Introduction
We began last week to study Paul’s letter to the believers in Ephesus. According to Acts 19, Paul visited Ephesus on one of his missionary journeys and planted a church there. And now, he’s writing to them.
And he began his letter with praise, didn’t he? He wrote: ‘Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.’ And why should God be praised? Paul’s tells us: it’s because God has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. God has blessed us. He’s poured out his blessing on us. What we deserve from God for all that we have done wrong, and for all the ways we have fallen short of doing his will, is his wrath and curse. But, instead of pouring his wrath and curse on us, he has poured his blessings on us. That’s why God should be be praised.
And these blessings become ours because of Christ. Again and again and again, Paul refers to Christ, because all of us these spiritual blessings flow down to us from God through Christ and because of Christ.
And what are these spiritual blessings? Paul mentions some of them in these verses. Not all of them, but some of them. The first is that he’s chosen us in Christ before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. We’re not holy and blameless yet, but we will be holy and blameless when Christ comes again and makes us perfectly holy and blameless. So, we will be holy and blameless. And right now, in this life, God regards us as holy and blameless. He regards us like that, because Christ’s perfect goodness, his perfect obedience, is counted as ours. Though we may have done everything wrong, God regards us as if we’ve done everything right because of Christ. And, of course, while we go on living in the world, God works in us by his Spirit to change us so that we become more and more holy and blameless in practice.
That’s one of the blessings God gives to us: he has chosen us to be holy and blameless in his sight. Another is that he predestined us in Christ for adoption. God chose us to become members of his family. And as members of his family, we can go to him. Remember I mentioned that photo of J.F. Kennedy in the Oval Office and one of his children is sitting under his desk? J.F. Kennedy was the most powerful man in the world; and yet his children had access to him. They could go to him with their cares and worries. And we can go to the Most High God with our cares and worries. We can go to him because he has made us his children and he is our Heavenly Father.
And to be adopted also means we will receive an inheritance. And the inheritance we receive from our Heavenly Father is eternal life in his presence.
So, God has chosen us to be holy and blameless. He predestined us for adoption. And he has also redeemed us. That is, he’s set us free from the death penalty we deserve for all that we have done wrong; and he’s given us the free gift of eternal life which we do not deserve. We still die. Believers still die. But death is no longer the penalty which we deserve for our sins, but it’s the doorway into God’s presence. And God is able to redeem us like that, because the Lord Jesus Christ bore the penalty we deserve. He died in our place, giving up his life on the cross to pay for what we’ve done wrong. He was killed so that we can be spared.
So, God chose us to be holy and blameless. He predestined us for adoption. He redeemed us. And then, the last thing we looked at last week is that he has revealed the mystery of his will. He has made known something which we could never work out or know for ourselves. We would never know it, unless he revealed it. And he has revealed it. What is this mystery? That God will bring all things together under Christ.
When God made the world in the beginning, instead of making it bland so that everything was the same, he made it a place of great and rich diversity and difference. Not one kind of plant, but every kind. Not one kind of animal, but every kind. Not just men, but men and women. And we’re all different. But we were all united, because we all came from God and were united under him. But sin came into the world and spoiled everything. We’re divided from God because of sin. And we’re divided from one another because of sin, which turns differences into divisions. And when we look at the world, we see division and opposition and hatred everywhere. Can it be otherwise? Well, God has revealed the mystery of his will which is to bring all things together again under Christ. When he comes again, he’ll restore order to the whole universe when every knee will bow before him. Everything will fit together again so that there will be unity and peace and joy in the new heavens and earth. And the whole of God’s new creation will fit together perfectly under Christ. And he has already begun to unite us in the church, where we’re taught to love one another.
So, that’s what we were thinking about the last time. Today we come to verses 11 to 14 where Paul continues to mention some of the blessings we have received from God because of Christ.
Chosen as his portion
Take a look at verses 11 and 12 first of all. If you’re looking at the NIV, you’ll see that it says at the beginning of verse 11 that ‘In him [in Christ] we were also chosen….’
Now, there’s a little footnote beside the word ‘chosen’. And the footnote tells us that the word translated ‘chosen’ can also be translated ‘were made heirs’. So, in Christ we were made heirs. And that’s closer to what Paul meant. It’s closer, but it’s still not close enough. You see, the commentators explain that what Paul is really saying is that in Christ we have been chosen by God as his portion.
In order to understand what this means, think of what we read in the book of Deuteronomy. God’s people were camped at the edge of the Promised Land. They were about to enter it and take possession of it. And at that time, the Lord spoke to his people about many things. And one of the things he said to them was that he chose them out of all the nations on the face of the earth to be his treasured possession. Another way of saying that is that he chose them to be his portion.
And the Lord made clear that he didn’t choose them because they were more numerous than the other nations. They weren’t bigger or better than the other nations. He simply set his love on them. And from that time on, he regarded them as his portion, his treasured possession.
And so, God chose the Israelites for himself. And here’s Paul saying about Christians that God has chosen us. He has chosen us as his portion or as his treasured possession. Out of all the people in the world, he chose us to belong to him. And so, this speaks to Christians of God’s kindness to us, because we weren’t any better than anyone else. We weren’t more deserving. But God graciously chose us to belong to him. And this also speaks to us of the great privilege that it ours, because God has chosen us to be treasured possession. Though we are sinners, we are valuable to him. We are loved by him. Imagine that! Though we deserve to be condemned by him for all that we have done wrong, because he’s chosen us as his portion, his treasured possession.
And look what Paul goes on to say: ‘having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.’ God works out everything in conformity with his will. Think of the Israelites again. Since God chose them as his portion, then he worked out everything else in conformity with his will for them. And that meant he rescued them from Egypt; and be brought them through the wilderness; and he bought them into the Promised Land where they were able to settle down and live in peace. And since God has chosen us as his portion, then he is working out everything else in conformity with his will for us. And that means he sent his Only Begotten Son into the world to give up his life to pay for our sins and to make peace between us. And he sent someone into our lives to tell us the good news about Christ. And he sent his Spirit into our lives to enable us to believe the good news. And he’s still working out his plan for us He’s still working all things together in conformity with his will for us in order to bring us into the Promised Land to come, which is eternal life in his presence. Having chosen us as his portion, having chosen us to belong to him, he then worked out every step along the way to bring us into his presence in glory.
And so, when things happen to us in our life which puzzle us or which upset us and which make us wonder what on earth is going on, we should tell ourselves not to be anxious, but to believe that God is working everything out in conformity with his will for us. While we may not understand what we’re going through, we should believe that it is somehow necessary for our salvation and it’s one step along the way to eternal life.
And as Paul says, it’s all for the praise of his glory. When Christians come into the new heavens and earth, and stand before the presence of God, God will get all the praise and honour and glory, because he’s the one who did it all. He arranged it all and he worked it all out. And we will praise him for ever and for ever for his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
Hear and believe
Let’s move on now to verse 12, where Paul writes: ‘we, who were the first to hope in Christ.’ It’s possible that when Paul says ‘we’ here, he’s referring to Jewish believers in general. That is, he’s referring to all Jews who were now trusting in Christ for salvation. Or perhaps he’s referring specifically to himself and his companions. In any case, he’s referring to some who trusted in Christ for salvation ‘first’ or before the Ephesians trusted in Christ.
But having referred in verse 12 to ‘we, who were the first to hope in Christ’ Paul goes on to refer in verse 13 to ‘you also’. He’s now referring to the believers in Ephesus. So, first he refers to ‘we’; and then he refers to ‘you’. And what does he say about them? He says that they heard the word of truth, which is the gospel of your salvation.
So, they heard it. But they didn’t only hear it. They also believed. Do you see that? Paul says about them, ‘Having believed….’ So, they heard the word of truth, the gospel of salvation. And they also believed.
This is how a person becomes a Christian. A person becomes a Christian when they hear the word of truth, the gospel of salvation. And having heard it, they believe. They have to hear it first. They have to hear what the word of truth is. They need to know what the gospel is about. They need to know who Christ is and what he has done and why it’s important. They need to know these things, which means they need to hear it or read it. You can’t ask someone to trust in Christ if they don’t know who Christ is or what he has done.
But then, hearing by itself is not enough. Lots of people hear the word of truth. They hear the gospel. They hear it in church. They hear it from a friend. They heard it in school perhaps. But hearing is not enough. As well as hearing the word of truth, a person also needs to believe. Without believing, our hearing does us no good whatsoever.
Lots of people come here on Sundays and you hear the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. But does everyone believe? I hope everyone believes! And everyone should believe. You should put your hope in Christ, because there is no other way to receive peace with God and the free gift of eternal life except by trusting in Christ who gave up his life on the cross to pay for our sins and who shed his blood to cleanse us of our guilt. There is no other way. We must all hear the gospel and believe in Christ.
And the gospel is the word of truth. It’s true. It’s not made up. It’s not a fairy tale. It’s not a myth. It’s true. We should hear it and we should believe it. And we should believe in Christ, because he’s the only Saviour of the world.
Seal
And what happens when a person hears and believes? That’s what the rest of verse 13 and verse 14 are about. And this is another of the spiritual blessings we receive because of Christ. So, what happens when a person hears and believes? God marks us with a seal.
Near the very beginning of the Bible, there’s the story of how Cain killed Abel. And afterwards, God told Cain that he was under a curse and would be a restless wanderer on the earth. And Cain cried out to the Lord, because he was worried that whoever finds him will kill him. And the Lord, who is gracious and kind, put a mark on Cain so that no-one who found him would kill him. God put a mark on Cain to protect him.
And we find something similar in Revelation 7 where we read how the servants of God received a seal on their forehead. This was again a mark to protect them. It wasn’t so much to protect them from physical danger or suffering. But it was a mark to protect their faith. No matter what happened to them, no matter what troubles and trials they faced, their faith would not be destroyed, because God had set his seal on them to indicate that they were under God’s protection.
And seals also have another purpose. A king in ancient times would have a ring on his finger with a seal on it. And when he wrote a letter or decree, he would put a little melted wax on the page; and then he would press his ring on the wax, which would leave the king’s mark on it. And when people saw the king’s mark, they would know that the letter was genuine. It really was from the king.
And here’s Paul saying that every believer is marked by God with a seal. The seal means that this person is a genuine believer. This person really does believe. And the seal also means that this person is under God’s protection. God will always watch over this person to protect this person and to defend this person and to help this person.
This will not keep us from suffering, because this troubled life is full of suffering. But God will protect our faith so that it will not give way and we will not give in no matter what we suffer in this world. He will keep us to the end and bring us into his presence in the new heavens and earth.
And so, God marks his people with a seal. And what is the seal by which he marks us? It’s the Holy Spirit. That’s what Paul says in verse 13. The seal is the promised Holy Spirit.
It’s an unusual mark, isn’t it? It’s unusual because we can’t see the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit is invisible. So, we can’t see him. But we can see his effects. We can see the effect he has on us. We can see the influence he has our life. And what effect does he have on us? First of all, he enables us to believe. No-one is able to believe in Christ unless the Holy Spirit comes and enables them. As Paul will say in chapter 2, we were once dead in our transgressions and sins. We were spiritually dead. We were unable to believe. But the Holy Spirit comes into our life and enables us to believe.
And the Holy Spirit enables us to become more and more holy. That is to say, he enables us to become more and more willing and able to do God’s will here on earth. The person who does not have the Spirit and does not believe does not care whether or not he obeys the Lord. In fact, that person is naturally inclined to sin and to do what’s wrong. But when we’ve been marked with the Holy Spirit, when the Spirit comes into our lives, he inclines us to do what’s right and good and pleasing in God’s sight. Or to put it another way, the fruit of the Spirit are displayed in our lives more and more. People should see in us more and more love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness and faithfulness and gentleness and self-control. As God renews us by his Spirit, these virtues should be seen in us more and more.
We can’t see the Spirit, because he’s invisible. But we can see his effects. We can see the difference he makes in us. He enables us to believe. And he renews us and he changes us for the better. And in this way, God marks us out as those who belong to him and who are under his protection and help.
Deposit and guarantee
And Paul goes on to say that the Holy Spirit is a deposit, guaranteeing our inheritance.
Our inheritance is eternal life in the presence of God. So, when Christ comes again, we will be fully redeemed: freed from our sin and misery in this life completely and forever to receive eternal life in the presence of God where we will be happy for ever and for ever. That’s our inheritance.
But like most inheritances, we have to wait for it. One day we’ll possess eternal life in the presence of God. But for now, we have to wait for it. And in the meantime, while we wait for it, while we wait to possess it, God gives us a deposit as a guarantee, or as assurance, that one day we’ll indeed receive this inheritance. He gives us a guarantee to reassure us that we really will have eternal life in his presence one day. And the deposit he gives us is his Spirit. And when we see how the Spirit has begun to change us in this life, then that’s the guarantee we need, the assurance we need, that the day will come when we will be changed completely.
When we come into God’s presence in the new heavens and earth, we’ll be changed completely. So, we’ll be made perfect in holiness so that we’ll never ever sin again and all our thoughts and inclinations and desires will be right all of the time. We’ll be perfectly suited to eternal life in the presence of a holy God. And as well as that, he’ll give us a new body as well, won’t he? He’ll give us a new body which is perfectly suited to eternal life in God’s presence.
That’s what will happen to us in the future. And since the Holy Spirit is the deposit of that, since he’s the down payment on what we’ll receive in the future, then he begins his work in us already. He begins to renew us. He begins to change us. He doesn’t change our bodies in this life, but he changes us inwardly. He helps us to overcome sin more and more and to do what’s right more and more. He enables us to live a life here on earth that reflects the glory of the life to come in the presence of God. And what he has begun in us in this life he will bring to completion in the life to come.
And so, that’s what we should expect to see in our lives. If you’re a believer, then you should expect to see a change in your life: a change in what you do and in what you say and in your thoughts and attitudes and inclinations and desires. It doesn’t happen all at once, because it happens bit by bit and over time. But you should be seeing a transformation taking place in your life in advance of the total transformation that will take place when you possess eternal life.
Conclusion
Paul praises God for the blessings we have received because of Christ. He chose us in Christ to be holy and blameless. He predestined us for adoption in Christ. He redeemed us in Christ. He revealed the mystery of his will to bring all things together under Christ. And he chose us in Christ to be God’s portion and treasured possession. And he has sealed us with his Spirit. And he has given us his Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come, which is eternal life in the presence of God.
And all of this becomes ours because of Christ, who came into the world as one of us and who gave up his life on the cross to pay for our sins and to make peace for us with God. His body was broken and his blood was shed for our forgiveness. And so, praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who sent his Son to die for us so that we could receive one spiritual blessing after another before entering the glory to come.
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