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November 16/17, 2013
Kenny Stokes (Downtown Campus) | Ephesians 1:1
Video to come
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, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.—Ephesians 1:3–14
Introduction
Last weekend, I began a 3-week series of Downtown Campus messages on “Treasuring the Trinity.” Drawing from John 1 and Genesis 1, we saw that: In the beginning, God existed as Father and Son and Spirit in loving relationship, one God, 3-persons. This Triune God acted together in creating everything visible and invisible, in the heavens and on earth, all things in the universe.
We contrasted this biblical revelation of God as triune with all the ‘mono-gods’ (1 god in 1 person) of the religions of the world and found the ‘mono-god’ lacking. If a mono-god’s nature as god is creator, he needs creation to be god. If his essence as god is to be merciful, since he is all alone, the mono-god needs created human beings to be merciful. If a mono-god’s nature as god is ruler, he likewise needs creation to rule over in order to be god. The picture of the mono-god is a picture of a needy god, a lonely god to whom love is a relatively new thing—if he chooses to love at all. It is not part of his nature or existence before creation.
In contrast, the Triune God’s nature for eternity past is God as Father, Son and Spirit. From before the foundation of the world that is who he is. As such, he needs no creation to be god. His identity is not merely defined by his relationship to his creation. He is the Triune God—that is who God is. So also, the Biblical God needs no created human beings to become loving. He is love (1 John 4:8). He has been loving and in happy relationship of Father, Son, and Spirit for all eternity past, long before creation. No one needs to teach him how to love or how to be happy, for that matter. God being the Triune God, Father, Son and Spirit makes all the difference in the world.
My aim this weekend is to look at the collaboration of the Trinity in our salvation to see the unity in the distinct roles of Father, Son, and Spirit in the gospel. Also, I want us to see that the breadth and scope of our salvation is actually defined by God’s Triune being.
Is your gospel too small? In his book, The Deep Things of God: How the Trinity Changes Everything, Fred Sanders makes the observation that for many evangelicals our gospel is too small.
Some see the gospel mainly as the "I-believed-in-Jesus when-I-was-12-years-old" gospel, or the "get-out-of-jail-free-card" gospel, or the eternal-security gospel, or the moral-improvement gospel, the self-betterment gospel, the prosperity gospel, or the increased self-esteem gospel. All are lacking.
Or, drawing from Henry Scougal’s book, The Life of God in the Soul of Man, Sanders reminds us that a truncated gospel may come in one of these 3 common forms. Some Christians could be called ‘head’ Christians, some ‘heart’ Christians, and some ‘hands’ Christians.
The problem is our human tendency to truncate the gospel into the one aspect of the gospel and live as if that one aspect of the gospel was the whole gospel. Sanders writes,
A gospel which is only about the moment of conversion but does not extend to every moment of life in Christ is too small. A gospel that gets your sins forgiven but offers no power for transformation is too small. A gospel that isolates one of the benefits of union with Christ and ignores all the others is too small. A gospel that must be measured by your own moral conduct, social conscience, or religious experience is too small. A gospel that rearranges the components of your life but does not put you personally in the presence of God is too small.
Here is the good news about the good news. The gospel is not small. The gospel is as big as our Triune God.
Look with me now at our text in Ephesians 1. There we will see that, as Sanders puts it, "the trinity and gospel have the same shape!”
Our text, Ephesians 1, is Paul’s opening praise to God the Father for the gospel. It is one sentence in the original language. It’s like a fire hose of praise for the grace of God to us in the gospel. In verse 3, he starts praising “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.”
It fits the revelation of the Trinity that God the Father be the addressee of his praises. God the Father is the source, the initiator, the willful planner, and the life giver. As Father, the fountain of blessings flow from him through Christ along with the Spirit.
As the prayer unfolds, Paul names the spiritual blessings that are ours in the gospel through the collaboration of the Trinity.
Walk with me through this prayer with an eye toward seeing the collaboration of the Trinity in the work of our salvation. My three-fold outline is this:
He chose us in him (i.e., Christ) before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.
Q: What does the word "chose" mean? The word means "to select" or "to elect." The Lexicon says, "to make a special choice based upon significant preference, often implying a strongly favorable attitude toward what is chosen—to choose, choice."
That the Father’s choosing is not based upon our worthiness is here by implication. The Father chose us in Christ, not because we were holy and blameless, not because we were good or even better than anyone. Rather, before the foundation of the world, God chose us, though we are born sinners, in order that by his grace we would be holy and blameless in his presence.
Not only has God the Father chosen us in Christ to be holy and blameless, but also . . .
"In love, he predestined us for adoption, as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will."
Q: What does the word "predestined" mean? It means, "to decide beforehand." In other words, Paul is rejoicing that God not only chose us (v. 4) to be holy, but also decided that our destiny was adoption into his family through Jesus Christ (v.5).
God set his choosing and adopting grace upon us who are in Christ before the foundation of the world. That’s when the Trinity began to plan and execute the gospel. The emphasis is on this grace being a free act, from before the foundation of the world, without any obligation on his part.
God the Father’s choosing is connected to adoption.
Don’t think of election like the playground trauma that I remember as a kid. Believe it or not, there was a day when kids played sports like baseball or football without any adults around. To get started, two kids would be identified as captains and would choose their team. Their choice was totally based upon performance. The best players got chosen first, but the cruddy players, like me, got chosen last.
Rather, think of it this way. All adoptive parents will know what I am talking about. You’ve submitted all your paperwork to the adoption agency. You have passed your home study and psychological evaluations. You have proven that your financial stability meets their requirements.
At that point the adoptive parents get a call (or a letter), saying “There is a child in such-and-such a place . . .” Do you want to adopt her (or him)? When I said yes to that question, I chose to set my love upon her as my child—sight unseen. Before she had done anything good or bad to distinguish her from any other child in the universe. And I set in motion her destiny to be adopted as my daughter.
That is the closest thing that I have ever experienced to the choosing and adoption of God the Father.
So far, we have seen that God the Father chose us and predestined us for adoption in Christ. God wants us to know that he wants us. He loves us. He planned for us. He adopted us. It is his plan that we become his children, blameless and holy.
Our union with Christ in his death is the ground and foundation underneath all the blessings that are ours in the gospel.
When God the Father chose and destined us for adoption, it was linked to another predestination. Peter refers to it when he tells the religious leaders who had killed Jesus, that they did what God’s “hand and plan had predestined to take place” (Acts 4:28).
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight.
Q: What is meant by the word "redemption"? In the Bible, "redemption" primarily means "to buy back from slavery." Slaves would be bought and sold for agricultural work (not totally unlike slavery closer to our U.S. history). To redeem a slave, a person could walk up to the slave market, pay the purchase price (or ransom), and set the slave free. This is the good news of gospel: God by the death of Christ has brought about a redemption such as this for us.
Q: Is it right to say that we were slaves? Yes. Q: Didn’t Jesus say, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin” (John 8:34)? What he means is the same thing that Paul means at the beginning of the next chapter in Ephesians:
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath.—Ephesians 2:1–3
Apart from God’s grace of redemption, we are slaves of sin, dead in it, followers of Satan, children of disobedience, and by nature children under the wrath of God.
Q: How do such sinful, godless children become adopted as children of God?
The answer is, by redemption, as Jesus gives his “life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). By Christ’s death for us we are released from our bondage and captivity to sin, freed from God’s anger toward sinners. By Christ’s redemption we have "the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace" lavished upon us. By Christ’s redemption, our sins, the one thing that could keep us from being adopted by God has been removed.
God wants you to know of his gospel plans. He planned for you. He chose you to be holy. He adopted you. And Christ died for you. Remember, “You were bought with a price” (1 Corinthians 6:20).
Nothing could impress upon us more the seriousness of our sin nor the magnitude of God’s adopting mercy to us than this: Christ died for our redemption, making sure our adoption, according to God’s choosing. He wants you to know that he wants you and he loves you.
While it’s clear in verse 3 that all of these blessings of the gospel are "spiritual blessings," there is a special work of the Holy Spirit in applying redemption to us.
It’s obvious in verse 13 that Paul intentionally attaches this prayer of praise to the believers in Ephesus (and therefore to us), who have heard the gospel and believed in Christ.
Let’s note the Spirit’s work in securing our redemption.
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.
In other words, if you have heard the gospel and believed in Jesus Christ, you have been sealed by the Spirit. That is to say, the Spirit’s sealing is made evident by your hearing of the gospel with faith.
Q: What does it mean to be sealed?
A seal can be a mark of ownership. My mother used to write my name on my coat so that if I lost it, it would be returned to me as it’s proper owner. Similarly, a seal can be a mark of authenticity, such as when a King would mark a decree with a wax impression from his royal ring.
A while back I needed a copy of my birth certificate. I went to the Hennepin County Government center, paid the fee, and was handed an envelope. The birth certificate inside was marked with a seal of authenticity—this was the real deal. It was authentic. Genuine.
Not only that, in this sealing, the Spirit is described in verse 14 as, “the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it.”
Q: What does this "guarantee" mean? The Spirit is God’s pledge to bring his people into our final destiny. The word was used to describe a first installment on a purchase, or a deposit, down payment, or pledge. Much like is done today, it is common when purchasing a house to be expected to put down a down payment. That payment both secures your legal claim on the house and is itself a first installment of the purchase price.
Likewise, the Spirit guarantees our future inheritance as God’s children by representing God’s pledge to make us his own, and also by giving us a foretaste of living eternally within God’s household by present the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.
When the troubles of life, the world, the flesh, and the devil come and threaten our confidence in everything else, God intends that our confidence in his election, destiny, redemption will remain unshaken. God wants you to know that you are securely sealed and by his Spirit in his grace of adoption and redemption.
That neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.—Romans 8:38–39 (NIV84)
Closing
I want to close with two observations:
The ultimate reason God the Father chose us and adopted us is found in the end of verse 6: “to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.”
The ultimate reason the Son of God redeemed us by his blood is found in the end of verse 12: "so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.”
The ultimate reason Spirit of God seals us guaranteeing our inheritance is found in the end of verse 14: “to the praise of his glory.”
That is to say, by means of the gospel, God has seen fit to reveal himself as the Triune God by planning, executing, and guaranteeing our salvation by the Father, Son, and Spirit.
In the book God is the Gospel, pastor John Piper explained the gospel truth that the blessing of the gospel for every believer is not merely any of the spiritual gifts in isolation, but rather the chief blessing that is ours in the gospel is God himself. As 1 Peter 3:18 says, “Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God.” May we be mindful that the God we are reconciled to in the gospel is the Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. By God’s plan, Christ’s redemption, and the work of the Spirit we are brought into the eternal fellowship of the Triune God forever.
In the book The Deep Things of God, Fred Sanders said it this way:
Trinity and gospel have the same shape! This is because the good news of salvation is ultimately that God opens his Trinitarian life to us. Every other blessing is either a preparation for that or a result of it, but the thing itself is God’s graciously taking us into the fellowship of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, to be our salvation.
It is for this very reason that this big gospel of our inclusion in the fellowship of the Trinity bring gospel impact to all of life impacting not only our heads, not only our hearts, but also our hands as well. Next week, Lord willing, we will think about how we live out the gospel of our Triune God in all of life.
Benediction
May “the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.—2 Corinthians 13:14