workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus,
unto good works,
which God has before ordained,
that we should walk in them.
This is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
You may be seated.
We read in Isaiah 40
that the grass withers and the flower fades,
but the word of the Lord,
it endures forever.
Would you pray with me?
Amen.
Oh Lord,
cause us to behold Jesus Christ
and by seeing the work of Christ
as our mediator,
to understand
and to personally know
this great mystery
of our salvation
so that you will be glorified
in our lives,
we pray.
Amen.
Well, beloved congregation
of our Lord Jesus Christ,
I invite you today
to ponder
your wondrous adoption.
To ponder
means to consider,
to contemplate,
to bask
in your wondrous adoption.
Wondrous,
it means exceeding
and surprising good.
inspiring a feeling of wonder and delight.
That's what this glorious passage that Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus does.
It causes us to ponder our wondrous adoption.
Well, he says this in verse 5, chapter 1, verse 5,
that you were predestined by God to be adopted in Christ.
That's what he says to you who believe.
And the metaphor of adoption itself, it gets our attention.
It reminds you that had God not adopted you, look what you would have been.
The musical Annie describes a life before adoption.
The children in the orphanage, they say,
Don't it feel like the wind is always howling?
Don't it seem like there's never any light?
Once a day, don't you want to throw the towel in?
It's easier than putting up a fight.
Empty belly life, rotten, smelly life, full of sorrow life, no tomorrow life.
But Paul takes the church in Ephesus and says,
God predestined that you be adopted in Christ by God the Father.
That's not the type of life for you.
You get life in the Father's house.
That's what you get.
See, the Roman world had a very large percentage of their social demographic
that were orphans and slaves that were neglected.
So the church of Ephesus had a really weird mix.
You had slaves as part of the congregation.
You had literal orphans that were being brought in by the members of the church.
But Ephesus as a city was the wealthiest hub of Asia Minor.
And much of the wealth of Ephesus was kept at the temple of Diana.
So this temple was a place of horrible sin and vulgarity,
all kinds of pagan idolatry.
But it was also the treasury for the city of Ephesus
and really the financial capital of Asia Minor.
So within this church were those that were very successful in commerce,
and you had this great diversity within this little body.
There were some who were Jewish descent.
There were many who were Gentiles.
And Paul is writing to them from prison.
And the reason Paul is in prison is because he went out to take the gospel to the world,
to people like them.
If you've been neglected, hurt, or abused by a church,
then you need to hear what Paul says in this letter to the church in Ephesus.
If you are still deciding whether you will ever take the risk
of caring very much about people in church again,
then you need to hear what Paul says in this letter to the church in Ephesus.
And if you want to believe that a true biblical church that's fed on Scripture,
that's Spirit-filled, that's owned by Christ himself,
you want to believe that that is possible, maybe even right here,
then let's hear together what Paul writes in this letter to the church in Ephesus.
In this longer passage, I'm going to do my best to not skip any parts.
Five wondrous truths, and then what this means for us on how we need to live.
So number one, ponder with Paul the cause of your adoption.
Ponder the cause of your adoption.
If you are in God's family, if you can say,
I belong to the Father's house, why?
What caused that?
Look at verse 3.
So chapter 1, verse 3.
Paul begins by making it very clear.
Everything he's going to tell them about church,
it's to bring glory to one God.
Who gets all the glory in the church?
Look how he starts off.
Chapter 1, verse 3.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Yes, the church displays all these glorious blessings,
but it's God who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places.
How?
In Christ.
Now the next question is, why?
What is the cause?
Look at verse 4.
According as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.
He has predestined us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself,
according to the good pleasure of his will,
to the praise of the glory of his grace,
wherein he has made us accepted in the beloved.
When you hear these truths, it truly is heavenly glory.
Because in our flesh, we're a lot like that little orphan Annie, aren't we?
We want to believe that maybe God will like my personality or my charm or the things I can do,
and that's why he'll show me his grace.
Maybe we can cause God to adopt us.
Thomas Brooks, one of the Puritans, he said,
until you have faith in Christ, your best services are but more glorious sins.
You're trying to be saved by your own goodness, by your own good works.
But this glorious passage, it tells us that if you are in God's family,
look again at verse 4.
If you're adopted, it's because God has chosen you in Christ.
Well, when did God do that?
When did God choose you personally?
Was it after God observed enough of me to decide that one's good?
No.
He says in verse 4,
it was before the foundation of the world.
So what does this tell us about God?
God wants you to enter into his holy throne room
and behold him, God the creator of all, Father.
And as you approach his throne room, he speaks to you and he says,
Dear child, because I am love, I made you, look at verse 4,
I made you holy and without blame as you stand here before me.
Verse 5, he answers the objection.
We want to say, hold on God, how can this even be possible?
The creator of all, your adoptive father in Christ.
He smiles at you and look at what he says in verse 4.
You are in God's family because I predestined you,
along with all those in my true church,
unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to myself.
And I did this, this is what it tells us about God.
He says he did this because it was the good pleasure of his will.
Why are you adopted?
What was the cause?
It is the good pleasure of the father's will to adopt you
before you did anything to deserve that.
The question was, ponder the cause of your adoption.
If you are in God's family, why is that?
Well, these verses tell us you were adopted in Christ freely
by God's good pleasure due to no merit of your own.
Some of you, that's what you need to hear this morning.
And that would be enough.
If we can truly embrace that and live in that.
I think for others of us, maybe for myself right now,
I need to remember that about every single Christian here,
but globally, if they belong to Christ,
it's because he showed them love.
He gave them a new heart.
He showed his favor to them and adopted them.
And they stand before him, and I stand before him,
warts and all.
And he says, you are holy and blameless in Christ.
Because I, in my good pleasure,
wanted to adopt you before the foundation of the world.
Ponder the cause of your adoption.
Number two, ponder your hopelessness
if God had left you dead in sin.
Ponder how hopeless you would be
if he had not adopted you who are Christians.
I'm going to have us bounce around a little bit
within this broader passage.
So look at chapter 2, verse 1.
Paul writes to the church,
this mixed church in Ephesus,
and he says,
you, God made alive.
And that verb, that God made you alive,
it could be translated that God quickened you
who were dead.
He regenerated you.
He breathed life over you and into you,
just like we read from Ezekiel 37.
What Paul is saying is that
every person in the church was dead.
We were dead in our trespasses and sins.
Now, notice how powerful was the bondage
before Christ adopted us.
Look at chapter 2, verse 2.
He says,
In time past,
you walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air,
the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience,
among whom we also had our conversation in times past,
in the lusts of our own flesh,
fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind.
And we were by nature children of wrath,
even as others.
Ponder your life
should God had left you to continue walking in that way.
You're walking without Christ's adoption
in the pattern of the world.
You are blown along
by whatever the godless world loves.
That's steering your path,
and you're fulfilling all those cravings and lusts
of your own flesh.
It's by the walk
that you know
who's your master.
Don't be deceived,
and also don't be hurt
by everything that slaps the label Christian on it.
You can tell by the way they walk.
Francis Schaeffer said,
he said this about those who claim to be Christians
that are whitewashed tombstones.
He said,
there is no such thing as a true church that's worldly.
He says of this, of the fake church,
tell me what the world says now,
and I'll tell you what false professors will say in seven years.
The church, the false church,
is just following the pattern of the world.
They're like a dead fish that just goes with the stream.
As someone said,
only a living fish that's been regenerated,
made alive,
can float against it.
What the world loves
is not neutral, Paul says.
So no matter what the coffee mugs
or the shirts you buy at Target are going to say,
it's not cute.
It's not innocent.
It's manipulated by Satan.
Look at what Paul says here
about the spirit that governs the world in verse 2.
He says,
it's the prince of the power of the air.
And if you are still a slave to sin,
you are a slave to disobedience,
verse 2 says that it is Satan's spirit
that works in you.
You think you're free.
You're a slave to your own sin
and you're a slave to Satan himself.
Let that thought scare you for a moment.
Ponder your hopelessness
if God had left you in that state.
The context and the metaphor in Paul's writing here
is adoption, remember?
Well, I looked this up this week
that the National Foster Youth Institute says,
this is sad.
One out of every two children
in the foster care system
will end up homeless and jobless
once they age out.
If God did not adopt you,
that's the walk you were headed on.
You would be eternally homeless.
Now go back to chapter 1, verse 7.
Paul says,
in Christ,
we have redemption
through His blood.
Chapter 1, verse 7.
How are you redeemed?
It's by the forgiveness of sins
according to the riches of His grace,
wherein He has abounded toward us
in all wisdom and prudence.
In the Roman world,
you could go to the market
and they would put one slave up
after another on the block
and there would be an auction
and the highest bidder gets the slave.
So a human being
had a price tag attached to them.
Now what someone could do
is pay that price,
win the bid,
that slave became their property,
their possession.
And once you had the title
to that slave,
you could release them
and set them free.
When that happened,
that was called being redeemed.
So that person would be considered
a redeemed slave.
Did you see what Paul writes
in chapter 1, verse 7?
He says,
in Christ,
we have redemption.
Well, what was the price?
It was the blood of Jesus
that purchased you.
And Jesus sets you free
from the bondage of Satan
with his precious blood.
Why did God do this?
It's to show you
the riches of God's grace.
He says they are overflowing.
They are abounding.
They abide fully to you
who Christ has purchased.
How could this be possible?
Only by the precious blood
of Jesus Christ himself,
being very God,
took on flesh
to ransom
and to redeem you.
Number three,
ponder
the finality
of this adoption.
Ponder how
this adoption
is done and over.
It's completed.
I just want to walk through
six reasons
in verses 9 through 14.
How is your adoption final?
It's over.
It's already happened.
Number one,
your adoption is final
because God
does not change.
You don't need to fear
God changing his mind
like an earthly father.
God chose you.
He will never unchoose you.
Look at verse 9.
Having made known to us
the mystery of his will
according to his good pleasure,
which he has purposed
in himself.
There's no greater place
to purpose your adoption
than in God's own pleasure.
He will not change.
Number two,
your adoption is final
because it is held
and accomplished
by Christ himself.
To doubt your adoption
is to doubt
whether Christ is capable of it.
Look at verse 10.
That in the fullness of time,
in the dispensation
of the fullness of time,
God might gather together
in one
all things,
notice the next two words,
in Christ,
in heaven
and which are on earth.
And if he needs to say it again,
even in him,
it's all held together
by Christ.
Number three,
your adoption is final
because God adopted you
in Christ already
because he's referring
to your adoption
in the past tense.
It's finished.
It's accomplished.
Look at verse 11.
In Christ,
there it is a third time,
also we have obtained
an inheritance,
being predestined
according to the purpose
of him
who worketh all things
after the counsel
of his own will.
He says in verse 11,
we have obtained.
You already have it.
It is already accomplished
by Christ.
It is already your adoption.
When a child does get adopted,
by a family,
there's a grace celebration
and it's called
their adoption day
and it's often celebrated.
Maybe like a birthday
for years to come
or the whole party,
the whole church
comes together
and celebrates.
Well, Paul is saying,
church,
you have already obtained
your adoption.
Your adoption day
was already accomplished
when the Spirit
applied the work
of Christ to you.
You are adopted
fully and finally.
And when we celebrate
your baptism,
we are celebrating
that fact as a church.
You have been adopted.
The fourth reason
that your adoption
is final
is because it's really
just evidenced
by trusting
in the active present tense,
trusting in God.
Look what he says
in verse 12.
He adopted you
that you should be
to the praise
of his glory.
Who is he talking about?
He's talking about
those who first
trusted in Christ.
Yes, there is a moment
in time
when you did not
trust in God,
now you first
trust in him.
But look at what he says
continuing on
in verse 13.
In whom you also trusted
after you heard
that the word of truth
and the gospel
of your salvation.
He goes on to say
you continue believing
in the scriptures
as you're taught
by the Holy Spirit.
See, if you are trusting
in Christ right now,
you don't need
to remember that day.
For some of you
it's more of a gradual
looking back on your life.
But you can have assurance
if you are trusting
fully in Christ now,
he has adopted you.
Because if he had not
worked in your heart,
you would not want
to trust him
for your salvation.
And if you are trusting him now,
it should encourage you,
your adoption is final.
You've been adopted.
Number five and six
will confirm this
further for you.
Number five is this,
your adoption is final
because you have
a certificate
or a seal,
like that poured wax
with the signet ring on it.
You have a seal
testifying that you are adopted.
This is in verse 13.
What is that seal?
After you believed,
he says you were,
in the past tense,
you were sealed
with that Holy Spirit
of promise.
You don't need to look
for a future feeling
feeling or a future experience.
If you believed,
you have been sealed already
by the Holy Spirit.
It is accomplished
and applied to you.
And then the sixth reason
that your adoption is final,
it's because the Holy Spirit
in you,
the Holy Spirit inside of you,
it's like an earnest
of your future inheritance.
Look at verse 14.
He says,
This Holy Spirit of promise
is the earnest
of our inheritance
until the redemption
of the purchased possession
unto the praise
of his glory.
There will be a great day
when our Lord Jesus
descends with the army
of angels from heaven.
And what we believe
by faith spiritually
is accomplished now,
he will reveal
this is finally,
physically,
consummately real.
The kingdom of heaven
is fully on this earth.
And until then,
he's left his Holy Spirit
dwelling inside you individually
who believe in us
as a body,
as a further encouragement
that you are adopted.
This picture of an earnest
or a deposit,
I think it's best illustrated
with a young man
who wants to marry
a young lady.
And so what does he give her?
The engagement ring.
Expensive diamond
made of gold
and it goes on the finger
until that day
where they will be married.
But in that meantime,
she has that ring
to remind her
of his great love.
She has that deposit,
that earnest.
Do you see how your adoption
is final
according to these verses?
And because your adoption
is final,
you can live in this world
with boldness.
You no longer will
go with the pattern
of the world.
You will be alive.
You will be going
against the stream.
You will be with
the army of King Jesus
marching out
with faith in the kingdom
to come
no matter what happens
on this earth.
G.K. Chesterton
pointed out,
we don't want,
as the newspapers say,
a church that will move
with the world.
What we want
is a church
that will move
the world.
The church moves
the world
when the church
trusts in Jesus Christ
and follows him.
It's King Jesus
who is storming
the gates of hell
and they will not
prevail against him.
Well, next,
I invite you to ponder
how your adoption
becomes true.
I know this might seem
a little bit out of order,
but I'm trying to follow
the flow of this passage.
And I think it's important
because he's writing
to the church
to begin with,
but he's correcting
probably some wrong
understandings
about how did I get adopted?
Can I know for sure?
Am I saved?
See, some of you
have been regenerated
by the power
of the Holy Spirit,
but you've probably
gotten some confused
teaching over the years.
I know I sure have
about how God
actually adopts people.
And then others of you,
you've been taught right,
but you need to know
for you personally.
I don't need to just know
theoretically in my head.
I need to know
whether I'm adopted.
And this,
I think these next verses
here can really help you
have correct understanding
of how God does this
and reform our thinking
in that way
and also personal assurance.
So how does this adoption
become true for you personally?
Well, let's look at
chapter 1, verse 15.
See, Paul is talking
about the church
and he's thinking about
how they've changed so much.
And he sees evidence
that they have been adopted
by God by their love,
by what's concerning them.
Look at what he says
in verse 15.
After I heard of your faith
in the Lord Jesus,
and your love
unto all the saints.
Verse 16,
Paul says,
now I can't stop
giving thanks to you
and making mention of you
in my prayers.
He sees their love,
now he wants to encourage them.
Just think about
how God saved you,
God adopted you.
Number one,
how does adoption become true?
Well, Paul is praying
for them to know this.
So we pray for adoption
to be true.
And there's that loved one
or that dear friend
or that family member.
You don't know
if they're saved yet.
And you want so much
for them to have that assurance
and that new life in Christ.
Do like Paul.
Remember them always,
making mention of them
in your prayers.
Number two,
trust that it is God
who gives understanding.
Look at verse 17.
The God of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of glory.
Paul is praying
that God himself
may give to them
the spirit of wisdom
and revelation
in the knowledge of him.
See, it's the spirit of God
in verse 18
who opens the eyes
of their understanding.
They were dead and darkened,
but it's the Holy Spirit
who enlightens them.
Ponder how this adoption
becomes true.
Number three,
it becomes true
because God personally
calls you
to know this truth.
Paul writes in verse 18
that you may know,
you personally,
you may know and trust
what is the hope
of Christ's calling
and what the riches
of the glory
of his inheritance
are to you
who he says
are my saints.
It's for you
to personally know that.
Number four,
adoption is accomplished
by God's power.
The same power
that raised Jesus
from the dead.
Look what he says.
Here's evidence
of your belief.
Verse 19,
you need to know
the exceeding greatness
of God's power
toward us who believe
according to the working
of his mighty power
which he wrought
in Christ Jesus.
He's saying,
do you believe in God?
Well, then it's because
God has worked
with such power
in your life
he's caused you
to believe
and it's the same power
he used to raise
his own son
from the dead
to give you newness
of life.
It's that power
that has caused you
to now believe.
So,
the fifth observation
is that your adoption
is just as true
as Christ's resurrection.
God raises you
from spiritual death
unto spiritual life
just as God,
he says,
in verse 20,
God has raised Christ
from the dead
and set him
at his own right hand
in the heavenly places.
So,
that same power
that raised God,
raised Christ
from the grave,
seated Christ
on the heavenly throne,
it becomes yours
through adoption.
It brings life to you
and it unites you
to Christ.
So,
I want you to look next
at chapter 2,
verse 4
to see how
all those
that God causes
to believe
he has adopted.
See,
God adopts
all those
that he regenerates.
Look at chapter 2,
verse 4.
He says,
God,
who is rich in mercy
for his great love,
wherein he has loved us
even while we were
dead in sins,
he has quickened us.
He has made us alive
together
with Christ.
If you believe
in Jesus Christ,
it's because he has
breathed
that same resurrection
life into you.
He has united you
to Jesus Christ
who sits at the
Father's right hand.
Ponder how this
adoption is true
for you personally.
The more you feel
and understand
that I do not
deserve such
powerful grace
poured out
in my life,
the more useful
Christ makes us
for his kingdom.
Charles Spurgeon
said,
the most useful
members of church
are usually those
who would be doing
harm if they were
not doing good.
We would have been
on that path
and we know it,
but God adopted me.
He brought me
into his father's house.
I will serve him.
I will be useful
for his kingdom
out of gratitude.
I warned you
against those
false labels.
They slap Christian
onto different things.
Here's what we just
saw in this passage,
that the true church
is made up
100%
of redeemed
slaves.
The true church
is made up
100%
of adopted
orphans.
If you belong
to Christ,
you are in his
father's house.
You never
have to fear
eternal
homelessness.
He puts his
name on you.
You have
been
adopted.
He will
not change
his mind
about you.
Number five,
ponder
what it means
to belong
to God's
family,
the heavenly
kingdom,
Christ's body
on earth.
A few
verses back,
I read for us
how Paul is
describing the
power of Satan
over this
present evil
age.
Doesn't that
give you the
chills up your
spine?
If we
understand what
the Bible
really says
is going on
in the
spiritual realm,
this present
evil age is
terrifying.
We need to
take up arms.
There's no
more time to
be drowsy
or distracted.
I know my
own weakness,
the remaining
flesh,
the battle,
and there
should be a
healthy fear,
a healthy zeal
in all of us
to depend on
God and to
keep trusting
him.
Don't trust
yourself for
one moment.
You should
fear that
relapse into
the pattern
of the
world.
We all
should.
But we
also should
not have
fear.
We need
to live
in light
of this
reality.
Christ
lives and
he rules
from heaven.
Look at
what Paul
says here
in chapter
1 verse
21.
He encourages
this church.
He says,
far above
all principality,
power,
might,
dominion,
and every
name that
is named,
far above
all those
is our
Lord Jesus
Christ,
the King
of kings
on his
throne of
glory.
What's
more,
it's not
only in
this world,
Paul wrote,
but also
in the
world which
is to
come.
If you
are adopted
into God's
family,
you already
belong to
that spiritual
heavenly
kingdom.
You belong
there now.
And be
encouraged with
verse 22,
Paul writes
that God
has put
all things
under the
feet of
Jesus.
Yes,
our King
Jesus is
already ruling
here now
spiritually,
and he
will come
one day
consummately.
We are in
that overlap
of the ages,
this present
evil age and
the age to
come which
is already
inaugurated.
We already
have been
adopted into
that kingdom.
His kingdom
on earth
right now
is a
spiritual
kingdom.
Look at
what he says
in the rest
of verse 2.
The Father
gave Jesus
Christ to be
the head
over all
things to
the church.
Verse 23,
the church
is his
body and
is the
fullness of
him that
fills all
in all.
How does
God rule
over this
whole world?
Well,
God never
stopped being
the creator
and the
sustainer of
everyone and
everything.
Yes,
he's preserving
the whole
world for
his purposes,
but it's
through the
church that
his spiritual
rule has
already begun.
And King
Jesus,
he rules
this entire
world through
his church
until every
last one who
will be joined
in to the
family of the
father believes.
That's how his
kingdom is coming.
What you enjoy
now by faith
belonging to
the spiritual
kingdom,
you trust by
faith,
one day you
will enjoy it
fully and
consummately.
Go back to
chapter 1 and
look at this
promise in
verse 7.
Ephesians
chapter 1
verse 7.
God wants
you to
believe that
in the age
to come,
he will show
you the
exceeding
riches of
his grace
in his
kindness toward
us who
through Christ
Jesus belong
to him.
He wants
you to see
now by faith
the exceeding
riches of
belonging to
the father's
house.
You already
have the
family name.
You're already
there.
And one
day all
will see the
riches,
the exceeding,
abounding,
overflowing
riches of
God's grace
and kindness.
So maybe God
needs to
reform and
heal our
view of
church itself
and who we
are.
The Bible
fed,
spirit filled,
Christ owned
church is
not a
depressing
foster shelter.
Church is
life giving
hospital for
souls.
The Bible
fed,
spirit filled,
Christ owned
church is
not your
temporary
orphanage.
It's your
forever family.
family.
Well those
are the
five things
I want you
to ponder
but we
also need
to see how
Paul ends
with an
exhortation.
If this
is true for
you, you
belong to
the family
of the
father, it
needs to
change our
walk.
Ponder what
your adoption
means for
your walk.
Look at
chapter 2
verse 8.
Paul said,
Paul couldn't
make it any
clearer here.
You are
not saved
by your
own works.
That's
good news.
You were
not adopted
based on
your good
works.
You know
what that
means?
God will
not unadopt
you based
on your
works.
Once adopted,
you're in
his house.
Is a
loving father
going to let
his adopted
child go
around with
lice in
the hair,
rashes all
over the
skin,
no deodorant?
Look what he
says here.
You're
adopted.
You're
going to have
the Holy
Spirit working
on you as
a masterpiece.
God is the
master craftsman
and you are
the project.
He loves to
work on you
and me.
He says we're
being crafted
by God
himself.
Look at
chapter 2
verse 10.
Paul says we
are his
workmanship.
Paul's in this
too.
The more God
works on him
the more he
says I'm
the worst
of sinners.
We are
his workmanship.
We are
created in
Christ Jesus
unto good
works.
Isn't that the
beauty of the
gospel?
Law and
gospel.
That's it
right there.
That's why I
jokingly say
Paul was a
reformed
Baptist.
He got it.
Well,
Sinclair Ferguson,
a Presbyterian,
the coolest
Presbyterian,
I love how
he put this
exact gospel
truth.
He said
this,
those Christ
adopts have
the Holy
Spirit and
the Holy
Spirit is
sent into
your life
to make
your life
the kind
of place
which the
Father can
say to
the Son,
I feel at
home here.
Don't you?
Remember how
Jesus said in
the gospel of
John,
my Father
is always
working?
This is how
the Father
is always
working.
He is
working in
you and
in me.
And he's
working through
the church
together to
accomplish his
purposes in
all the
world.
William Tyndale
understood this,
I believe.
He was the
Englishman who
first translated
the scripture
from the
Hebrew and
Greek into
the English
nation.
So he was
using his
own country as
a mission
field to
bring them
the word of
God and
the gospel.
Here's what
Tyndale said,
he said,
the church
is the
one institution
that exists
for those
outside of
it.
Why is
that?
Well,
because we're
in the
Father's
house.
And he's
working in
us and
through us
to bring
more sons
and daughters
into his
family.
And that's
what Paul
says here,
church,
that you
and I
and Paul
and all
those who
belong to
Christ,
we are the
body of
Jesus Christ
on earth.
that's our
mission.
And he
says we
will walk
as the
body of
Christ in
those good
works.
Notice what
he says at
the end of
verse 10,
those good
works which
God has
before ordained
that we
should walk
in them.
That steals
all the glory
out of anyone
wanting to
take credit
now for
walking in
good works.
Did you do
a good work
this past week?
Probably all
of us did.
Well,
God in
his infinite
wisdom,
he prepared
that good
work that
you did
this week.
He prepared
that you
would walk
and do
that.
You're his
hands and
feet,
his body
on this
earth.
Who gets
all the
glory for
your good
works?
It has
to be
God.
You would
have been
walking a
totally
different
path if
God had
not saved
you.
And he
foreordained
great works
for each
one of us
to walk
and accomplish
so that
he would
get the
glory in
all of
them.
Here's the
rest of
Sinclair Ferguson's
quote.
He confesses
what I feel
in his
words.
He says,
I look at
my life and
there's still
so much
that needs
to change.
Amen?
There's so
much that needs
to change in
my life to
make it a
place where
the Father
and the Son
feel at
home in
me.
Ferguson
encourages
us,
take comfort.
That is the
Holy Spirit's
ministry.
Ponder
your wondrous
adoption in
Christ and
inevitably you
will walk in
the good works
that God has
already ordained
for you.
let's pray.
Let's pray.
Paul said that he
prayed for them
from prison and I
just want to read to
you Paul's prayer
and I join my
prayer, my thoughts
for you with his
before the Lord.
from Ephesians 3
starting at verse
16.
I pray that out
of his glorious
riches he may
strengthen you
with his power
through his
spirit in your
inner being so
that Christ may
dwell in your
hearts through
faith and I
pray that you
being rooted
and established
in love may
have power
together with
all the Lord's
holy people to
grasp how wide
and long and
high and deep
is the love of
Christ and to
know this love
that surpasses
knowledge that
you may be filled
to the measure
of all the
fullness of God.
Now to him who
is able to do
immeasurably more
than all we ask
or imagine
according to his
powerful work that
is at work within
us.
To him be glory
in the church
and in Christ
Jesus throughout
all generations
forever and
ever.
Amen.