Fix our eyes on Jesus. If you're able, would you please
stand for the reading of God's Word?
This morning I'll be reading from Paul's letter to the
Ephesians, chapter 1, beginning with verse 11.
Apostle Paul writes in him we've obtained an inheritance, having
been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all
things according to counsel of His will, that we who are the
first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of His glory and
Him also. When you heard the word of
truth, the gospel of your salvation and believed in Him
were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the
guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of
it to the praise of His glory. This is the word of the Lord.
You may be seated. Now.
It's often said that we live in a post Christian or a secular
age. Living here in Dallas, TX, I
know many of us are still trying to catch up to what that word
even means. What's it mean to be in a post
Christian age? And what's amazing, as we're
catching up, much of the western world has already moved on.
There is a phenomenon spreading throughout particular the
western world, on the coasts of our own country and over in
Europe that many are calling post secularism.
In other words, they've already moved beyond post Christianity
and now they're calling themselves post secular.
Now what in the world does that mean?
It means that many, especially in the younger generations, no
longer believe that the anti religious, atheistic, secular
way of seeing the world is an adequate way to answer life's
most basic and fundamental questions.
That's not to say that everybody suddenly is becoming Christians,
but they're becoming skeptical about skepticism.
And they're recognizing that there have been these enduring
questions that human beings have always had to answer, that
atheism and secularism just cannot answer.
Questions like what is truth? Who ultimately gets to decide
what is right and what is wrong? How can humanity save itself
from its own self destruction? Nearly 100 years ago, a Dutch
missionary named JH Bobink name these kinds of questions
magnetic points. JH Bobink was the nephew of
theologian Herman Bobink, and he was quite a theologian in his
own right. He identified these five
magnetic points, or five enduring questions that
transcend history and culture. In the very first of these
unavoidable questions that every human being has to answer, he
said, is the question of belonging.
It's that thing that fills your heart and soul when you go
outside out in West TX, look up at the sky and see the stars.
The sense that there is something bigger than us, even
though we are so small, and yet we feel somehow connected to it.
It's that sense that we get as we consider the each one of us
as just an individual. And yet we're part of this
larger human race of billions of people.
It fills us with this overwhelming longing to connect.
You see, everybody wants to belong.
We search for belonging in relationships, in our
allegiances. It's why we love sports so much,
why so many of us will fill entire stadiums of people.
Why? Because deep down, we just want
to belong. We search for, connecting and
connection the devices that we have in our pockets, trying
again and again with every swipe to connect to other people.
And yet, studies have shown we have never been more lonely.
We even try to satisfy this belonging by trying to possess
things. Somehow thinking of things can
belong to us. Maybe we can dissatisfy this
desire. And so from our earliest days,
trying to fit in on the playground or from the name that
we inherit from our families, we all want to belong to something
or someone. Why is that?
Well, here in the book of Ephesians, Paul reminds us that
we all want to belong because we were created that way.
We were made to belong to something, or I really should
say someone far bigger, far greater than ourselves.
This morning Paul's going to show us this in two ways.
The first is this. In Christ we belong to God.
I want you to look with me.
Ephesians one, verse 11, Paul says in him that is 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. Apostle Paul begins verse 11
with these words. In him we've obtained an
inheritance. Now what is this inheritance
that Paul is talking about? Now, when we speak of an
inheritance, we're often talking about family, possessions,
property, and wealth that passes down from one generation to the
next. So if Paul is saying here in
verse 11 that in Christ we've been given an inheritance, then
surely he's not talking about physical inheritance, physical
wealth. No, he's talking about something
far greater as a spiritual inheritance.
And as we look back on the 10 verses that precede verse 11, we
see that this is what Paul has been teaching us, the opening
chapter of his letter to the Ephesians.
He's talking about all of the spiritual blessings that belong
to us who are in Christ. This morning, if you thought
call yourself a Christian, if you are a follower of Jesus,
then Paul says you've been blessed and you have been
lavished with grace upon grace. And so it makes sense that if
this is what Paul is saying here, opening words of verse 11,
that we've been given an inheritance that surely are
inheritance far greater than any kind of earthly wealth or
possession would be. That as the family of God being
adopted, as his sons and daughters, we now are due an
inheritance that is ours, not because of us, but because we're
part of this family. But you see, I don't think that
what Paul is really talking about here, because everything I
just said is true. And he will actually talk about
us being given inheritance in just a few verses.
But see, I think before Paul is talking about the inheritance
that we are being given, he's talking about a reality that's
far more gracious and far more incredible for us to wrap our
minds around. See the original language of the
Bible, the New Testament book of Ephesians is Greek, and Greek at
times can be difficult to translate, difficult to really
render into English. Here at PCPC, we use the English
Standard Version, the translation of the Bible.
It's a wonderful translation. But as I read verse 11, if any
of you brought your own Bible this morning, it's entirely
possible that you read something far different.
And often times the differences in our Bible translations is not
that significant, but sometimes it is to many scholars.
Many translations actually read verse 11 quite differently.
The word for inheritance here is hard to translate.
Where is this inheritance coming from?
Just what kind of inheritance is Paul talking about?
And I actually think a much better translation is found in
the NIV. In him we were chosen.
That's how verse 11 begins the NIV in him we were chosen or
elsewhere you might see in Him we were made a heritage are
quite literally. I think the way verse 11 should
begin as this in him we were made an inheritance.
Not that we have been given inheritance, which we have, and
Paul will talk about that in just a few verses.
But first, what Paul wants us to understand is not the
inheritance that we've been given, but the inheritance that
we are. That because of Jesus we are now
God's inheritance. What does that mean?
It means that God has set His affection on you and on me.
It means you are His treasure. It means you are his prized
possession. It means that in Christ we
belong to God. We are his inheritance.
And Paul put it this way in just a few verses, Ephesians one,
verse 18. It's not in your bulletin, but
if you have a Bible, you can turn there as Paul prays for the
Ephesian church. He prays the eyes of their
hearts would be enlightened that you may know what is the hope to
which he has called you. What are the riches of his
glorious inheritance in the Saints?
Did you hear it? The riches of his glorious
inheritance in the Saints? The Saints, as we've already
learned, not these famous Christians who've gone before
us, but every follower of Jesus is a St.
They've been set apart. They've been marked and called
to be holy because of Jesus. If you're a follower of Jesus
this morning, that describes you.
What Paul is saying is the riches of God's glorious
inheritance is in the Saints. We are his inheritance.
And this is one of the great storylines of the Bible from
Genesis to Revelation, that God and His sovereign grace has
named and chosen a people for His own possession.
We see this in the book of Exodus.
After God rescued Israel out of slavery, He says to his people
in Exodus 19 verse 5. God says, Now therefore, if you
indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my
treasured possession among all peoples, God's people, His
covenant people, the people of Israel, or His treasure.
Moses put it this way in Deuteronomy 9, Deuteronomy 929,
he's speaking to God. He says they are your people,
your inheritance that you brought out by your great power
in your outstretched arm. And then again in Deuteronomy
32, when the Most High gave the nation's their inheritance, when
he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according
to the number in the sons of God.
But the Lord's portion is his people.
Jacob has allotted heritage. And what does all this mean?
It means that God's inheritance is us.
It means that we belong to him. Means this morning with all of
your longing to belong to someone or something you already
do because of Jesus, you already do.
And what's amazing about what Paul is saying here is that all
of this happened before the foundation of the world, that
God set his sights on you and on me.
And he said you are mine. And because you are my
inheritance, I will stop at nothing to bring you to myself,
and to love you to the end. So let me read verse 11 again
for you, using this translation. Ephesians one, verse 11.
In Him we have been made an inheritance, having been
predestined according to the purpose of him who works all
things according to the counsel of His will, that we who are the
first to hope in Christ might be the praise of His glory.
So what Paul is saying here in verse 11, he's building on
everything he's already been teaching us about the doctrine
of predestination. And if you're new with us this
morning, I encourage you to go back and listen to Mark's
sermons on this wonderful doctrine, A doctrine that
teaches us that God is not some aloof puppet master in the sky,
but a God who loved us so much that he chose us to himself.
What we've seen is that the doctrine of predestination is a
doctrine of assurance, a doctrine of love.
Paul wants us to understand so deeply just how deep and wide
and sovereign God's Love Actually is, so much that now in
verse 11 he's saying you belong to him.
You are his inheritance. To the other thing he's
answering for us here is why maybe you've asked that question
over the last several weeks. Well, why predestination?
Why would God do it this way? And it's one thing to ask that
question theologically, philosophically, try to wrap
your mind around it. But it's another thing to ask
that question personally, because I, I don't think you can
truly grapple with the doctrine of predestination until
eventually you ask, well, why me?
Why me? Why would God choose me?
If you ever asked yourself that question, to the heart of that
question is a recognition that left yourself.
You don't belong to God because you've abandoned him that left
yourself. You don't deserve to be called
among his family, just like me. Not only have we been orphaned,
we've chosen our orphan hood in our sin, and we turn our back on
our Creator and our heavenly Father every time we choose some
other pursuit, some other God, some other way to rescue
ourselves. What Paul is teaching us here,
because of love, he said, his affection on us, he said, You're
mine. And God, the heavenly Father of
all things, sent his only Son to die in our place so that we who
once orphans might now become called sons and daughters.
That makes us the family of God, and that means in all of our
searching to belong, you belong to God, the creator of the
universe. That's why nothing else will
satisfy, because you were created to belong to him.
And I think God did it this way in order to prove that none of
this is about us. This is what Paul says, verse
12. Why did God do it this way?
Why predestination? Why choose us?
Why make us his inheritance? He tells us verse 12, so that we
who are the first to hope in Christ, might be to the praise
of his glory. Brothers and sisters, our
salvation is about His glory. Our redemption isn't even about
us, yet in so many ways it is. But ultimately it's about his
glory. So the world will look on us and
say, I don't get it. None of you deserve this.
None of you should belong. The only explanation is that a
sovereign God decided to love you and call you to Himself.
The story of salvation is all about God from beginning to end.
And that is good news because from the very beginning God
saved us in spite of ourselves. While we were enemies, Christ
died for us. But now for those of us who have
trusted in Jesus as we struggle to hold on to hope and faith, as
we face disappointment and difficulty and doubt, as we come
into a sanctuary on Sunday morning and so many of us
entangled with sin and addiction, and we wonder, does
God still love me? What Paul is telling us here in
Ephesians 1 verses 11 and 12 is, yes, He does, because you still
belong to Him. You are his inheritance and He
will get his inheritance in the end.
He will love you to the end because you belong to Him.
That's the first thing. The second thing Paul teaches
us, not only do we belong to God, but he belongs to us.
When it's not staggering enough to think that somehow we belong
to the God of the universe, that we are his inheritance, Paul
also teaches us here in Ephesians that God is our
inheritance. Verse 13 he tells us in Christ
you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of
your salvation and believed in him were sealed with the
promised Holy Spirit. What Paul is saying is when you
first came to believe in Jesus, you were given a gift and not
only did you receive salvation through Christ by faith alone,
you also received the promised Holy Spirit.
You've been given Jesus and you've been given the Holy
Spirit. My favorite book on the Holy
Spirit was written by the Puritan Englishman John Owen.
This is what he wrote. He said when God planned the
great work of saving sinners, He provided 2 gifts.
He gave his Son, and He gave His Spirit.
Now often as we think of the story of the gospel as
Christians, we think of all we've been given in Jesus, and
that is right and good. We've been getting everything in
Christ. He died for us.
He rose again for us. He's coming back for us.
We can't forget that the story of salvation is not just about
Jesus, but all three persons of the Trinity.
But the wisdom of God the Father planned our salvation.
We're getting the foundation of the world that the humility of
the Son purchased our salvation when he died and rose again for
us. And now the promised Holy
Spirit. We've been given the power of
salvation. And this is what Paul is telling
us in verse 13. We've been sealed with the
promised Holy Spirit. This same Holy Spirit that Jesus
told his disciples in the upper room in the Gospel of John would
be a helper. This is John 14 verse 26.
He said, But the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father
will send in my name, will teach you all things and bring to your
remembrance all that I have said to you.
This word that Jesus uses here being champion, counselor,
advocate, helper, well, how does the Holy Spirit help us?
I think Paul tells us here in Ephesians chapter one verse 14,
you are sealed with the promised Holy Spirit who is the guarantee
of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it to the
praise of His glory. Paul tells us the Holy Spirit is
our helper by being the guarantee of our inheritance.
Now what does that mean? I just want to mention two brief
things before we come to the table.
First, the Holy Spirit is a guarantee of our inheritance and
that He is the very power of salvation working now in US,
sanctifying us, causing us to be made new.
Paul put it this way in Romans 8 verse 11 where he says if the
Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, who
raised Christ Jesus from the dead also will give life to your
immortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
Paul is saying that as you fix your eyes on Jesus and on the
cross, and you consider all that God has given to us through our
salvation, that our sin was nailed to the cross, that there
Jesus died in our place and on the third day he rose again.
Paul is saying that you don't just look on it from afar, but
through the Holy Spirit he has brought our salvation near.
So much so that this morning, if you've trusted in that
salvation, death and resurrection of Jesus for you,
Paul says here that that same Holy Spirit who raised Jesus
from the dead now dwells in you. God, the Holy Spirit lives in
you, and he is bringing the very power of the resurrection to
bear in your life the guarantee of your inheritance.
So for you this morning, if heaven feels way too far off,
whether it be because of your suffering or your disappointment
or your grief, or if it feels way too off because of your sin,
you've been given a guarantee. The very Holy Spirit who now
dwells in you, giving life, resurrection life to you right
here, right now. The second way, the Holy Spirit,
is a guarantee. Second way is that the Holy
Spirit is ours now. God himself, His very presence,
is ours now. He's not far off, but he's so
near that he dwells in US. The Holy Spirit is a guarantee
of the greatest inheritance that we could ever fathom, not just
the blessings that are ours in Christ Jesus, but Jesus himself.
We can never separate all of the blessings of Christ from Christ
himself. Christ ultimately is our
inheritance, the fullness of the presence of God that awaits us
when we come into glory. What Paul is saying is you've
been given a guarantee of that inheritance.
Now you don't have to wait. All that awaits us in glory in
heaven. We've been given a down payment,
a guarantee in the person of the Holy Spirit.
And that's amazing. As the Holy Spirit now is, there
awaits us an inheritance that is even greater.
And the Holy Spirit, we're given just a glimpse with all of his
power and all of His Majesty and all of his presence.
It's still just a glimpse of the glory of the presence of God
that awaits us and our inheritance to come.
In the same way that now as we come to this table, it's just a
foretaste as an amazing of a gift.
This is to draw us into the presence of God.
It's just a foretaste of the feast to come.
And so as we come to this table, come trusting in Jesus, knowing
that not only do you belong to him, but he belongs to you.
And in this feast set before us as a church, may we now receive
that incredible gift again and again and again.
We belong to him, that in Christ he belongs to us.
Let's pray. Father in heaven, as we come now
to this table, we pray that you would be present with us.
We thank you that we are in you and that You, your Holy Spirit,
are in US. May we now, as we commune with
you through this feast together, taste just a small portion of
that heavenly feast. We ask in Jesus name.