08/02/2016
Topic: - Supremely Blessed! In Christ Jesus.
Text: - Ephesians 1: 3 – 14
In verse 3 of our text we see and discover that God blesses us with spiritual blessings, in heavenly places “they are spiritual blessing in heavenly places”; that is to say that God blessing is different from the blessings of the world. Those whom God blesses, He blesses with all spiritual blessing. To whom who have Christ, He freely gives all these things. It is not so with temporal blessings; some are favored with health, and not with riches; some with riches, and not health.
How wonderful are the blessings we have in Christ Jesus.
What are these blessings, which we supremely have in Christ Jesus?
1. We are Chosen in Him:
Verse 4 “according as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish before him in love:”
1 Peter 2: 9 “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:”
The word chosen mean; we are chosen out by God for the rendering of special service to Him. Therefore, beloved we are chosen out as a preference of God to make us holy and blameless.
2. We are Redeemed in Him:
Verse 7 (a) “In whom we have redemption through his blood”
The word redeems means “to buy out.” The term was used specifically in reference to the purchase of a slave’s freedom. If we are “redeemed,” then our prior condition was one of slavery. God has purchased our freedom, and we are no longer in bo***ge to sin or to the Old Testament law.
Romans 3: 24 “Christ’s redemption has freed us from guilt, being “justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus”
To be redeemed, then, is to be forgiven, holy, justified, free, adopted, and reconciled.
Redemption include eternal life (Revelation 5:9-10), forgiveness of sins (Ephesians 1:7), righteousness (Romans 5:17), freedom from the law’s curse (Galatians 3:13), adoption into God’s family (Galatians 4:5), deliverance from sin’s bo***ge (Titus 2:14;1 Peter 1:14-18), peace with God (Colossians 1:18-20), and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
3. We have Inheritance in Him:
Verse 11 "In [Christ] 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"
1 Peter 1: 4”saying that we have been born again "into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you."
According to the apostle Peter, our inheritance is distinguished by four important qualities:
Our inheritance in Christ is imperishable. What we have in Christ is not subject to corruption or decay. In contrast, everything on earth is in the process of decaying, rusting, or falling apart. The law of entropy affects our houses, our cars, and even our own bodies. Our treasure in heaven, though, is unaffected by entropy. Those who have been born again are born "not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God" (1 Peter 1:23).
Our inheritance in Christ is unspoiled. What we have in Christ is free from anything that would deform, debase, or degrade. Nothing on earth is perfect. Even the most beautiful things of this world are flawed; if we look closely enough, we can always find an imperfection. But Christ is truly perfect. He is "holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens" (Hebrews 7:26), and our inheritance in Him is also holy, blameless, exalted, and pure. No earthly corruption or weakness can touch what God has bestowed.
Revelation 21:27 says that "nothing impure will ever enter [the New Jerusalem], nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful."
Our inheritance in Christ is unfading. What we have in Christ is an enduring possession. As creatures of this world, it is hard for us to imagine colors of that never fade, excitement that never flags, or value that never depreciates; but our inheritance is not of this world. Its glorious intensity will never diminish.
God says, "I am making everything new!" (Revelation 21:5).
Our inheritance in Christ is reserved. What we have in Christ is being "kept" in heaven for us. Your crown of glory has your name on it. Although we enjoy many blessings as children of God here on earth, our true inheritance—our true home—is reserved for us in heaven. Like Abraham, we are "looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God" (Hebrews 11:10).
The Holy Spirit guarantees that we will receive eternal life in the world to come (2 Corinthians 1:22).
In fact, "when you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance" (Ephesians 1:13–14).
4. We are sealed in Him:
Verse 13 (b) “in whom also after ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.
The Holy Spirit is referred to as the “deposit,” “seal,” and “earnest” in the hearts of Christians (2 Corinthians 1:22; 5:5; Ephesians 1:13-14;4:30). The Holy Spirit is God’s seal on His people, His claim on us as His very own. The gift of the Spirit to believers is a down payment on our heavenly inheritance, which Christ has promised us and secured for us at the cross. It is because the Spirit has sealed us that we are assured of our salvation. No one can break the seal of God.
The Holy Spirit is given to believers as a “first installment” to assure us that our full inheritance as children of God will be delivered. The Holy Spirit is given to us to confirm to us that we belong to God who grants to us His Spirit as a gift, just as grace and faith are gifts (Ephesians 2:8-9). Through the gift of the Spirit, God renews and sanctifies us. He produces in our hearts those feelings, hopes, and desires which are evidence that we are accepted by God, that we are regarded as His adopted children, that our hope is genuine, and that our redemption and salvation are sure in the same way that a seal guarantees a will or an agreement. The proof of the Spirit’s presence is His operations on the heart which produce repentance, the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), conformity to God’s commands and will, a passion for prayer and praise, and love for His people. These things are the evidences that the Holy Spirit has renewed the heart and that the Christian is sealed for the day of redemption.
Conclusively: We can see how truly we are supremely blessed by God through Christ Jesus. That through Christ we are chosen by God to Himself to be holy and blameless. We are redeemed through the blood of Jesus Christ, we have inheritance with Him, “I am going to the Father, to prepare a place for you, that wherever I am that you may be there also.” With this statement our salvation is sealed through Him.
Beloved, what are wonderful blessing we supremely have in Christ Jesus.
