Ephesians chapter 1 beginning at verse 3, 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. Even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace, with which He has blessed us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of His grace. May the Lord bless the reading, the hearing of His Word this day and you may be seated. Now, as we've seen over the past few weeks, the Apostle Paul opens this letter to the Ephesians with a sweeping doxology that spans God's redemptive purpose from eternity past all the way through to eternity future. And Paul here is extolling the wonders of redemption from a divine perspective. The song begins with praise for God blessing us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies. Every spiritual blessing. It's important that we not read past sometimes the small words in our text. Folks, nothing is left out. I guarantee you, you have all that you need in Christ for He has determined to bless you with every spiritual blessing in Christ. There is nothing lacking in God's gracious provision for His people. In Christ, He's given us everything we need and more. Blessings beyond what we could ever imagine. Far more, Paul says, than we could even ask or think. That's the gracious generosity of our God. And that's a truth that Paul returns to again and again. Every spiritual blessing, the riches of His grace, lavish bestowal. These are all descriptions Paul uses for God's immensely generous gifts. God's super abundant blessings, if you will. Folks, Christians too often complain that God isn't giving them what they think He should. But you know what, that's a sign of not only deplorable ingratitude, but it's a sign of ingratitude that arises from what we might say prolonged immaturity. The church having given up on preaching and proclaiming and teaching the Word of God has prolonged the immaturity of so many who call themselves Christians. And this is a good test of your maturity. You know, I mentioned a few weeks ago the illustration from C.S. Lewis that I think paints the picture quite well. Too often we behave like clueless children, obsessed with mud pies, all the while ignoring this beautiful, lush, gracious, and abundant banquet that He has spread before us. Folks, the taste of mud is awful, especially once you've tasted the gracious and glorious food of God. Folks, Paul tells us, that we need indeed need to grow up. He tells the Corinthians to be adults in spiritual understanding. And so an important truth that I hope that all of us take away from our look at Paul's opening doxology is just how incredibly blessed we are in Christ. If you get nothing else from this study, please go away with this truth embedded in your thought process, in your mind, and in your heart, that you are blessed beyond comprehension. And this is what Paul is telling us. Now, after opening then, With this dramatic shout of praise for this wondrous grace of God, the apostle takes us on what I would say is an astounding tour of these spiritual blessings. He says, I've told you about every spiritual blessing, now let me spell it out for you. And this breathtaking song of praise can be grouped, we said, into three stanzas. Let's look at it like a song, with each stanza ending with a worshipful refrain dedicated to God's glory for the wonder of His saving grace. We see that refrain three times, so I think this is a good way of looking at this doxology. Last week, we finished looking at the first stanza, which focuses on the Father's timeless purpose. Folks, our salvation is not some utilitarian afterthought. It's not a response to the unforeseen rebellion of the human race. In other words, what God has purposed is not a salvage operation that He threw together after Adam somehow disrupted His good plan. Now Paul wants us to know that God's purpose originates before time began. And as we've seen, that purpose is in Christ, which means that from the very beginning, as Revelation will tell us, Christ is the Lamb slain. So this originates in eternity past. God knew us and He chose us before the foundation of the world. That's what Paul tells us. And he tells us that God chose us to be holy and blameless in His sight. He marked us out for adoption as sons. And folks, we will be holy and blameless because sons not only receive an inheritance from their father, in biblical times especially, the son is expected to take on his father's traits. Like father, like son. Have you heard that before? And that's the whole idea behind God's command to be holy as I am holy. We have a name to live up to, and I realize that living up to our new family name is impossible in ourselves. I prove that to myself every day. But that's why all of this takes place in Christ and through Christ. Jesus Himself is our inheritance, and it's through our union with Him that His righteousness becomes ours. And what's more, as we'll see at the end of this doxology, this becomes a reality through the transforming work of the indwelling Spirit of God. So we grow in that grace that's been given to us. Remember, we've referenced it several times, but Hebrews says something that clarifies this for us. He says, by one sacrifice, God has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. In other words, we're catching up to what God has purposed for us, what God has already accomplished for us in Christ. We're catching up. And that's happening now as the Holy Spirit works within our lives. And so that's important for us to understand. So the apostle goes on then to tell us that God choosing us and for ordaining us to be adopted as his sons, that this was all according to the purpose of his will. Meaning that God is deliberate in what he decides to do and this is what he decided to do before anything ever existed. Listen, God's will can't be thwarted. But Paul also wants us to know that our salvation in Christ is what pleases the Father. That's a remarkable thing to think about. Saving us is what He determined to do, and achieving that purpose gives Him great pleasure. That's what the Scripture says. I mean, God does as He pleases, we know that. And what's remarkable to me is that His good pleasure is so merciful and so benevolent toward His people. We don't deserve it, but His thoughts toward us are loving and gracious. And blessing us this way pleases Him immensely, for He wants to please the Son, and we belong to Him. As Paul tells the Corinthians, no one has actually ever imagined the wonderful things God has in store for His children. That's something to think about. You can't even imagine the great blessing God has in store for His own. And with this then, the Apostle Paul brings this first stanza to a close, and he uses that worshipful refrain to the praise of the glory of His grace. Our salvation can only be described in terms of grace because it's the exclusive work of God from beginning to end. From the decree that predates creation itself to the consummation at the end of the age, it is all of grace, folks, all of grace. Grace is what God purposed from the very beginning. It's what He's now accomplishing in time, and it's how He will finish the good work He has begun. It is all of grace. Neither you, nor I, nor any other creature can contribute anything to God's gracious salvation. It is perfect and complete from beginning to end. Now, while all things exist to God's glory, we've talked about the fact that this song of praise focuses on the specific glory that God receives from the gracious redemption that He's purposed for His people. You know, as Scripture says, we would never survive peering into the unveiled glory of God. We would be destroyed in a moment. But that doesn't mean we can't see His glory. We can. We can see His glory in the saving purpose that He foreordained before the foundation of the world. The purpose that He brought to fulfillment in Jesus Christ. Redemption is a display of God's glory that ought to overwhelm our hearts with wonder. It ought to fill our mouths with praise. Just think about the grace of God in salvation. Now, as we've seen, the setting for this first stanza then is eternity past. When does it take place? Before the foundation of the world. And that drives home the point that God is in control from the very beginning. It shows us that the grace of salvation originates with God's timeless purpose, a sovereign plan that, from our perspective, is older than creation itself. I say from our perspective because it's not older than creation itself because it's timeless, isn't it? But from our perspective, that's certainly what it is. So after a brief pause to give God glory for this wondrous grace that He planned and He purposed before anything ever existed, then Paul moves on with this doxology by telling us how God determined that that eternal purpose of grace could be worked out in time. How is it going to come into the realm of creation? So the next stanza in this song of praise is about how God goes from being, His purpose goes from being this timeless heavenly plan and becomes historical reality. How is it that God's eternal purpose of grace becomes a historical reality? This next stanza shows us how God weaves His redemptive purpose into the very fabric of creation. This marvelous grace has been reserved for us from the foundation of the world. Think about that. The grace that saves you and I has been reserved for us since before anything ever existed. And now Paul is going to tell us how it becomes a reality for us in the present time. And so, as our salvation began, so it continues. It's all of grace. That's how Paul repeatedly describes our redemption as the grace of God. In chapter 2, Paul is going to affirm for us that salvation is indeed by grace alone through faith alone. But this grace of salvation, this grace that brings God glory, it's not just an abstract principle, folks. It's not just a philosophical idea or some intangible notion of unmerited favor. Listen, God doesn't just wave a magic wand and save us. Now, the grace of God, purposed in eternity past, the grace that brings salvation, the grace that proclaims God's glory, listen, that grace is a person. Jesus is the embodiment of God's grace, and that's exactly what Paul tells Titus in chapter 2, verse 11. Folks, the tangible grace of God has actually appeared in the earth. Folks, Christ's coming is God's salvation, stepping out of eternity and invading the created world of time and space. And this is Paul's point. That which God purposed before time has now crossed over into time. It's become a perceptible reality in the person and work of Jesus Christ. And so that's why the Reformers insisted that salvation is not just by grace alone, through faith alone. You have to add, in Christ alone. For he is that grace by which we are saved. You can't have the grace of God without the one who is himself the very grace of God. Our faith has to be rooted in the one who obtains salvation. A salvation freely given to us, graciously given to us, you see. So Jesus is the manifestation of God's grace. He's the one who freely gave himself for an unworthy people. Listen, we didn't deserve for Christ to die in our place. That death was a gracious death. We didn't deserve that he would rise again from the grave in order that we might have new life. That was a gracious resurrection. And we didn't deserve that He ascend into heaven that we might have a home in the Father's eternal dwelling. That again, all of grace. Folks, this helps us then to understand why Paul can't talk about the eternal purpose of God without rooting it in Christ. We've seen it from the very beginning, haven't we? We're only blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ. We're only chosen in Christ. And the only way we're adopted as sons is through Christ. You see, as Paul tells Timothy, Jesus is the only mediator between God and man. He's the epicenter of God's redemptive purpose. He's the focal point of God's saving love. Listen, Jesus is the sun around which the solar system of redemption revolves. Do you see? It's quite a picture, isn't it? God's saving purpose can only be realized in and through Christ. There is no salvation apart from Him. Jesus is the center of God's gracious redemption. He is God's gracious redemption, the embodiment of the glorious grace by which we're saved. And so, at this point, Paul segues from the Father's eternal purpose to the realization of that purpose in time. That's what this second stanza is about. The attention shifts from how the Father fulfills His...to how the Father fulfills His will by sending God the Son to accomplish His good pleasure and to redeem His creation. So this grace that brings God glory has been freely given to us in the person of Christ. I mean, notice how Paul puts it. He says, to the praise of the glory of His grace with which He has blessed us in the Beloved. Again, how is it that God blesses us with this grace? In the beloved. It is singular in the Greek. You know, beloved can be both plural and singular. It's singular in the Greek. So we're talking about Jesus here, folks. This is who he's talking about. In the beloved, that is Christ. And scripture shows us again and again that Jesus is the supreme object of the Father's love. He's the beloved Son in whom the Father is well pleased. And according to Scripture, He's the only reason we're dearly loved of God. The only reason you and I are dearly loved of God is because we are in the one whom the Father loves dearly. Listen, we have been graciously caught up into this love between the Father and the Son. That's what we heard about in Sunday school this morning. Oh, the love between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, this eternal perfection of love. We have been brought into that sphere. How could you ever say we haven't been blessed beyond imagination? And so, indeed, that's exactly what we find. This is the theme of redemption itself. And Jesus emphasized this to His disciples on the night He was betrayed. He said that He has loved us as the Father has loved Him, and whoever loves Christ will be loved by the Father. Do you see how Jesus brings us into the sphere of the triune God's love? Can you see why every spiritual blessing is only in Christ? Listen, we are all that we are and we have all that we have been given only by virtue of our union with Jesus, our union with Christ. I mean, again, in ourselves we're unlovely. In ourselves we're totally unworthy. And Paul stresses that point again and again. And in this phrase it's expressed as well because Our translation actually says that the grace with which He has blessed us. It's actually a play on words in the Greek. A more literal translation would be He has graced us with this grace. It's difficult. I can see why the translators chose to translate it differently because what does that mean? He has graced us with this grace. It means that he has given it to us freely as unmerited, nothing that we did to receive it. It's a bestowal, not a payment for services rendered. So this glorious grace is graced upon us, draped upon us, bestowed upon us, if you will. And most importantly, it is draped upon us in the Beloved, in Christ. That's why salvation is in Christ, and it's by grace alone. So here's the point. God's benevolent will was established before creation. Before anything ever existed, God determined what He was going to do. His good and loving purpose then was determined before the dawn of time. So what must happen for that eternal will to be realized? What is required to bring God's purposes to pass? In other words, how will those chosen before the world was formed actually become holy and blameless? If that's His purpose, how is it we're going to become holy and blameless? What must occur if we're going to be truly adopted as sons? Paul tells us in this doxology. Christ had to come, for He's the one who fulfills all that the Father purposed before the foundation of the world. You see, our redemption must occur in Christ because He's the one who accomplishes what's necessary for those things to become a reality. Remember, we are blessed in Christ. We are chosen in Christ. We are adopted as sons through Christ. And so Paul begins to outline how that eternal purpose is worked out in time. It's all accomplished in the beloved, the one whom the Father sent. It's achieved by what the beloved has done, by what he has accomplished. So the eternal Son, the second person of the Godhead, the Word of God incarnate, He's the one who has entered into time and space to bring God's purposes to pass. Those eternal purposes that predate all of creation are brought into creation by sending His Son. We're blessed with God's wondrous grace only in the Beloved. If Christ hadn't come, there would be no hope for anyone. So Paul goes on to explain then that this grace has been freely given to us in the beloved because, and this next phrase is very important, because in him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses. This is what Christ has accomplished for us in time, our redemption and our forgiveness. I want you to notice something too. Paul doesn't say in him we will have redemption. I know we often don't pay attention to the tenses of verbs, but it's very important here. No, He says, in Him we have, it is present tense. Christ has come. He has finished the work the Father sent Him to do. Do you remember on the cross? What is it they tell us, the last words of Jesus? Well, one of those important phrases that He utters on the cross. It is finished, right before He then commends His Spirit into the hands of the Father. It is finished. And it's because Jesus came, and because He finished the work that the Father had given Him to do, that's why we have redemption. It is an already existing reality. Now, of course, the Scripture is clear that the full experience of redemption, that's yet to come. In fact, the Bible will speak of that future time when we see Him face to face and we have the redemption of our bodies. That's the fullness of what Jesus paid for. But I want you to know you already have in your account what Christ has paid for. It's already there. The Scripture will talk about the Holy Spirit. as the earnest of that which is to come. So the point is, it's already been paid for. It's already been done. So redemption is a reality that begins here and now as we walk by faith and not by sight. You know, that's one we don't like, isn't it? We just wish that wasn't in the scripture. We love walking by sight, don't we? It's easy to walk by sight. Oh, but to trust God that He has kept His Word, that He will keep His Word, to know that what He says is accomplished is accomplished, and to live every day in light of that eternal truth, oh, that takes trust. That takes reliance on Him. You don't have the strength to do it. You certainly don't have the intelligence to do it. There's nothing within us that could ever achieve that, and that's why we have to live every day in dependence upon Him. Do you get up every day saying, Lord, today I am committed to you? I'm yours. You have plotted the day out before me. Let me walk in it with grace. Let me walk in that day you have plotted out before me, listening to the word of God. I know that you're gonna get me to the destination that you have preordained. Let me be cooperative in the process. Don't let me be like the child who has to be dragged along. Let me tell you, God is not above dragging you to your destination. I'm saying that this should change the way we approach life. This should change the way we approach each and every day. Knowing this truth should have a bearing on how we live. And so indeed, we are to walk by faith that Jesus has indeed accomplished what the Scripture says He has. Our redemption is a present possession because Christ, who is Himself the personification of redeeming grace, He's come and He's fulfilled all that the Father purposed before the foundation of the world. You know, redemption is one of those common biblical words that are too often taken for granted. You know what I'm talking about? People think they know what it means, but when they're asked to define it, they often realize that their understanding is just a little bit sketchy. Well, I think I know what it means, but I don't know exactly how to put it. All right? So let's make sure we're all thinking along the same line. The Greek word that's translated redeem means to deliver, to liberate, to emancipate. It means to ransom, to set free. And so it refers to a release from bondage to the payment of a price. You know, perhaps we ought to use the word ransom to underscore that point. Redemption, ransom, they're synonyms in this case. So we'll try to use ransom more until we're through this morning, because that's clearly what Jesus came to do. Do you remember? He says it in his own words, I came to give my life a ransom for many, right? That's how he redeemed his people. Now, of course, the Pharisees found that a bit much, didn't they? You remember John chapter 8? They insisted that they had never been in bondage to any man. Now, that boast was debatable, but nonetheless, Jesus proceeded to explain that, listen, fellas, your situation is actually much worse than being in bondage to men. Jesus told them, you're in bondage to sin. And you know that's all of us. Scripture tells us that Adam's rebellion brought bondage upon all of mankind. We all come into this world as slaves of sin. We were born in darkness, and to use Peter's language before coming to Christ, we lived our lives in the foolish way that we learned to live them through our sinful forefathers. Peter says we learned a sinful way to live from our forefathers because our forefathers were indeed the descendants of Adam just as we. But Christ has come to change that, you see. So, folks, the Scripture is clear. We come into this world spiritually dead. Paul will make that point in chapter 2 when we get there. And we live our lives in bondage and futility until we hear the voice of Christ in the gospel. And in that glorious proclamation, we hear the good news of His power over sin. We hear the good news of His atoning sacrifice that cancels out our debt. We hear the good news that He liberates us from the bondage of sin, from the captivity of Satan. And we hear the good news that He delivers us from the tyranny of death. In Christ, folks, we have been bought back. He paid the ransom. And the text tells us here, the price was His life. So this concept of redemption, folks, this concept of ransom, it isn't new when we come to the life of Christ. It isn't first given to us in the New Testament. No, this is a predominantly repeated theme throughout the history of God's people. Redemption begins right in the garden, the promise of it. One of the most explicit portrayals in the Old Testament of redemption is the Exodus. You remember the story? God's people were enslaved in Egypt and then God redeemed them. He bought them out of slavery. But that brings up an important point. To whom was the ransom paid? Not to Pharaoh. Listen, God's people weren't ransomed with plagues. Plagues wasn't the currency with which, I mean, certainly Pharaoh would never have agreed to that, right? Or yeah, you can have these people if you'll just dump 10 plagues on us, right? No. I want you to think about it. The ransom price is seen the night before the deliverance. What happened on the night before their release? The Passover lambs were sacrificed, weren't they? Folks, the ransom was paid to God. And that freed His people, not only from slavery to Egypt, but from the judgment of God, from the death that passed throughout Egypt on that night. Folks, God is the one we have offended. He's the one whose justice must be satisfied. Our bondage to sin, our slavery to the evil one, that's just a result of our sin against God. Satan is a usurper. Sin is an evil taskmaster that just fills the void whenever you don't submit your life to God. Satan is owed nothing. The world has no rightful claim over God's images. And that's why Scripture speaks of Christ's sacrifice as a propitiation. Again, that's one of those theological words the Bible uses, and we're uncomfortable with them because we have to remember what it means. Quite simply, propitiation means that God is satisfied. His anger, His rightful, just wrath towards sin turned away. It means that peace is restored between God and His people. And so, indeed, it's a sacrifice that satisfies the righteousness and the justice of our holy God. Now folks, this language of redemption is common in Paul's writing. As he tells the Corinthians, we are bought with a price. He tells the Galatians, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law. How? By becoming a curse in our place. There you have the price of the ransom. How were we redeemed? How were we bought back from the curse? By Jesus becoming a curse for us. He tells the Colossians that Christ canceled out our debt by nailing that debt to the cross. And here Paul says that our redemption is obtained by His blood. Folks, Christ paid the ransom by laying down His life for us, by becoming the Passover lamb that frees us eternally. Our redemption came at a very high cost. One other observation. In the Greek, the word redemption, or ransom as we might translate it, it has the definite article. What that simply means is, while there have been ransoms paid throughout the history of God's people, those previous ransoms were provisional, they were temporary, they were mere shadows of the true ransom to come. But in this text, Paul says here that in Christ we have the redemption. The redemption to end all previous shadows of redemption. This is the one redemption that matters for all of eternity. The once for all sacrifice of Christ. Sometimes it's the little words that mean a lot and we overlook them. And Paul goes on to tell us that a marvelous benefit of this ransom is our right standing with God because in Christ we have the forgiveness of our transgressions. You know, the word transgressions is quite graphic. The word refers to misdeeds or deviations from God's law to deviate. Here's God's law, here's His righteous standard, and here we are over here, right? We're deviating from it. But it's a synonym for sin. Sin means missing the mark. But here, this literally means false steps of veering off the path to overstep one's bounds. Boy, does that describe us before coming to Christ? Stumbling all over the place, never really on the path of righteousness and overstepping our bounds. That's how we lived our lives, as if we were God, as if it was ours to do with as we pleased, as if everything is here for my pleasure. Yeah, the world revolves around me, the universe revolves around me. If everybody could get inside my head and understand that, oh, the world would be a better place because it's all about me, right? That's naturally how we think. Now, God, by His grace, His common grace, often keeps that in check. The United States is a nation that has, I think, been handed over to judgment because those common graces that keep that in check, oh, they're gone. We have wealth, we have everything we want, we're able to obsess over ourselves. My goodness, the things that make news today, the headlines today. Well, I'm gonna leave that alone. But it's true nonetheless. We overstep our bounds. At every given opportunity, we overstep our bounds. It's the grace of God that keeps us in check. And so we need the redemption. We have transgressed against our creator. As scripture says, we have gone our own way like those rebellious sheep who wander off from the shepherd. And in so doing, folks, we need to realize that we're defying the God who gives us life and breath at every moment. That's who we were. But Christ has ransomed us. He has secured the forgiveness of our transgressions, our overstepping our bounds. And the word forgiveness, folks, it's complementary to the idea of redemption because it denotes a releasing. a liberation, the removal of guilt through pardon. We're released from the penalty of those transgressions. So indeed, Paul is telling us that Christ's sacrifice purchased for us pardon from God. And this is what's required for God's eternal purpose to be realized in time. Because, folks, until sin is dealt with, there can be no reconciliation with the Holy God. Alienation reigns as long as we're still in our sins. And there is no remedy without Christ. We could never secure our own redemption. As Psalm 49, verse 7, it's one of my favorite psalms. It tells us no one can redeem the life of another. No one can give to God, notice the language, the ransom for him. Redemption, ransom, same word. Why? Because the redemption of the soul is too costly. I could never redeem you, you could never redeem me, I could never redeem a single soul. There's no way that we or anyone else could have paid the ransom required to satisfy the justice of God. People say, well, why is God so particular? Well, God is holy. He's not particular, He's holy. And so, indeed, he cannot wink at sin. He cannot turn a blind eye to transgression. It must be dealt with, and he has dealt with it in Christ. And so, indeed, that's why salvation is by grace alone in Christ alone. He himself is the embodiment of the grace that glorifies God, the grace that secures our salvation, the grace by which we belong to him. So in closing, I want you to think about what Paul is saying in this context as he moves from the first stanza to the second. God purposed what we would be, that we would be adopted as sons, and He did this before the creation of the world, a timeless decree. And that tells us, folks, then that we would be born in time alienated from God, because if we have to be adopted into His family, and He chose us to be adopted before time, that means that we needed to be brought into His family, right? We would need to be adopted. And Christ then came and paid for our adoption by setting us free from the slavery of sin and death. In eternity past, God chose us to become holy and blameless as well. And Christ achieved that in time by securing our pardon before God. If we were chosen that we should become holy and blameless, obviously in time we are born not holy and not blameless. So here's the point, what the Father purposed in eternity past, Christ came to accomplish in time. You and I have been ransomed in time according to the eternal timeless purpose of the heavenly Father. What God purposed before the foundation of the world, Christ accomplished in this world. He's the one who brings God's purposes to pass. The Father chose us to be adopted as sons before the dawn of time. And so Christ entered into creation and ransomed us in time. In pondering this, what came to my mind were the words of a song we often sing, and I'm convinced that we sing them more rotely than we should. Because if we really thought about them, there should be tears in our eyes every time we sing it. Song by D.A. Carson that is based on Ephesians chapter one. All five verses are superb. But as we close, just listen to this one verse that I think capsulizes the thoughts we have considered this morning. Long before the creation began, he foreknew those he had ransomed in Christ. Long before time's cold hourglass ran, He ordained the supreme sacrifice. In the cross He removed our disgrace, To the praise of His glorious grace. And then the song repeats it two more times, reflecting the refrain of the song, To the praise of His glorious grace. What else is there to say? to the praise of His glorious grace. That's the wonder of redemption, folks, purposed before time began, given to us by Christ coming into time to accomplish that eternal purpose. And we are the beneficiaries of such wonder and such grace. Oh, how humbling that is. and how we should look to him each and every day. That we walk in this grace, this grace of salvation. To our Lord be glory forever and ever.