Adoption and Inheritance

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory. Ephesians 1:1-14

The central theme of this passage of Scripture in the letter Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus is this: “All things are created for ultimate unity in Christ Jesus.”

The primary message – supporting the central theme is this:

          We can obtain liberty – or freedom – through Jesus Christ.

          Also, the Church is the dynamic center – or the place – for the consummation of the unity that is God’s divine purpose for His created order.

          In our divided world -minorities pouring out their blood for civil rights; women seeking equality; the elderly becoming a race of their own, separated from the mainstream of life; huge gaps between the rich and the poor,

          All of that contributes to and causes a divided world.

What an opportunity for the Church to respond!

The gathering of a divided humanity into one body.

The church can recover her purpose and her power if she will accept the challenge and seize the opportunity.

The church is the guarantee, the sign of hope that the work of redemption has begun.

And so, we come to the church in Ephesus – Paul wrote this letter, not just to the church in Ephesus, but to be carried to several congregations in other areas as well.

Paul wrote this letter with the intention that it would be distributed to multiple congregations in the area.

As we study this letter we can find GOD’S PLAN AND OUR PLACE IN IT

(verses 1:1-14) 

Here Paul sends a greeting to the church.

He identifies himself as an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God.

His claim to be an apostle is recorded in 1 Corinthians 9:1 where he asked this question to the church at Corinth:

          Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?

His calling to apostleship came directly from Jesus Christ.

Look at his statement in Galatians 1:1 where he says: “Paul, an apostle – not sent from men, nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him from the dead!

His calling came directly from Jesus Christ.

Paul was convinced that God had a plan for his life.

I think this should raise a question in each of our minds. Are we convinced that God has a plan for each of our lives?

The prophet Jeremiah spoke of the plan God has for each of us as he wrote: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you...”(Jeremiah 1:5)

And Paul states much the same truth in Galatians 1:15 -  “But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles...”

Sometimes, saved people – Christians - are reluctant to say they are identified as “saints.” But saints are God’s people – people set apart because they belong to Christ.

They have been called by God and have responded by obeying the Gospel message.

A little girl was once asked what a saint is. Her answer was: “A saint is a person the Light shines through.”

Saints are faithful in Christ Jesus – they are trustworthy. They are those who have faith.

Those who have entered into union with Him – have been made a new person – and have become a part of a new humanity.

Paul breaks out into joyful praise as he prays and shares his prayer. He rejoices as he praises God for choosing him to be in a relationship with Him.

We all have experienced – probably in childhood games – the excitement of “being chosen” to join in the playing of a game.

We have also experienced the discouragement of NOT being chosen first – or being completely left out completely.

Look at John 15:16: “You dd not choose Me but I chose you and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He would give to you.

Paul expresses the bountifulness of God’s gift to us – favor – gift – blessing.

We can ask questions about ourselves:

          Who am I? Answer: I am myself a word spoken by God.

          How we perceive ourselves, who we think we are, determines the direction of our lives and shapes our relationships.

          To accept at the depth of our being that we are chosen by God is the antidote for our insecurity, our neurotic fears, our striving to be accepted, and our self-deprecation.

What is the purpose of our being chosen?

Some of you may have – sometime in your lifetime – read the novel – Moby Dick.

There is a line written there with Captain Ahab saying this: “A man has to feel something that holds in the slippery world.”

And in this world today, we need something to hold on to in this slippery world.

We live in a wide-open permissive society – if it feels good, do it!

Sin isn’t taken seriously- and most often certain behaviors aren’t even recognized as sin. They are seen as lifestyles that are fully acceptable in the minds of many.

People are bent on self-gratification, titillating experiences, catering to selfish wants and desires, and whims – all for pleasure.

A permissive society does not provide purpose.

The “if it feels good, do it” attitude offers no direction and no purpose.

But God offers a way – a purpose – to be “holy and blameless before Him in love” –

“Holy” has the idea (in the Greek language) of difference and separation – being set apart by God – for HIS purposes.

This separation is not from the world, but a difference that is expressed in the world, and by the world.

Paul writes of being “Blameless.” That is a sacrificial word that means: “Unblemished.”

Our entire lives are to be an offering to God.

There is no satisfaction in being second-best.

We can offer no cop-outs – such as: “Well, I am only human” and “You can’t change human nature.”

Those cop-outs are neither recognized by God nor accepted by Him.

Being “chosen for a purpose” precisely means that to be human and to be Christian is to be holy, and to make our entire lives to be an offering to God.

Paul states that our spiritual blessings come “in the heavenly places in Christ.”

This is not the dwelling place of God, where Christians go when they die. The realm of all unseen reality – both good and evil.

In every realm, good and evil powers struggle to dominate our lives individually and in the Body of Christ.

The power of Christ is ours as we do battle with all attackers, especially those in the spirit-realm.

When Paul speaks of “predestined us to be adopted – he means– “to determine beforehand.”

He is not speaking of individuals chosen beforehand.

The salvation of Christ is universal in the sense that it is available to every person on the earth.

The highest function of the life that God has blessed us with is that we, with our lives, must praise Him to whom we owe the blessings of this life.

Those spoken of as “adopted’ – “predestined” – are those who have responded to their chosen-ness by confessing Jesus Christ as Lord of their lives, repenting of sin, being baptized into Christ – and beginning to walk in the teachings of Jesus Christ.