Well, good morning church. Good morning, did you see that, Brennan? How are y'all feeling this morning? Good, good.
Hey, I am chopping up the bit. I am excited to get into Ephesians with you this morning. We are in Ephesians number two. We're going to be looking at chapter one, verses one and 14.
Matt started us out last week with a great introduction into the book of Ephesians, really understanding where the people in Ephesus, where they were at that time. And it really just breaks down where Paul's going in his letter to the people in Ephesus. OK, so again, we're going to be going over verses one through 14. Now, we are going to take this a couple of verses at a time.
Because there is a lot here that Paul wants us to understand church. There's probably about seven or eight sermons in these first 14 verses. And we've got to fit that into 45 minutes. So we're going to be booking it this morning.
OK, let's go ahead and look at verses one and two. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, two gods holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus. Grace and peace to you from God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, right here we're already presented with something that Paul is trying to get across to the readers of that time and the readers of today.
Do you understand who you are in Christ? You see, Paul, he understood exactly who he was in Christ. And he understood that it was by the will of God that he was an apostle. Not because Paul woke up one day looking at me and said, you know what?
I think I'm going to be an apostle today. Oh, no, he understood this was God's will for his life. He understood who Christ was calling him to be. Do you, this morning, church, do you understand who Christ is calling you to be?
Because let me tell you something. If you'll understand that, if you'll get this simple truth within you, so on within you, I understand who I am in Christ. Then by the will of God, you'll be able to do great, great things, just like the apostle Paul. Do you know who you are in Christ?
Come on. All right, well, we're going to move on here again. There is a lot we're trying to get through. We're going to move on to the next set of verses.
But really quickly, I want to point out this. I think this is so interesting. In the Greek, verses 3 through 14 are one continuous run on sentence without a period, without a break. It is if it was just bursting out of Paul.
He was like, oh, I've got to get the people. I've got to get everything God wants me to get to them, as soon as I can, no periods. This is what time of a break here. But don't worry, we're going to take breaks this morning.
Because that would be an information overload. I wouldn't even be able to keep up with it either. So let's look at verses 3 through 6 first. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realm with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love, he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ in accordance with his pleasure and will. To the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the one he loves. How powerful is this?
Are these set of verses right here? Well, I just read you extremely powerful. And Paul knew it was going to shake their world. And he wanted them to get this.
He knew this was God's word for the people of that time. And it's still God's word for us today. Amen. Now before we dig into these verses, I just want to shoot up a smoke flare really quick.
A lot of Christians get themselves in trouble with this word predestined. A lot of Christians, they want to see this word and they would rather read their own thoughts, their own ideas, their own interpretation into God's word, rather than just taking it for what Paul meant it. OK? So you may be asking yourself this one.
We're going to be talking about predestination. Are we going to talk about Calvinism? Are we going to talk about election? Yeah.
Oh, we're going to get into it this morning. We absolutely are. But that's in verse 5. First, there's some things here in 3 and 4 that I want us to look at.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realm with every spiritual blessing in Christ, for He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. Now there are three things in these two verses that we need to understand first. We are God's choice. Church, you and I, we, we are God's choice.
Do you hear that this morning? He chooses you yesterday, today and forever. Regardless of the sins you've made in the past, regardless of where you are right now in your life, He still chooses you. He sees you and He chooses you every day.
And we see in verse 3 and 4, Paul, he's expressing his wonder, his amazement, that God. God would choose man, even him. Now if you study the life of Paul, you know, Paul has done some questionable things in his past. And it amazes Paul that even in that God still saw him and still chose him.
God still chooses him now. And he knows and understands that God will choose him forever. In fact, let me take a poll really quick. If we're being honest this morning, who in here about show of hands has maybe screwed up a little bit in their life at some point.
Make sure we're not missing any hands here. OK, we're being honest. We're being really, you know what? I'll throw up two hands for that one, OK?
All right, now listen, it's OK. You know, we're not going to be perfect. And luckily our father understands it, that we aren't going to be perfect, OK? But sometimes I don't think we realize how screwed up we were or are until we're faced with it, the truth of God's word.
And then it makes us look back and it's like, gosh, where did I come from? What was I thinking at that time? You know, before Hannah and I came to this church, that was screwed up. Not was.
But you know what? If you weren't a child of God, or not a child of God, if you weren't saved, if you weren't a believer and you looked at my life, you might have thought, cold's got going on. I had a successful business. I just started.
I just built a brand new house. I've got a beautiful wife. I had a child at the time. We were working on her second one.
I had some friends, a lot, some. But you might have looked at me and thought, cold's got it going on. But the reality is, I didn't. I was filled with holes.
And I was trying to fill those gaps in my life with all kinds of things that would never fill those spots. Shame, guilt. I didn't know who I was. I would do everything I could to please man, rather than pleasing God.
That's what I lived my whole life for. Trying to receive the acceptance from men, rather than God. And it haunted me. But I tell you what, I came into this church and I heard some good truths.
And I understood that God chooses me. And even in that moment, even in all those moments in my life, He still chose me. He chose me. And that truth, it transformed me.
Let me tell you today, if you were living in that place thinking, well, all the things I've done, He could not have chosen me. What do you mean, cold? There's no way. He chooses me.
Let me tell you. He does. He does. And you need to hear that this morning.
He chooses you, church. You see, Paul, he understood what Jesus said to his disciples in John 1516. You did not choose me, but I chose you. And appointed you so that you might go in bare fruit, the kind of fruit that will last.
And so that whatever you ask in my name, the Father will give you. You see Jesus, He chose His disciples just like God, chooses every single one of us. And if we'll get that understanding within us, and we'll begin to walk out God's will for our life. Guess what's going to happen, church?
You're going to bare fruit. And not just any kind of fruit. The kind of fruit that lasts. The kind of fruit that changes your children's lives, and their children's lives, and their children's lives.
And for generation after generation, your family will be changed. Because of the decisions you're making right now. Right now, today, church. The second thing Paul wants us to see right here is, hey, it's a blessing to be God's choice.
Do you feel blessed this morning? Do you feel blessed, church? Come on, it is a blessing to be God's choice. It truly, truly is.
Because God chooses us, we get to walk in His blessings. Every day, we get to walk in His blessings. The blessing of Abraham that Chris talked about several weeks ago. I don't know if you all remember that.
Blessed in every way. Those are the blessings. Those are the promises that God has for you and I. The sad part is this, that there are people out there, non-Christians, that don't understand this.
They don't understand their God's choice. They don't understand that God wants to bless them in their life. Now, some of you may have heard that and thought, cold, that's why non-Christians, we call those heathens. Now, heathens was cold Smith on Friday and Saturday nights in high school and college, okay?
Back in my BC days before Christ. That was a heathen, okay? But these people are not heathens, okay? They're just non-Christians.
They don't know what they don't know. And it's up to us to reveal the mystery, this mystery of God to them that, guess what? He chooses you. Well, I don't pray every day to God.
I don't even know God that well. He still chooses you. And that truth will change you. And when you start walking that out, when you give your life to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and accept salvation, there's a blessing that's coming your way, buddy.
The third thing is this, Paul shares God's purpose and desire and will for our lives. Now, I want you to underline these words if you have your Bible open to Ephesians chapter one verses one through 14, you're gonna see right here, holy and blameless. Underline both those words, highlight both those words, circle them as you can, okay? Let's take a look at these individually.
I don't wanna, again, overload you too much here. The word holy in the Greek is hagios. Now, hagios always has in it the idea of different separation. You see, God designed you to be different.
We are supposed to be different than the world. I hope that's not a shock to anybody this morning. As a Christian man, as a Christian woman, we are not supposed to just blend in with the world. We are called to be the light in the world.
It should be possible to identify you at your school, in a store, at your workplace, in an office, in a hospital, in a friend gathering, with your family. It should be possible to identify you. In fact, those around you, they should see something different in you. They should see something different in you.
They should, man, why are you always so happy? I'm not filled with the joy of the Lord. You and your wife, you all have such an incredible relationship. You can have it too.
They should see a difference in you as a Christian. You should not be someone who wants to blend in with the world. Well, that's what my friends do. Well, maybe your friends aren't living right.
And maybe it's up to you to help them see that. Now, why, the difference is this, church that the Christian lives and works and behaves, not as human law compels him, but as the law of Christ compels him or her to live. And why does the law of Christ compels to be different so that we can glorify God in everything we do, in everything we are, everywhere we go, every day? Take a bit like this.
It's not just a house you're building for some random person. It's not just an appraisal that Mike is doing for some individual. It's not just a counseling session that maybe Matt Pastor Matt is providing to some couple that just can't seem to get it together because Lord, I've been there before, okay? It is not just a septic system that I'm installing for somebody.
Make sure they can flush their toilets. These are jobs we're doing for God's children. These are God's children that we're working for. They deserve to see our best.
They deserve to see that we're different. Well, I call several over contractors, cold, but there's something about you that's different. They deserve to see that we are different. We should live every day to give our best, our excellence and be different in the field that we work in, in our lives.
We are holy. You are holy church. Now, I wanna look at the word blameless. Now, the Greek, this word is amamos.
And amamos is a very interesting word because it's a sacrificial word. You see, whenever they were to take an animal sacrifice before the Lord and the Old Testament, it was first examined to see if there are any blemishes, scratches, cuts, bruises. If there's something not quite right, not perfect about this animal. And if any of these imperfections were found, they've rejected the animal and it was seen as unfit as a sacrifice to the Lord.
And you see, amamos, this word, it takes the whole of our lives, the whole of man as a sacrifice to the Lord. And if we're being honest with ourselves this morning, would we be proud to offer our life right now as a sacrifice to the Lord? Or are there some areas we need to work on? Would it be like this?
Here you go, God. I know it's not great, but I'm still working on it. It's like that project back in elementary school. You know, you didn't really complete the project.
You know, it's the planetary system, right? That you turn it in for science. But it's only got three planets on it. And you're like, well, I did some things.
I don't want to get a zero. So here's half a project turned in. Come on, church. We need to give God our excellence.
Now I know what some of you may be thinking, but Paul, I'm not perfect. Newest last, I'm not perfect either. I know that we're not perfect, but that's not what Paul is trying to teach us here. He's saying we need to strive for perfection so that we can be excellent, excellent in everything we do before the Lord, because God deserves that.
He is worthy, but just saying those words this morning, he is worthy of our excellence. He's not church. You know, I believe that Vince Lombardi, he said it best. When he said, perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence.
That is so good. That is so good. We need to start putting work in every area of our life to make everything a perfect sacrifice before the Lord, an excellent sacrifice before the Lord. The truth is this, yes, we may never be perfect, but that doesn't mean you just give up.
It means you keep working at it. Well, I'm not perfect husband. Well, you know what, you work at it. I'm not the perfect father.
You work at it. I'm not the perfect wife. You keep working at it every day. Don't let the enemy win.
All right, let's go ahead and let's look at verses 5 and 6 here. He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ in accordance with his pleasure and will, to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the one he loves. Now, I want you to go ahead and underline that word, adoption right there. Highlight underlined circle.
That's the word we're going to focus on this morning. Now, some of you are thinking, well, you just made a big deal about predestined. You want us to underline that? Nah.
Because that's not the word that's important here. Adoption to sonship. That word, predestined, is not going to come before that. Now, we are going to go ahead and briefly talk about predestination, Calvinism, and election.
And election, because of this word. All right. And let me tell you, if you have received some teaching on this before in your life, if you hold onto some of this is truth, please listen to me this morning with an open heart and an open mind. I mean, no disrespect, but we are going to use God's word and really reveal how this stuff just isn't based on God's word.
And now, if you've never heard this before, and this is news to you, great. This is going to be a fantastic example on apologetics, how to defend your faith. OK. If anyone ever makes an argument to you, a five-point argument, where in which each one of these points has to exist in order for this thing to stay in true.
It was simple. All we need to do is poke holes in one of these things, and the whole house falls down, right? All right. Well, then what are the five points of Calvinism?
What's called tulip? They're going to go through each one of these one at a time. The tea stands for total depravity. This asserts that as a consequence of the fall of the fall of man, into sin, every person is enslaved to sin.
People are not by nature inclined to love God, but rather serve their own interest and reject the rule of God. There's some truth here to this. I do believe my nature people can be selfish. Amen?
There's some truth here. I'll give them that. But here's where it starts falling apart. The you in tulip stands for unconditional election.
This asserts that God has chosen from eternity those whom he will bring to himself not based on foreseen virtue, merit, or faith in those people, but rather his choices unconditionally grounded in his mercy alone. God has chosen from eternity to extend his mercy to those he has chosen and to withhold it from those he has not. Does that sound like the God you all know? I don't think so.
But let's keep going here. The L in tulip stands for limited atonement. This asserts that Jesus' substitutionary atonement was definite and certain in its purpose and in what it accomplished. This implies that only the sins of the elect were atoned for by Jesus' death.
And while, I mean, even baby Christians know that Jesus died on the cross with the sins of all mankind. Not just some. The eye in tulip stands for irresistible grace. This asserts that the saving grace of God is effectually applied to those whom he has determined to save, that is the elect.
And overcomes their resistance to obeying the call of the gospel, bringing them to a saving grace, saving faith. This means that when God sovereignly purposes to save someone, that individual will indeed be saved. You basically have no free will. If God has ordained for you to be saved, there's nothing you can do.
You're going to be saved. But guess what that also means? The individuals that are crying out to God, that love God, that have read his word, that want to spend eternity with him, Calvinist believe that God, if those people aren't chosen, looks at them and says, sorry, your name's not on the list. You're not getting in.
Come on. The pee in tulip stands for the presence of the saints. This asserts that since God is sovereign and his will cannot be frustrated by humans or anything else, those whom God has called into communion with himself will continue in faith until the end. Now really quick, I already know some of you are thinking, well, this is wild.
OK, and I can understand that. But again, we're going to be respectful this morning. We are going to use God's word to reveal how some of this is just not true. OK?
Now I want to take one scripture. I could do this with so many scriptures. And I'm sure so many of you that are great burrians in this house. I know we have a lot.
I'm thinking the same thing, but I could think of this scripture and this scripture and this scripture. Let's just take one. First Timothy, two, three, through six. This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants some people to be saved.
Wait. Oh, that says all people to be saved. And to come to a knowledge of the truth, for there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself, say, ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed with the proper time.
This just told us about two or three things right there, that the Calvinist stand on and they believe in. God's in his son to die for all of us, all of our sins. He wants to save all of us, church, not just some, all of us. Now, if this isn't enough, then this should be enough.
But if this is not enough, OK? And I want to give you a break down, a better example. A more practical example, I think, of the way Calvinist view God, the way they see God, OK? So for this example, I want this side of the room.
I want you all to just kind of look over there. Look at that extra sign right there. And just kind of ignore me. Don't listen to me for a second, OK?
All right. Listen, in about 10 minutes, the roof is going to collapse in here, OK? Well, y'all don't look it. Y'all just look over there, ignore me.
And listen, OK? The roof is going to collapse and anyone is still in here. They're going to be going for it. But you guys are lucky.
I've decided y'all are going to live, OK? Yeah. Woo. All right.
So listen, I'm going to stop here in a second. And I'm going to ask y'all to go outside with me in the parking lot, OK? And we're going to get out here before we think terrible happens. All right, everybody look forward.
OK. I'll tell you what, real quick, me in this other room, we've got some business in the parking lot. I'm going to go look at some things. Maybe the future parking lot stuff.
Y'all just hang out here. You look great. Just hang out and relax and don't worry about it, OK? And as sure enough, as soon as we get outside, the roof collapses and everyone's still left in here is gone.
And everybody outside is cheering. But half of them are thinking, well, you could have saved everybody. Why didn't you save everyone? Half of Calvinists see God like that.
He would willingly say, y'all can live, but you know what? Y'all are going to die. Not because you're not good enough, just because I didn't purpose for you to live. That's not God.
Come on, church. That is not God. That is not God. All right, well, enough of that.
I'm going to look at the good news that Paul is sharing here. OK, he, who is he, God? And God did what he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ. You see, Paul more than one time uses this picture of adoption for what God has done for us.
Look at Romans 8, 23. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, grown inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. In Galatians 4, 5, we see to redeem those under the law that we might receive adoption to sonship. God adopted all of us as sons and daughters into the family.
Not some, but all. Every single one of us. Now, in the ancient world where Roman law prevailed, this would have even been a bigger deal. See, back then, they were under the patria protessa, which literally stood for the Father's power.
With my dad down there's Father's day. The Father's power. Yeah, that's right. That's right.
The Father was in power, in complete control of his family, of his kids, for all of their life, as long as he lived, and they lived. OK, anything that was gifted to them, willed to them, anything they worked for, anything they gained, any inheritance they gained, all of it became the Father's. The Father had the choice and the option of life for death over his son. He could sell his son into slavery.
He could even have his son killed. Thank God, we don't live in that time. Come on. But you can understand here how the ritual of adoption must have been an incredibly big deal.
To take a son from one patria protesta and place him into another was an incredibly big deal back then. OK, this was a symbolic ritual that took place in which a son was sold from one patria protesta to the next. And this sale happened with copper and scales. See, two times the real Father would sell the son.
And two times the Father, the first Father, the real Father, would buy the son back. But the third time he sold the son, he didn't buy him back. The adopting Father then bought the son. But it wasn't over then.
The adopting Father then had to go to the Roman magistrate and had to plead the adoption case to them. So that they would write it down. It would be official in law. But let me tell you something.
Once that was complete, that adoption was complete indeed. The person who had been adopted had all of the rights of the legitimate son in the new family. They completely lost all rights to their old family. In the eyes of the law, they were a new person.
You see, we're getting that this morning. So knew that even all debts, obligations, connections, anything that tied them to this previous family was canceled out and abolished forever. And that's what Paul is saying, God has done for you and I. Father, God adopted us.
We were in complete power and control of the sin of this world. And God, through Jesus, he took us out of that family and placed us into his family. He adopted us. He saved us from the world of wickedness and sin.
And he adopted us into the family. So we could be holy and blameless. Come on church. God adopted us into his family.
All right, let's look at verses seven and eight now. I know there's a lot here. That's a lot here. We still have a lot to go.
In him, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. And according to the riches of God's grace, that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. These two verses are so freeing. These two verses right here church are so freeing.
It starts out with the word him. Who is him? Jesus Christ. Now Jesus Christ said what?
We have redemption through his blood. Does everyone in here understand that our salvation is found in Christ alone? Because if you don't, you need to understand that. Oh, Cole, but I was in a religion where they said it was, salvation was Jesus plus works.
Well, Jesus plus being good. Jesus plus tithing in this and that would save me. No, no, it is in Jesus alone. And if you don't believe me, let's turn our attention to John 14, 6.
And many of us know this verse well. Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. It can't be any clearer than that church.
Salvation is not found in good works, personal effort or religion. It is found in Christ alone. Our salvation is found in Christ alone. And I love how Paul he continuously he emphasizes our union with Christ all throughout Ephesians.
And in these two verses, we see that Paul, he brings us face to face with the two greatest truths of the Christian faith. And the first one being this, redemption. The word redemption here comes from the Greek word apologosis, which means to be released by paying a ransom price. It is the word which is used for freeing a man for the penalty of some crime.
Jesus came to ransom us, to save us. Romans 6, 23, for the wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ, our Lord. Now for anyone in here who doesn't understand this, the death we're talking about here is a spiritual death that we see in this verse.
This is a separation from God. Spiritually humanity, we were enslaved to send death in the enemy. But Christ came, he paid the price for our freedom. Of the two truths here, and I'm about to get into the second one.
It's no mystery while Paul chose this one first. The greatest truth of our faith. That God, the creator of the heavens and earth, which is only Son Jesus, to live here with us as man, to suffer, to die on the cross and pay the ultimate price for you. And I to ransom us, to save us, and bring us the greatest gift that we'll ever receive.
Eternity in heaven with our Father. Come on church. Eternity in heaven with our Father. Amen?
Now let's move on to the second truth that we find here. There is forgiveness. In the ancient world, man was haunted by the sense of sin. You see, they felt as though God was just waiting up there with the two by four, to whack him in the back of the head every time they made a mistake.
Some of us today, we still walk around like that, worried that God was just waiting to smite us because we made the littlest mistake. But that's not God. And Paul was trying to teach them at that time. There is forgiveness.
There is another side to our Father that y'all are missing forgiveness and love. He loves you. And he forgives you. But it's no wonder why they felt this way.
I mean, if you've ever read through the Old Testament, it's no shock at all. Let's look at Ezekiel 18-4. You can almost sum up the whole of the Old Testament with this verse right here. The one who sins is the one who will die.
That's a lot of hope there. You see, men, they were conscious of their own guilt and they were in terror of God. And again, Paul was teaching them, hold on, guys. This is a side of God that you're missing here.
Regardless of the sins you have committed, regardless of the things you have done, he forgives you. And those of you sitting here this morning that are living that way, Cole, you don't know what I've done. You don't know the sins that I've committed. Let me tell you something.
God sees that and he says, none of that matters to me. I forgive you. Rather than live there with that guilt and shame and sin on you, choose to be different today and every day going forward. He loves you and he forgives you.
And guess what, church? He forgives you every day. Let me tell you, if you are still feeling this way and you're not good enough, let's turn our attention to Mark 3.28. Truly, I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter.
If there was one thing which meant it was a sense of dread, it was a sense of sin and the dread of God. You see, Jesus, he came on to the scene and he changed everything. He toured the veil open so that you and I could have communion and a relationship with our Father God to better understand him. Jesus came to teach men not the hate of God, but of the love of God, of the forgiveness that lives within God.
And Paul, he is emphasizing this to the Ephesians then. Remember, there's another side to God than what you're thinking. Let's move on to verses nine through 10. He made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment, to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.
Now he says here that God made known to us the mystery of his will. Now the New Testament uses this word mystery in a very special sense. It's not the mystery that you may be thinking of in the New Testament sense. Mystery is not something mysterious in which it's unknown.
Mystery is something that has been kept a secret, but is now being revealed to you and I. So in the New Testament sense, something that is mysterious is something that's hidden to a non-Christian, but has been revealed to a Christian. Let's take communion, for example. If you were a non-Christian, you've never stepped with the church, you've never opened a Bible today in your life.
Somehow you lived in a cave and you never even heard about Jesus. And you came to our church service on a Sunday where we were doing communion. And Mike Talakka got up here and started talking about how the Welch's grape juice were about to drink represents the blood of Christ, right? How the bread that we're about to consume represents the flesh, the body of Christ.
You might think, these people are crazy. The cannibals are crazy, there's something not right here, right? Because it's a mystery to you. You don't understand it.
It's a mystery to you, but it has been revealed to us as believers. We know exactly what the blood, what the body, what the bread and what the Welch's grape juice, we know what it represents. And it's so meaningful to us, right? This is, it's our way of showing reverence to Christ for what he did on the cross.
It is a secret that has been revealed to us as believers. And it's our job to help these non-Christians understand the mysteries of God when they're faced with them like that, okay? And for what was the mystery of God's will to Paul? See when he says that here, what did exactly was Paul talking about?
You see the mystery to Paul was that the gospel was open to the Gentiles too. This to Paul was the greatest secret of God. That until Jesus came, it had seen that the Jews were God's only chosen people. But now God has revealed that his love, his care, his grace and mercy, the good news of the gospel, while they're not just meant for the Jews, they're meant for everyone.
For all of the world, all of humanity, Christ came to unify us, church. All right, we're gonna move on to verses 11 through 14. Is everyone still with me this morning? Everyone still good?
All right, we are rounding it up here. I know I've been hitting you with a lot. Paul was going off in Paul through 14. I mean, he was just hitting us with one amazing truth after the other, and we have a couple more here to get through.
All right, in him, we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will. In order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed you were marked in him with a seal, the promise totally spared.
Who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are in God's possession to the praise of his glory. Now, there are two things I wanna point out in these verses. First, it's this, we see the first example of the new unity which Christ brings. And we see it in just the way that Paul writes these last three verses here, in the way that he writes this out, it is so interesting to me, I just love it.
You see when Paul says we, he means his own nation, the Jews. When he says you, he means all of us, the Gentiles. And then he ends it with our, showing unity between these two separate people under Christ. And if you'll read these verses, you'll see he starts out with we goes to you, ends with our.
We are one under Christ. Now the second thing I wanna point out is this, Paul is showing that they were, we are sealed with the Holy Spirit. As a believer, you have been sealed with the Holy Spirit. It is your mark.
It is your stamp of approval that says, this one belongs to the kingdom of God. God sees that and he says, that was mine. That was mine. It is our mark.
Now in the ancient world and still custom today, what do we do with our packages? We put a label on them and what does that label state? Where the package came from and then who it belongs to? Don't you see church?
That's what Paul is showing us here. That we have been stamped with the Holy Spirit and we belong to God. You belong to God. You need to start living like it.
It is the Holy Spirit which brings a man the knowledge of God. It is the Holy Spirit who enables a man to cope with life and not collapse. It is the Holy Spirit who tells a man what to do, who gives him the strength to do it and it is the Holy Spirit who both shows us God's will and enables us to do it. Remember in the beginning, I started out with, do you understand who you are in Christ?
Well, do you understand that it is the Holy Spirit that reveals this to you, church? And once he reveals it to you, he enables you. He empowers you to live that life out, regardless of the things that come your way. Now we've talked about a lot this morning.
A lot. I know this is a little bit of an information overload. But I want to leave you with this, church. Saints, don't just remember what God has done for you.
Remember who you are because of what God has done for you. Before the foundation of the world, he chose you. Through the blood of Jesus, he has redeemed you. In his grace, he forgives you.
And by his spirit, he has sealed you. Your identity is not found in your failures or your accomplishments, your past or your present. It's not found in the things that people say about you. Your identity is found in Christ Jesus alone.
So I want you to walk out of here today with confidence, not because of who you are, but because of who you belong to. Live as one who has been chosen, redeemed, forgiven, and sealed for the glory of God's grace. To glorify his kingdom in all of the days you live here, on this earth. It's all for his glory, church.
Please stand with me. Let's pray. I'm generally a father. We come before you today and we just, we thank you.
We thank you for the truths of your word, how you reveal to us the mystery of your will and how that changes our lives. We thank you for the pool, from the Holy Spirit to lead us where you would have us go and have us live the kind of life you would want us to live to be holy and blameless before you, that our life would be a perfect sacrifice before you. God, I thank you. That you chose us.
I thank you for that when we mess up you, you forgive us. We thank you that you have sealed every single one of us that one day we will be in the kingdom of heaven with you in glory for all the days of our lives. May we never forget these truths we heard today. In your name we pray, amen.