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“The Lifestyle of the Children of God” 1 John 3:1-11

Love Made A Way

A Sermon Series on Atonement

“The Lifestyle of the Children of God”

1 John 3:1-11

Introduction

A man purchased a white mouse to use as food for his pet snake. He dropped the unsuspecting mouse into the snake’s glass cage, where the snake was sleeping in a bed of sawdust. The tiny mouse had a serious problem on his hands. At any moment he could be swallowed alive. Obviously, the mouse needed to come up with a brilliant plan.

What did the terrified creature do? He quickly set up work covering the snake with sawdust chips until it was completely buried. With that, the mouse apparently thought he had solved his problem.

The solution, however, came from outside. The man took pity on the silly little mouse and removed him from the cage. No matter how hard we try to cover or deny our sinful nature, it’s fool’s work. Sin will eventually awake from sleep and shake off its cover. Were it not for the saving grace of the Master’s hand, sin would eat us alive.

The Destiny of Those Who Hope In Christ (vv. 1-3)

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

(v. 1) “See what kind of love,” – “It is the way that God has loved us which shows us how great His love is for us,”[1] John begins this section by pointing out how wonderful the love of God is those who place their faith in Jesus, The expression of love that John highlights is that “we should be called children of God.” The Father loves us therefore He calls us His children. God has chosen “us” to be in God’s family – He has chosen to give us His love. In our being called the children of God, there is privileges, a title, and possessing His nature.

But it is not just that we are called “children of God,” John adds, “and so we are.” Not just in name but also in nature.[2] Who God is has become immersed into the child – His nature becomes our nature (as a biological parents passes on their nature to their children). But there is also the sense that when Jesus returns (parousia), how the believer will be changed is also wonderful.[3] God shows His love for His children in how He makes them like Him.

“Adoption is the legal act by which our Father places us into his family; regeneration is the spiritual birth by which we receive the nature of our Father.” – Spurgeon

But just because God loves you, doesn’t mean the world[4] will love you. (v. 1) John makes a similar argument in the gospel of John 15:18, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.” When the world hates the Christian, it is hating that part of the Christian’s life that has been transformed and is being transformed into the image of Christ (that part of the believer’s life that they don’t understand). They do not belong to this world any longer. The more God changes the Christian’s life, the more the world (who is not like Him) no longer knows and understands them.

In Genesis 37 there is the account of how Joseph’s brothers felt toward him, (remember Joseph was his father’s favored son), Genesis 37:4 “But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him.” Genesis 37:8 “So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.” And by v. 18 “They saw him from afar, and before he came near to them they conspired against him to kill him.” The brothers hated Joseph because of his relationship to the father.

(v. 2) “and what we will be has not yet appeared;. . .” “the what suggests something unspeakable, contained in the likeness of God.”[5] Romans 8:29 “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, . . .” In eternity we will be like Christ (not God, not the same in equality, or degree, but in similar nature). 2 Corinthians 3:18 “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.” “Although our present status as children of God is wonderful, our future state will be even more extraordinary.”[6] What we will become is veiled until his coming. There is a lot we don’t know . . .

(v. 2) “but we know that when he appears we shall be like him,” We are being changed into the image of Christ, and in the future when he appears we will be like him, in that we have been changed. Philippians 3:20-21 says, “. . . we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, . . .”

(v. 2) “because we shall see him as he is.” “That is, not seeing him as he was in the days of his earthly ministry, nor seeing him with the eyes of faith, but seeing him as he now is in heavenly glory – the sight of him, the author says, will be enough to make us pure like him.”[7] So it makes no sense to say that we are anticipating the return of Jesus (who has freed us from our sin), to remain in that sin when He could arrive at any moment. Sin signifies rebellion against God, but yet we wait for Jesus’ return?

Everyone Who Hopes In Christ Has a Lifestyle of Being Purified of Sin.

(v. 3) “everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.” Everyone who rests upon Him; The destiny of everyone who rests in/hopes in Christ is to be conformed to the image of God in Christ (this is how love is defined in this passage). The Holy Spirit works and convicts us of sin, He does His work, but we also play a part. We purify ourselves by repenting (turning from) sin, praying, fasting, and avoiding sinful things in our lives. We change our habits. But notice he says, “purifies himself as he (Jesus) is pure.” The standard of holiness is not another Christian, a mentor, no, the standard that we seek to follow is Jesus.

Our Incentive to Be Holy: His Immanent Return and Our Devotion to Him.

But what is the incentive to change; why should we put off old sinful behavior, and to put on new righteous actions? It is our “hope in him” – when the Bible uses the word hope, it is not the same as we use it today, as in “I hope it rains soon, my grass needs some water.” No, it is a certainty about something in the future. As in, “My hope in heaven is found in Christ.” This hope knows that one day we will see Him, “face-to-face.” “The Christian hope is incompatible with moral indifference.”[8]

Luke 12:35-38 is a parable Jesus told about how believers must be ready for Jesus’ return. The setting of the parable is where the master has left for a wedding, and will at some point return. But in that culture a wedding would last a week, so the servants must “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, 36 and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. 37 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. 38 If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants!” Our incentive of a changed life is our love for Jesus – our relationship and devotion to Him.[9]

The Evidence of Those Who Practice Lawlessness (vv. 4-10)

4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.

(v. 4) “Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness. . .” Notice that it does not say, “everyone who sins” but everyone who makes it a practice of sinning (an ongoing habitual practice, a lifestyle of sin). All Christians sin, but they do not make it a practice to sin. They are convicted of sin in their lives, by the Holy Spirit, and then they repent from that sin. They are in agreement with God that it is wrong, gross, destructive, and needs to leave the believer’s life. The lawless person is the one who has a lifestyle of sin, the one who “keeps on sinning.”

And when John says, “sin is lawlessness,” he does not mean sin is a violation of the Mosaic law, but rather that “sin constitutes opposition to and rebellion against God, like the opposition and rebellion of Satan.”[10] Your actions reveal what you hold to be true.

Sin; a willful disregard for God. A rebellious revolt against God’s will.

Being with the Devil.

(v. 5) “You know that he appeared in order to take away sins[11], . . .” Jesus was sent “by God to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins (2:2; 4:10), and it is his blood that cleanses us from all sin (1:7). To “take away sins” here is to be understood as making forgiveness available by offering himself as the atoning sacrifice for those sins. Thus, John can say in 1:9 that God, in light of Jesus’s death, is both faithful and just when he forgives our sins. Our sins “have been forgiven on account of his name” (2:12). The author can say to his readers that “you know” these things because they stand at the very heart of the gospel message that they have heard from the beginning.”[12]

Jesus appeared in order to take away sins.

(v. 5) “. . . and in him there is no sin.” Because Jesus never sinned; he was without sin – and we are becoming like Him. Therefore, as children of God, who are being transformed into His image, we are becoming less sinful (but will never be sinless until eternity). “To tolerate sin, or to ignore sin in human conduct is to undermine the purpose of Christ’s work.”[13] You can’t be on mission with Jesus, while doing that which He is completely against.

7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God.

There is the word “practices” again; so whoever keeps on doing righteous acts is righteous. But the one who keeps on doing, a habitual practice, sinful behavior is not saved, does not know God. It does not mean that Christians get it right, 100% of the time, but the majority of choices are righteous. It also doesn’t mean a lost person will get it wrong 100% of the time. But there is a saying, “like father, like son.”

When Jesus was talking with the Jewish spiritual leaders he said, John 8:44 “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

(v. 8) “Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning.” John is making an argument of influence – “Just as the Christian lives under the influence of God living in him, so do sinners live under the influence of the devil and allow themselves to be seduced by him.”[14] Christians do what God does, Non-Christians do what the devil does. Satan has always sinned and sought to persuade others to do as he does, “from the beginning.”

God created everything perfect, the devil brought sin into the world and corrupted it. God is in the process of restoring it back, the devil seeks to constantly undo what God has done. God has redeemed the Christian, the devil seeks to pull them off track and turn back into sin.

(v. 8) “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.” The works of the devil are the sins which we commit, which Paul called “works of darkness” (Romans 13:12; Eph 5:11). To “destroy” has the idea of loosen, to undo, to dissolve, to break.[15]

Jesus appeared to destroy the works of the devil.

Why did God not just remove the devil, so that his work of rebellion and sin would stop? Why allow Him to remain to cause chaos in His creation? For the same reason He was allowed in the Garden of Eden – Man has to choose to follow good or evil. So when Christ appeared, His work was to break the chains of sin that bound us. Eventually, Satan will be removed from the earth and his influence will end.

(v. 9) “God’s seed abides in him,” This reminds us of Jesus’ parable of the sower. A farmer walks out to scatter seed across his field. The Path: Some seeds fall on the hard footpath where birds eat them. Rocky Ground: Some seeds fall on thin soil over rock, sprout quickly, but wither in the hot sun because they lack deep roots. Among Thorns: Some seeds fall where thorns grow up and choke the young plants. Good Soil: Some seeds fall on fertile ground and produce a massive harvest, yielding thirty, sixty, or a hundred times what was sown. The Word of God has landed on the fertile heart of the believer, and is growing. (Matthew 13:1–23, Mark 4:1–20, and Luke 8:4–15.)

(v. 9) Again John is not saying that Christians never sin, but it is impossible for them to have habitual sins in their lives, “No one born of God makes a practice of sinning,” because the “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.” Because God is present in the life of the believer, sin cannot remain. (darkness and light cannot remain in the same space). Sin/darkness is going to diminish (and in eternity be gone completely).

And Jesus’s work of destroying the work of the Devil has freed them from their sin. So you cannot be righteous without practicing righteousness – not because doing righteous things makes one righteous, but you are doing what comes natural to your nature. “Apple trees produce apples.”

10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

When the Bible discusses race, there are two races of people. Sons of God and Sons of the Devil. They are distinguished by two simple tests: those who practice righteousness or do not practice righteousness. The second test is those who love, and those who do not love. To illustrate all that he has talked about, John gives the examples of how you treat other people, one’s “brother.” God loves humanity so much that he gave his Son so that they could be free from sin – Those who love God, love what He loves (people).

11 For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.

We have heard that we should love our brothers since the beginning of the gospel, and as far back as the beginning of time with Cain and Abel (see v. 12). But here “brothers” refers to other Christians, other “children of God.” It is walking in love that we don’t want to do anything that will cause harm to God (grieve the Holy Spirit), others because of a sin a commit, or to myself. God loves us by getting rid of sin, we love others by not sinning against them.

We began with considering how great the Father’s love is for us; and then an expression of that love is that He inparts His nature to us. It makes complete sense then that the test of a relationship with God is how His supposed children express love to others. If the children have the same nature as their father then they will naturally love others.

If we go back to the Luke 12 parable of the master returning from the wedding feast, – the second half of the parable deals with the servants who were not ready for the master’s return, “. . . 45 But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, 46 the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful. 47 And that servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. 48 But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.”

______________________

[1] Marianne Meye Thompson, The IVP New Testament Commentary Series, 1-3 John (Downers Grove, Illinois; Intervarsity Press, 1992) 87.

[2] Canon A. E. Brooke, The International Critical Commentary on the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, The Johannine Epistles (Edinburgh, England, Morrison and Gibb Limited, 1971) 81.

[3] Brooks, 81.

[4] The “world” is defined as, those who are unbelieving in Christ. Worldly people.

[5] Archibald Thomas Robertson, Word Pictures In The New Testament, Volume VI (Nashville, Tennessee; Broadman Press, 1933) 220.

[6] Daniel Akin, The New American Commentary, 1, 2, 3 John (Nashville, Tennessee; Broadman & Holman Publishing, 2001) 135.

[7] Colin G. Kruse, The Pillar New Testament Commentary, The Letters of John (Grand Rapids, Michigan; William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2020) 126.

[8] Brooks, 83.

[9] David Allen, 1-3 John, Fellowship in God’s Family (Wheaton, Illinois; Crossway Publishing, 2013) 144.

[10] Kruse, 138.

[11] See John 1:29 “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”

[12] Kruse, 129.

[13] Thompson, 94.

[14] Kruse, 132.

[15] Herschel H. Hobbs, The Epistles of John (Nashville, Tennessee; Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1983) 87.

“The His-story of Those Who Believe: Part Two” Ephesians 1:12-14

Love Made A Way

A Sermon Series on Atonement

“The His-story of Those Who Believe: Part Two”

Ephesians 1:12-14

Introduction

This four-week series looks at four atonement images or metaphors in Scripture: adoption (family), redemption (marketplace), justification (legal), and rescue/victory (conquest). A well-rounded understanding of the ways God has provided our redemption inspires us to live well as redeemed, victorious, free children of God.

III. The Future (vv. 12-14)

(review) The Past – Blessed, Chosen, Adopted; The Present – Redeemed; Forgiveness, Wisdom, Insight

“. . . so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13 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, . . .”

When Paul says “so that we who were the first to hope in Christ…” – The first to place their faith in Christ were Jesus’ Jewish disciples, then Paul as an apostle (still a Jew) but the church in Ephesus is Gentile, so when he says, “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth. . .” Paul is saying that both Jew and Gentile have the seal of the Holy Spirit; both are equal in standing before God.[1]

The Word of Truth

“when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him,” Our salvation is rooted on the gospel being true and that we have placed our complete belief in it for our salvation. The gospel describes who Jesus is, and what He has done. No one can become a Christian without this ‘word of truth.” Being a Christian is not about a feeling, an emotional outpouring, crying – these things may happen, but the mind (understanding the truth), moves us to respond in faith in Jesus.

There are many who claim to be Christians, but their understanding of reality is rooted in their own preferences, their own ideas about life, their own feelings about what is right and what is wrong – but the word of truth, the gospel is all that really matters. The gospel declares all humanity to be sinners in need of a Savior. The gospel declares that God is love (not in that he tolerates sin), but in His love He completely destroys it.

Our opposition to cults, other religions, is not based on feelings (being a Christian makes me happy, or feel good), but that Christianity is truth and anything else that conflicts with the gospel is false.[2] There are groups that may change your life, but there is only one way to have eternal life.

When Paul writes young Timothy and is instructing him on how to pastor, he tells him to “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” Paul doesn’t tell Timothy to tell people to show up for worship, or to live better lives, but to preach the word.

J. I. Packer once wrote in a preface to the Christian Directory by Richard Baxter, where he describes the church of his day as “egocentric, zany, simplistic, degenerate, half-magic spell non-sense, which is all the world sees when it watches religious tv or looks directly at the professed evangelical community.” Packer went on to say “our how-tos, how to have a wonderful family, better sex, financial success in a Christian way, how to cope with grief, life passages, crises, fears, frustrating relationships, what not else, gives us a formula to be followed by a series of supposedly simple actions on our part, in the manner of painting by numbers.” His premise is that the church of today doesn’t want the truth, or they don’t even want to think, they want easy answers, and a little Bible so they can check the box.

The Word of God, the word of truth, the gospel is two pronged; one side is the teaching and proclamation of the Word, and the other side is how a person responds to it. Some when they hear it come to a realization that they are sinners, repent of their sin, and are saved from the wrath to come. These people start churches, and turn the world upside down. They continue to share what they heard to others. Some when they hear the word of truth, reject it, and try to stop it (Paul was stoned, the early church was persecuted, and even today martyrs die because of their proclamation of the word of truth and its rejection).

It is the Holy Spirit working in a person’s life that enables them to comprehend the word of truth, and their state of separation from God because of their sin, who Jesus is and His work upon the cross and the “draws them” to salvation. God has given us His Word, and the Holy Spirit uses that Word to move in a person’s heart to cry out for salvation, “how can they believe in whom they have not heard?” 1 Corinthians 12:3 “. . . no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.”[3]

We hear the Word of God, We Believe the Word of God,

and We Hope In the Word of God.

An Inheritance (guaranteed redemption) Sealed with the Holy Spirit

As a means of guaranteeing His promises to those who have received Jesus Christ, God has sealed [them] in Him with the Holy Spirit. Every believer is given the very Holy Spirit of God the moments he trusts in Christ. It is not a separate event (as in you place your faith in Christ, and then later are sealed. No, the two events happen simultaneously).[4] He is there to empower us for ministry, and function through the gifts He has given us. The Holy Spirit is our Helper and Advocate. He protects us and encourages He also guarantees our inheritance (see v. 11) in Jesus Christ.

The sealing of which Paul speaks here refers to an official mark of identification that was placed on a letter, contract, or other important document. The seal usually was made from hot wax, which was placed on the document and then impressed with a signet ring. The document was thereby officially identified with and under the authority of the person to whom the signet belonged.

The Seal of The Holy Spirit

M. Lloyd-Jones said regarding the church’s inability to understand the sealing of the Holy Spirit, “It is one of the most vital of all the New Testament doctrines with respect to revival and reawakening in the Christian Church.”[5]

Our Inheritance of Salvation is Secure[6]

In ancient times the seal of a king, prince, or noble represented security. When Daniel was thrown into the Lion’s Den, King Darius placed his seal over the entrance “so that nothing might be changed in regard to Daniel” ( 6:7). No one can change our salvation, not even ourselves through sin.

Jesus’ tomb was secured with a wax and seal, Matthew 27:66 “So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.” No one was allowed to open it, upon penalty of death by the Roman government.

In the book of Revelation 6:9-10 it is discussing Jesus and him being worthy to open a scroll set apart for the end of time, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, 10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” So a seal secures something, to be opened at a designated time, by the proper person, and that security is only as powerful as the one whom the seal represents. Today, no contract is complete until both parties sign the dotted line. The Holy Spirit in the life of the believer is God’s signature of promise.

Jesus even prayed in His High Priestly Prayer, for those who would choose to follow Him, John 17:11 “Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, . . .” The Holy Spirit keeps us, secures us as the Fathers’.

Our Salvation is Authentic (a certificate of authenticity)

When God gives us His Holy Spirit at conversion, it is as if he stamps us with a permanent seal that reads, “God’s own for eternity.” Out on the plains cattle ranchers would brand their cattle (permanent) so that they could not be stolen and so they could easily be identified.[7]

The Seal of the Holy Spirit Gives Believers Authority

When the Holy Spirit seals believers, He marks them as God’s divine children, who from that moment on entirely and eternally belong to Him. As God’s children there are expectations for them to do, the presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives gives them the authority to do those things.

“When Christians are sealed with the Holy Spirit they are delegated to proclaim, teach, minister, and defend God’s Word and His gospel with the Lord’s own authority.”[8]

In John 6:27 (turn there) those that Jesus had fed the day before approach Jesus asking for proof that Jesus was the Messiah, and Jesus responds, “Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” Jesus by saying that God the Father has “set his seal” upon him is saying “God has made it clear that I am His Son, that I, the Son of Man, am the Son of God in that He has sealed me, has given me authority, has authenticated my claims, has established my ministry, and has anointed me as the Messiah.”

Children of God Have the Authority to Speak on His Behalf;

Make Sure You Get the Message Right.

2 Timothy 2:15 “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”

The Believer’s Inheritance Is Guarantied

“(v. 14) who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.”

The purpose of Paul’s teaching about the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives is so that we can be grounded, unmovable, established, steadfast in our daily lives. God has plans and work for us to do. His presence keeps us grounded and moving forward until the work is complete. We can keep moving forward because we have a promise from God. (v. 14) “guarantee,” It is a promise of something that is to come, like an engagement ring, a down payment, God’s first installment of what is to come, is the presence of the Holy Spirit in the believer’s life.

God’s presence in our lives today, is but a “down payment” (a portion of the whole[9]) of what is to come in our future. The Holy Spirit’s presence today is the guarantee (the promise) that more is to come later. Our inheritance (our redemption in eternity and a full relationship with God) is guaranteed by the presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives.

This fills us with encouragement, and emboldens us to keep pressing onward. This sealing of the Spirit tells us two things about heaven; 1) We will experience God more fully than we do today and 2) we will be free from sin so that we will become like Him. Right now we know God and are known by Him, but in eternity it will be so much better, and while today we are growing in righteousness (turning from sin), in eternity we will be completely freed from it. 1 Corinthians 13:12 “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.”

When something in the future was so certain that it could not possible fail to happen, the Greeks would often speak of it as if it had already occurred. (aorist passive indicative) Our every conceivable need is met by God’s gracious provision in accordance with His divine promises. We are promised peace, love, grace, wisdom, eternal life, joy, victory, strength, guidance, power, mercy, forgiveness, righteousness, truth, fellowship with God, spiritual discernment, heaven, eternal riches, glory – those and every other good thing that come from God.

Even with all these promises and blessings from God, they are not the ultimate goal of our salvation. Man is redeemed for the purpose of restoring the divine image marred by sin, “to the praise of his glory.” Because God’s intention in creating men was that they should bear the divine image, salvation’s goal is creation’s goal – to redeem back all of creation (including mankind) so that God receives the glory that is due Him. We bear His image so that we may reflect His glory.

So in this opening chapter of Ephesians Paul uses three ways to think about our salvation, in the past (chosen before the foundation of the world), in the present where were are saved but also need to work out our salvation (there are things we need to learn and grow in our relationship with God, sanctification) so we have forgiveness and wisdom and insight, and the future (where we will be complete, perfectly existing as God originally designed humans to be) – to perfectly bear His image. All of creation will be restored.

Jude closes his letter with, “Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.”

Invitation

It all comes down to do you have a relationship with Jesus.

The Past (Blessed, Chosen, Adoption)
The Present (Redemption; Forgiveness, Wisdom & Insight)
The Future (Inheritance; Sealed; security, authenticity, ownership, authority)

____________________

[1] “They were first called Christians at Antioch.” Acts 11:26

[2] D. M. Lloyd-Jones, God’s Ultimate Purpose, An Exposition of Ephesians 1:1 to 23 (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Baker Book House, 1978) 233.

[3] See also Ephesians 2:8 – grace/faith is a gift from God.

[4] Peter T. O’Brien, The Pillar New Testament Commentary, The Letter To The Ephesians (Grand Rapids, Michigan; William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1999) 119.

[5] Lloyd-Jones, 244.

[6] MacArthur, 35. Security, Authenticity, Ownership, and Authority.

[7] See also Ezekiel 9:4-6.

[8] MacArthur, 36.

[9] J. Armitage Robinson, Commentary on Ephesians, Exposition of the Greek Text (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Kregel Publications, 1979) 36.

“The His-story of Those Who Believe: Part Two” Ephesians 1:12-14

Love Made A Way

A Sermon Series on Atonement

“The His-story of Those Who Believe: Part Two”

Ephesians 1:12-14

Introduction

III. The Future (vv. 12-14)

(review) The Past – Blessed, Chosen, Adopted; The Present – Redeemed; Forgiveness, Wisdom, Insight

The Word of Truth

J. I. Packer once wrote in a preface to the Christian Directory by Richard Baxter, where he describes the church of his day as “egocentric, zany, simplistic, degenerate, half-magic spell non-sense, which is all the world sees when it watches religious tv or looks directly at the professed evangelical community.” Packer went on to say “our how-tos, how to have a wonderful family, better sex, financial success in a Christian way, how to cope with grief, life passages, crises, fears, frustrating relationships, etc…, gives us a formula to be followed by a series of supposedly simple actions on our part, in the manner of painting by numbers.” His premise is that the church of today doesn’t want the truth, or they don’t even want to think, they want easy answers, and a little Bible so they can check the box.

We hear the Word of God, We Believe the Word of God,

and We Hope In the Word of God.

An Inheritance (guaranteed redemption) Sealed with the Holy Spirit

The Seal of The Holy Spirit

Our Inheritance of Salvation is Secure[6]

Our Salvation is Authentic (a certificate of authenticity)

The Seal of the Holy Spirit Gives Believers Authority

“When Christians are sealed with the Holy Spirit they are delegated to proclaim, teach, minister, and defend God’s Word and His gospel with the Lord’s own authority.”[8]

Children of God Have the Authority to Speak on His Behalf;

Make Sure You Get the Message Right.

2 Timothy 2:15 “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”

The Believer’s Inheritance Is Guarantied

“(v. 14) who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.”

Invitation

It all comes down to do you have a relationship with Jesus.

The Past (Blessed, Chosen, Adoption)
The Present (Redemption; Forgiveness, Wisdom & Insight)
The Future (Inheritance; Sealed; security, authenticity, ownership, authority)

_________________

[1] “They were first called Christians at Antioch.” Acts 11:26

[2] D. M. Lloyd-Jones, God’s Ultimate Purpose, An Exposition of Ephesians 1:1 to 23 (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Baker Book House, 1978) 233.

[3] See also Ephesians 2:8 – grace/faith is a gift from God.

[4] Peter T. O’Brien, The Pillar New Testament Commentary, The Letter To The Ephesians (Grand Rapids, Michigan; William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1999) 119.

[5] Lloyd-Jones, 244.

[6] MacArthur, 35. Security, Authenticity, Ownership, and Authority.

[7] See also Ezekiel 9:4-6.

[8] MacArthur, 36.

[9] J. Armitage Robinson, Commentary on Ephesians, Exposition of the Greek Text (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Kregel Publications, 1979) 36.

“The His-story of Those Who Believe: Part One” Ephesians 1:3-11

Drew Boswell Ministries

“The His-story of Those Who Believe: Part One” Ephesians 1:3-11

00:00 / 00:38:03

“The His-story of Those Who Believe: Part One” Ephesians 1:3-11

Love Made A Way

A Sermon Series on Atonement

“The His-story of Those Who Believe: Part One”

Ephesians 1:3-11

Introduction

When I was a boy my favorite television show was “The Greatest American Hero.” It was a story of a man who was chosen by aliens and given a special suit. The suit had amazing powers only the hero lost the owner’s manual. He spends the whole season discovering new powers, new abilities that the suit had, while fighting bad guys of course.

In the Christian life many are like the Greatest American Hero. They never really know the extent of our abilities through Christ until their season is almost cancelled. The guilt of past sins keeps them from serving because they don’t understand the extent of God’s forgiveness. They try to work hard so that they can feel worthy of their salvation. They are insecure of their destiny, thinking constantly, “have I done enough, am I good enough?” “Does God love me?” They never see themselves as God sees them. They never know nor experience the power that is within them.

This morning we will look at the history of those who accept Christ. I have entitled the message The His-story of Those Who Believe because it is God who has designed our lives from eternity past until the future of eternity. How does this apply to my life? If we understand who we are in Christ it has a great impact on the way we live our lives, establish priorities, raise our children, relate to our spouse, and on and on.

God Has Blessed His Children In The Past (3-7)

3 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,

Spiritual Blessings

Paul tells us that God has blessed us with “every spiritual blessing,” and that these blessings are “in the heavenly places,” and these blessings are “in Christ.” The word for “in” as “in Christ” are like going into a door. Once I have crossed the door into a building, I am in the building. So a person who places their faith in Christ, has crossed over into a saving faith relationship. In that relationship, there are blessings. To be “In Christ,” is to have a saving faith relationship.[1]

“Many Christians continually ask God for what He has already given them. They pray for him to give them more: love – “the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” (Rom. 5:5) peace – “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you.” (Jn. 14:27) happiness and joy – “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.” (Jn. 15:11) strength – “you can do all things through Him who strengthens you.” (Phil. 4:13)”[2]

God has given us everything that we need pertaining to life and godliness. We are complete in him. (Col. 2:10) We don’t need more from God, we need to make use of what we have already been given. Everything that God has, those in Christ have. Christ’s riches are our riches, His power is our power.

Chosen By God

even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.

(v. 4) Those who are followers of Christ has been chosen; “No one can come to Me,” Jesus said, “unless the Father who sent me draws him” (John 6:44). Helkuo (draws) carries the idea of an irresistible force and was used in ancient Greek literature of a desperately hungry man being drawn to food.

“Salvage yards use large electromagnets to lift and sort scrap metal. When the magnet is turned on it only attracts certain types of metals, iron, steel, etc, while other metals are in no way attracted, aluminum, and brass. In a similar way, God’s elective will irresistibly draws to Himself those whom He has predetermined to love and forgive, while having no effect on those whom He has not.”[3]

My first response to election was “That’s not fair.” “Why would God draw some and not others?” “Why could he not just draw, and save everyone?” But these questions show a lack of understanding on three characteristics about God.

God is sovereign. He can do whatever He wants to do. (ex. Job 38)

“Then the Lord answered Job out of the storm. He said: “Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me. “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand.”

Grace by definition is “mercy shown that is undeserved.”

Exodus 33:19 “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.”

God allows Man’s Free (ex. Adam & Eve) God does choose us, and draw us, but there is also an element of free will. Somehow, we have a choice in the matter. There are multiple times when humanity is told to choose and to exercise his own will. Joshua 24:15 “. . . choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (paradox, like Jesus being fully God and fully man.)

Some Are Chosen By God While Having Freedom To Choose God

Our being chosen was “before the foundation of the world ,” The blessing those who are in Christ receive has been planned and established long before they are even born, even before time itself began. It was God’s plan, “that we should be holy and blameless before him,” God’s choice was for a specific purpose, there was a plan for those whom He elected unto salvation. “God’s work of redemption is for His glory, that this world that has fallen and rebelled against Him will be redeemed, and we who grovel in the dirt in the dust of this world will be raised to the heavenly places, participating in the glory of Christ.”[4]

Adopted

5 “he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, . . .”

In Christ we become citizens of His kingdom. He even calls us friends, He says, “All things that I have heard from My father I have made known to you” (Jn. 15:15). But in His great love we have been made more than citizens, servants, and even friends. He has made us His children. “For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear,” Paul says, “but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba! Father!” (Rom. 8:15).

Human parents can adopt children and come to love them every bit as much as they love their biological children. They can give an adopted child complete equality in the family life, resources, and inheritance. But no human parent can impart his own distinct nature to the adopted child. (illus. people calling to talk to my dad, I pick up the phone, and immediately they say, “Tommy . . .”)

That is what God does to every person whom He has elected and who has trusted in Christ. He makes them sons just like His divine Son. Christians not only have all of the Son’s riches and blessings but all of the Son’s nature. That’s why you see a change in a saved person’s life, they are becoming more like Christ.

(6) “. . . to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.”

Why did God do all of that for us? Why did He want us to be His sons? 1) We are saved and made sons to the praise of the glory of His grace. He chooses, and predestines us for His glory. Philippians 2:13 says “God is at work in [us] . . . for His good pleasure.” Because of his love for His creation; John 3:16 says “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

God Has Blessed His Children In The Present (7-11)

7 “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,”

Redeemed

Redemption is a legal term and referred to legal acquittal of a charge or paying the ransom in order to release a person from bondage, especially that of slavery. During New Testament times the Roman Empire had as many as six million slaves, and the buying and selling of them was a major business. If a person wanted to free a loved one who was a slave, he would buy that slave for himself and then grant him freedom, testifying to the deliverance by a written certificate.

Every person born since the fall has come into the world enslaved to sin, under total bondage to a nature that is corrupt, evil, and separated from its Creator. God says I want to pay the price to free my creation. What was the price? His Son’s blood. Death is the price that must be paid for man’s redemption from sin.

In the OT the blood of sacrificed animals was continually offered on the alters of the Tabernacle and then in the Temple. But that blood was never able, and was never intended, to cleanse the worshippers from sin. Those animals were symbolic, typical substitutes. Hebrews 10:4 “It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” But through the shedding of His blood, (v. 10)“we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all”

There is also, something else to consider: Paul has already established in the text that we were chosen, and adopted and made a part of God’s family through Jesus. In the OT there is a Kinsman-Redeemer. When a person sold themselves into slavery, indentured servitude, because they were unable to pay their debts. A Kinsman Redeemer was a blood relative who would pay the debt that was owed by the relative. Because the debt was paid the person was now free from the slavery.[5]

Two results of redemption:

Forgiveness – Israel’s greatest holiday is Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. On that day the high priest selected two unblemished sacrificial goats. One goat was killed, and his blood was sprinkled on the alter as a sacrifice. The high priest placed his hands on the head of the other goat, symbolically laying the sins of the people on the animal. The goat was then taken into the wilderness, so far that it could not return. In symbol the sins of the people went with the goat, never to return.[6]

Forgiveness means to send away. Through the shedding of His own blood, Jesus Christ actually took the sins of the world upon his own head and carried them an infinite distance away from where they could never return. Because we continue to sin, we need the continued forgiveness of cleansing; but we do not need the continued forgiveness of redemption. That does not mean we will no longer sin, nor that when we do our sins have no harmful effect. Our sin affects our growth, joy, peace, usefulness, and an ability to have an intimate relationship with our Father.

Jesus was trying to introduce servant leadership to the disciples at the Last Supper and Peter resisted Jesus washing his feet. Jesus responded you don’t need your whole body washed, just his feet. John 13:9-10 “Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” 10 Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean.” When we sin, we don’t need complete redemption, just forgiveness for where we have recently sinned. We continually seek forgiveness for sin, but we are not re-saved every time.

8 “. . . which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight.”

Wisdom and insight

Sophia (wisdom) emphasizes understanding of ultimate things – such as life and death, God and man, righteousness and sin, heaven and hell, eternity and time. Phronesis (insight) emphasizes practical understanding, comprehension of the needs, problems, and principles of everyday living. We need both to live a godly life – understanding ultimate things lived out in a meaningful way.

(v. 9-10) “. . . making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth in him.

Paul uses the word mystery to mean something that was once hidden but has now been revealed. The plan “to unite all things in Christ,” was once hidden, but in the fullness of time has now been made known to the world. The revealed truth is that the world will receive the gospel – the family of God is expanded beyond Israel and goes into the whole world (Col. 1:27).

11 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, . . .”

This mystery that Gentiles are included into God’s plan for the redemption of the world, was again, planned (predestined) – it has always been God’s plan, His will to redeem His creation “to unite all things in Christ.”

A story told by Paul Lee Tan illustrates the meaning of redemption. He said that when A.J. Gordon was pastor of a church in Boston, he met a young boy in front of the sanctuary carrying a rusty cage in which several birds fluttered nervously. Gordon inquired, “Son, where did you get those birds?” The boy replied, “I trapped them out in the field.” “What are you going to do with them?” “I’m going to play with them, and then I guess I’ll just feed them to an old cat we have at home.” When Gordon offered to buy them, the lad exclaimed, “Mister, you don’t want them, they’re just little old wild birds and can’t sing very well.” Gordon replied, “I’ll give you $2 for the cage and the birds.” “Okay, it’s a deal, but you’re making a bad bargain.” The exchange was made and the boy went away whistling, happy with his shiny coins. Gordon walked around to the back of the church property, opened the door of the small wire coop, and let the struggling creatures soar into the blue. The next Sunday he took the empty cage into the pulpit and used it to illustrate his sermon about Christ’s coming to seek and to save the lost — paying for them with His own precious blood. “That boy told me the birds were not songsters,” said Gordon, “but when I released them and they winged their way heavenward, it seemed to me they were singing, ‘Redeemed, redeemed, redeemed!”

You and I have been held captive to sin, but Christ has purchased our pardon and set us at liberty. When a person has this life-changing experience, he will want to sing, “Redeemed, redeemed, redeemed!”[7]

_________________

[1] R. C. Sproul, Ephesians: An Expositional Commentary (Sanford, Florida; Ligonier Ministries, 2023) 11.

[2] John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, Ephesians (Chicago, Illinois; Moody Press, 1986) 8.

[3] MacArthur, 11.

[4] Sproul, 14.

[5] Sproul, 18.

[6] the “scapegoat,” see Lev. 16:21-22

[7] https://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/r/redemption.htm