 Introduction:
We are all seeking blessings.
During the Chinese New Year, wherever we go, we see
this poster (an upside down Blessing). Awaiting the
arrival of a Blessing in the new year.
We have heard this: you are blessed
that you have children overseas doing well in their
studies and professions. They send money home
regularly. We are blessed to have such good daughter
or son-in-laws. Last month a minister friend showed
me the Palm V his son gave him and I said, "you
are very blessed to have this son."
Certainly these are blessings, but
sometimes we tend to limit our understanding of
blessing to material prosperity, health and success.
Eventually they become gods we seek and worship.
This morning in our continual study
of Ephesians, we want to explore what is the biblical
understanding of "blessing"? You see, the
world's understanding of blessing is confined to what
we can see and touch. But when we are in Christ, we
begin to look at it differently. In this passage we
will discover that a true blessing originates from
God and transcends the material world. It is about
our relationship with the creator God. In the
original language, v3-14 is one long complex sentence.
Today we'll study up to v10. Next time we will look
at v11-14.
I. True blessing comes from the
heavenlies.
V3, "Praise
be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every
spiritual blessing in Christ." Here Paul writes
about blessings from God. Isn't this what we want in
life, blessing from above? In temples in Taiwan or
China, we see countless youths, burning incense,
making their wishes. They are seeking blessings from
someone beyond themselves. When non-religious couples
marry, the church is still their number one choice.
Sometime it is for ascetic reasons. But most of the
time, there is the desire to have this marriage
blessed by God (whoever he is).
Here in this
passage we are told that God has already blessed us
with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly. For
this reason, Paul was praising Him. In today's mind,
heaven is: the atmosphere above us and the outer
space. But in Paul's day, heaven was considered as
several levels. Different spiritual beings preside in
different levels. And God is in the highest level.
The God who
is above all, had given us all the heavenly spiritual
blessing. This is where our focus should be. We are
to remember that the true world is both physical and
spiritual. Yes, material blessings can be important
to us, so is the spiritual blessing. Since it is from
the all wise and perfect God, this spiritual blessing
is even more important, more real than the physical
one. So what kind of blessing is this?
II. The blessing of being chosen by
God.
V4, "For he chose us in him
before the creation of the world......". In this
passage, we see the words, "chosen" and
"predestined" occurred several times. These
words can bring both great honor and fear. Just
imagine, the creator of heaven and earth, the one and
only God had chosen you! Its like being chosen by the
president of a country for a very important position.
But on the other hand, how about my free will? How
about those who are not chosen? These are haunting
questions, isn't it?
For me to try to answer these
questions, or to give you a complete and satisfactory
answer on this issue of God's sovereignty and human
free will is only to show my ignorance and arrogance.
So I'll try to focus on what is spoken in this
passage.
First, God has chosen us before the
foundation of the world. He had chosen us in Christ.
Please note, before the world was created, before we
were made, before the salvation of Jesus Christ had
taken place, he had chosen us. It is mind boggling.
Secondly, he had chosen us to be
holy and blameless. This implied that at one point in
our life, we were unholy and full of blemishes. Paul
further explained in 2:1 that we were once dead in
our transgression and sin. We were dead and
unresponsive to things of God. In 4:19 he wrote how
we were insensitive to spiritual things by giving in
to sensuality and all kinds of impurities. We were
dishonest, full of rage, bitterness, anger, brawling
and slander, along with every form of malice. And
then in chapter 5; sexual immorality, greed,
obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking. Not a very
pleasant picture. This is the kind of person he had
chosen.
Why did he choose us? V5, "out
of his will, pleasure and love" You see, he is
the all wise and powerful creator, the one who is
above all. Throughout the Bible, we see him
exercising his sovereignty in choosing who he wants.
He is the one with the final say. For example, in the
Hebrew tradition, the oldest son was the favored one.
But from the very beginning in human history, God
chose Abel, the second son over Cain, the oldest son.
He chose Jacob, the younger son, over Esau the elder.
He chose the Israelites over the other nations. In
the NT story of the prodigal son, he chose the
younger son. He chose whoever he wished according to
his perfect and divine will, pleasure and love. This
is how he has chosen us.
So, "did I choose God?"
In John Stott's book, he wrote, "yes, you did
choose God, and freely, but only because in eternity
he had first chosen you." I am tempted to quote
from C.S. Lewis' Chronicle of the Narnia. I find
myself using this particular story almost at least
once a year. So if you have heard it, please bear
with me. The little boy Eustace told his friend Jill
about the land of Narnia. Jill followed Eustace and
calling out, "Aslan, Aslan..." and before
they knew it they entered into the land of Narnia.
Later, Jill met the lion, Aslan. Aslan said,
"...your task will be harder......." Jill
said, " What task?" Lion, "the task
for which I called you....." "could there
be some mistake? No body called me and Eustace, we
came on our own...." Lion replied, "You
would not have called to me unless I had been calling
to you."
The Bible never tries to simplify
this concept of election. It simply tell us this is
how God operates. In the context of this passage, I
would like to call your attention to 2 observations.
First, the doctrine of election is
not a human theory. This is not developed by
Augustine or Calvin. It is revealed to man from God.
God tells us that he has chosen us.
Secondly, this doctrine of election
leads us to humility. We don't go around telling
others, "you see, I am better than you because
God has chosen me." No, just imagine, this holy
and creator God, out of his own pleasure, will and
love had chosen me, this corrupt and undeserving
sinner. There is nothing I do that can earn me the
merit of being chosen. It is all his grace and love.
My only response is to be humble before him.
Certainly, there are many other
questions remaining. For example, if God had already
chosen others, they will be saved, sooner or later,
one way or the other. Why should we be bothered with
evangelism? You see, on one hand God had chosen
different people before the foundation of the world
to be his sons and daughters, but on the other, he
had also given us the great commission of bringing
the gospel to the end of the world. It is not our
prerogative to know who are the chosen ones, this is
God's problem. But as God's loved the children, we
are to be obedient to him. Including obeying the
great commission, telling others about Him.
III. The
blessing of being adopted by God.
V5, "he predestined us to be
adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in
accordance with his pleasure and will". "Chosen"
and "predestined" go hand in hand. What are
we chosen to? To be his sons and daughters. The word
"predestined" does not mean that God
determine our every single step, that we will raise
our right hand, or cross the street, or get into the
car. No, the Bible never uses this word in this
manner. But predestined is used that God had chosen
us to be his adopted children. It has to do with our
eternal destiny.
In Paul's world, the wealthy couple
would adopt a youth with good character to inherit
their name and possessions. But Paul told us that God
had chosen us with bad characters to be his children.
Imagine, in his perfect will, pleasure and love, God
had chosen you and me to be his sons and daughters.
This is grace. In the Roman world, the adopted
children had both the privileges and responsibilities.
The same with God's adopted children. We too have our
share of privileges and responsibilities.
1.
Privileges of being God's sons and daughters.
It is redemption (vs7-8). The word
Redemption means to deliver from something with a
price. In the NT context it means that before we come
to know Christ, we lived under the dominion of sin.
And because of this, we are under God's wrath and
judgment. We only deserve his punishment, for he is a
holy God. But when Jesus came into the world, God
placed our sins on him and he was judged and punished
by dying on the cross. So when Jesus Christ died on
that cross, it was because of my sins and God's wrath
and punishment. He was punished so that we don't have
to be punished anymore. So vs 7,8 means that with his
blood, Jesus redeemed, delivered us from God's wrath
and punishment. And he also forgave our sins.
This defines the relationship
between the adopted children and God. It is not a
relationship of fear, but of love. We no longer have
to try to gain his favor by doing good works. I don't
have to try to gain his love or favor by keeping up
with all my devotions, attending SS and Sunday
worship services. I don't have to gain his love by
being diligent in sharing the gospel message with
others. On the contrary, he has already fully loved
me. It is totally based on his love and grace. It has
nothing to do with any merit on my part. Therefore,
since his wrath is no longer on me, and he has loved
me so deeply, I want to spend time with him through
reading his words and prayers. Because I love him,
therefore I am willing to learn and obey his
teachings. Because I love him, I want to worship and
praise him. In other words, all I do, is a response
to his love. What a freedom it brings into our lives.
As his children, we are constantly
under his care. We pray to a loving father. We are
secure because we know he loves us deeply.
2.
Responsibilities of God's children.
Besides this privilege, there is
also responsibility on our part. In vs 4 we learn
that we are chosen to be holy and blameless. This is
a reference to our final state before God. That is,
in the end, we will be holy and without blame. This
is the security of our salvation. But this final
state begins now. That is, as we come to know Christ,
we also begin to live a life that reflects his
holiness and beauty. In 5:1, Paul writes, "Be
imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children".
As we imitate God, we begin to reflect his glory in
us.
Several years ago when saw our
oldest son return from college, it was a shock. He
was wearing a ragged, dirty looking shirt. Later we
found out that he bought it from a garage sale for $1.
Among other things, our first reaction was: others
would think your parents were poor and starving you
to death. What came to our mind was that he should
live like a Hsueh's child.
This is our responsibility to our
heavenly father. We are to live like the child of the
almighty God. In everything we do and say, we are to
reflect his holiness, love, beauty and glory.
IV. The
blessing of future unity.
So far we have learned that we are
chosen by God. He predestined us to be his children,
holy and blameless. however, there is a future aspect
of his blessing. There is a mystery of his will (v9).
What is it about? The mystery is that: there will
come a day when all things in heaven and on earth
will come together under Jesus Christ(v10).
This "all things" first
of all, includes all the believers. Yes, we are under
Christ now, but we are also still influenced by sins.
Very often because of our sinful nature, personality
bends, our misused freedom, insistence on personal
opinions and convictions, we do not live in harmony
with each other. Christians are at odds with each
other. Churches are separated from each other. But
God's word tells us that there will come a day when
it will be under Jesus Christ. There will be perfect
harmony among the Christians and with Christ.
This all things also means the
created world. You see, when God first created the
heavens and the earth, everything in it was good and
perfect according to God's perfect standards. Then
men deliberately disobeyed God and sin entered into
this perfect world. What was good and perfect is now
full of blemishes. The normal became abnormal.
Consequently, we all live in a broken and fallen
world, filled with pain and suffering. In Romans 8:21,22,
"that the creation itself will be liberated from
its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious
freedom of the children of God. We know that the
whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of
childbirth right up to the present time." Here
we learn that the entire creation is waiting for the
day when we will all be ruled under Jesus Christ. The
day when pain and suffering will be gone. The
abnormal will once again turn into normal and good.
You see, the Christian has a linear
view of history. There was a beginning, and it is
going somewhere. It does not stay in the present
state forever. If the present abnormal, painful state
continues with no end in sight, then we can all say
with the Existentialist that life, indeed, has no
meaning whatsoever. But the gospel message is not so.
Yes, right now, wherever we turn our eyes, we see
pain, suffering, disharmony and all kinds of
abnormality. But this will not last forever. There
will come a day, when the physical world and all of
God's children will be under the rule of Jesus Christ.
This is the gospel message.
Conclusion:
In recent years, in both the
Eastern and Western societies, more and more people
have access to wealth, health and success. Many of us
are living better than 10 years ago. 10 years from
now, we can see ourselves easily accumulate more
wealth than what we currently have. But isn't it also
true that the degree of happiness in life is by no
means directly proportionate to our amount of wealth?
I think of one particular
individual. Within 5 years of coming to this country,
he completed his studies, found a job with a close to
6 digit salary. He got married. His story was the
perfect dream that so many young people are dreaming
of. But his personal life was miserable. He drank and
had uncontrollable rage. In less than 3 years his
marriage was shattered. You probably have heard
similar stories among your friends. If material
prosperity is truly a blessing, why are so many of us
are so miserable?
Maybe this should cause us to give
serious consideration to what we have studied this
morning. True blessings are not wealth, health and
success. But it has to do with our relationship with
the God who made us. True blessing is being redeemed
from the dominion of sin and God's wrath and
punishment. True blessing is being chosen by God to
be his sons and daughters.
Rev. William
Hsueh Sep 17, 2000
Houston Chinese Church, Houston, Texas
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