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Ephesians 1: The Grace of God Blesses the Believer

/ Neal Embry

Welcome to the first message series in the book of Ephesians! For the next seven to eight weeks, I’ll be taking a look at what Paul writes in this very important letter to the church at Ephesus. We start today by examining God’s grace in the blessings of the believer.

“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God.  To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”–1:1-2

By saying, “Grace to you,” Paul makes it clear that we never outgrow our need to receive grace and remember the grace we’ve been shown in Christ. This enables us to live the Christian life with joy, and not get stuck going through the motions.

“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..” 1:3

I feel safe in assuming that nearly every Christian has asked God to bless him or her at least two or three times in their life. We want a good job, a good house, a good family, and a life free from pain and suffering. However, the Bible never tells us that these things are guaranteed for us, even as believers. But it does tell us that in Christ, we have every spiritual blessing available to us. What Paul has in mind here is our union with Christ, and the privileges that come with that, meaning that everything Christ has, we have.

Do you see this? Does it motivate you to worship God? Think about it–all the privileges Christ enjoys as the Son of God: the father-son relationship with God the Father, the rule and reign over the earth, love and acceptance by the God of creation–the Bible says WE now have, in Christ!

“…even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.” 1:4

Dwell on this, Christian: Before He formed the world, before He said, “Let there be light,” before you were a thought in your mother’s mind…God knew you. He knew your name, your face, your personality…and He knew your sin. He knew all our sin. He knew how, after creating us in His image and tasking us to enjoy Him and rule over His creation, we would slap His face and say, “No.” And He still made us. He still chose to create us and, more than that, initiated a foolproof plan to save us and bring us back to Himself. He chose us.

How does this help us in this life? For those who struggle with worth—if you are in Christ, the Creator of the universe knows you by name. You were chosen before the world began. Our worth and our identity is secure, not in what we have done, are doing, or will do, but in that our Father in heaven chose to glorify Himself by saving us by His grace.

“In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.” 1:5-6

Do you ever feel like God is simply putting up with you? That all of your sin gets you one step closer to being thrown out of God’s house, and the next screw-up will be the last straw?

There’s good news for you: In Christ, all believers are adopted by God the Father as His children. We are not just God’s servants, we are God’s children. We are His dearly beloved, blood-bought children, and He will never forsake us nor abandon us.

Indeed, it was the “purpose of His will.” This means that God didn’t begrudgingly save you! God wished it, God willed it…He chose to save you! We remember that we are working for God’s glory and seeking to be like Jesus as God’s children. We are joyfully imitating our Father and telling the world how great our God is!

“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, 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 of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.” 1:7-10

No one is free from the problem of guilt, because guilt is a very real problem. It cannot be solved in therapy, it cannot be medicated, and you cannot stuff it way down your subconscious and hope that it goes away.

Praise God we don’t have to live in our guilt or suffer eternity apart from Him, because Christ dealt with our guilt on the cross. If we are in Christ, we are forgiven by His blood, and our guilt is done away with. We no longer are slaves to guilt or fear.

“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, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.” 1:11-12

In Christ, God gives us an eternal inheritance with Him. The richest man in the world couldn’t leave a better inheritance for his kids than God does with us. We receive fellowship with Him forever, the right to reign with Christ, and eternal holiness and happiness in Him. So when we lose everything in this life, remember that we have an inheritance in Christ that cannot be taken away or lost.

“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, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” 1:11-14

Lastly, God blesses us with Himself, in the person of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God Himself, not God’s power or God’s anointing. God actually dwells within us! The Spirit assures us we are God’s children (Rom. 8:16) and is the guarantee of all God’s heavenly blessings for us.

All of this leads Paul to pray in verses 15-23 that the church would dwell on and grow in the knowledge of God’s love and blessings for them in Christ. He prays that the “eyes of (their) hearts (be) enlightened, that (they) may know what is the hope to which” God calls them.  He wants them to know more and more of the greatness of God and His blessings.

This should be our prayer for one another in the church, that we would remember all God has done for us in Christ, so that we may have fullness of joy and grow in our walk with Him.

If you are in Christ, remember all God has done for you. Remember it, dwell on it, and walk with God in fullness of joy and faith. If you are not in Christ, I urge you to recognize you cannot save yourself, and I urge you to trust in Jesus to save you and turn away from your sin to trust Him to help you live in righteousness.

Lord, may we remember all that we have in you. May we dwell on your goodness to us, and how you chose us before the foundation of the world, how you redeem us and adopt us, and give us an inheritance that cannot be taken away. May we make your name famous as we joyfully imitate you.

God bless,

Neal E.

Join us next week as we examine Ephesians 2, where we see the grace of God in giving us spiritual life and saving us.

Defined by Christ Alone

/ Neal Embry / Leave a comment

Sometimes, while scrolling on social media, I’ll come across a quote that sounds something like this:

“Don’t judge me by my past, because I don’t live there anymore.”

We so often believe that we can overcome the mistakes of our past with the good decision-making of today. We think we can make up for our anger by giving to charity, or make up for our lust by giving financially to end human trafficking. We want our present and our future to define us. And we don’t want anyone bringing up that shameful past.

Problem: Even if everyone else forgets your past, there are two people who cannot simply “let it go.” One looks at you in the mirror every day, and the other brought the world into existence. No escaping either one of them.

We have not invented time machines yet, and I doubt we ever will. I cannot change the mistakes I made today, yesterday or 12 years ago. I cannot go back in time to the times in my life when I have made some ridiculously stupid, sinful decisions. I can’t make that disappear. I can’t “fix it.” And God is holy, and He can’t just forget about it.

So what’s our response? So often, we say things like, “I’ll do better, I promise!” “I won’t ever do (insert sin here) again!” And time and time again, we fail. We do not and cannot keep our promises to God. Our past will not disappear. It cannot simply be wiped away because we “don’t live there anymore.” And if we’re hoping that tomorrow or 5 years from now will look better, we’re fooling ourselves. We may be able to make some changes to our behavior, but in and of ourselves, we cannot please God. Our hearts remain wicked, and if we do change, it’s certainly not for God’s sake. Whether you want God to judge your past, present or future, it’s not going to end well for you. Our sin, no matter where or when it happened, remains as a record against us, leading us to a coming condemnation that we justly deserve and that in and of ourselves we cannot escape. If we stood on the scales of God’s justice in ourselves, we would all be found wanting.

Praise be to God we don’t have to stand before God in ourselves. Praise be to God that He sent Jesus to live the perfect life for us and pay for all our sins, past, present and future, so that we can be forgiven, not on the grounds of our present or future obedience, but on the solid rock of His obedience and His blood, shed for us. Because of Jesus, we can be judged on His record, not ours. That’s a lot better than, “try harder,” and, “I’ll do better.”

If you are a Christian, that is, if you have and do currently trust in Christ to make you right with God, and trust in Him as the Lord of your life, you are not defined by the sin of your past. You are not defined by the struggle of the present. You are not defined by the sin you will commit over the next 50 years. You are defined by the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ. You are defined by the blood He shed for you. You are defined by your Father, who adopts you through Christ. You are defined by the ongoing work of the Spirit to make you like Christ, and the glorious promise that one day, all who have trusted in and followed Christ will look just like Him. Not 90% like Him. Not 96% holy. 100%, perfectly holy, in a way we cannot even fathom right now.

You are defined by Christ. Fix your eyes on Him, rest in Him, and follow Him in gospel-believing joy. Live out your new identity. You are righteous. You are a child. You are a follower of Christ. And when, not if, you fail…go back to Christ. Trust Him. And move forward.

God bless,
Neal E.