Bountiful Blessings for His People part 2

Amen. I love that song. To the praise of your glory, to the praise of your mercy and grace. It really does go along with what we've been studying and what we will study next week. Two things I'll share with you before we get into the message. Number one, I challenge you to find the Bob Coughlin version of that song. I promise it will bless you. Make that a part of your own personal worship time. And the second thing I will share with you is I will request that Keith sing that next week as well. If you hear a repeat most all of the time, it is because I have asked him to do that.

We really work close together in how we plan our worship services. And that really fits where we are. It's one that we need to know. And I know that some of you do know that song because I can hear you singing. Your worship, your singing, bless me. I appreciate that. Well, let's take our Bible. Let's turn back to Ephesians chapter 1. We started in our reading in verse 3. That's where we started in this section. And I did share that we will spend most of our time in verses 7 to 10. Although I will zoom through the other verses. Now last week, think about what we did. We started digging out these bountiful blessings.

Starting in verse 3 and we're moving on to verse 14. We are seeing and we will continue to see that God has blessed his people with great spiritual blessings of great grace. And as these verses are unfolded for us, we will see God's great love. We will see in a unique way God's gracious love and God's grace that is bestowed upon his people. Now in verse 3, we see that Paul launches off into this praise and blessing to God. Paul blesses God. He praises God. He worships God as God and also as his heavenly Father. And also he is worshipping the Lord Jesus, his Savior.

And then also in verse 3, Paul launches into some broad blessings that are from God to his people. And then starting in verse 4, Paul starts to track down some very specific ways that God has blessed. And he continues to bless his people. These are great blessings of great grace in the heavenlies which are in Christ Jesus. Now this week as I was doing some additional study, I was going back and doing some study on some of the things that we've covered. And I ran across a good teaching illustration. It comes from the Bible commentator William McDonald. As a matter of fact, it comes from his Bible commentary.

It's a one volume good commentary resource. You might want to write that down. William McDonald, the Believer's Bible commentary. But right there in verse 3, he calls this a pyramid of grace. Imagine in your mind this pyramid. He calls it a pyramid of grace. We see blessings there in verse 3. Then we see spiritual blessings in verse 3. Then we see every spiritual blessing in verse 3. Then we see every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in verse 3. And then notice the base of the pyramid. We see every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. Now if you think about it, that's a good way of illustrating what we see in verse 3.

But I have a habit of doing something. I usually add to what somebody gives us. I want to add to this illustration. I would say that the specific blessings that Paul explains starting in verse 4 and going on down to verse 14, these blessings flow from the pyramid foundation. These specific blessings are found where in every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. Starting in verse 4, Paul's tracking them down. He is unfolding these blessings that are in the heavenlies. And these blessings are from eternity past, on into time and human history, and all the way into eternity future. I don't know why this popped into my mind.

Maybe it's random. Maybe this just shows you how human I am. I thought about it like this. In basketball, we talk about someone who has a broad reach. A broad reach. I don't have a broad reach. Vertically or horizontally. God has a broad reach, folks. In all of these verses, he goes from eternity past, all the way into eternity future. And he doesn't leave time as well. Now remember, folks, this teaching and these doctrines that are found in these verses are a goldmine of blessings. Now listen, these doctrines and this teaching is not some kind of a haunted forest.

These verses and this teaching, it is a goldmine that is meant to be excavated, not a haunted forest that's full of ghosts and goblins that we should avoid. Now honestly, that describes me. That describes me for the first 12 or 15 years of my Christian journey. I treated these verses and doctrines like a haunted forest. I wouldn't go into the deep woods that are there in these verses and this theology. I was afraid to go into the haunted forest because I believe the fables and the stories that so many had taught me about these verses and doctrines. Now I know this can be hard. We have to take our time. I've used some language like this.

We've got to put on our work boots and we have to roll up our sleeves. And we have to study to try to understand these things. And sometimes it just takes time. Now let me share this with you. Do not look around you and condemn someone because they are not like you are. Sometimes it takes a little while for this to settle into our understanding. Sometimes it takes a little while for folks to study and to be counseled and to let the Lord form this in their mind. So we're not going to look around. We're not going to argue. We're not going to debate. And you know, nobody's voiced anything like that.

Because I've taught you these things thoroughly through the years. I have. I have taught you these doctrines thoroughly. So let's continue in these bountiful blessings. We're going to pick up right where we left off last week, which is in verse seven. But I said this earlier. I want to zoom through verses three to six. This will help us get all of this in our minds before we cover some new territory. So notice that last week we first examined what I called bountiful blessings out of verse three. We saw the great overflow of Paul's heart as he blesses and praises and worships. God, the father of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

And we saw the overflow of God's spiritual blessing in the heavenlies, which are given to those who are in Christ. Simply this is two fold. We saw Paul's blessings to God and God's blessings to his people. And then we started with what I called bountiful blessings continued. And that is starting in verse four. Starting in verse four, Paul begins to track down and explain some very specific ways. God is blessed his people and these specific blessings. They are in the heavenlies and they are ours in Christ Jesus. First, we saw the blessing of election and predestination in verse four and five, and then also into verse six.

We saw that God chose us in Christ Jesus before creation and time as we know it. And God chose us to be reflections of his holiness, blameless or without fault before him. We saw that God predestined us in Christ Jesus to be adopted as his sons according to the purpose of his good will. Now listen, folks, listen. In time and before our salvation, we were living in the pig pen of sin and rebellion against God the father. We had squandered all that God had given us in what? In sin and sinful living. We were living with pigs and we were eating pig food. And you know, I'm referencing the parable of the prodigal.

But before time, as we know it, and before the foundations of the world were laid, he chose us in Christ. He predestined us for adoption to himself as sons of God through Christ. Now why this was and is according to the good pleasure of his will. This was God's good and perfect will. You see that? This is just a glimpse of his grace. Now notice an interesting reality that we see in these verses. Notice something. I didn't cover this last week. This has nothing to do with the lost. Paul is only addressing those who were where? Those who were in Christ. What do we see at the beginning of verse four?

In verse seven and verse 11 and verse 13, a reference to those who were in Christ in him. Now listen, you need this. God is not choosing certain men here to be saved and choosing certain men here to be lost. The fact that in eternity past, God did choose certain men to be saved, does not tell us that he randomly condemns all the rest. Listen, God does not condemn certain people to hell that deserve to be saved. Because there are none who deserve to be saved. But God does save some who most definitely deserve to be damned. So folks, listen. Let's just let God be God here in these verses. Let's let God be the sovereign God that he is.

Just unfold the scriptures and let them say what they say. These verses tell us that according to his goodwill and pleasure, he chose to show mercy to some. Now how should we react? How should we react to this teaching? I'll tell you how we should react the way Paul did. Look at verse 3, the beginning of verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ. What is Paul doing? He's worshiping. He's honoring and loving and praising God. And then notice verse 6, to the praise of his glorious grace with which he has blessed us in the beloved, in his son. So this is how we should react. Worship. Worship.

Now here's where we'll pick up where we left off. First, we saw the blessing of election and predestination. And then second, we see the blessing of redemption through the blood of his son, Jesus Christ. We see this starting in verse 7 and in verse 8. Let's read these verses together. "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight." Now in moving into verse 7, Paul continues to track down and unfold these specific blessings.

Whereas the blessings Paul describes in verses 4 and 5, or in eternity past, starting here in verse 7, Paul begins to describe blessings that are in time. They're in time. And I think you'll see that. Now I will tell you, we're going to break these verses down, really the same way we did verses 4 and 5. But notice, he redeemed us. Isn't that what we see in verse 7? "In him we have redemption." Now this word redemption is a must for us to understand. And this word and the idea was known to those in Paul's day. See, in their day, captives and prisoners of war were very, very common. Slaves and slavery was a normal part of life.

In this word, redemption spoke of the payment or the ransom price that was paid for what? For freedom. Captives, prisoners of war, at times could be restored. They could be set free at times. If they could go through the process of redemption and pay the ransom price to their captors. At times, this was also extended to certain slaves within the culture. In certain cases, slaves could go through the process of saving money so as to go through the process of paying their ransom price to their masters. Now what is the idea? In their society, there were many slaves, there were many captives, and there were many prisoners. And they were captives.

They actually were prisoners. They were slaves, having no freedom. They had no freedom. And in some cases, there were means by which they could be redeemed from that captivity or from that slavery. In some cases, there was a way that they could be set free if their redemption price was paid in full. And this was common in their day. But why do we need to see that? Is this just a history lesson? Am I just trying to help you see culture? No. The idea in redemption was not simply being set free, although freedom is a part of it. What must be seen is the fact that a price had to be paid for that freedom.

Release of freedom was only possible if the full price was and is paid. That was the case with captives. That was the case with prisoners of war in that day. That was the case culturally for slaves. And that is the case for us. But now look at how this is done. It's right there in the verses. He redeemed us through his blood. Isn't that what we see in the verses? Here we see the price of this redemption. Here we see the price of our redemption. What does it say? Blood. That speaks to death. Christ died to pay this redemption price. Christ went to the cross and he died. What does the text say? The just for the unjust. What does that mean?

The sinless for the sinful. Therefore going through the only proper process to provide redemption. And this was a shameful price. For Christ was treated like a criminal. And this was a violent price. For Christ was treated violently. And this was a costly price. For Christ gave his life for this redemption. This is a redemption through his blood. This was the price that Christ paid. Then he redeemed us for the forgiveness of sins. The English standard reads trespasses. The new American as well. Sins are trespasses. Here Paul proceeds to a blessing that comes from Christ's redemption. You see?

This is a blessing that comes from this redemption. That is forgiveness. Now this word forgiveness carries with it the idea of freeing someone from something that binds them. It speaks to liberty. It speaks to deliverance. This speaks of being freed from something that is enslaving. Therefore providing liberty and freedom. This is provided by redemption through his blood. But notice this isn't forgiveness from sin or a trespass. This is freedom from sins. Plural. Trespass is plural. This is for many sins and many sinful actions. Now let me pause here and I'm not asking you to respond. How many sins have you committed?

How many sins have you committed outwardly and inwardly? How many sins have you committed in your attitude and in your motives? You can't begin to name them. Why? Because you are utterly sinful. And then he redeemed us according to the riches of his grace. Now I want to go back and read the verses because you need to see these words. Verse 7. In him we have redemption through his blood for the forgiveness of our sins, our trespasses. Here's where I'm going. According to the riches of his grace, verse 8, which he lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight. Here we see the great expenditure of God's redemption.

Here we see the great generosity of his forgiveness. Now listen church. God is never greedy. God never has been greedy. God has never been stingy. He never will be. The price that God paid in providing redemption from man was a great price. The generosity that God expresses in forgiveness is a great generosity. I don't have this in my notes, but some of you need to hear this. You can't sin enough whereby God can't forgive you. There is no sinner that cannot be forgiven. Sometimes there are people who think they have sinned and sinned so much whereby they can never be forgiven. Now that is not a license to sin, no.

But there is no sinner beyond the infinite reach of his mercy. But notice the price that God paid in providing redemption from man was a great price. The generosity that God expresses in forgiveness is a great generosity. That is what we have expressed here at the end of verse 7. This was all from and through the riches of God's grace. You see? Now notice the result. Wisdom and insight is seen in verse 8. Let me go back. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, see His generosity? Then which He lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight.

Notice this wisdom in verse 8 speaks of an understanding of spiritual things. This is an understanding of what? Of God and mankind. This is an understanding of man's sin, God's righteousness, and things pertaining to life and death and eternity. And this insight here in verse 8 speaks of understanding the more practical things of life. This is a spiritual wisdom and insight dealing with everyday things in life. So I want to offer up a summary. Look what we have here in verse 7 and 8. Redemption through Christ and His life's blood for His people. Christ paid the ransom price for God's people. The full price by giving what?

All of His life's blood. And notice two provisions through this redemption. First, He provided forgiveness for sins. And then second, He provided wisdom and insight. God did all of this for His people. What a generous and gracious provision. Now at this point, I want to stop and I want to go back into something I didn't cover in verse 7. Look what Paul says at the beginning of verse 7. "In Him we have redemption." We've read that several times. "In Him we have redemption." Now notice, I want us to look at this phrase, "We have." We have. What does the verse say?

"In Him we have." Now look, in the original language, this phrase is in the continuous tense. That means this verse really can read. "In Him we have." And we are still having redemption. "In Him we have." And we are still having redemption. I don't know how to explain it, but you know sometimes things just stick in my head. That stuck in my head all week. That's just been ringing in my ear all week. And that brings me to a question. Do you have a continuous redemption? Do you have a continuous redemption? You see, it is one thing to see redemption in eternity past.

You might not realize it, but it is easy for some to see redemption in election and predestination. But it is difficult for some to see their redemption in time and in their personal life. It is difficult for some to identify a time when they were redeemed, therefore they are continuing in that redemption. Listen, it is not enough for us to see, it is not enough for you to see your salvation in eternity past only. But also, it is not enough to make a one-time profession of being redeemed in time and in your life. We must possess a redemption that is continuous. Let me simplify what I'm trying to say.

You cannot only see your redemption in eternity past, that is in an election and predestination. There are people, they look back to those passages about what God in eternity past did, and they say, "I know I'm a Christian because of what God did then." But you can't only see your redemption as some decision that you made years ago, having no lasting effect. I know people that can say this, "Well, I know I'm saved because of what I did when I was a child." See, you must possess a redemption that is continuous. It's continuous. Yes, you were redeemed in eternity past because of what God did.

Yes, you were redeemed when you were converted to Christ, whether it was when you were 9 or 19 or 29, and you were still being redeemed. Why? Because it is continuous. You are living in that redemption, you see. You're living in that redemption. Go back to the verse. In him we have, and we are still having this redemption. So my question for you is this, do you have this continual redemption? Now let's move on. I want us to see, third, the blessing of God's purpose for man in redemption. We're moving in the verses. The blessing of God's purpose for man in redemption. Let's read verse 9 and 10.

"Making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ, is a plan for the fullness of time to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth." Now I think you would agree with me that we've seen a lot in this blessing of redemption through Christ and his blood. Well here in verses 9 to 10, we see the blessing of God's purpose, God's purpose for this redemption of man. Now I'm going to approach the verses the same as we have these others. But notice this phrase in verse 9, "The mystery of his will." Now there are two things concerning this mystery that I want us to see.

First of all, this is a subject that Paul comes back to time and time again in the book. We will see Paul come back to this subject of the mystery in chapter 3, verse 3, verse 4, and verse 9, and also in chapter 5, verse 32, and also in the last chapter, chapter 6, verse 19. So we're going to come to this mystery again. But then second, we know the meaning of this word "mystery" from our study of the parables of Jesus on Wednesday nights. Now I want to say this to you. If you're not here on Wednesday nights, you need to get those messages.

Oh, there's a lot that we're studying and that we will study on Wednesday nights that'll tie into what we're studying here in Ephesians. But notice, this mystery refers to the truth or truths that were once hidden. This mystery speaks of spiritual things that were hidden to the Old Testament saints, and now they're being revealed in the New and they're being revealed to the New Testament saints. And this mystery here that Paul is speaking of is concerning who and what? That's Christ Jesus as the promised Messiah of God.

This mystery was made known when Christ came in the flesh, and it is continuing to be made known, even in a greater way, by what Paul is giving here in the letter. Now, what was Paul's purpose? Yes, Paul was speaking of the mystery, what's hidden concerning the Messiah, who is being made known, and this mystery is Christ Jesus. But notice the phrase, according to his purpose, this speaks of the plan A of God's redemption. I say this all the time, folks, and you still need to hear it. Jesus was not a plan B. Jesus and the redemption he provided on the cross was always in the heart of God the Father from the beginning.

God knew all along that he would redeem man through his son, and this pleased the very heart of God. And now in time, God's plan has been and is being revealed to man. You see? And notice the mystery of this will in the fullness of time, the mystery of this will and the fullness of time. We see that in verse 10. Now, here in verse 10, Paul speaks of another aspect of the mystery of his will in Christ Jesus. Here he speaks of future events. You see that? In verses 4 to 6, Paul describes blessings from eternity past. Verses 7 to 9, verses 7 and 8, Paul describes blessings that are in time.

And now we see that Paul is describing blessings that are in the future. Let me go back and read the verses. "Making known to us the mystery of his will according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness in time of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and on the earth." What are these blessings? In the fullness of time, when the church ages over, God will gather his people to himself. That's what's in the verse.

"At the appointed time when salvation history has been completed, and all of God's elect have been gathered to himself, the Scripture says that he will unite all things." And we can see it this way. At the end of history, the history of the world, as we know it, God will gather to himself all of his followers into his kingdom. Now, I want to summarize what we see here in verses 9 to 10.

This is a lot, the revelation and the continued revelation of the mystery of God in Christ Jesus the Son, the promised Messiah, and the future plan of that mystery that will unfold when, in the fullness of time, at God's appointed time, when the history of the world, as we know it, is complete, and God gathers his people to himself. But there's a little more I want to dig out here. I don't feel that that is adequate. I have used this illustration and I use it again. Remember, folks, this is a gold mine. This is not a haunted forest. And I want us to see the great riches in God's purpose in our redemption.

I want us to see what we see here in a fuller way. You see, we must see that at the heart of God's purpose, for man in redemption is to unite all things in him. That's what we see in the verse. We must see that at the very heart of God's purpose for the redemption of man is to unite all things in him. God didn't just choose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. He didn't just redeem us in Christ in time and in the world. He has planned to unite all things in Christ. He has planned to unite all things, all things in Christ. That's what verse 10 tells us.

Now, to more fully grasp this, we need to really go back in time, all the way back to Adam, Genesis 3, the fall of man. Because of the fall of man, all mankind and all things have been affected by sin. I've taught you that through the years. Every man and everything is corrupted by sin and becoming more and more corrupt by sin and in sin, the world and everything in the world, and especially man is fallen from that perfect state that it was in before sin came into the world. But in and through Jesus, in and through Christ, God is saving. He is reconciling and he is restoring men.

And in the end, God will restore and transform his people and the world to perfection. Christ not only came to save sinful men, but he came to redeem and reclaim and restore the world. This is why the Apostle Paul says so much about the second Adam, about the second Adam. Now, I will not read these verses because of time, but I'd like for you to go read 1 Corinthians 15, verses 14, verses 45 to 49, Romans 5, 12 to 21. And you'll see Paul talking about the first Adam and how everything fell, but then restoration in Jesus, the second Adam. Now notice, get this.

It was because of the sin of the first Adam, the first man that sin entered the world and death came as a result. Adam ruined it all. But because of the work of the second Adam, Jesus in redemption, he has the power to undo what the first Adam has done. He, that's Jesus, has the power and the ability to redeem and restore and ultimately unite all things in him, all things in him, things where in heaven and things on earth. Don't you see that in the verse? Jesus has the ability to redeem and unite all things and he will. I like how Sinclair Ferguson describes this, just one little catchy phrase.

He says Paul's breathtaking vision is that God does this in Jesus. I don't know if you see it as I do, but this is breathtaking. And remember, this is not a plan B. In eternity past, when God saw that Adam would sin and fall and the whole entire human race in the world will be ruined, he was not wringing his hands, thinking of some kind of a second option. Here, Paul shows us that all along, this was the loving plan of a loving, generous, heavenly father. And look at this unfolding plan. God the father has blessed us by what? Choosing and predestining. Us in love. What do we see? He chooses and he predestines in love.

He predestined us to be slaves. No, he predestined us to be sons. He redeemed us through what? Through the blood of his one and only son. And he has redeemed us and he has brought him to himself, making known to us the mystery of this wheel that was hidden to all of the Old Testament saints. And what a great and glorious mystery that has been made known to us. Now, how should we respond to all this? The same way Paul did. Verse three, blessed be the God and the father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. What is verse six?

It's almost like verse six is a pause there to the praise of his glorious grace with which he has blessed us in the beloved. And the rest of the verses are Paul explaining what that looks like. Now, for me, I see this resonating with us in two ways. I think you'll see what I mean. First of all, for us who are redeemed, this is our inheritance. See how he's pointing towards the future. This is our inheritance. This is our future. This is our story. This is our song. Our future is that we will be united with him as he unites all things, you see? And we will see that more and more this inheritance as we get into verses 11 to 14.

But what do we see? This is our inheritance. This is our future, folks. But what lesson do we need to take from here? We who are redeemed, this is not our home. This world is not our home, folks. This is not our inheritance. You might not inherit $1 or you might inherit millions, but this is not our inheritance. Everything you inherit will be passed down to somebody else. You can hoard it up all your life, but you'll die and you'll leave it to somebody else. The things of this earth need to grow strangely dim, folks. This is our inheritance. But also for those who are not redeemed, none of this is your inheritance. Do you see that?

All that we've been looking at, this is not your inheritance. You are not a part of this unfolding of the great blessings of God that we see starting in verse 3. All of this that we see starting in verse 3 all the way down to verse 14. It's for the redeemed, those who are in Christ. But if you're not in Christ, you're outside of all of these blessings. I've used this example all through the years. You know, when people come to faith in Christ, we interview them, we talk to them. And when they enter the baptismal waters, they profess Christ. They've been counseled and they always read their testimony.

Now, I want to share something that's been in my mind before I really get into the story. It's spiritually been bothering me. We haven't had anybody come to Christ in a long time. Now, I'm not going to twist your arm, but some of you need to seek the Lord while he may be found. Teenagers, if you don't know Christ, you need to be seeking the Lord while he may be found. Listen, he is the author and the perfecter of our faith, but it should burden us that people do not come to faith in Christ. It should burden us. It burdens me and it needs to burden me more. But I'll never forget a teenage girl years ago that we interviewed.

She said, "You know, I was always seeing myself as being on the outside." She said, "I saw Christians enjoying the Christian life." She said, "I was on the outside." They would talk about what God was doing in their life. And she said, "You know, I was in the room with them, but I was on the outside." She described it beautifully that she was on the outside. And listen, if you're here and you are not redeemed, you're on the outside. These blessings, you're outside of these blessings. This inheritance, it's not yours. All this that Paul is unfolding, it does not apply to you. Paul says, "You and us and our, he's being real personal here.

This doesn't apply to you." And I would say to you, come to Christ. Don't reject what God has done in Christ Jesus. Come, the sin that you are holding on to is not worth it. He can forgive you and he can redeem you. And you know, one of the biggest sins that can hinder people is religion. Sometimes people can play the game and you know, they play the part and it's just so hard to swallow it and say, "You know, I was faking it and I was trying." It's okay. God will forgive you for that as well. Now, as I move to close, I want to look at the beautiful, bountiful, abundant blessings that we've dug out of these verses so far. What have we seen?

The first blessing, the blessing of election predestination, that which God did forever ago. The second blessing, the blessing of redemption through Christ, through his blood, through his life's blood. And then the third blessing, the blessing of God's purpose in the redemption of man is to unite all things in Christ. And then next week, we will finish up these bountiful blessings by looking at verses 11 to 14. Now, what do we see here? The blessing of our future inheritance. Now, as I close, what do we have? What's the title of the message? Might surprise some of you. This is a rather short message for me.

I want us to just take our time in these verses because I want us to get, what? All of these bountiful blessings for his people, for us. So let's pray. Let's commit this to the Lord. And then we'll sing a song of worship that really fits with where we are. Let's pray.