Fall Theology Series Week 3--Ephesians 1:7-12

There is a sense of satisfaction that comes from finishing a project. Have you ever experienced that? Whether it be a big project or a small one, there is satisfaction in completing it. ‌‌ One of the biggest projects we had recently was our basement. Many of you know the saga—we went for the final inspection on our home in July of 2023 and found water seeping into the utility room in the basement. All signs pointed to some gutters that should have been added when our addition was put on a few years before, so we added gutters and regraded around the outside. We waited and waited and waited for the water on the outside of the basement wall to finally stop seeping, and it just about stopped when we noticed it coming up through the foundation underneath the sill plate on an interior wall. For a while we thought it was still rain related, despite being a dry season. But when it would’t stop and started getting worse, we knew something needed to be done. We were finally able to meet with an excavator and what we found that while the original problem was likely caused by water sitting near the foundation from not having gutters, the current problem was due to a broken water supply line. So we had to do some excavating and there was a huge hole in our front yard and we tore up the basement. Finally over Christmas I took vacation during the week between Christmas and New Years, and we were able to redo the flooring in the basement and have the project settled. It was such a good feeling. It was even more so to not have water in the basement this summer. But there was a joy, fulfilment, satisfaction in knowing the project was completed. ‌‌ Sometimes I wonder if this is how God feels in reference to our salvation. It is done, he did everything necessary to complete it. But then we come along. And we try to take this beautiful wonderful thing that God has finished on his own, and we try to make it better. And we try to work, and we try to achieve it on our own strengths and our own merits. And in the process we tend to forget God altogether and make it about us and our work and what we can do. How sad it must be to God when we take his wonderful work of salvation and make it about us—look what I did, look how good I was, look how much I accomplished. ‌‌ God doesn’t want salvation to be like that. God worked so that we wouldn’t have to try to do our spiritual life on our own strength, he worked so that we could rest in him. Too often we don’t. Maybe even we have our doctrine right—we know we can’t achieve our own salvation, at least in theory, but we still try to do spiritual things on our own so we can give ourselves a pat on the back. Our text today, which we’ve been in for two weeks now, demonstrates for us the work that God did for our salvation. Specifically, in our verses this week, we see the work of Jesus Christ, and all that it accomplished. And as we observe the work that Jesus has done for us, the response that God has for us today is not to try to make it better, or try to do the same things on our own. The response that God has for us is to take a moment and feel the weight of what Jesus has done for us, and recognize that all the work needed to accomplish salvation has already been done. That’s our big idea for today: ‌‌ Big Idea: the work of Jesus on the cross accomplished everything that needed to happen for our salvation to be completed