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God At Work in Our LIves: The Thesaurus Sermon…. on Ephesians 1:3-14
God at Work IN OUR LIVES!
God Adopts US! The Thesaurus Sermon
Ephesians 1:3-14
† In Jesus’ Name †
May the grace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ assure you—that you are a child of God!
Double the praise!
As I read the passage that we are looking at this morning, I thought Paul was in what I call “Thesaurus Mode.”
He wasn’t just doing the ancient technique of repeating what he said twice, He repeated, then summarized it, then retaught it, then restated it, then he explained it, then he said it again!
I think that means he wanted us to get the point he was trying to make—
A really basic thought, but one so incredible that he has to surround it with the only thing that made sense.
Verse 3, “3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!”
And verse 14, “we would praise and glorify him.”
The anticipation and reaction of this incredible message begins with us in awe, worshipping God and ends with us praising and glorifying Him,
So what is the message? What is the word? What is the news?
His Plan, His Decision, His Will, His Promise
Well, the first part of the message is to communicate that this was always what God wanted to happen.
In verse 4 it says, “Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ.”
In verse 5 it repeats the idea , “God decided in advance”
And
“This is what he wanted to do”
He keeps the idea going,
Verse 9, “God has now revealed to us his mysterious plan”
and going,
verse 11, “for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan.”
Verse 12, God’s purpose
And finally in verse 13, whom he promised long ago.
Seven times in 11 verses, Paul tries to reveal that this is not some last-minute reaction to do something about our brokenness, it is something that from before day 1 God determined to do.
I think we need to realize that, more importantly, I think God, who inspired St. Paul to write these words, knew that we would be broken, and that we needed to know how deliberate God was in dealing with that brokenness.
And how the sin of the world, the sin of our community and our own sin breaks us, for it certainly does.
We need to know God was always prepared to deal with this brokenness, this sin, and bring healing to us. He reveals that over and over in the Old Testament, as you see in the Psalms and the minor prophets.
God knew… and God planned to take care of us… even at our most broken.
Even if that is today… He’s loved and chosen, decided, wanted to, mysteriously planned, chose in advanced and promised to act in our lives….
DO you see what I mean by saying this is a message communicated using a thesaurus?
Blessed, United Brought, Adopted , identified, His inheritance, His purchase
But it’s not enough to tell us God’s intent… we have to know what God intended to do to us….
So, verse 3 blessed us with every spiritual blessing because we are united with Christ,
Verse 4, loved us and chose us in Christ, to be holy and without fault in His eyes
Verse 5, God, adopted us into His own family by bringing us through Jesus Christ,
Verse 6, we see God pouring out His glorious grace on us who belong to His dear Son.
Verse 7 He purchased our freedom with the blood of His Son and forgave our sins,
Verse 8 showered (baptized us ) with kindness and with all wisdom and understanding
Verse 10, God brings us along with everything under the authority of Christ,
Verse 11, He gives us (the ones who were broken) an inheritance from God, and makes it all work according to His plan.
It goes on to describe this as being for all us, both Jewish people who were the first to trust in Christ, and the Gentiles who heard and believed, in verse 13 are saved and identified as His own…
It says there also that He gives us the Holy Spirit , and verse 14, He gives us that inheritance, to all He has purchased to be His own people!
So to summarize, He blessed, united to Christ, loved, chose, made us holy and without fault, adopted us, bring us to Himself through Jesus, poured His glorious grace, purchased all of us with Christ’s blood, baptized us with kindness, wisdom and understanding as He places us in Christ, gives us His inheritance, saves us, identifies us as His own, gives us the Holy Spirit… and again purchased us—so that we can be HIS OWN PEOPLE!
Wowza….
Praise and Value
Seems like we should value and recognize all that work that God has done!
That is what it means to praise and glorify Him, as we recognize all of this!!! That is what it means to praise and glorify Him—because of what happened as Christ died on the cross, and rose from the dead, and what He does as He baptizes us, as He justifies and sanctifies us…..
This is our God, this is the message God wants to us to know, and what He communicates through St. Paul…
This is why we praise Him, not just because He is almighty, and all knowing… but because He reveals to us His love, and the action that love for us who are broken… and He makes us His own….
Amen!
May These Words Burn into You Mind, with more intensity than “It’s A Small World” or “Let it Go”
Devotional Thought of the Day:
1 Thank GOD because he’s good, because his love never quits. 2 Tell the world, Israel, “His love never quits.” 3 And you, clan of Aaron, tell the world, “His love never quits.” 4 And you who fear GOD, join in, “His love never quits.“ 5 Pushed to the wall, I called to GOD; from the wide open spaces, he answered. 6 GOD’s now at my side and I’m not afraid; who would dare lay a hand on me? Psalm 118:1-6 (MSG)
286 There is nothing better in the world than to be in the grace of God. (1)
If you’ve ever been to Disneyland, there is an experience that burns into your mind as you go on what seems to be a simple, sweet ride. Just reading the title will bring back the melody that for the first 30 seconds seems nice, but after the three days inside the ride, you will never again be the same. (Okay – Google said it is only a 12 minutes ride – but it does seem longer than that, like the length of Gilligan’s 3-hour tour!)
The same intense pain may have echoed through your mind, if you took your 2-10 year old child to see the movie “Frozen”, and proceeded to have every day for the next few years haunted by shrill remembrances of “Let it Go, Let it Go!
I sometimes wonder if the music teams will be tasked for providing the music in Hades
Now that I’ve traumatized you ( we call that preaching the law in all of it strength!) it is time for another message to burn into your minds. The message that the Psalmist repeats so often in scripture,
His love never quits
The Psalms have us repeat the message over and over, His love never quits! (Some translations prefer to translate it “His mercy endures forever!”
I prefer the “His love never quits” but also recognize that we have to understand the definition of love, in this case, the word “cHesed” in Hebrew. It is more than just an infatuation, or a desire to be physically intimate with someone. Matter of fact, it is much more intimate than can be seen just in physical actions. It is a communion of souls, a dance of lives so intertwined that we cannot distinguish who is who anymore, for those who love each other not only fit that well together, they move that well together.
They are melded into each other’s life so completely that it is deeper than “it’s a small world” or “let it go” can burn into our minds.
It’s to receive God’s grace, the gift of His love and mercy, which we find our hearts and souls healed. That we find ourselves so caught up in His presence that we sing His praises even without consciously thinking to sing. To know His mercy and love so well that His love and mercy exudes (I can’t think of a simpler way – except for sweat – and that doesn’t sound right)
Try whistling it’s a small world near someone over the age of 30… they will continue where you left off (warning – they will be upset at you) Or sneak up behind a family at Targe or Walmart and sign softly, “Let it go…”. The impact of those songs will resonate with them, and though they hate it, it will dominate their mind for a while.
The same idea, without the hatred, is true of the gospel! It is true of this statement, “His Loves never quits” You can use “His mercy endures forever” if you want. The more we recognize this truth, the more it burns into our hearts and souls, the more it will affect our lives, our thoughts, our very being. The more comfortable we will be, living in the presence of God, knowing our body is the temple, the place set apart for His body to dwell.
The more we will realize a level of joy and peace… that truly helps us to desire to dwell in His Kingdom.
That’s why we repeat these phrases, over and over, and over.
God’s love NEVER quits….
Lord have mercy upon us, and refine us in the fire of Your love that never quits!
AMEN!
Escriva, Josemaria (2010-11-02). The Way (Kindle Location 755). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
