Our great God is worthy. Amen. Go ahead and have a seat. Hope you brought your Bibles with you today. Go ahead and grab your Bibles. Continuing in our series called “Riches in Christ.” And you can open your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 1. And today we will continue to look at Paul’s extremely long sentence to the Ephesians. Told you last week it was over 200 words in the original Greek language. No periods in the original Greek because he was just furiously writing of the glorious reality of our triune God’s planning, carrying out and the completion of salvation in our lives.
I’ve gotta tell you some people told me, “Man, you’re jumping into Ephesians. There’s a lot of depth there in Ephesians chapter 1.”
And I was like, “Yeah.” I was like, “I love Ephesians. It’s rich. It’s great.” And I think I fell down the Grand Canyon of Ephesians chapter 1 this week. And there is just so much wealth and so many riches. And all of the sentences, all of the phrases, that Paul has woven together masterfully communicate so much for us, the believer in Christ.
And so I set out this week to get us through verse 14. I only got through verse 10 in my study this week. And so this sermon turned into two sermons, and we’ll just trust the Spirit as we go. But there is just so many riches to communicate in God’s Word this morning as we approach it as all that it is.
But last week we saw the truth that the Father chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that God loved you before you loved Him so that one day you could love Him to the praise of His glorious grace. And before He ever created He looked down through the portal of time and He had His heart and HIs eyes set on you. And Scripture says that He predestined us to adoption as sons and daughters in Christ Jesus.
And He chose you to be holy and blameless before Him. Through Christ you are already holy and blameless. And yet we said you know that you wake up everyday and you struggle with the sinful things of this world. You’re called to be His holy and blameless agents in the world. And yet we have this thing called sin that we’ll talk about today that we so often struggle with.
Charles Spurgeon, when he would preach, he would tell a story about John Newton and he would tell this story about this woman who would share her testimony. And she would say, “Ah sir, the Lord must have loved me before I was born or else He would not have seen anything in me to love afterwards.”
And obviously she’s joking, but Charles Spurgeon would go on to say, “I’ve got to believe that God chose me before the foundation of the world because I would have never chosen Him. And once I was born, He would see that there’s nothing good in me to choose.” And yet God certainly knew who you would be after you were born.
This speaks of the love that God has for us. But certainly God knew who you would be once you were born into this world. He knew every sin that you’d ever commit. God knew every doubt that you would ever have. God knew the pride that would keep you running to other gods. He knew that you’d turn toward evil. He knew that you’d make an absolute mess of your life or that you’d keep your life perfectly pristine only to try to add to the prideful independence that somehow makes you think that you can earn your way into a right standing with God.
God knew all of these things about us and yet in His love by the purpose of His will He adopts you His enemy to be His holy and blameless child to the praise of His glorious grace. And it should cause us, like we said last week, to stop and to notice and to respond in worship to a good and gracious God.
The big idea of today’s message as we jump into Ephesians chapter 1 is this: Since I’m not holy and blameless, I must be redeemed through Christ’s blood. Since I’m not holy and blameless, I must be redeemed through Christ’s blood. That’s what Paul tried to communicate or did communicate last week that God chose you in Christ to be His holy and blameless child. And yet you wake up every day in the already but not yet and you recognize that you fall so short of that title that God has given you.
Let’s look in Ephesians chapter 1 starting in verse 7 and let’s read together today. Now hear the Word of the Lord.
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. (Ephesians 1:7-10)
This is God’s Word for us today. Verse 7 is a massive verse. In Him we have redemption through His blood. We’re going to camp out in that verse as we go to begin this. Before we get to verse 7 I just want to kind of help you see your desperate need for redemption in this life and in this world that we have all been born into.
Redemption is a great word. I think you could sum up the whole Bible with the word redemption. I’ve heard people say, “You know, you can sum up the Bible in one word. You could use relationship. I think redemption is a great word. All of creation is moving toward redemption. Likewise all of religion that exists, exists for some kind of redemption.
So let me give you a definition. Redemption is deliverance from the bondage of sin. That’s a great definition for us today. Redemption is deliverance from the bondage of sin. Every human being born into this world is born into this world held hostage by sin. And so much of the unregenerate world glories in their sin, but everyone feels like something is missing because something is indeed missing in our lives. And so everyone tries to fill that void with something.
But it doesn’t take us long to realize that there’s more to life than partying. There’s more to life than getting what you want. There’s more to life than feeling good or going toward the different things that we try to fill that void with.
And so eventually at some point in our lives we start to turn toward some kind of religion. Maybe there’s something out there. Maybe there’s a higher power out there that we could appease, that we could get on his good side. Maybe there truly is life after death.
And all religion exists for some kind of redemption. Religion is made so that humans can try to pacify some sort of deity. It assumes that you’re afraid of a deity and it offers opportunity for you to get on the deity’s good side. So it doesn’t matter what religion you’re talking about.
If you’re of the Muslim faith or the Muslim religion, you would assume that Allah is your god and you need to get on Allah’s good side. And so Muslims will ask Allah forgiveness. They will jump through all kinds of religious hoops. They will try to live a really moral and really good life here on the earth so that they can somehow pacify or appease Allah.
And so all of religion is trying to earn their way into a right standing with their god through morality. It is sinful people always trying to prove that they are holy and blameless. And in most cases it’s to a god that does not exist.
My friend sent me an article this week, and I’ve been reading different articles like this and seeing them pop up all over the place. Here’s the title of this article. “Nearly 70% of Born-Again Christians Say Other Religions Can Lead to Heaven.” Nearly 70% of born-again Christians say that other religions can lead to heaven.
Of a fairly large cohort there were people who were interviewed and (get this) fewer than one out of five disagreed with the statement, “Buddha, Mohammed, and Jesus all taught valid ways to God.” Fewer than one out of five disagreed with that statement. Yet the same group, 60% of them professed to sharing their faith regularly as if to convert someone.
So you’d have to ask the question, if all roads lead to God then why would we ever share our faith trying to convert someone just so that you could live a different life or have different rituals or lifestyles on this planet? Likewise though, a large group of professing Christians, same group, but the professing evangelicals were asked if they share their faith and the majority of them said, “No, we would never share our faith for three reasons. People can get to heaven through other religious beliefs. Two, we shouldn’t force our opinions on others. Three, Jesus told us not to judge others.”
So real people professing to be Christians, professing that they have the way to eternal life and yet they will not share their faith because they don’t want to judge others, they don’t want to force their opinions on others or they believe you can get to God in another way or through another religion or through another avenue than Jesus Christ alone.
No doubt all people are looking for redemption. It’s why they turn to all sorts of religions, all sorts of things that this world has to offer. Yet people, they want inclusivity and it’s been that way from the beginning of time. We want what we want. People want inclusivity but they don’t want to accept the exclusivity of Jesus Christ.
And the larger part of this generation that we live in, more and more people are identifying as none. They don’t want anything to do with God. Maybe this whole thing is a fake. I’m turning toward atheism. And you might be in high school right now and you recognize that there are more and more people who don’t have any kind of spiritual standard and so they’re filling their lives, they’re taking ownership of things of this world and they’re even forcing it on you as if to convert you to something that has brought them fulfillment and life.
I was at Notre Dame yesterday at the Joyce Center for a prayer gathering with people from all over the area. There were about 2,000 people who showed up and we prayed for the Lord to heal our land. The gospel went forth. It was just a great moment in the presence of God in this area. But one of the guests who stood up and shared the gospel very effectively, he shared that by 2045 America will be a minority Christian culture. He used that quote from somewhere. We’re definitely trending that way. Things are heading that way.
But it won’t take long for a nation that claims to be built on the foundations of Christianity to recognize that we’ve lost all of that if we won’t stake our claim on the fact that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father who is God except through Him.
So Christianity is the only true religion. It’s so much more than a religion because it puts you into a relationship with the God of glory who loved you before the foundation of the world. But all of humanity is born into this world held hostage by sin and we desperately need redeemed or delivered from this bondage of sin that we’re born into.
So here’s how the Bible tells the story. God chose you to be holy and blameless, but you know that on your best day you are not holy as God is holy. On your best day you are not blameless as God is blameless. And it’s been that way since Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve were unable to be blameless in a perfect garden. Cain and Abel were unable to be blameless in a brotherhood.
God chose Noah. Noah was certainly not a holy person like God. Noah was certainly not blameless. And yet God in His mercy, rather than wiping out the entire planet of humanity, He chose to…He could have wiped out everything and just gone back to God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit in perfect unity. His glory would have been on display. It would have been a beautiful, miraculous thing. And yet God had His heart set on human beings who would share in His glory and who would share in His great love.
And so rather than wiping everyone out who was sinful and not holy and not blameless, God had mercy on Noah and his few family members. And He put them on an ark and He saved them and He began humanity over so that it could all lead to a redemptive plan.
God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses, which only proved all the more that we are not holy and blameless. Hey, here are some laws that’ll just simply help you glorify God and love one another. And yet we couldn’t keep those.
David wasn’t blameless. He was chosen to bring in the Davidic kingdom. He was a shadow of what was to come, a man after God’s own heart. And yet he was an adulterer. He was a liar. He was a manipulator. He was a murderer.
All of these instances in the Old Testament, all of God’s men, were a part of a mystery, and the mystery continually showed a holy, righteous God advancing His plan through sinful offensive man. As gracious and as merciful as God had been throughout the Old Testament, even God’s best men proved to be under the bondage of sin, because mankind is held hostage by sin.
So God allowed there to be sacrifice, which was another act of His mercy. And you might ask why was the Old Testament so bloody? Why is it so gory? Why are there so many animals slaughtered on the altars of the tabernacle and the temple? And it’s because of Romans 6:23. The wages of our sin as human beings held captive by the bondage of our sin, the wages of the bondage of our sin is death.
And God in His mercy as a part of the Old Testament mystery, allowed the Israelites to give the sacrifice of death through animals for the wages of their sin. But it didn’t set them free. And in verse 7 of Ephesians chapter 1, Paul bursts forth proclaiming that it’s in Christ that we have redemption. People have redemption through the blood of Jesus.
Hebrews 9:13-14 sort of recounts the mystery of the Old Testament and what Jesus did in the New. Here’s what it says in Hebrews 9. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer sanctify for the purification of the flesh, so God allowed the sacrifice of animals to do some purification to appease him. He was gracious to sinful man on the earth. It purified some flesh. But how much more will the blood of Chrsit who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, purify the conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
That’s what the death of Jesus does. It purifies our conscience. We were once slaves to sin but the death of Jesus makes us alive in Christ and slaves to righteousness.
And so the death of Jesus, which verse 7 is pointing to, was an atonement for our sins. The word “atonement” is sort of a theological. Atonement means reparation for a wrong. In theological sense, there is reconciliation between God and humankind. And the atoning work for Jesus Christ at the cross is what unifies us, unites us, back to God who chose us before the foundation of the world. God who had His love set on you. God who created you so that you could give Him glory. It’s through the atonement that you can be reconciled to God.
So the atonement in Scripture is a lot of things. The atonement is a substitution. Literally Jesus taking your place. Every sin that you’ve ever committed was placed upon Him. All we like sheep have gone astray. I think a lot of times we can accept that Jesus died on a cross for the sins of the world, but have you recognized the offensiveness of your sin to a holy and blameless God?
You should be overwhelmed this morning with thanksgiving if you truly have come to see that Jesus died on a cross in your place as a substitute for your sins. The sin that you struggle with constantly. The sin that keeps you running toward lesser things. The sin that you wake up with and you can’t get away from. Jesus Christ took that and died for you.
The atonement was not just a substitution. It was a propitiation. It satisfied the debt that we owed. The wages of our sin is death. And Jesus’ death, the wages of that sin propitiated through Jesus Christ satisfied the debt that we owed. Not only that. It was a reconciliation. I said it unified us to the Father.
One pastor said that the atonement is a domination. Jesus crushed the head of Satan when He died on the cross. He stole the power of the forces of evil. But verse 7 in Ephesians chapter 1 tells us that the atonement or Christ’s death is our redemption. Christ’s death on the cross delivers us as sinful man and woman from the bondage of sin.
And so God’s plan to redeem sinners started before the foundation of the world, and His unconditional saving love was set on those who would call upon the name of the Lord before time ever began. And that unconditional, saving love was activated when Jesus Christ died on the cross. God’s plan to make sons and daughters started in eternity past. And our salvation goes from eternity to eternity. And God is gathering sons and daughters. And it all began at the cross and it continues through the power of the Holy Spirit. And it’s why the cross must be the epicenter of our faith as we look to Jesus Christ the Lamb who was slain.
The message of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the very power of God. The cross is everything for us if we are in Christ Jesus.
And Paul as he is proclaiming the love that God had for us before the foundation of the world, a love that would cause Him to create and devise a plan to send His only begotten Son to die on a cross that He didn’t deserve, taking your sin and your shame so that He could be glorified and so that it could be worked in your life through the power of the Spirit and so that you could receive every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. Paul is just bursting forth proclaiming the love of God that comes through the redemption of those in Christ.
So that’s a lot of information about redemption. Let’s talk about the elements of redemption that we see in this passage in Ephesians chapter 1, ok? Five elements of redemption that we’ll talk through. The first is this. If you’re going to have redemption, number one, you need a redeemer. And that’s where verse 7, that’s where it starts. It says in Him we have redemption through His blood.
In Him is in Christ. And I’m going to remind you probably every week how important this phrase is in the book of Ephesians. In Christ is the most important position you could ever find yourself in. The most important position that you could ever have. More important than you having a position at work, you having a position in your family, you having a position in your church. You must find yourself in the position that is in Christ Jesus.
And we’ve already seen it five times in the first six verses of Ephesians. We’re going to see it 27 times in this miraculous book that’s proclaiming that everything is found in Christ. Verse 1 Paul writes to the faithful in Christ Jesus. Verse 3, blessed be the God who has blessed us in Christ. Verse 4, He chose us in Him. verse 5, He predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ. Verse 6, He blessed us in the beloved.
And verse 7 begins with, “in Him.” And you ask, “Who is him?” “Him” is Jesus Christ the beloved Son of God, the Savior of sinners, the Redeemer of those who are held hostage by sin.
Now this word “beloved” that we kind of glanced over last week in verse 6, is a beautiful word. Beloved means esteemed or favored or worthy of love. The emphasis is on the one receiving the love. Understand that Paul is saying that in the beloved we have every spiritual blessing. Jesus is the beloved, but you in Christ get to become part of the beloved.
And God the Father who is radiating in glory and radiating in love, He is the one who often used this word to talk about His only begotten Son. It was in Mark chapter 1 verse 11 that Jesus steps into the waters of baptism. And as He steps into the baptism you see God the Father. You see the Son in the water. You see the Holy Spirit descending like a dove.
And God bursts forth from the heavens. And in Mark 1:11 He says, You are my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Can you just imagine the kind of love God has for His perfect Son? It’s an unfathomable love. There’s really not a great example that I can give that probably sets our minds properly on that kind of holy love that God bestows on Jesus.
Same thing at the Mount of Transfiguration in Matthew chapter 17. There Jesus is with some pretty epic company from the Old Testament. He’s there with Moses. He’s there with Elijah. And again, bursting forth from the heavens, God says, He was still speaking when behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him.”
But Paul, as he is telling us and talking to those who are in Christ, he says in Christ is the position in which God’s adopted children experience every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places to the praise of His glorious grace. The love in which God has in the heavenly places for His only begotten Son is your love, the kind of love that He now has on you if you are in Christ Jesus.
It’s in Christ that we become God’s beloved children. And that’s what Jesus prayed in John chapter 17. It’s on the screen for you. But Jesus prayed the glory that you have given me I have given to them that they may be one even as we are one. Get your mind around that. Just as I am one as your perfect Son, would you help us, sinners, be one with you God? I in them, you in me, that they may become perfectly one so that the world may know that you sent me and love them even as you have loved me.
What a glorious prayer from the innocent Savior who died on a cross as a substitute for our sins. What did you bring to that equation? Nothing but sin. Nothing but unholiness. You were certainly blameful. And yet Jesus prays, “God would You look at these sinners the same way that You look at Me, Your beloved Son?” And if you are in Christ, God looks at you with the same affection in which He bursts forth from the sky and says, “Behold, this is my beloved Son.”
And He doesn’t give that love to you begrudgingly. Verse 8 tells us that He lavishes His love on those who are in Christ. And you can only get in Christ through Christ. But it’s through Christ and it’s in Christ that we are loved beyond comprehension.
So in order to have a redemption, you must have a redeemer. And Jesus is that Redeemer. But number two this morning is this, the second element of redemption is the redeemed. Gotta have a Redeemer. But there’s also must be the redeemed. And that’s where verse 7 goes next. It says, In him we, emphasis on we, have redemption through His blood.
We already discussed our need for redemption because we are born into this world in bondage to sin. But those who are in Christ are now redeemed. And remember, when Paul says “we” he’s writing to the faithful in Christ in Ephesus. That’s what verse 1 says. To the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus.
You are counted among the redeemed if you believed in your heart and confessed with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord. Have you come to see, through the power of the Holy Spirit, the glorious gospel that can change your life? The gospel is everything to us.
SPLIT HERE
I think that the word “gospel” in church culture can become like a junk drawer. Like we say all the time, “I believe in the power of the gospel,” but do we really know what the gospel is? And you know, I’m here talking to you about the gospel. We are Gospel City Church. Everything that we do centers around the gospel.
It might be old news to you, but it should never be old news. It’s not a story. It’s not a message that saves you in your past. It’s something that should radically shape your life every single day as you recognize and believe that God is holy and blameless and Creator and you are not. And so you desperately need Jesus and His substitution at the cross to redeem you and set you free.
I’ve been coaching Upwards Soccer. So it’s the elites on Saturdays. And I coach with a couple brothers. John Papp is one of our… he’s the real hero. They just ask me to do the devotions sometimes. So we’ve got a couple kids or we’ve got a bunch of kids. But we have practices on Monday nights. And John had a great idea. He said, “Hey, what’s that like real simple way of saying the gospel? And how about every practice we recite that with the kids and then we focus on each element of the gospel every time that we meet and gather together?”
So we’ve been doing that with both teams, my son’s team and my daughter’s team. And the phrasing comes from, there’s a book out here in the lobby I saw in the resource center by Greg Gilbert, What is the Gospel? And it talks about the gospel in four words: God, man, Christ, response. But here’s what we do at practice every Monday. And you repeat after me. You act like the kids, ok?
The gospel is…
Congregation: The gospel is.
Micah: They say it way more enthusiastically than that, ok 11:00? I’ve been noticing the 11:00 crowd is sleepy. Let’s wake it up. Let’s turn it up a little. All right? You slept in. you came to church. Time to get pumped, all right? The gospel is.
Congregation: The gospel is.
Micah: God is holy.
Congregation: God is holy.
Micah: Man is sinful.
Congregation: Man is sinful.
Micah: Jesus is Savior.
Congregation: Jesus is Savior.
Micah: I must repent and believe.
Congregation: I must repent and believe.
Micah: And it sounds elementary, but man is it helpful to your life whenever you wake up every day and you’re having an attitude that stinks and you remember, “Oh, I don’t have to live in bondage to this stinky attitude. I can have a hope today because God is truly holy and blameless, and I am truly a sinful person who falls short of the glory of God. But Jesus Christ is my Savior and my Lord.
And I have an opportunity today to repent and believe. I have an opportunity today to not stay dead in my trespasses and sins but turn and follow the Lord. That message can radically change your attitude every day. That message wants to change your eternity forever when you call upon the name of the Lord.
Have you come to see by the power of the Spirit the beauty of the gospel that can change your life and that can redeem you from the bondage of sin?
Titus 2:14 talks about it this way. Jesus gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
That’s how Jesus came to redeem. And you might say, “How do I know if I’m faithful in Christ? I want to be faithful in Christ. How do I know?” Well, Titus is a great framework. Has your life been purified through the death of Jesus? Has your life been purified through the death of Jesus? Do you look at your life now and see that you had nothing good to bring and yet God gave everything for you. And so you’ve died to yourself and you’ve believed and you’ve called upon Jesus Christ who is your Lord to be your saving grace. You once were blind but now you see.
How do you know if you’re faithful in Christ? Have you been set free from the bondage of lawlessness?
At the prayer night last night this gentleman shared a story about how the last time he was in the Joyce Center he was sitting front row for a basketball game. And he shared how as he was in his seat he was just an emotional wreck because he was repulsed by his sin that on his senior year of high school he snuck into every Notre Dame basketball game into the Joyce Center and sat on the front row.
And he shared and he laughed and he said, “Here I am today sharing the gospel with 2,000 people in the Joyce Center.” And he said, “What I used to think was hilarious and what I used to think was awesome I am now repulsed by.” He was very emotional as he shared it.
But have you come to be repulsed by your sin? Have you come to see the offensiveness of your actions before Christ? Because that’s the reason Jesus died. That’s the reason Christ went onto the cross was to set you free from the things that you used to think were funny, the things you used to take glory in. Jesus died so that you could be set free from the sinfulness of this world.
How do you know if you’re faithful in Christ? Are you zealous for the good works that have been created for God’s workmanship in Christ Jesus? Do you use the gifts that you have, no matter what they are, for the glory of God and the good of others? Doesn’t matter if you’re a realtor. Doesn’t matter if you work in a plant. It doesn’t matter if you’re a boss somewhere or if you’re a pastor. If you use the gifts that you have to bring glory to God and serve others and love others with the kind of love that God has given you.
Five elements of redemption. First we had the redeemed or the Redeemer, second the redeemed. Third we have the ransom. Verse 7. In him we have redemption through his blood. It’s the blood of Jesus that speaks of the death of Jesus. While the death of bulls and goats was accepted in Israel’s past, only the death of Jesus could satisfy the payment for the wages of sin.
So Hebrews goes on. We’ve talked a little bit about this already. But Hebrews goes on in 10:4 and it says, It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away the sins. But in the shedding of Christ’s blood, Hebrews 10 tells us that we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all. And so the price of your redemption or the ransom that was paid so that you could be freed from your bondage to sin was the brutal murder of innocent Jesus.
And it was the night before Jesus was betrayed that He instituted the Lord’s Supper. And He took a glass of wine and He held up the cup. And in Matthew 26:28 He said, “Drink of it all of you for this is my blood, the covenant which is poured out for the many for the forgiveness of sins.”
And willingly innocent Jesus who walked this earth, was tempted and tried as you and I but He was without sin, He was the precious Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world. And as His innocent blood was shed, as He willingly crawled onto the cross and gave up His life it was so that you could be rescued and redeemed from the bondage of slavery of sin and so that you could live unto righteousness. You were a slave to sin as Romans says, but through Jesus you become a slave to righteousness.
Number four this morning, the five elements of redemption are the results. So we’re making it past the first little phrase here. That’s good. As verse 7 goes on it says, 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.
As Paul writes it’s just like this roller coaster that keeps going up, up, up, up, up. Na you’re like when are we going to get to…? We’re getting there. We’re getting to some of the climax. But it just keeps going. It’s just glorious.
But the first result of our redemption through Christ’s blood is the forgiveness of our trespasses. And the forgiveness that comes from God through Jesus is not a temporary forgiveness. God doesn’t look at you and say, “Hey, I’ll forgive you a couple times. And if you keep missing up I’m done with you.”
God’s forgiveness is absolutely infinite. God’s forgiveness for you, His love for you is eternal. It’s a forever pardoning of your acts of sin and your nature toward sin. That’s how God forgives us in Christ Jesus when we’ve come to see that through the blood, through the death of Jesus Christ we can be set free, we can be redeemed.
I keep a quote in my phone by C.S. Lewis. I want you to hear this quote about forgiveness. C.S. Lewis writes, “Forgiveness means looking steadily at the sin, the sin that is left over without any excuse, after all allowances have been made, and seeing it in all its horror, dirt, meanness and malice and nevertheless being holy reconciled to the man who has done it. That and only that is forgiveness and that we can always have from God if we ask of it.”
But understand that you are the one that God looks at and He sees all of your sin in its horror and dirt and meanness. You have no excuse for why you are not holy and blameless. You have no excuse that you have nothing good to bring, that you fall short of the glory of God. And yet God looks at you through Jesus and He forgives you and He reconciles you to Himself. God’s forgiveness is absolutely undeserved. You couldn’t earn it, but it was according to the riches of His grace which He lavished upon you, as it says in verse 8.
It speaks of the extravagance in which God’s love is for His children whom He predestined to adoption through Christ Jesus before the foundation of the world. He freely, without any reason, forgives you all of your sins.
Psalm 103, He forgives all your iniquities, past, present and future. The book of Micah talks about who is this God who forgives our iniquities and He casts our sins into the depths of the sea? He does it through grace, a free gift of grace, His unmerited favor on the believer.
And the Father planned your salvation. The son purchases your salvation. And the Spirit of God appies it in your life as you repent and believe and follow Him. And not only does God extend grace, but He is rich in grace. He doesn’t give you grace begrudgingly, but He lavishes it upon you. It speaks of the elaborate gift that He gives. He pours out an abundant amount of grace upon grace like a waterfall of blessing on you the sinner. You who are not holy and blameless. You who fall short of the glory of God.
Not only does He give forgiveness but the text says, According to the riches of his grace, he lavishes his grace upon us and in all wisdom and insight. He is giving you the believer wisdom. He is giving you insight. The Greek word for wisdom speaks of the spiritual things, the high and holy truths of heaven. Every spiritual blessing that’s in the heavenly places you have been let into this secret. You have been let into this wisdom that God is God and that you are not.
But He also gives us insight, which is an ability to walk practically in the world. It’s spiritual prudence for living. It’s so that you can walk in a manner that is worthy of all the things that wisdom has let you in on. God doesn’t save us and leave us on our own but God forgives all of our sins, He puts us in Christ, and then He opens our eyes to see who He is and how we can live for him in the world.
And the wisdom and insight lets us in on the mystery of God’s will. Verse 9. He makes known to us the mystery of His will. And I told you in the Old Testament so many of those pieces were just a part of the mystery. There were clues all throughout history that were leading to the person and the work of Jesus Christ at the cross. Even when the Israelites were held captive by Pharoah and the Egyptians. And the last night when the spirit of death passed over, all those who had the blood of the lamb on their doorpost were passed over and they were set free. It was just a mystery.
There was scaffolding in front of it and when you take the scaffolding away in the New Testament all you see is Jesus Christ and the cross and the debt that He paid so that you could be free and the spirit of death could pass over you and you could live unto righteousness. It is a beautiful blessing that we have if we have been redeemed in Christ. The mystery of His will is everything and it is all about Jesus.
And that leads us to the reason, number five, the reason, which is the fifth element of redemption. And Paul, he culminates all of these phrases into this glorious truth. He makes known to us the mystery of his will, verse 9, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time to unite all things to him, things in heaven and things on earth.
Paul culminates the first half of this massive sentence to the Ephesians. Why has God been so gracious to sinners? Why did God choose us in Christ before the foundation of the world? Why does God adopt us? Why did God send Jesus to die for us? Why does God forgive us? Why are we given wisdom and insight and every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places? Because all of creation is all about redemption.
And God redeems sinful humans so that He might gather everything to Himself. So that everything will reflect God as He truly is to the praise of His glorious grace. And so that all of creation would be oriented toward the Lamb just as it is in heaven. In heaven everything centers around the throne of Jesus who is on the throne. Everything centers around what He is doing. Time and the past and the future is oriented to the Lamb and everything this side of heaven is moving toward every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
And so as the old saying goes, you can bow now or you can bow later, but bow you will. Everyone who stands before God will bow the knee and see Him as Lord. But only those who are in Christ, only those who have been redeemed from the bondage of sin through the death of Jesus Christ as they’ve called upon Him to repent and believe and follow Him, only they will be let into the new heavens and the new earth. And as God unites all things to Himself. He will do away with those who refuse to repent and they will live eternally apart from His presence and His glory or you can glory in His grace for all of eternity as He continually lavishes His love on His beloved children.
Everything is moving toward a new heaven and a new earth. I’ve got to read to you 1 Thessalonians 4. What’s coming next? Where’s this thing going? 1 Thessalonians 4. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again. That’s what we’re talking about. If you believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so through Jesus God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep. So all those a part of the mystery of old will come to meet God, will join Him.
Verse 16. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with a voice of an archangel and with the sound of the trumpet of God and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive who are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord.
That’s where this is heading. That’s what this is all heading toward, pointing toward. We will always be with the Lord. What’s coming after that? A lot of heartache for those who refuse to repent and believe. What’s coming after that? A thousand year reign with Jesus Christ our King. And it’s all heading toward a new heaven and a new earth.
I’ve got to read to you Revelation 21 as it comes to the end of the world. A new heaven and a new earth. God is uniting all things to Himself, all things in heaven and things on earth. And from that throne where everything in the heavenly places centers around, everything that happens in this life centers around the throne of God. From that very throne, Revelation 21:3, I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man.” And he will dwell with them and they will be his people. And God himself will be with them as their God. and he will wipe away every tear from their eyes. And death shall be no more. Neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore. For the former things have passed away. And he who is seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”
You’ve been let in on a mystery. And Jesus Christ is that mystery. His glory is that mystery. Jesus Christ is the goal of history. And Jesus Christ must be the first love of every person who has been redeemed and set free by the blood of the Lamb.
So where does that leave you today? If you have yet to repent and believe in the name of the Lord Jesus who can save you, why would you wait? The Spirit has brought you here. I believe the Spirit of God may be knocking at your heart, knocking at your head, to say, “This is true. Stop trying to find fulfillment and redemption in empty things. Call upon the name of Jesus.”
You may have never experienced a love like this, but God wants to pour out His love for you. And He showed it to you at the cross. He showed it to you when He sacrificed His only Son for things that you did. We desperately need Jesus. But if you’re in Christ, if you’ve been redeemed, if you have repented and believed, then you’ve got to surrender the former things, which we held onto when we were in bondage to sin. Surrender the comforts and the meaningless loves that keep you from worshiping Jesus as your first love. Live in the wealth that comes with knowing Christ.
He didn’t save you so that you’d have an easy life. He saved you so that you would proclaim the glory of His grace until He comes again and unites all things to Himself. Why do you evangelize? Why do you share your faith? Not so that you can convert people. We certainly want as many people to come along with us to heaven, but God’s in charge. The Spirit will open those hearts.
But we proclaim this because we’re overwhelmed with the glorious grace that has set us free, the glorious gospel that every day should light a fire in us to tell the world that they desperately need Jesus because He’s coming. And when He does it will be a glorious day for all of those who have been redeemed.
He’s gracious. He’s loving. He’s good. Allow the gospel that has set you free, orient your life around it. Orient your life around Jesus. All of history is pointing to Him and moving toward Him and you are a part of the story. So follow Him.
Come on. Let’s stand to our feet. Go out praising the Lord, thanking Him for His cross. Just bow your heads for a moment. Allow the Spirit to move in you. Respond to Him. Cry out to Him. Scripture says if you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, you will be saved.
Holy Spirit, move in the hearts of brothers and sisters here right now. Go beyond what words can do. Bring people from death to life. Open hearts. Open blind eyes. Your name is power. Your name is healing. Your name is life. So Jesus, we thank You for this gospel. We thank You that we have redemption through Your blood. And we thank You for the love.
I’ve been frustrated this week because I can’t get my brain wrapped around why You love me the way You do, why You love us, why You would show up in our midst. Lord, I’m just overwhelmed by Your kindness to me as someone who is unholy and sinful. And so Lord I just thank You for the gospel because it’s the power of God to salvation in my life.
And Lord I so want it to be the power of salvation to every person here in this church. And so Lord, would You protect us from loving things that are lesser than You? Would You protect us from putting on a show or acting like we have it all together or thinking that our morality is good enough? God, would You just overwhelm us with our need for Jesus?
And would You help me, help us, live in the joy of it because you’re a good and gracious God. Thank You Jesus for the blood applied. Glory to Your name. In Jesus’ name we worship. Amen.
