"We Are Not Here By Accident" (Ephesians 1:3-14) Purpose Driven Series Sermon Two

A. INTRODUCTION – A Divine Appointment

Having determined that it all starts with God and that God is the centre of the universe, we can then begin to unwrap where we as human beings fit in. The opening verses of Ephesians give us a lot of insight into this to go on. We can see here that it is no accident that we have come to know God and thus are sitting here today trying to deepen that relationship. To be here is to honour a ‘divine appointment’. We are meant to be here! [Sometimes we might have to say that we were meant to be here, even when we weren’t actually here!]

During the week I had a dentist appointment. This meant that I had to show up at a certain place at a certain time in the interests of my dental health. Our participation in a church community is a ‘divine appointment’, where we have shown up here at this time in the interests of our spiritual health. Indeed, the whole of our life has become somewhat of a ‘divine appointment’, whereby we see each moment of life’s journey in its connection with God at the centre of all things.

In a helpful paraphrase of Romans 12:3 the “Message” reads in part, “The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us”.

B. TEXT OF EPHESIANS

So, what do we discover in Ephesians chapter 1 which is of great importance to our human and spiritual identity? If God is the centre of the universe where does my life fit in?? What do you see here???

[And this is a very important quest for us. This is because a lot of the people living around us are living without the sort of foundation that we are reading in this text. And we can be so easily swayed to these alternative life orientations that are so prevalent if we are not absolutely clear what we are really about. We can so easily shift so subtly if we are not careful. Young people … in the search for popularity … we can so easily become followers instead of leaders.]

(1) GOD CHOSE US

In creating us, God chose us to be in a loving relationship with him. God destined us to become his eternal children. This was all done, “…according to the good pleasure of God’s own will” (verse 5b); or as the NLT translates, “This is what God wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure”. God loves us intently – God’s whole purpose in creation was to have us to love. Those who are doing this study series in their small group will look at Psalm 139 to discover how vivid our very origin was in the mind of God. God has chosen us to be an object of his love.

This is not to say that we have been ‘chosen’ and that others haven’t! God has high hopes that all will respond to his invitation. But this does say that God has turned his heart towards us at our conception, set his mind toward seeking us out, and done everything he can to connect with us. We don’t have to convince God to accept us, we don’t have to wonder whether God will welcome us or not; God has already chosen the unchangeable path of loving us, patiently awaiting us to respond in faith. And God has ‘chosen’ us, not just for a single moment of decision, but rather we are ‘chosen’ with all of God’s purposes for our lives in mind. We are not chosen to be ordinary and ineffective, but are chosen to be “holy and blameless” (v.4), which at least in part suggests that we excel in our Christian life.

Because of the way we have been designed, we actually can never be complete as a human being without God in our life. I know many have tried it, but I don’t know anyone who’s pulled it off! We have an inbuilt place in our lives that only God can fill – without God there is a void. Many people have tried to fill this space with other things, but never successfully, and often very destructively. Whether its money, material possessions, worldly success, power, sex or drugs – these cannot take the place of God. Carl Williams tried all of these and we see how he finished up! Such was the nature of our creation that we need God; and not just to survive, but more so to fulfill our life’s God-given purpose.

(2) JESUS PROVIDED FOR OUR REDEMPTION AND ADOPTION

You think you’re well off the mark from the way God would have you be! Well, Jesus has provided for our ‘redemption’. ‘Redemption’ refers to the process of buying back that which has been lost to another interest. The Ephesians would have been familiar with the Greco-Roman practice whereby slaves were freed by the payment of a ransom. Such slaves were in bitter bondage to their particular masters, until a benevolent benefactor could sponsor their freedom. Or we go to ‘cash converters’ to buy back that piece of jewelry we had to sell off in a time of economic crisis, but find someone else has paid over the money for us and we can have our prized possession returned freely.

God has bought us back from the ownership of whatever has entrapped us destructively or unhelpfully and separated us from him. There was a price to pay for such a transaction as this, and of course Jesus paid that price in full. We don’t have to buy our own way out – indeed we would never have the capacity so to do – rather … we just accept that Jesus has already liberated us.

The forgiveness that Jesus offers breaks us free from the negative power of guilt and delivers us from our feelings of shame. To feel ‘guilt’ is to realize I have done wrong. To experience ‘shame” is to have that sensation that somehow I am wrong – that I am diminished in my personhood. Jesus brings the remedy for both conditions. As we truly regret the times where we have hurt others (or ourselves), acted inappropriately or unthinkingly, dishonoured God or generally gone in the wrong direction, then God, rather than condemning, and for the sake of a relationship with him, forgives us.

You will notice in verse 8, that God’s grace was not reluctantly measured out in little portions. The ‘grace’ that makes such redemption and forgiveness possible was actually “lavished” on us generously (with such hopeful expectations concerning our response).

Another benefit we read about in this passage is receiving “adoption as [God’s] children through Jesus Christ’ (v.5). This denotes that, although we have been born of human parents, we are becoming part of God’s family unit (alongside Jesus) with all of the same privileges you would expect as a natural member of that family; which includes, as we shall see, sharing in the inheritance to be had. Thus, our home is in heaven (just as much as Jesus’ home is in heaven). The life orientation and objectives of heaven are our life orientation and objectives.

(3) THE HOLY SPIRIT SEALS OUR INHERITANCE

As just mentioned, this adoption into the family of God allows us to share in God’s inheritance to his children. Some of us may receive a little something when our parents have both passed away, but we will usually have to wait before we receive such benefits. God on the other hand can’t wait to give us everything that he has to share with us – it’s ready for us to enjoy and utilize now.

What does it mean to be “marked with the seal of the … Holy Spirit” (v.13)? At the time “seals” were affixed to certain goods in transit to indicate particular ownership and thus protect or guarantee its contents for that owner. “Seals” were also attached to documents to prove their genuineness. So, you get the point? To be “marked with the seal of the … Holy Spirit” is to be deemed to be under Divine ownership, where all the ‘contents’ so to speak of a life are under the influence and protection of God. Also, anyone who sees such a “mark” or “seal” will know who the package, or in this case the person, actually belongs to. A Jesus follower will be more and more recognized as such, as the Holy Spirit works in their life.

When the human environment brings us a little too much complexity, the Holy Spirit reassures and guides us toward truth that will keep us in Christ. More than this, the Holy Spirit inspires us to participate in God’s mission in the world, to understand where God is active and get involved – rather than being fatalistic about the world’s woes, we seek to be part of the solution. In this way we would be demonstrably sealed for eternity by God’s Holy Spirit. Is our ultimate response to God’s grace to sit quietly in our chair and think how lucky we are … surely not!

The end point of all this is touched on in verse 12 (and then again in verse 14) – “… so that we … might live for the praise of [God’s] glory” – or, ‘so that we might live in such a way as to bring praise and glory to God’. Whereas we cannot actually make God any greater (or any better than he already is), we can, through the way that we live out our ‘redemption’ and ‘adoption’ and are known as God’s person, significantly testify to God’s might and wonder, and thereby enhance God’s reputation. More on this in a later sermon in this series! There is a real accountability for us to wrestle with here.

C. CONCLUSION – Trinitarian Formulation

We have read here of God’s great planning. God is the architect, not only of our life, but also of our salvation. Jesus is the agent of our salvation through sacrificing in the cause of our redemption and adoption into the eternal family of God. The Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our salvation through making us fruitful. We are not here by accident … hardly! I hope and pray that we have all been able to respond to God’s great provision to each one of us!!! God is reaching out to us from the centre of the universe lavishing us with grace and offering us a great inheritance.