The Gospel for the Ephesians: Why should we worship? Paul opens his letter to the Ephesians with a doxology, or a call to worship, in response to the cosmic scope of God’s plan in Christ. When we see the loving work of the Father, Son, and Spirit, from eternity to eternity, saving and transforming adopted sons and daughters in Christ — how can we help but give glory to God? Recorded on Apr 28, 2024, on Ephesians 1:1-14 by Pastor David Parks.
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Our series, Ephesians: The Gospel in Life, serves as an epilogue to Finding Life in Jesus’ Name from John’s gospel. The Apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians reveals much about how the life found by faith in Jesus actually works. This series will touch on themes of grace, identity, purpose, family, the church, spiritual warfare, and more. If you’re considering the life of Jesus or if you’re ready to follow him today, this series is for you.
Sermon Transcript
So, last week, we finished our series, Finding Life in Jesus’ Name, from John’s gospel. It took us 44 weeks, but we made it! And we said that John was all about finding life in Jesus’ name. Well, today, we’re starting a 14-week series called The Gospel in Life from the book of Ephesians in the Bible. I see this series as a fitting next step to John’s gospel because Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is all about what life looks like that is found by faith in Jesus’ name. And the first answer in Ephesians is that the Christian life is, first and foremost, a life of worship. Why do we meet every week for worship? Why do we sing songs of praise and pray/serve/give day by day? Have you ever wondered about that? When I was a kid, I was raised in the church, so I didn’t think much of it. It was just what we did. But in my twenties, I was invited to be on a teaching team at our church and started to preach every few months. I immediately agreed, but later, I thought, “Wait, what are we trying to do here? What’s the purpose of preaching? What’s the purpose of worship?” Our text today starts to answer these questions. But it’s like opening up a vault filled with priceless treasures, each deserving our utmost attention. After the opening greeting, we find the longest and maybe one of the most important sentences in all of Paul’s writing. This sentence is so densely packed with the riches of who God is and the fully cosmic scope of the gospel we’ll need the rest of our lives to explore it (even then, I don’t think we’ll run out of things to discover). Instead, today, we’ll get more of a 30,000 ft. view of this famous text and all its astonishing reasons for us to worship. If you have a Bible/app, please take it and open it to Ephesians 1:1.
Ephesians 1:1-2 (NIV), “1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus: 2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” The book of Ephesians was originally an epistle or letter, which followed the common format for letters back in the first century AD. It begins with a greeting, which states that this letter is from the Apostle Paul, who says his apostleship came by the will of God. Now, this statement is true of every apostle (and, incidentally, anyone called into church leadership), but this seems especially true for Paul if you know his story. We studied the life of Paul almost exactly one year ago, so if you’d like to go back and watch or listen to those sermons, you can. At any rate, Paul was writing this letter to whom? To “God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus.” In other words, he was writing to the Christians in Ephesus. Now, some early manuscripts do not have the words “in Ephesus,” so some scholars believe this letter was intended to be shared with other churches in other cities as well. Whether or not that’s true, it does make sense with the general nature of the letter. It doesn’t address a specific issue in Ephesus or mention anyone by name there, as Paul’s other letters do. But from very early on (within 100 years after it was written), the church universally associated this letter with Ephesus, so I think we’re safe to assume it was intended to be delivered there, even if it was meant to be shared elsewhere. Well, my first draft of this sermon was going to be closer to an hour, so, for your sake (and the sake of our kid’s team members), I’ve cut a major part of Paul’s background and historical information about what life was like at this time in the city of Ephesus. However, I promise to include this in my church email this week. If you’re not on our email list, please fill out a connect card, and you’ll get this content. But here, while under house arrest in Rome, Paul was writing back to a church he’d planted about ten years earlier. So, with that, let’s jump into the main text of the letter.
Ephesians 1:3 (NIV), “3 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 starts the body of his letter with a doxology or a call to worship God. Now, the Hebrew Bible (OT) is full of doxologies that often begin with “Praise be to the LORD.” But here, Paul writes, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” He expands the traditional doxology to include the person and work of Jesus. Why? Because, something that was a hidden mystery in ages past has now been revealed: All the promises of the Father in the OT are fulfilled in the Son — the Lord Jesus Christ. There were many prophecies about this in the past. But how God would finally bless his people has now been revealed in Jesus. This is the main content of the gospel. We say it often, but the gospel is the good news of who God is, what he has done, and what he’s doing today through His Son and Spirit. We’ll see this throughout Ephesians. But Paul says the primary location of this blessing is in the heavenly realms today. This is important to remember while we struggle with life in this broken world. One day, our blessing will be just as true on the earth as it is in heaven. We have not yet arrived. We’re not yet home. It’s worth pointing out that, unlike the false teachers of our day, Paul envisions our blessing not as health and wealth here and now but as receiving every spiritual blessing in Christ. Health and wealth are temporary. But spiritual blessings in Christ are eternal. But how has God blessed us? The rest of this doxology answers this according to the work of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in that order. So first, what has God the Father done that deserves our praise? The Father has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. But when and how has the Father blessed us?
Ephesians 1:4a (NIV), “4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.” The blessing of God starts with the fact that the Father chose/selected us. He doesn’t suffer us or tolerate us; he chose us. If God put a basketball team together, he would pick you. But you might think, what could I possibly bring to his team? I’m too short/young/old/slow; I’m no good at basketball! If that’s how you feel, you’re starting to get the point. The gospel is wild. God doesn’t need us, but he wants us. But he didn’t choose us on our own; the Father chose us in him, that is, in Christ. Our union with Christ is one of the great themes of this letter. But if it’s true, it’s the most important part (by far) of who we are. But it’s not just that we receive a new identity in Christ; all the treasures of the gospel are found “in Christ.” He is how the Father blessed us. But when? When did the Father choose us? When we prayed the sinner’s prayer or invited Jesus into our hearts? No. Paul says from eternity past. The Father chose us before the creation of the world. Before we ever had a chance to do something for God. Before we ever had a chance to prove our worth to God. Before we’d even heard about Jesus. Isn’t that amazing? God was thinking about you before he made the world. You weren’t an accident. You aren’t the product of time plus chance, as the materialists believe. You were part of his plan. And what was the outcome of this plan? Paul says the Father chose us “…to be holy and blameless in his sight.” He chose us to transform us through all our sins and struggles. To be holy means to be special, to be set apart for the Lord’s use. To be blameless means to be cleaned, purified, and without sin. But, if you’re like me, this sounds so far from the life I now lead. How will he do this work? How will he take us and make us holy and blameless?
Ephesians 1:4b-6 (NIV), “In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.” If you take notes in your Bible, I would underline this statement. It’s one of the best. Now, we’ll see how the Father accomplished this saving and transforming work in a second. First, we need to see why he did this. Did you notice? It was because of his love for us. In love, he predestined us for adoption. The whole span of God’s work in the world, from creation to salvation to new creation, from eternity to eternity, is motivated by God’s great love for us. In case that isn’t enough to see the heart of God, Paul says that the Father did this work in accordance with his pleasure and will. God wasn’t obligated or coerced. He did this because he wanted to (it was his will), and it made him happy (in accordance with his pleasure). Did you know this is how your Father in heaven feels about you? But how did he accomplish this? The Father predestined you (which means he decided in advance) for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ. Now, Paul isn’t leaving out the women here. He’s not saying that Christian women somehow become sons. Paul uses a technical term for adoption that the Ephesians would’ve understood, but he applied it in a revolutionary way. In their day, women did not have full inheritance rights in a family. If a father died, their property and wealth would mostly go to the oldest son and then would be divided up further after that. But, and this is what’s so revolutionary, Paul says that men and women receive adoption to sonship in Christ. In other words, men and women receive full inheritance rights in the family of God. God is adopting sons and daughters into his family in Jesus. This is how he has provided every spiritual blessing. Because of his love and grace, he has blessed/chosen/adopted us in Christ. As we continue, Paul moves from the work of the Father to the work of the Son.
Ephesians 1:7-8a (NIV), “7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us.” In him means in Christ, and by faith in Christ, we have been redeemed. Redeemed from what? Redeemed from bondage to sin and death. The bad news of the gospel is that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And the ultimate consequence of sin is death. But this is the redemption the Son bought with his own blood through his death on the cross. He paid our redemption price, he bought our life, and he opened a way for us not only to be reconciled to God but, shockingly, to be adopted as his child. But again, the Son didn’t do this atoning work because he was forced to. He, too, acted in love and in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. When Jesus lived the perfect life, died the death that we deserve, and then rose victorious over death and grave, God didn’t do the bare minimum to save us. He lavished his grace on us. He opened up the storehouses of heaven and poured out far more than we could ever repay; he poured out himself. V. 8 continues.
Ephesians 1:8b-10 (NIV), “With all wisdom and understanding, 9 he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.” This great plan of salvation in Christ was not understood clearly until the resurrection of Jesus. We saw this in John’s gospel. The disciples were still somewhat muddled about what Jesus would do — until he did it! And then he opened their minds to understand what the Scriptures had said about him, that he had to die and rise again. And he gave them the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of truth, to remind them of what he said and help them understand the mystery of God’s will, which he purposed in Christ. Now, in the age of the gospel, the Spirit, and the church, we’re no longer muddled; we see the wisdom and understanding of God. We see that history has a direction/destination. God is pulling all the threads of this damaged creation together, weaving a new and beautiful tapestry under Christ. One day, all things in heaven and on earth will be united under Christ. This is God’s grand goal for his work — to exalt his Son to the highest place. Jesus is the point. He’s the goal. He’s the direction/destination of everything. Jesus is the Cosmic King. But he’s not just our Lord and our Savior; that would be more than enough. This is who we are united to! But it’s not just what God has done in the past that deserves our praise. It’s also what God has promised for our future — in the return of Christ and the resurrection of the dead, in the judgment of all and the new heaven and earth, and everything to come in the kingdom of God. Paul reveals the scope of God’s plan, running from eternity to eternity. But again, shockingly, this plan includes us.
Ephesians 1:11-12 (NIV), “11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.” In Christ, we were also chosen (some translations have “obtained an inheritance”), having been predestined according to the plan of the Father. The gospel, including this plan of salvation, redemption, and adoption, was revealed first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles. Paul’s audience in Ephesus was mostly Gentile, but Jesus was the Jewish Messiah. And all his first followers were Jewish (the “we” in v. 12). But very quickly after the resurrection, it became clear that God was including the Gentiles, too, in Christ.
Ephesians 1:13-14 (NIV), “13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.” This is God’s word. Notice Paul switches from we to you. And when were these Gentiles included in Christ? When they heard and believed the gospel. But here, in the application of God’s saving work, we move from the work of the Son to the Spirit. When the Ephesians believed, they were marked in Christ with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit. In this age of the gospel and the church, we have been given another advocate/helper/counselor, just as Jesus promised, the Spirit of the living God. He is the deposit guaranteeing our inheritance in the kingdom of God until the final redemption of those who are God’s possession in the age to come. So, the Father has blessed/chosen/adopted us in Christ. And the Son came into this broken world and lived and died and rose again so that we might be redeemed, forgiven, and reconciled to God. And the Spirit dwells within us as the very presence and power of God, healing/helping/transforming us day by day into the likeness of Christ until that day when we shall see him face to face. So, for these (and ten thousand other reasons), the first command and the highest calling for the life of the Christian is worship — to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Why do we worship? Because we’ve been created and redeemed for the praise of his glory! All the wonderful works of God are for the praise of his glory. Oh that we would never forget this as a church. May we always be captivated by the gospel. It was true for the Ephesians 2,000 years ago and it’s just as true for us today. May we never tire of telling and retelling it. May we never lose the wonder of this story the prophets longed to understand, and even the angels long to look into these things. Because the gospel is the good news of who God is, what he has done, and what he is doing today through his Son and Spirit. The gospel is received by faith, by believing in Jesus. And the first work of faith should be to join Paul’s doxology, singing the praises of the One who loved us before the world began, the One who is here even now, and the One who will one day bring to unity all things in Christ. Let us pray.