Here’s the audio and notes for my sermon “Praise God the Son!” based on Ephesians 1:7-12 preached at Cross of Christ Fellowship on 9/15/2024.
“Praise God the Son!” Eph 1:7-12
Intro: It would have been really hard to live as a Christian in Ephesus in the 1st Century.
-Temple of Artemis; social pressures; allurements of the city; wealth; -It is hard to live as a Christian in Naperville, or any really nice/safe/comfortable place
-We are tempted to find God boring, irrelevant, unimportant
-Tempted to give our hearts to comfort, busyness, earthly beauty, instead of God.
-We need to see the truth: God is better, more powerful, more beautiful, and more true than all great things of this world.
-Ephesians 1 brings this home to our hearts.
-TODAY, we see that Christ is truly glorious, and we ought to worship Him!
CONTEXT: Paul’s letter to the Ephesians
-Paul had ministered among them years earlier, now in prison and sending a letter to instruct and encourage
-Ch 1-3 is doctrine: this is who God is and what He has done, and who we now are in Christ
-Ch 4-6 is application: this is how we ought to now live.
-We are in opening of the letter: 1:3-14.
-1:3-14 is one LONG sentence (202 words in the Greek): Prayer of adoration to God
-Trinitarian shape: Praise God the Father (3-6); Praise God the Son (7-12); Praise God the Spirit (13-14)
-Last week: Praise God the Father (3-6), who has blessed us, chosen us, and shown us grace
–TODAY: Praise God the Son, who has given us a redemption and an inheritance.
*NOTICE: Structure of this text shaped by the two“in him”: 1:7 and 1:11
1. In him we have redemption (7-10); 2 In him we have an inheritance (11-12)
I. In Christ We have REDEMPTION (7-10)
1. We HAVE Redemption: Paul rejoices that in Christ, we Christians have redemption!
–Redemption refers to being set free from something
-Commentators note how in the OT the people of Israel are said to be redeemed from slavery in Egypt
–Explanation in the text … “The forgiveness of our trespasses”
-This refers to our sins against God, breaking His laws.
–John 8:34-36
–INSTRUMENT OF REDEMPTION: “through his blood”
-This is referring to the death of Jesus on the cross.
-His death is a redeeming death, paying for our sins and setting us free: Matt 20:28
*MATRIX ILLUSTRATION
Neo is living his life with his office job and one day he brought out of his world
-He learns that he—and all others—are trapped in the Matrix, they slaves to the machines
-He was a slave, though he never realized it.
-BIBLE REORIENTS HOW VIEW AND UNDERSTAND REALITY
-Bible teaches us that because of sin, all of us come into this world in a kind of bondage to sin
-We think freedom is following our hearts and choosing our hobbies and careers
-We are enslaved to the power and penalty of sin, and cut off from GOD.
-Christ sets us free from sin, and brings us back to God through the gospel.
2. The foundation of our redemption (7b-8):How could this be possible? What is the Basis of this claim?
–God has RICHES of grace toward sinners: according to the riches of his grace (7b)
-We tend to be impressed by the riches of Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos
-Riches can provide power and authority to accomplish certain tasks.
-Lack of resources can limit our ability: If I promised to buy…
-God has “riches of grace” which He chooses to freely give to sinners, who deserve condemnation.
-God “lavishes upon us” the riches of his grace (8a)
-This is the imagery of a “pouring out” or “overflowing”
-God is not stingy, but extravagantly generousàDO YOU SEE GOD THIS WAY?
-MANNER: God lavishes this grace upon His in “all wisdom and insight” (8b)
-As God lavishes us with grace through the gospel, it is done in “all wisdom and insight”
-In a majestic way, God’s grace is lavished on His people with ALL wisdom and insight
-His grace meets our needs in exactly the way we need them met.
-This GIVES US CONFIDENCE in our redemption—it flows from the riches of God’s grace
-A God who redeemed his people from physical slavery redeems us from spiritual slavery
*QUESTION: But where is this headed? Where does our redemption lead us?
3 A Redemption with a Destination (9-10)
-Children in the car asking where we are going.
-We see that this redemption we have is headed toward something that God has planned.
-Our redemption is part of a greater work that God is accomplishing (9-10)
-God has a plan, it was a mystery, but now has been revealed to us (9)
-“Mystery” here refers to something that was once hidden, but now made know.
–NOTE: Christians believe that God reveals truth about Him, truth that can be known
-This includes a “plan for the fullness of time”
-History is moving in particular direction, guided and ruled by God
-Jesus will one day return to Earth and bring about the consummation of this plan.
-God’s plan will see a “uniting” of “all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth”
-This speaks of a future day when all come to recognize the lordship of Jesus Christ: Phil 2:9-11.
-Unity of Jew & Gentile, OT & NT believer, Different Nationalities; heaven & Earth;
*NOTE: Our Redemption INDIVIDUAL but also CORPORATE
–INDIVIDUAL: We are individually redeemed from our sins and brought into a personal relationship with God
-You must have individual personal faith to be a Christian.
–CORPORATE: We are saved into the body of Christ, a people who know and love God
-No such thing as a ‘lone-ranger’ Christian.
-We were created for community
*APPLICATION: Our greatest redemption we need is not…from loneliness, boredom, lack of success, ugliness
-We need redemption from sin, and in Christ this is what we have!
-Let this redemption shape how you view yourself, more than how many sins you committed this week.
-It was a costly redemption, but given to us freely by God’s lavish grace.
II. In Christ We Have an INHERITANCE (11-12)
Sometimes one can dream of being the child of a movie star or famous athlete with possible inheritance
-In reality even non-rich families often have bitter, acrimonious situation: siblings fighting over inheritance
-Paul rejoices that in Christ we have been given a glorious inheritance, better than best Earthly inheritance!1 We HAVE an inheritance: In Christ we have obtained an inheritance (11a)
-Inheritance comes to those who are children from their parents.
-Through the gospel we become children of God and recipients of an inheritance!
-What is our Inheritance (we get)? God, sinless bodies on the new earth, eternal life, endless joy.
2. BASIS: How is this Possible? àGod, who rules over everything, has decided this would be (11b). –having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,
-“Predestined”=God decided beforehand that we would receive this inheritance.
-This was not because we deserved it, or earned it, but out of God’s love (1:4b-5a)
*PROVIDENCE OF GOD: “works all things according to the counsel of his will,”
-Providence=God’s ruling over all things over all time for His good purposes.
-God rules over all of our lives: hard things, pleasant things, mysterious things
-This is the one who determined to us an inheritance in Christ!
3 DESTINATION: Where is this headed? The END GOAL= the glory of God! (12)
-Christians= “we who were the first to hope in Christ”
-Beautiful and simple description of Christian: “hoping in Christ”
-We are trusting Jesus with quite a bit: eternal life, forgiveness of sins
-Jesus is trustworthy, and thus we “hope” in Christ
-WHERE WE ARE HEADED: “might be to the praise of his glory.”
-We were made to “praise” the glory of God and (and His grace v 6).
*EVERYONE WANTS GLORY, BEAUTY, EXCITEMENT, TRUTH
-We look for it in human relationship, in music, movies, friendships, good stories, fame, fortune
-It is offered to us freely in God through the gospel.
-The invitation to hope in Christ is an invitation to a destination better than all others.
*PLANE TICKET: Imagine I could off a plane ticket and all expenses paid trip to anywhere. Where would you go?
-IN CHRIST here is the destination: “the praise of His glory” on the new earth!
-As we sing, and our hearts are filled with joy beholding God, this is foretaste of a much greater future.
*QUESTION: Are you in? Have you placed your hope in Christ? Become a Christian today!
CLOSE: Isn’t God the Son Amazing? In him we have redemption and an inheritance
-May the Lord open our eyes to His love and grace that we have in Christ. May this strengthen us to follow Him this week.
