June 26, 2011

Do you have an idol? I’m not necessarily talking about American Idol winner, Scotty McCreery, but I could be.  Idols are worshipped.  Sometimes if a performer puts on a really amazing performance, others on the stage will sort of bow in pretend worship.  With arms extended they bow to the performer.  It’s just a way of acknowledging their stellar performance.

Probably all of us are idolators in one way or another.  There are things or people that we put in the place of God.  We regard those things or people as more important that we regard God.  Of course, idolatry is sinful because it robs God of the glory, the worship he is due.  Idolatry breaks the first commandment.  In Ex.20 we read, “You shall have no other gods before me.  “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.”

This morning we begin looking at Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.  This is one of the most wonderful letters in the New Testament.  The best Greek manuscripts do not have the words, “in Ephesus,” in v.1.  Many believe that this letter was intended to be circulated among the churches in Asia.  Since Ephesus was the major city in that area, the letter became associated with the city and at some point the words, “in Ephesus” were added.

As we begin looking at the letter the theme of worship takes front and center stage.  This morning we see that believers bless God in worship because God has done great things for us.

I. BELIEVERS HAVE BEEN BLESSED BY GOD IN CHRIST. Eph.1:1-3

So often when we read one of Paul’s letters, we read about specific problems a local church is having with sin or false teaching.  But the book of Ephesians is not about a specific problem with sin.  Paul doesn’t address a particular false teaching.  Rather this book is filled with praise and worship.  Prayer permeates these chapters.  In this letter we learn about our life with Christ.  We learn about our life in the local church.  This letter is meant to be an encouragement as we live on earth in the Kingdom of God.

Paul opens his letter with the standard greeting for that time, but then he breaks out into a doxology, a song of praise to God.  Verses 3-14 exemplify what worship is about.  In worship we bless the name of God for all he is and has done and is doing.  Verse 3 literally says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” In verses 3-14 there is an emphasis on the Trinity.  We see how God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are involved in our salvation.  In worship we praise the God who exists in three persons who are one.  We worship the God who has saved us and brought us into a personal relationship with him through Christ.

Notice that Paul blesses God, who has blessed us.  This book is about God’s blessings to his people.  There are many people who miss this.  After all there is a great deal of hardship and suffering in the world.  We see violence and tragedy on the television.  We see the calamity of natural disasters and many point their finger at God.  Look at what God has done.  He could have stopped the suffering, the violence, the earthquake.  They question the idea that God is good.  But Paul will have none of that.  God is a God who pours out his blessings.  Suffering and tragedy are a result of the reality of sin in this world.  God has chosen the best possible way to address the sin problem and in his time everything will be made right.

For now, let’s focus on the fact that God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ.  Again, we tend to think about God’s blessing in terms of material or physical prosperity.  These things are a blessing of God, but they are not the most important blessing of God.  Paul is talking about spiritual blessings, blessings that come from being in a relationship with Christ, through the Holy Spirit.  These are blessings that do not come to a person apart from Jesus Christ.  These are blessings available to all who believe.  God is a God who loves to pour out his blessing in Jesus Christ.  He is a blessing God.

II. BELIEVERS HAVE BEEN CHOSEN BY GOD IN CHRIST. Eph.1:4

One of the blessings of God is the fact that believers have been chosen by God.  And at the very outset of this letter, we find ourselves in a difficult theological discussion.  The word used here gives us our word, “elect.” Perhaps you have heard of the doctrine of “election.” This doctrine teaches that God chooses those individuals who will be saved.  Does that seem a bit unfair?  What about those God doesn’t choose?  And if God chooses who will be saved, how does that affect a person’s freedom to choose to believe in Christ?

Let me make a few general comments about this.  First, it’s clear that Paul doesn’t see this as a problem.  It’s not that Paul was naïve or didn’t recognize the philosophical implications.  Paul was a pretty intelligent person.  Paul doesn’t see the doctrine of election as a negative but as a positive.  That should help us to measure our response to this doctrine. 

Second, God is the most gracious, merciful, and just person in the entire universe.  You and I are certainly not more merciful and gracious than God.  If God chooses who will be saved that does not suggest that he is less gracious than us.  He is God. 

Third, in 2Pt.3:9 we read that, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness.  He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” In 1Tim.2:4 we read that God, “...desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” As far as I can tell, from these verses, God wants to see everyone repent of their sin and turn to Christ.  Obviously, not everyone turns to Christ.  Many are not saved. Here are two equally true statements about God. God chooses those who will be saved and yet desires that all men come to repentance. 

Fourth, Bible Scholars have been trying to reconcile the sovereignty of God and the free will of man for hundreds of years.  You and I are probably not going to be the ones to solve this dilemma. 

Some say that God chooses those who will be saved on the basis of his foreknowledge.  He sees the decision a person is going to make for or against Christ and then makes his choice on that basis.  But this approach quickly becomes muddled.  I mean, if God knows you are going to do something before you ever do it, it seems that there’s no way you could ever change your mind, if you wanted to.  Another view that seems to be growing in popularity is that God’s choice is corporate not individual.  Just as he chose the people of Israel to be his people, so he chooses a people to be the church.  All those who embrace Christ become the chosen people.  There may be some merit to this, except that there are a number of verses that suggest God chooses individuals.  Acts 13:48 says, “When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.”

More and more I am choosing to embrace both truths and leave the problem with God.  If God has no problems with this, then why should I?  As far as I’m concerned, when I knelt down and asked the Lord to forgive me of all my sins and be my Savior and Lord, I was making a decision of my own free will.  It felt like a free decision.  One more observation before I go on.  No one will be in Hell or Heaven against his will.  Those who end up in Hell will be there because they rejected Jesus Christ.  No one in Hell will level a charge against God saying, “It’s not fair; I wasn’t one of the elect.”

But now look at what we are chosen for.  Paul says we are chosen to be holy and blameless in God’s sight.  Obviously before coming to Christ we are not holy and blameless in his sight.  We are sinners.  The calling of God upon our lives is for us to become holy and blameless.  When we turn to Christ in faith, the process of becoming holy and blameless begins.  In Eph.1:20 Paul refers to God’s mighty strength, “which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms.” But if you look at Eph.2:6 it says, “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.” In other words, when we turn to Christ all our sins are forgiven and Paul says we are actually seated with Christ.  That’s the reality for us.  In one sense, we are already holy and blameless since our sins a forgiven.  In another sense, we are becoming holy and blameless as we learn to live like Christ in our day to day lives.  You might say we are learning experientially to be what we already are in Christ.

III. BELIEVERS HAVE BEEN PREDESTINED BY GOD THROUGH CHRIST. Eph.1:5-6

The word, “predestined” means to predetermine, to foreordain.  The idea is not all that different from being chosen in Christ.  The question is often raised, “Does God predetermine everything.” Does God predetermine what color socks or shirt you are going to wear on any given day?  I don’t know for sure.  He certainly could if he wanted to.  The fact that God is sovereign over all things does not mean that he has to exercise absolute control over all things.  God doesn’t need to micromanage everything.  But clearly in Scripture we see that there are many things God does which shows his sovereign control and authority over all things in heaven and earth.

In this verse we see that those God has chosen to be holy and blameless have also been predestined by God to be adopted as his sons.  And this identifies a wonderful and powerful doctrine, the doctrine of adoption.  So think about Israel of old.  There they were in slavery in Egypt.  For 400 years they cried out for redemption.  God raised up Moses and miraculously brought the people of Israel out of Egypt.  In Ex.4:22 God is speaking to Moses and he says, “Then say to Pharaoh, ’This is what the LORD says: Israel is my firstborn son,....”  Now, Israel was nothing.  Israel was a people in bondage.  God, of his own choosing, determined to rescue Israel and to bring Israel into a familial relationship with him.  God adopted the people of Israel as his firstborn son.  Fast forward to the birth of Jesus.  You remember that when Herod tried to kill Jesus, Joseph and Mary escaped into Egypt with Jesus.  In Mt.2:14-15 we read, “So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod.  And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.” Jesus is the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, who has all the privileges of sonship.  In Heb.2:9-10 we read, “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.  In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering.” Jesus is bringing many sons to glory.  Who are those sons?  They are believers.

God’s plan is that all those who embrace Jesus Christ by faith as Savior and Lord are adopted into his family as sons.  Like the people of Israel, we were slaves; slaves to sin.  Slaves have no place at the family table.  Slaves have no privileges.  But in Christ we are adopted into the family of God.  Now before we say anything about what it means to be a son of God, let me point out that this adoption is motivated by love.  “In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons.” God didn’t have to do this.  But he loves us and loves to bestow his blessings.  God loves you.  So now, what does it actually mean to be adopted as a son?  Well, in Roman law, if you were adopted into a family, you enjoyed the same rights and privileges as the natural children of that family.  You became an heir in that family.  In Gal.4:6-7 we read, “Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’  So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.” As sons of God, God gives us his Holy Spirit and Peter tells us that we have an inheritance waiting for us in heaven.

But there’s another dimension to sonship.  In Heb.12:5-7 we read, “And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: ‘My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.’  Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons.  For what son is not disciplined by his father?” When you are part of a family, it means the parents love you enough to discipline you.  Discipline is meant to teach us to do what is right and good.  God loves us so much that he doesn’t allow his children to just go their own way.  He disciplines us.  How?  Well, it says he uses all hardship.  In the difficulties and struggles of life, God seeks to make us more like his son, Jesus Christ.

One more thought here.  If Jesus is the Son of God, and if we are sons of God, that makes Jesus our brother.  In fact that’s what the Scripture teaches.  In Heb.2:10-11 we read, “In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering.  Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family.  So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.” Jesus is our brother.  How cool is that.  Our Savior and Lord is our Brother.

I dare say that most of us do not think about these things from one day to the next.  I mean, we don’t get up in the morning and say, “O I’ve been chosen by God to be holy and blameless.  I’ve been predestined to be adopted as a son of God through Christ.  These are not the things we think about.  We have more pressing things to think about.  I’m not trying to be overly critical here.  Life in this world seems almost designed to take our thoughts away from spiritual things.  Paul is drawing our attention to the most important realities of life.  Worshipping God for all he is doing and has done for us is the most important reality of life.  But let me ask a question.  Have you entered into the blessings of God in Christ?  You say, “Well I don’t know if I’ve been chosen by God.” I wouldn’t worry about that.  Do you want to enter into the blessing of God?  Do you want to become holy and blameless in Christ?  Do you want to be adopted into the family of God?  If you want this, it can be yours by receiving Christ as your Savior and Lord.  Ask God to forgive you of all your sins and surrender your life to Christ.  Open your life to Jesus Christ and take him at his word.  We enter into God’s blessings by faith in Jesus Christ.  We enter into God’s blessings by living in Christ.  Believers bless God in worship because God has done great things for us