May the Eyes of Your Heart Be Enlightened!

Ephesians 1:15-23

Introduction
Is the glass half empty or half
full? For the last few weeks we have looked at the fact that we have every
spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. Therefore, we know that the cup
isn’t half anything. The cup is full, full to overflowing, yet how often we
feel as if it is half empty. What is it like in your relationship with God? Do
you feel spiritually full? Is your heart rejoicing over the wonder of what God
has done for us? I have to confess that I certainly don’t feel full all the
time. Sure there are moments when I am encouraged, but there are also moments
when I have doubts and moments when I am discouraged and even times when I feel
like giving up. Often our spiritual life is shallow. We are self centered, we
do not grasp the eternal importance of what God is doing in the world and we do
not give ourselves fully to God’s work. If God is real, then surely the
realization of all our spiritual blessings in Christ can be more of a reality
in our lives.
There is a scene in Charles Dickens’,
Oliver Twist, in which the orphan boy is sent by the rest of the hungry orphans
to ask for more food. He approaches the person in charge and asks, “Please,
sir, I want some more.” Is that our spiritual hunger? Do we desire a greater
understanding, a greater experience of the many spiritual blessings which are
ours in Christ?
Ephesians 1:15-23 speaks to
that desire for more and raises the desire, not to a strategy, but to a prayer.
This passage is another long sentence without a period and is in essence a
prayer. My desire is that we will experience the full cup of blessing that God
has for us. My prayer for all of us is that we will be deeply and completely
impacted by the wonder and glory of the gospel.
I. Prayer Offered
Those whom Paul is talking to are
people who have experienced Jesus. They have a reputation of being people who
have faith in Jesus. They trust the truth about Jesus and they live by that
trust as is demonstrated by their love for all the saints.
As soon as Paul knew that they were
believers, he started praying for them regularly. As his brothers and sisters,
he cared about them and their spiritual life. The prayer has two sides. On the
one side, he prays a prayer of thanksgiving. He rejoices that God has been at
work in them and that they have responded to that work.
The other side is that he also makes
a request. You know how we sometimes tell people, “I am thinking of you?” Paul
says something similar when he says, “I remember you in my prayers.” He
recognizes that God has begun a good work in them and that they have responded
to that work. He prays that they will grow in their faith. Do we give thanks
and pray like that for each other?
II. To Know Him More
Let us take a careful look not only
at the content of his prayer, but also at the way in which he prays. It tells
us a lot about his attitude to God and how God works. It encourages and teaches
us how we ought to pray.
A. That God May
As he begins his prayer he addresses
God with the words, “...the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory…”
His address of God is much larger than, "Dear God. In making the address
of his prayer in this way, he is acknowledging a number of things about God. He
recognizes that He is God who has created the world and is the sovereign of it.
By mentioning Jesus, he recognizes the importance of the relationship between
Father and Son and implies all that God has accomplished through Jesus. The
further mention of God as “the Father of glory” reminds us that God is
glorious. He is significant and impressive and filled with wonder. This address
demonstrates his confidence in the ability and love of God to answer his
prayer.
It is also important to notice that
he prays. He does not chastise the Ephesians that they are not spiritual
enough. He doesn’t even give them a strategy for becoming more spiritual. He
prays that God will work in their lives. And so should we pray for each other.
Sometimes we need to be encouraged and sometimes we need to be challenged, but
always we need to realize that God is very interested in our spiritual growth
and maturity and has promised to work in us. Instead of becoming impatient with
ourselves or others, we need to look to God and pray for each other.
B. Give Wisdom and Revelation
The phrase “give you a spirit of wisdom
and revelation” also speaks not to the content of his prayer, but to the way in
which the prayer will be answered. He prays that they will have wisdom and
revelation. These two words tell us that the spiritual growth which he desires
for them will come from God but also involves their participation.
On the one hand, he prays that they
will have wisdom. Wisdom will help us understand the best way to live and will
help us know the path of righteousness. Wisdom is doing things well. Although wisdom
is God given, it has an element of our participation. Proverbs encourages us to
seek wisdom. We participate in wisdom by seeking it and desiring to follow the
path of wisdom.
On the other hand, he also prays
that they will have revelation. Revelation involves no participation from us,
but is entirely a matter of what God reveals. There are some spiritual truths
which cannot be discovered in any way other than that God makes them known.
Some things we can learn by study
and discernment, some things only God can reveal. Paul prays that God will
allow them to experience both.
C. To Know Him
Paul’s prayer is that the spirit of
wisdom and revelation which God provides will lead them to know God.
To know about someone is one thing,
but to know someone is a much deeper, much closer relationship. The word “know”
is used in the Bible occasionally to speak of the intimacy of the sexual
relationship. Paul’s prayer is that they will come to know God in a very close
and intimate way. He prays that they will experience Him in such a way that
they are comfortable with God and understand His ways and His plans. We can
know many things, but if we are to grow deeper in faith we must know God, not
merely with intellectual perception, but in a close relationship.
D. Eyes of Your Heart Enlightened
You have probably heard the phrase “there
is more to it than meets the eye.” Some things are obvious to our physical
eyes, but sometimes it takes more than our physical eyes to perceive a
situation. If we see someone crying, our eyes see the tears, but our heart
perceives that something is wrong. It is our heart that cares enough to enter
into the situation and provide comfort.
Paul's prayer is that they will
have this deeper seeing when he speaks about having “the eyes of your heart
enlightened.”
Paul’s prayer then is that these
believers, who know God and have entered into a relationship with Him and are
walking in love, will grow deeper in their relationship with God. It is a
prayer for more. A prayer for a deeper intimacy with God and a greater
understanding of what He has done, what He does and who He is. It is a prayer
for a heart that is fully and meaningfully engaged with God and walking with
Him in a deep trust.
III. Enlightened Hearts May Know
Paul goes on to speak about the
specific content of his prayer. There are three things which he wants them to
know and experience. They are things which, if we know them with the eyes of
our heart, will bring us into a deeper relationship with God.
A. Hope to Which He Has Called
Sometimes we lose hope. For people
who live with chronic illness there are times when the relentless presence of
pain causes them to lose hope. It is agonizing to go day after day knowing that
the tomorrow will be just as difficult and painful as today.
Sometimes our jobs become so
difficult that we don’t enjoy them, but we are trapped because we don’t know
what else to do or where else to earn our living. People lose hope when they
don’t see a way out of a dead end job.
Whatever the situation of desperation
may be, life can get to the place where it seems hopeless and there is nowhere to
turn. Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians, a prayer we can also pray, is that we
will be able to see, with the eyes of our heart, that there is no hopeless
situation.
Recently I spoke with someone who
sometimes struggles with hopelessness and I encouraged them to hang on to hope.
Later I thought about what I had said and I realized that it wasn’t very good
advice. If we hold on to hope when there is no reason for that hope, what do we
really have to hold on to? Later I called them and apologized for my poor
choice of words and encouraged them that they should hang on to Jesus.
When we understand that we have
been blessed with every spiritual blessing, we know that we have entered into a
relationship with God through Jesus Christ that puts us in a place where we
never have to lose hope. God has called us to hope and it is a hope that never
fails. We hope, not because of some vague notion of hope, but because of the
one in whom we hope. That is the hope to which we have been called and if we
have the eyes of our heart enlightened, we will know deeply and firmly the hope
to which we have been called.
B. His Inheritance among the Saints
The second thing which he prays for
is that they will know “what are the
riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints. How do we understand this?
The Good News translation says, “…how rich are the wonderful blessings
he promises his people…” This is a wonderful truth and we need to grasp the
depth and the amazing blessing of what God has given us and promised us. The
theme of verses 3-14 has been to let us know all the blessings we have in Christ.
Not only are we rich now, but we also have an inheritance. What will we
inherit? We will inherit eternal life! We will be in God’s presence! We will
have no more sorrow and no more tears! We will live in heaven, the best of all
situations. It is worth having the eyes of our heart enlightened in order that
we can know and understand fully how great these blessings are from God.
But as we read this text in NRSV or
NIV it seems to say something
different. We read, “…the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.” Notice that the
wording is a little different. It does not say, “…our inheritance” but rather
“his inheritance.” If Paul intended to communicate that God has richly blessed
us why didn’t he say “our inheritance?” Yet he deliberately refers to God’s
inheritance! What is it we are to understand by this wording?
I believe that it is telling us that God
inherits us. The Bible tells us that God is preparing a church without spot or
wrinkle for Himself. God is working at the development of a bride who will be
glorious and will glorify Him. This text tells us that we are God's
inheritance!
Jim owns a beautiful cottage on a lake and
invites his friends Bob and Jill to live in that cottage. Bob and Jill enjoy
living there and are careful with Jim's property, but they always have the
awareness that it is not theirs. If Jim told them, “you can live there for now
and when I die, it will be yours, you will inherit it,” how would their
thinking change? Would they not treat the property in a completely different
way? I can imagine that they would care for it even more carefully and they
might even invest in making it better. They will make sure that nothing gets
run down because they have a vested interest in the property. If we understand
with the eyes of our heart that we are God’s inheritance, we will understand
just how much God cares for those who are His, for His church. We will
understand God's great interest in our total welfare, especially our spiritual
welfare. We are His inheritance and He wants to make it the best inheritance
possible. What a blessing to know just how much we are valued by God.
C. The Greatness of His Power
1. The Greatness of His Power
The last part of the prayer refers
to the “immeasurable greatness of His power.” The word “immeasurable” comes
from a Greek word from which we get our word “hyperbole.” The power of God is
painted large and beyond what we can imagine or understand. That great power of
God is described in these verses in a way that should cause us to stand in awe
of God.
God’s power was demonstrated when
he raised Jesus from the dead. That is awesome power. Even though we have known
about the resurrection for about 2000 years, we still sometimes don’t believe
that it actually happened. It is so far removed from our human experience that
we find it hard to grasp that someone would actually rise from the dead. But
God did raise Jesus from the dead!
The great power of God was also
demonstrated when he seated Jesus in a position of authority over the entire
universe. When he was on the cross, those standing by mocked him by saying that
he saved others, but couldn’t save himself. Pilate pointed out that he had
power over Jesus. The powerlessness of Jesus was shown at the cross, but after
the resurrection the truth presented itself as we understand that Jesus ascended
to sit in authority over the entire universe. Paul has written this in such a
way that we are to understand the wonder of this power. He is over “all rule
and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named.” There is no
one who has a position of power above Jesus. Not the president of the United States, nor
the General Secretary of the United Nations nor even the evil ruler of this
world have the power and authority that Jesus has.
The great power of God is declared
when Paul indicates that this great power is not only active in the present
time but in all time. He is ruler “not only in this age but also in the age to
come.”
The great power of God is
demonstrated with the illustration that all things have been put under His
feet. That is a symbol of submission and there is nothing in all creation that is
not subject to Christ. Tom Neufeld says, “The list of powers is intended to be
so comprehensive as to leave no potency, no center of power, no force, great or
small, seen or unseen, present or future (in
this age or the next), beyond the rule of Christ (cf. Rom. 8:38–39).
Knowing and understanding these
things with the eyes of our heart is a wonderful thing. It tells us that the
holy, just and compassionate God of the universe has taken His rightful place
on the throne and is ruling now and moving all things toward His desired end.
There is no need for fear or doubt about how things will end. We know that God will
win and has already won in Jesus.
2. For Us Who Believe
Wow! The superior position, power, authority and glory of Jesus are amazing! But the
wonder of this passage is not only that Jesus has such power, but that that
power is “for us!” Please take note of verse 19 which says “…that you may
know…what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe.”
Then this concept that God’s ultimate power is for us is reinforced, in verse
22, when it says that God “has put all things under his feet and has made him
the head over all things for the church.”
What the eyes of our heart need to grasp is that God has placed the church in the most
significant position over all world politics, all world powers and all events
of history. The Message says, “The church, you see, is not peripheral to the
world; the world is peripheral to the church. The church is Christ’s body, in
which he speaks and acts, by which he fills everything with his presence.” The
little church which is dismissed as irrelevant and persecuted and not taken
seriously by many is the organism that will stand in the end of time when
everything else is destroyed. The church is the only institution that will
still exist when earth has been judged. Furthermore, that church presently has
at its disposal all the power that God has placed in the hands of Jesus. We as
God’s people are the most important people on earth and will exist for eternity
and have at our disposal the power by which God raised Jesus from the dead. Why
do we doubt? Why do we give ourselves to the kingdom that will fade away? Why
do we spend more time investing in the kingdom that will disappear than on the
kingdom that will last for all eternity?
As we contemplate this question we need to remember that this passage is not a
challenge, but a prayer. As we see with the eyes of our heart what is really
going on in the universe, we will be motivated from within to make the changes
that will fall in line with what God is up to. May the eyes of our heart be
enlightened!
Conclusion
The woman who poured ointment on
Jesus’ feet got it. The eyes of her heart had been enlightened. She understood
how much grace she had received and thus understood the hope to which she had
been called. In response she loved extravagantly.
Until we get it, our loving will be
normal, careful or perhaps even stingy. If I had $1000 in my pocket and someone
asked for $20, I would have no trouble being generous. If I had $20 in my
pocket and someone asked for $20, there would have to be a good reason for me
to give it to them because I would be thinking that I will probably need that
$20.
Sometimes we live our Christian
life as if we have $20 in our pocket. The purpose of this prayer is that we
will have the eyes of our heart enlightened so that we will realize that
proverbially we have far more than $1000 in our pocket. It is as we understand
the riches of His blessings poured out on us that we will be moved to
generously and extravagantly love Jesus.
This morning, as we conclude, I
would like to invite you to take a moment for silent prayer for two or three
people who are sitting around you. Pray this prayer that the eyes of their
heart will be enlightened so that they will know the hope to which they have
been called, the glorious riches of His inheritance in the saints and the
immeasurable greatness of His power for us who believe.
Let us pray.

Sealed for an Inheritance

Ephesians 1:13, 14

Introduction

Isn’t this a beautiful picture! In fact it is so beautiful that one might wonder whether it is real. In fact it is not. With Photoshop it is amazing what can be done with a picture and “Is it real?” is a relevant question with any photo.

A total of 22 fake Apple stores have been uncovered in one Chinese city. They imitated the labels, the attire and everything about a real Apple store, but they were not authorized by Apple. The BBC report indicated “It is not clear whether the shops being reprimanded were selling products sourced from Apple distributors in the country or grey market imports.” Once again the question would be, “Is it real?”

With what you can do with computers and copiers it is a question today whether any document is real. The presence of a seal on my diploma indicates that this is the real thing.

Over the last few weeks we have examined the amazing sentence which we find in Ephesians 1:3-14. It is a wonderful list of blessings which we have in Christ. The promise is that all of these blessings are ours. But how do we know that these things are really ours? They are mostly promises which we have to accept by faith. There are many people who do not believe these promises. Sometimes we also begin to doubt whether they are real. Perhaps someone questions the truth of them and we begin to question as well. The last two blessings listed in verses 13, 14 function as a guarantee of all the promises that are made to us. The text tells us that the Holy Spirit is the seal guaranteeing that all of these promises are true and that what is yet to come, our inheritance, is also ours. The Holy Spirit is the one who lives within us and demonstrates the presence of God who is personally with us to assure us that all of these blessings are really ours.

I. Marked by God

A. Sealed With the Spirit

Legal seals are still used today even though we may not see them very often. When the Bible was written, seals were quite common. They were used by merchants, by government officials and by those involved in legal situations. They were usually images or symbols carved into a ring, which was called a signet ring or some other item. When a document or a container was to be sealed, a drop of wax or a piece of soft clay was attached to it and the signet ring was used to make an impression on the wax or the clay. When it cooled or dried it formed a mark which only the person who had the seal had the right to open. Such seals protected wills, containers with precious items in them and other legal documents. Such seals indicated ownership, authenticity and offered a level of security.

Verse 13 indicates that there is a seal on each of us who belongs to God. Irwin Penner writes that “The seal indicates at least three things…” ownership - we are owned by God; authenticity – we are a genuine masterpiece from the creative hand of God; and security – we are protected for final salvation by the authority and power of God.”

The way the verb is expressed tells us that at a point in time, God did this to us. We did not seal ourselves, but God sealed us and did so by giving us the Holy Spirit.

B. How We Were Sealed

How did this sealing come about?

1. In Him

The first words in the text indicate the important theme which has been repeated over and over again in this text. The sealing has happened in Christ Jesus. We often speak of salvation as happening when we invite Jesus to come into our lives and that is certainly an important theme. The repeated mention of “in Christ” in this passage invites us, however, to think about this from another angle. Not only do we invite Christ to come and live within us, when we become Christians, we also live in Christ. Snodgrass says, “…we are caught up into Christ and made one with him.”

The sealing happens because we enter into a relationship with Jesus. In that relationship, we come to have Christ living in us, but we also begin to live in Him. The presence of Jesus, the influence of Jesus, the promises of Jesus, the blessings of Jesus, the work of Jesus is the sphere in which we live when we become followers of Jesus.

When Jesus was about to leave the earth, He told the disciples in John 16:7, "Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you."

So it is in Jesus that we come into a relationship with God and in Jesus that the Holy Spirit comes to us.

2. When you heard, believed, sealed

But how does that happen? We know that we become Christians by accepting Jesus. Some people, pointing to what happened in Acts 2, suggest that we also need another experience at which time we receive the Holy Spirit. However, that is not what we read in this passage.

What is the process by which we are sealed with the Holy Spirit? Please look at the text. The beginning is hearing. Paul speaks about “hearing the word of truth the gospel of your salvation.” Before anyone can come to know Christ, they need to hear about Him. We need to hear the truth. What does that truth include? It includes the knowledge of our sinfulness, the knowledge that death is the punishment for sin. It includes the truth about Jesus who came into this world through the miracle of the virgin birth, lived on earth as a human being, died as the Son of God and rose through the power of God. It includes understanding that it is in Jesus alone that we can have our sins forgiven and through whom alone we can have eternal life.

When we hear this truth and when we understand that it is the good news which God has given to the world, we have a choice to make. We need to decide whether we believe it or not. This is the second step. It is by believing in Jesus, believing the truth of the good news of our salvation that we become people who belong to God. It is by believing in Him that we become Christians, followers of Christ.

The text is very clear that this is the simplicity of the gospel message. If we hear the good news about Jesus and if we believe in Jesus then the text tells us that we are sealed with the Holy Spirit. Scripture also teaches this in other places. In Romans 8:9 we read, "But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him." This promises us that if we are Christians we have the Spirit. Thus the process of being sealed with the Holy Spirit is very simple. It involves hearing the word of the gospel and believing in Jesus. When that happens we are marked with a seal, the Holy Spirit. What this means is that God Himself comes to live within us. The actual presence of God with us is the presence of the Holy Spirit.

3. Promised

We don’t always emphasize this promise of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, yet it is a theme which is clearly communicated in Scripture. That is why the text says that we have been sealed with the “promised Holy Spirit.”

Several Old Testament promises first communicated this hope. Ezekiel promised in Ezekiel 36:26, "A new heart I will give you, and a new Spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." The prophet Joel also promised in Joel 2:28, "Then afterward I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh..."

Jesus repeated this promise when he said in John 15:26, "“When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf." When Jesus was leaving to ascend into heaven, he spoke to the disciples in Acts 1:4, "While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. “This,” he said, “is what you have heard from me;" Acts 2 describes how that promise was fulfilled and how the Spirit came the first time upon all those who had followed Jesus. Since that day the promise has been fulfilled according to what Paul is saying in this passage. When anyone hears the truth of the gospel and believes in Jesus, the Spirit, the presence of God, comes to live in them.

C. The Work of the Holy Spirit

I know I own a Bible because, well, here it is. I know my wife loves me because, I can feel her physically hugging me. How do we know that the Spirit of God, who is God present with us, is really within us? We have talked about whether the promises of God are real.” The answer is that God’s presence with us by His Spirit assures us that they are. But sometimes we also ask, “Is He real?” Romans 8:16, tells us how we can know that the Spirit is within us when it says, "…it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God…" So the answer is that God affirms in our hearts that He is present in us. If you ever doubt that God is present with you, I would encourage you to take that doubt to the Father and let Him know about it. I believe that it will not be very long before God will make Himself known to you.

Scripture tells us some of the ways in which the Spirit makes Himself known to us. The very ability to understand the gospel is a work of the Spirit of God. 1 Corinthians 2:11 says, "For what human being knows what is truly human except the human spirit that is within? So also no one comprehends what is truly God’s except the Spirit of God." The ability to serve God is a work of the Spirit of God because it is the Spirit who gives us gifts for service. The will and desire to praise God is also a work of the Spirit of God. As we continue in our study of Ephesians, we will see many more ways in which the Spirit affirms the presence of God with us.

What a blessing! How wonderful to have God present with us! What an amazing confirmation that we belong to God! What assurance that we have the promises of God, for if we have God within us and with us, surely we have His other promises as well!

II. Inheritance from God

So the Spirit of God is the seal who guarantees that the promises are real. The Spirit is also the guarantee of the promise of what is yet to come.

A. God’s Down Payment

I suspect that most of us have made a down payment at one time or another in our life. When we bought the house we are living in, I went to see the real estate agent and he showed me all the places where I had to sign. When I had signed all the right places, I had to sign one more piece of paper and that was a cheque which would be a down payment. It was a guarantee that we would also pay the rest once the deal went through. A few days later we talked to the agent again and he asked us if we had buyers regret. Sometimes when people make a purchase, they change their mind afterwards. If that should happen, the down payment which they have made is a good way of assuring that they won’t act on their change of mind. They already have a significant amount invested in the purchase and if they would change their mind, it would cost them too much, so it is a guarantee that the deal will go through.

This week we are hoping to get an area carpet for our living room. We have had to wait quite a long time for it to come, but we are sure that it will come, because we put down half the price of the carpet as a guarantee that it will come.

Almost 39 years ago, I purchased a ring with a diamond on it. On July 28, 1973 I gave it to Carla. It was a pledge not only that I would be buying another ring a year later when we got married, but that I would spend the rest of my life with her. That diamond was a pledge, a promise of things to come.

The text tells us that the Holy Spirit is not only the seal that we belong to God; He also functions as a down payment, or pledge that we have an inheritance from God. Snodgrass writes, “Through the Spirit, Christians already now enjoy the privileges of life with God. And the Spirit also guarantees what is still future, when life with God is brought to fulfillment in future salvation.”

Just as an interesting note here. A few weeks ago we noticed that Paul used we/you language. He talked in verse 12 about “we who were the first to set our hope on Christ.” Then in verse 13 he said, “In him you also were marked…” Now in verse 14 the language of we/you fully disappears. He speaks of “our” in heritance. It is important to realize that the promised inheritance is now available, not only to Jews, but to every person on earth who comes to Christ.

The guarantee which the Spirit of God provides is that there is yet more to come. We have an inheritance. We will share in all the promises that God has made to His children.

B. What We Inherit

What is it that we will inherit?

The text says that we will inherit redemption, but don’t we already have redemption? We do and we don’t. God has already paid the price to have us freed from our sin. We already have forgiveness for our sins. But we all know that sin is still a possibility for us. We all know that we stumble in many ways. We know that death will come to all of us. Although we have been forgiven and although we have been made into new creatures in Christ, the complete inheritance is not ours yet. There is still a completion of this redemption to come. Although it is a present possession, it is also a promised future. There is an already about redemption and a not yet. How wonderful to know that we are set free, that we don’t have to be overcome by sins and that we already belong to God. Yet we long for the complete redemption. How awesome that that completion is guaranteed because of the presence of the Holy Spirit with us. Matthew Henry says, “All the blessings that we have in hand are but small if compared with the inheritance.”

Another phrase included in this passage is that this redemption will be given to us completely as “God’s own people.” This is one way of translating Ephesians 1:14, but I prefer the way in which it is translated in KJV where it says, "…until the redemption of the purchased possession..." This is more accurate according to the Greek and reminds us that what we inherit is that we are God’s own people whom He has purchased. Why it is important is because it helps us understand that this isn’t just for us. These words indicate somewhat of a change of direction. They remind us that this redemption is not only for us, but also for God. Marcus Barth writes, “…man will be enriched…God is gaining something for himself too: a people that praises his glory.” Snodgrass also says, “…the possession is seen as God’s possession of his people, not their possession of salvation.” This simply reinforces the wonder of all that we will inherit and lets us know that God is also looking forward to the day when all is accomplished and he can bring His people home. The Spirit is God present with us today, but He is also a pledge that some day we will be fully present with God and He will rejoice that we are in His presence because He has indeed brought us home. Then we will see Him face to face and what a great day that will be! Then we will come into full possession of that which is now partial. How we look forward to that day!

Conclusion

The verse ends with the idea that all of this is to the praise of His glory.

Ephesians 1:3, the first words of this extended sentence, called us to praise when it said, "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," As we have now reviewed these wonderful blessings all of which we have in Christ it is fitting that the final phrase of this sentence also calls us to praise God. It says that all of this is “to the praise of His glory.” Penner says, “Every benefit we receive comes from God and rightly returns to him in praise.”

Wow! What wonderful blessings are ours!

We have the blessing that the presence of the Spirit of God allows us to rest in Him. He removes all doubt and all fears.

We have the blessing that the presence of the Spirit invites us to respond to Him in obedience and to call upon Him in hope.

We have the blessing that the presence of the Spirit of God invites us to praise Him. We can praise Him with words of praise, with songs of praise and with lives of praise.

As we have examined Ephesians 1:3-14, we have been reminded of all the blessings which are ours in Christ. Jesus has chosen us and adopted us to be God’s children. He has redeemed us and forgiven our sins. He has made known to us exactly what He is up to. He has given us His Spirit and has promised us an eternal inheritance. All of these blessings are ours in Jesus. How can we adequately thank and praise Him for them all?

This past week was Valentines Day, a day to express love to those whom we love. Surely as we reflect on all the blessings we have in Christ, it seems natural and right to love Jesus more than anyone else and to acknowledge and declare that love. The greatest way we can praise God for all He has done is to love Jesus. Do you love Jesus?

Mystery Revealed!

Ephesians 1:9 – 12

Introduction

There are not many secrets in our world these days. Basic information is available on the internet on almost everyone. If you have ever Googled your name you know just how much is out there. I Googled the office staff and found each one of them on the web.

“WikiLeaks is an international online self-described not-for-profit organization that publishes submissions of private, secret, and classified media from anonymous news sources, news leaks, and whistleblowers.” Through things like Wikileaks and the news media, it is very difficult for political leaders to keep secrets.

Because of that when people try to keep secrets, it doesn’t always turn out well. Recently Harper made an announcement that there could be pension reform coming in which the age of retirement could be changed from 65 to 67. When governments engage in secrecy and then some of the secrets come to light, their credibility comes into question. This was certainly true regarding the issue of pension reform. One news report stated “The Harper government scuttled into damage limitation mode Friday, after the Prime Minister’s speech in Davos in which he promised “necessary” changes to Canada’s retirement system.”

Does God have secrets or does He try to cover up what He is doing? Ephesians 1:9-12 speaks to this and encourages us with another blessing that we have received in Christ.

I. That’s No Secret! 9-10a

A. The Meaning of Mystery

It seems that God might have a secret when we read the word “mystery” in verse 9, but what does that word mean? What do you think of when you hear the word mystery? What I think of is the Hardy Boys books that I used to read when I was young. I enjoyed books like “The Mystery of Cabin Island” or “The Secret of the Caves” in which Frank and Joe Hardy worked hard to discover something that someone was trying to hide.

When the Bible was written, there were, what have come to be known as, “Mystery religions.” These religious sects claimed to have secret spiritual knowledge which they deliberately hid from others. They believed that they had come to know a special, secret way of getting to know God. When they let people into their select group, they told them their secrets and swore them to secrecy. They were very careful to guard the secrets of their religion so that ordinary people who did not have the spiritual maturity to understand would not defile access to the divine truths.

Both of these pictures of mystery emphasize that a secret is being kept and no one can know that secret except people who work hard to discover it or people who are the elite of the spiritual world. Is that what we are to think of when we hear this word? Has God got secrets that we have to work hard to uncover? Is God keeping secrets from everyone except those who are truly spiritual?

B. God Reveals His Secret

“Mystery” is a recurring term in Ephesians occurring 5 times. Here, as in the rest of the book, it simply means a truth once hidden but now made known. There is a huge difference between mystery novels, mystery religions and the mystery mentioned in this passage. It is not revealed only to those who work hard at discovering it. It is not given only to the spiritually elite. God doesn’t have secrets, but desires to reveal to everyone what was previously not known. What this passage is communicating is that there is no secret about what God is planning or what God is doing. Although previously God’s plan was not revealed, now it is revealed and God has made known to us the mystery of His will. God has opened up the way of understanding His plan. His plan is revealed by Him and the intention is that the whole world needs to know His plan. God has made known to us what He is up to. Tom Neufeld says, “To be sure, this secret is not a puzzle that can be figured out by human ingenuity. It is God’s secret, disclosed at God’s initiative.”

Last week I suggested that the phrase “with all wisdom and insight” can be connected to what precedes or to what follows. So we understand that it is with all wisdom and insight that God has revealed His truth to the world. That wisdom and insight reminds us that before the foundation of the world God had a plan. In 1 Peter 1:20 we learn that God’s plan was already made early on. Speaking of Jesus it says, "He was destined before the foundation of the world, but was revealed at the end of the ages for your sake." As soon as Adam and Eve sinned, God announced that He had a plan in Genesis 3:15 when he said, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”" All of these verses show that God has always had a plan and has always intended that people would know that plan.

We were spending time with some young children. As we were engaging in conversation, one of them revealed that mommy was going to have a baby. Mommy and Daddy didn’t want people to know that because she was barely pregnant, but when their child revealed the information, they had to reluctantly admit that it was true. God’s revelation of his will is not like that. He isn’t trying to hide the mystery of His will nor is he reluctant about making it known. In fact, the text says that he has made known the mystery of His will, “according to his good pleasure.” God doesn’t have secrets and if Christians sometimes imply that a person has to jump through hoops to know about God’s ways, they are not speaking truth. God rejoices to make His truth known gladly and openly.

So God has revealed His plan, in fact, God has had a specific program designed for the purpose of making His will known. In verse 9 it says that the revelation of His will was a plan “set forth.” This word means that the revelation of God’s will has been made public clearly and according to God’s design. All of Old Testament prophecy, although not clearly understood, was part of God’s plan in making His will known. Immediately after we sinned, God began to reveal His plan. Through Abraham, Moses and all the prophets God clearly declared that He had a plan and many details about that plan. Although people didn’t understand God’s plan, it wasn’t that God was hiding it from them. As we look back at the many prophecies of the Old Testament, we can now see clearly how they pointed to the revelation of God’s plan.

This plan centers on one person and that is the person of Jesus Christ. All the prophecies point to Him. God’s plan is carried out completely in and through Jesus. Once again, we see that Jesus is the center of all that God is doing. His plan was made known in the Old Testament, but, when the text speaks about, “the fullness of time” we understand that it has now been made known through the coming, life, death, resurrection, ascension and promised future return of Jesus Christ. God didn’t complete His plan when he first planned it, but over time He has fully revealed it and we have come to know it. It was always in place, but did not come into being until Jesus came and will not be fully completed until Jesus returns.

These thoughts are clearly revealed not only in this passage, but also in the worshipful declaration in Romans 16:25 - 27, "Now to God who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but is now disclosed, and through the prophetic writings is made known to all the Gentiles, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever! Amen."

God isn’t trying to keep a secret. God has revealed His plan to us in and through Jesus Christ.

II. God’s Plan 10b, 11b

What is God’s plan?

A. To Gather Up All Things

The plan of God, the plan which He has had since the beginning of time is to gather up all things in Christ.

This phrase “gathering up,” which is the way NRSV translates it, may illustrate the idea of harvest. One of the things I have enjoyed in the past is being able to visit farmers during harvest season. In modern combines it is always an enjoyable time to sit in the second seat and watch the grain being harvested. Another feature of modern combines is the yield monitor which tells you in real time how many bushel’s per acre are being harvested. Although the farmer may keep an eye on the yield monitor, he doesn’t take it too seriously and doesn’t really know what kind of a harvest it has been until all the grain is in the bin and he can tell exactly how much has been gathered up.

NASB translates the same phrase, “to sum up” which presents the image of identifying the final sum. This afternoon we will meet for our annual finance meeting and one of the questions we will want to answer is, “what is the bottom line?” We will want to know, “How much did we spend last year?” and “What are we projecting to spend this year?” That one number is the summation of all the ideas presented in the financial statement. Every financial action that was taken last year, or planned for this year, is summed up in that one number.

The idea of “bringing together,” which is used in the NIV conveys the idea of people coming together. Each Sunday when we come to church we are brought together under one roof to worship, to fellowship and to hear from God.

Each of these images contributes to our understanding of what God’s plan is. God’s plan is that all God’s people will be gathered together in one body and that in the final end, all that exists will be summed up under the one total, which is Jesus Christ. God’s plan is that all of those who have been scattered by sin, rebellion and the consequences of evil will be brought together in obedience to Christ through the death and resurrection of Christ. God’s plan is that in the end, Jesus will be the supreme one as Philippians 2:9-11 declares when it says, "Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

B. All Things

When I do my personal budgeting I budget on the basis of my salary and I try to make sure that all my expenses are covered by it. However, if someone surprises me with a cash gift in a birthday card, that isn’t included, it is a separate category, it is money that I don’t account for in the budget.

In summing up all things under Christ, there are no separate categories that aren’t included. The text tells us that everything is included under Christ – everything in heaven and on earth.

In the end, every individual will be subject to Christ. That does not mean that every individual will be saved. God still gives us the choice of whether we choose Him or not. Those who choose Him will be included in the body of those who will enjoy Him forever and ever in heaven. Those who reject Him, will, however still be subject to Him in a place of eternal punishment, so every person who has ever lived will be subject to Christ and summed up under Him.

In the end, every situation will be completely right. The judgment of God will make sure that justice is carried out and that every injustice and everything that has been broken in the world will be put together in the right way. This includes all prejudice, injustice, violence and abuse. This is the wonder of the judgment which is promised in Revelation 17 which reveals that Babylon, the symbol of evil and injustice, will be utterly destroyed. I believe that Revelation 17 promises the destruction of every unjust and evil world power which has ever worked against the plan of God. All injustice will be judged and Jesus will stand as righteous king over all.

The summation of “all things” also includes the physical world. Right now because of sin we live in a world that is broken. Whether the cause is God’s judgment on the world or our mishandling of the world by pollution and careless use of resources, we know that currently even the physical world, is, as Romans 8:20, "…subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it…We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now…" This passage tells us that the physical world is now broken, but it also tells us that the whole world is waiting for the day when all things will be gathered together in Christ and be made right. We read, “…the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” Wood sums up when he says, “This recognition of his preeminence will ensure that the original harmony of the universe is restored (Rom 8:18–21). The mission of Christ extends beyond the human race and assumes cosmic dimensions.” Tom Neufeld says, “The comprehensiveness inherent in all things leaves nothing—no person and no thing—beyond the reach of God’s saving interest.”

C. In Christ

Once again we see that the center of all things is Christ. The phrase “in Christ” or “in Him” is repeated three times in verses 9-11. When Scripture repeats things three times, we cannot miss the importance of that phrase. God has put all His eggs in one basket – Jesus Christ. Everything is going to be summed up in Christ. The implications of that are staggering.

God’s prophetic announcements all point in one direction and that is towards the coming of Jesus Christ. God’s plan for redemption of all things is centered in one person and that is in Jesus Christ. It is centered in His coming to earth. It is centered in the only solution in the entire universe for redeeming all things and that is through the death and resurrection of Christ. It is centered in the present rule of Christ in heaven and it will be completed in one signal event and that is in the return of Jesus Christ to gather up all things in Himself.

If Jesus is the center of God’s plan past, present and future, then our life also must find Him at the center. Therefore, if we don’t know Him, we need to get to know Him and enter into a relationship with Him. As we live our lives - eating, sleeping, working, playing - everything we are and everything we do must be centered in Him. What does that mean for our purpose in life? If Jesus is the center and if all things will be summed up in Him, then we must make His name known. We are not only here to help people become nice people. We are not here to build a church. We are not here to teach people a list of truths. The center of our existence as people who belong to God is to make Jesus known. Furthermore, if Jesus is the one in whom all things will ultimately be summed up, then we need to live every day ready to meet Him.

D. Certainty

This is the plan of God. I have made a lot of plans and sometimes they don’t happen the way I wish they would. In fact, I am always amazed when things work out exactly as I plan because I know that there are so many things which could derail them. Right now as we look around in our world, we may think that God’s plan is being derailed - murders in Mexico, earthquakes in Peru, financial crises in Europe and rejection of the gospel with mocking laughter all over the world. But verse 11b assures us that there is no uncertainty about God’s plan. There we read that “He accomplishes all things according to His counsel and will.”

There is no doubt that God’s plan will happen.

III. Our Part in God’s Plan 11a, 12

The wonderful thing is that we have a part in this plan. We belong and we have a purpose

A. We Have an Inheritance

Paul separates between we and you in this passage. It is most likely that he is speaking of the Jews who were the first to receive the gospel message and all the others who came later. The distinction, however, is not intended as a separation as “we/you” so often is. In this text, it is intended as an inclusion. Jews, who were God’s first chosen people have an inheritance, as do all those who came to know Christ later. We are among those who came to know Him later and the good news is that we also belong. In the next message, I would like to talk a little more about that inheritance. This morning, I would simply like to mention it as part of the good news that when it comes to God’s plan, those who have put their faith in Christ are already gathered in under Christ and belong to Him.

B. To Live For His Glory

But the good news of the knowledge of being included and having an inheritance is not only so that we can smile and rest in that knowledge. That knowledge focuses our life powerfully and intentionally on a purpose for life that is all consuming and works towards the fulfillment of God’s plan.

If the plan of God is to center everything in Christ, then our lives must also be centered in Him and they will be if we live according to the purpose set forth in this passage. In verse 12 we read that God’s purpose is that we “live for His glory.” The work of Christ has made us into people who are able to live for His glory and the supremacy of Christ invites us to be people who choose to live for His glory. May we live in such a way that the glory and wonder of God’s plan will shine through us and reveal that plan to the entire universe so that in us and through us God will be glorified!

Conclusion

Once in a while we have the joy of looking after our grand-children. It is interesting watching them play. The younger they are the shorter their attention span. They go from one toy to another, from one activity to another and it is difficult to keep them focused on one thing for more than a few minutes.

God has been focused on one thing since the creation of the world. That is the summing up of all things under Christ. All of His involvement in the world has been directed to this one task. To know this is to rejoice in God and what His intentions. As we realize this, how can we help but praise and thank Him for the amazing way in which He has accomplished all things through Christ.

I suspect that we are more like children. So many things distract us. We go from one activity to another and can’t sustain our attention on what is really important for very long.

Yet as we reflect on God’s purpose in the world and realize the all encompassing nature of it, surely that must evoke a response in us. Surely it must encourage us to make God’s purposes, our purposes and commit ourselves to staying on task for Him. What does that mean for us? How is our life lined up with God’s purpose? How are our activities centered on the ultimate purpose which God has planned for the entire universe?

May the revelation of the mystery of God’s will move us to serve Him and glorify him!