We're opening again to the book of Ephesians but we're going to go to Ephesians chapter 1. It's been a while since we've looked at Ephesians. I was preaching in it before I went to Diego Garcia and we came to chapter 4 and about to begin speaking about how we are to put off the old man and put on the new man, which is, I believe, at least at this point, to be a pivotal moment in the book of Ephesians, as much of the rest of the chapters, from chapter 4 to the end, are about how we are supposed to live in that new man, being clothed with that new man. As people look upon us, they should see us clothed in Jesus Christ and in His actions. And for that reason, we should not lie one to another, but be honest. We should not grieve the Holy Spirit of God. We should act as the children of light, as in chapter 5. Children should obey their parents, and husbands and wives should care for one another. as he teaches, and so from chapter 4 on, I feel that that will be even an unfolding and a practical application of how we're supposed to be clothed with the new man, Jesus Christ, each day. But it's been a while since we have spoken about what came before that in chapter 4, I thought it good to do a survey again. We'll take chapter by chapter is what I'm thinking at this time until we get back up to Chapter 4. So I wanted to look at Chapter 1 today and again consider the wonderful grace of God upon us. God the Father who has planned all this. God the Son, Jesus Christ, in whom we receive all this. And certainly God the Holy Spirit, who has been the guarantee of our future possessions, that even He has sealed us within us, being within us even now, and is guarantee of those wonderful promises yet in our future. So we will consider again chapter 1 and presumably next time that I speak chapter 2 and then 3 until we get to where we were in chapter 4 with the old man and the new man. So let us begin chapter 1 of Ephesians. We'll begin with verse 1. This is what the Lord has said. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus, grace be to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace, wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself. That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in him. in whom also we have obtained an inheritance being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will, that we should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that ye believed ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation and the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, this age, but also in that which is to come. And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all. Here in Ephesians chapter 1, we see the big picture of salvation. We see it from the very distant past, even before the foundations of the world, when God chose us in Christ. We see the very distant future, or hopefully not too distant future, let me put it that way, as we were chosen in Him in order that we would be made holy and without blame so that we can be before Him in His presence and in this relationship with Him in a loving relationship, in love. So we see the past, we see the future, and we see even the present as God is using all things, both history, human history that's already occurred, even today what's occurring, and even what's yet to occur, all things are being used in God's perfect plan in order to bring about that future glory that he has purposed us for. And so in the whole of the chapter, we certainly see this larger picture incorporating both the past, the present, and the future of our salvation. We begin with verse 3, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. We said that from this point the focus is primarily upon the Father. Jesus is obviously very important to the discussion as He is the means by which God brings us all of His favor that He has purposed for us, God the Father. But very much Paul is emphasizing in a way that certainly surprised me, and as you think about it probably surprises you, of how much the Father does on our behalf. How much this is according, this whole plan of salvation came from His heart for our salvation, for us to be in relationship with Him because He loved us. As John says, He loved us first. We love Him because He first loved us. How much of this is of the Father, and how much, therefore, we should be praising the Father for this great salvation. This passage, along with John's gospel, is caused me to think much about the interaction of the Father with the Son and the Holy Spirit. Certainly, Jesus, in the Gospel of John, speaks about how Jesus doesn't do anything except what he saw the Father do, and he doesn't say anything except what he has heard the Father say. And, of course, he waits He does not know what the time or the season of his return is. He's waiting for the father to tell him when to come and reestablish the kingdom. All these things show the interaction of the father and the son. The father seems, and I'm not trying to make overly strong statements about what one person of the Trinity does or the other person, but more general statements that the Father seems to be the one who is the planner. He's the one who devises what's going to happen. The Son is the doer. He is the one that takes the plan and accomplishes what the Father has intended Him to do, even as Isaiah calls Jesus the servant of the Lord. He is the one doing the work. that the Father has given him. And the Holy Spirit is the further extension of both Father and Son. Often in scriptures, the Son and the Spirit are working in unison together. But of course, both of them doing the determined will of the Father. And in this passage, it really struck me as we went through it how much the Father has purposed and planned, and how much therefore we should be praising and glorifying God completely in the Trinity, but certainly the Father as the one who has thought upon us and cared for us, planned for our care in this manner. And so he begins, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with spiritual blessings, in heavenly places in Christ. Already the kingdom is prepared for us. It is, as the book of Hebrews says, the city whose builder and maker is God, the capital city, Jerusalem, of the kingdom of Israel. And it's waiting for us in the heavenly places with all the many features of that city. the throne room, the tree of life, the river of life, the angels, eventually I presume the animals will have their part in the kingdom, even as Zachariah talks about the horses that have holiness written upon their bells or saddles, I can't remember at the moment, but Zachariah 14. So all that the kingdom holds for us that's in the heavenly nows, that is prepared for us in Christ, in our relationship with Him. Continuing in verse 4, according as He had chosen us in Him, in Jesus Christ, before the foundations of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. Again, as I referred to earlier, this involves the past. This is the Father doing this choosing, and He has chosen us, not separate from Christ, but rather we are chosen in this relationship with Christ. As God, as we're going to see, loves Jesus Christ, all those who are in Christ have been determined for this future wonderful relationship that they are to be made holy and without blame in his presence before him in love. It's not a hated relationship. It no longer has sin where we are continually despised in his presence. Rather, he has determined such a wonderful plan of salvation in Jesus Christ, that we shall be in a perfect relationship with him in love. And yet all of this was planned out before the foundations of the world. When, by the way, he wrote the book of life, as the book of Revelation teaches us, before the foundations of the world, writing in it every single name of those that he had chosen, which ultimately is the record of the citizenship of the city, of the kingdom yet to come, as we have spoken about before. And so, amazing that the Father does this great work of choosing his people, but again, not just choosing randomly. He has chosen Jesus Christ, which Isaiah calls the chosen or the elect one, and then we, who are already in Christ by God's wonderful working and mercy, We are chosen as we are part of Jesus Christ and written down in that Book of Life. Continuing in verse 5, having predestinated, or as I would prefer the translation, predetermined. It sounds stronger in what it's indicating. We are predetermined for this future glory. But he says specifically in verse 5, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will. We have been predetermined to be sons and daughters of God, but through adoption. Christ is the only begotten Son of God, the only one that can truly say above all else, he is in a very unique way the Son of the Father, and therefore He is God. But we, through adoption, through means of Christ, are brought into the family of God and made sons and daughters, and actually, as the Revelation and Ephesians very clearly teach us, co-heirs with the only begotten Son of God. We inherit the kingdom with the same status as the king himself, which is truly amazing. We are made kings with him. And again, that's going to be part of this first chapter, as we consider the future glories that it expresses. We are brought into the family of God by adoption through being joined to the only begotten Son of God. And this is, as the last phrase of verse 5 says, according to the good pleasure of His will. Not to Jesus' will, although certainly He is in complete agreement, but according to the good pleasure of the Father's will. Again, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has done all these things for us. He is the one who is to be praised because it was His heart, His desire that we be joined to the Son and brought into this wonderful family through adoption, that we would eventually receive the Holy Spirit by which we cry out, Abba, Father, to Him. What a wonderful good pleasure He has bestowed upon us. And it is the good pleasure of God. It is not our free will that achieves this, because we desire it. This all happened before the foundations of the world, well before our intentions towards God were ever known. In fact, before even we showed negative intentions towards God and refused to listen to Him, and even this wonderful offer of salvation, He had already, according to His purpose and His will, determined us to this wonderful salvation. What a great and a loving Father who is to be praised. Verse 6, to the praise of the glory of His grace. Father deserves to be praised, and this all, of which Paul is telling us, leads us to the praise of the Father because His grace and His kindness bestowed upon us is truly to be praised. Wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved. We may note that the Beloved is singular, masculine singular, the Beloved Man, the Beloved One. We are accepted in the Beloved One, meaning the Son, Jesus Christ. The Father spoke from heaven and said, This is my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, on at least two occasions, baptism and later at the Mount of Transfiguration. He loves the Son of all that are in this creation of His, His great love is towards His own Son, Jesus Christ. And because of our union to Christ, being joined with Christ, we are accepted, and yes, even acceptable, in this relationship with the Father. We become beloved because Jesus is beloved. And what a wonderful plan that God has done to bring us, who are imperfect, into his loving relationship through the Beloved One. In verse 7 he says, In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. The first two phrases clearly refer to Christ, to his death on the cross, the redemption through his blood, the shedding of his blood, which was the purchase to make us his people, to make us his servants, to buy us back from our fallen and dead state, to purchase us to be his people, his holy people, set apart to him. And this was done through the blood of Christ, a clear reference to the cross and his death on our behalf, which leads, of course, to the forgiveness of our sins and the removal of the transgressions that we have committed against him so that we can appear holy and without blame before him in love. And again, this is according to the riches or the wealth of His grace, the Father's grace, the Father's grace that is without limits in how wealthy and abounding His love is towards His people and His grace is towards His people. And so even the price of His Son and His death was not insurmountable to bring about the plan that He he the Father has to show grace to all of his people in Christ. In verse 8, wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, again the Father in his plan has devised a most perfect plan. It's in all wisdom and in prudence. He knows all the details. He knows all the facts. He has considered the best and the worst options. And he has considered the one plan that will work and effectively works to take those that are sinners and make them holy and righteous before him. It is all according to his wisdom and his prudence. We sometimes question the wisdom of God as painful things happen to us in this life, but at the end of the day, everything happens according to God's perfect plan and our ultimate benefit in Christ and ultimately in the Kingdom, which is to come. Even so, that Adam sinned ultimately leads us to the kingdom yet to come. And even so, that Christ's death, as seeming a defeat as that may be, as seeming the most unjust of all actions, that the Holy One, without sin, would be crucified on a cross with sinners, for the benefit of sinners, nevertheless, even that was according to God's perfect plan to bring about what is amazing and which is our salvation in Christ. So it is to the praise of God the Father who has planned all this in all wisdom and in all prudence. In verse 9, having made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure which he purposed in himself. Again we see that this plan comes from within him, the Father. It is what he has purposed within himself. But it was a mystery. It is considered a mystery still to many. The mystery that he would send his son to die for his people, nobody would have understood this before Christ. They, even in his time, were looking for the king who would re-establish the Kingdom of Israel and defeat the Romans. But he came instead to die on a cross. We would not make such a plan. We would not even understand such a plan. It was a complete mystery that God had hidden within Himself, and then brought to pass at His perfect timing. It is no longer a mystery. It is no longer a mystery, at least to the people of God, who have been explained these details, and so many rich and deep details, by the Spirit of God and by the prophets who gave us the words of God. But nonetheless, it is still a mystery to the unbelieving world. They still don't understand it. They still reject it. They have no part in it. and therefore the mystery is still mystery to them. Verse 10, that in the dispensation, or I would suggest the translation, the management, God managing everything for His purposes and His plans, that in the management of the fullness of times, in other words, all that He does throughout this time and the next time and all ages of the earth, as he manages and controls nations and kings and peasants and every single aspect of all that happens in human history, that in the management of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in him. So he has a purpose, and I guess I should remind us that the phrase there, that he might gather together in one, actually speaks about how he makes them a head. He gives them a head, and that head is Jesus. It's going to later speak about how Jesus is the head of the church at the end of the chapter. But he brings everybody and everything in Christ under the subjection of Christ. Christ is the head, and he puts that head upon all things. And so he's going to bring us all together through the working out of human history. He's going to bring us all together under Christ's headship, both things which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in him. We think of heaven and earth and we think, of course, that we're here on earth and we're in Christ, so the saints that are in Christ here. The saints, the spirits of just men made perfect, that is the book of Hebrews says, are right now in the heavenlies in the New Jerusalem where Christ is. So we can presume all the saints, but certainly this would also involve the holy angels. who are part of this great congregation set to worship God forever and ever, who are brought under Christ's authority and leadership. We can think of the kingdom itself that's in heaven. We can think of the animals here upon earth, which Adam was originally supposed to bring into dominance and and bring him to subjection as he rules over the animal kingdom. They certainly, as Isaiah and other passages speak about, will ultimately be brought under humanity, under the new man, Jesus Christ himself. And so all things, this is the plan of God, that all things will be brought under Christ's headship, under his management, as he brings about the kingdom and ultimately works to the point that the universe, heaven and earth are all perfect and only the righteous are dwelling with him forever and ever. Big plan and certainly, definitely the wisdom and the prudence of a very wise father, God, brings this to pass for us. Verse 11, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance being predestinated or predetermined according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. So again, in Christ we have obtained this inheritance. the inheritance of the New Jerusalem and the Kingdom, and basically everything that that Kingdom involves. We inherit all these things, even to the point, as we mentioned before, that we are kings and priests in that Kingdom when it comes. What an amazing thing. And again, that it's according to us being predetermined according to the purpose of the Father in this plan of His. Verse 12, that we should be to the praise of His glory who first trusted in Christ. This is again to the praise of the Father and reference to we who first trusted in Christ is a reference to the first Christians that believed in the Christ. When we spoke about this many years ago, going through this several years ago, we made mention that there's an article before the word Christ. because it's a reference to the Messiah, the Christ, who was to come. Jesus is what the Jewish faith hopes for, the Messiah that is to come. And they, the apostles and the very first believers, were those that first hoped in Christ and put their faith in Christ. The word hoped has a reference to the future hope. So all the things that he's speaking about as far as the inheritance and the kingdom and the creation yet to come, the new creation, these are the things that they look forward to in the future as they find it in Christ in their hope in this relationship with God through the Father, through Jesus Christ. So they are the ones who first put their hope in Christ for those future promises. But he's about to say and make a distinction between those who first put their hope in Christ and then the Church of Ephesus, those who also have put their hope in Christ. Now what is to be considered somewhat strange is the fact that he's going to be speaking to Gentile Christians. So he's speaking about the Jewish Messiah as the one through whom all this great inheritance has come upon the first believers, who were mainly Jews, believing in their Messiah that actually came, Jesus Christ. But now he's going to say, this is true of you, Gentiles as well, who also have put your trust in this same Jewish Messiah that we have looked to as our hope. And so he continues. Verse 13, In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. And when we went through it the first time, we took note that the word trusted there is added. It's in italics because it was added and not present in the Greek. Rather, what I would suggest is that the main phrase here is putting the first phrase and the last phrase together. In whom ye also trusted, in whom ye also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. In other words, You that also trusted, you Gentiles, are also sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. An amazing thing that the Holy Spirit is inside of you because you have also believed, even though you were Gentiles. And as we'll look into chapter two, eventually, you were outside of the community of faith, but now you are brought into that community because you're joined to the Jewish Messiah, Jesus Christ. So, in whom you also were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that ye believed. So both that you heard the gospel, and then you believed in that gospel, after that you were sealed with this Holy Spirit of promise. the promised Holy Spirit that God was going to pour out upon the Israelites in their repentance, as Joel and Zechariah and Ezekiel prophesy of receiving the Holy Spirit of God and turning in repentance, the time of the future Messianic age, which is going to happen when Christ returns. That promised Holy Spirit has come upon you Gentiles now already because you have put your trust in that Jewish Messiah for your salvation. So you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, verse 14, which is the earnest or the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of His glory. The Father is to be praised for all that he has brought to pass. But the Holy Spirit is found within us already as a guarantee of the fact that we are going to inherit that future kingdom yet to come. We are going to inherit the promises that have been given to us in Jesus Christ. And the evidence is that we can see the work of the Holy Spirit already in us. today. For time's sake, let us continue. the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe according to the working of His mighty power. And so you Gentiles, as you have received the seal that you are a part of this future inheritance, of the future inheritance in Christ. As I've heard of your wonderful workings as evidence that you are inheritors of this future kingdom and believers, I have prayed for you. I have prayed that you would receive wisdom and revelation to understand more about God. I have prayed for you that your eyes of your understanding would be enlightened and you would understand more. that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, which he has already talked about, the hope, the inheritance that is yet to be given to those who have heard his call and have believed in him and have put their trust in him. And what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, so all that we're talking about as far as the future glory. that you would understand even more and more of that. You would read the book of Revelation and see the glorious kingdom described in chapter 21 and understand even more of this new heavens and new earth and the facts of eternal life and our eternal relationship with God. So many details to think about and that you would understand more and more about it. And as verse 19, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us who believe. This power, particularly as he says, is shown in the resurrection of Christ, verse 20, which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places far above all principalities and power and might and dominion. And every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come. And so because through what we have seen of Christ, that he was raised from the dead, and then he ascended far above all principalities and powers, the demons and the fallen angels that are in the heavenly places, as well as the righteous angels that are in the heavenly places. All of them are brought under the authority of Christ, who sits at the right hand of God the Father. The Father has demonstrated His great power through Christ by raising Him and causing Him to ascend to such great authority. But then we go back and we read again in verse 19, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe." In other words, what he has demonstrated in the resurrection and ascension of Christ, now we're supposed to understand that since that has happened to Christ who we're united to, that's going to be our future authority and resurrection as well. That is for us to realize this is what God is going to do for us. This is his great exceeding power that he's going to demonstrate for us as well in Christ. And so Christ is raised higher than all other authorities, and his name, as it says in verse 21, and he's going to have greater name than every name that is named, not only in this world or this age, but also in that which is to come. There is no greater than Jesus Christ, who alone submits alone to the Father, as we see in 1 Corinthians 15. All are brought under Christ, and Christ himself submits only to the Father. So he is greatly to be praised. Verse 22, and hath put all things under his feet, as certainly it's clear, as all are brought into subjection to him, and gave him to be the head over all things for the church. I suggest for the church, not to the church. It is in part for the benefit of the church that Christ is made head over all authorities. We benefit from that. And again, we become mutual inheritors of this great authority that Christ has been given by the Father. And as verse 23 says, we are brought to this because of our union to Christ. The church which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all. Christ is the one who is joined to all of his church We are his body, connected to the head, as we're going to later see in chapter 5, their union with Christ. And so we are his body, he is the one that fills us all, and yet also is in each of us, in all. And what an amazing relationship we have with God through Christ, even The Spirit Himself dwelling within each of us. The Spirit of Christ, as the third person of the Trinity is called. The Spirit of Christ dwelling within each of us as the Trinity ultimately dwells within each of us as we are the temple of the living God. What an amazing relationship. We have seen in chapter 1 that the Father especially is to be praised. He has planned a great salvation. He has determined it even before He started creating this world. And He has executed it through Christ dying for us and is continuing His work even today to bring about the fulfillment of his promises and the future inheritance. This is all for us as we are joined to Jesus Christ. We are the body of Christ, united with him, and he dwells within each of us. We are, amazing as it is, made holy as God is holy so that we can dwell in his presence. And that's only because of Christ's holiness within us. And we are inheritors of this future promise, a kingdom, as we become kings in that kingdom. And that is only because of our union with the Only Begotten Son, and that we are now adopted into that royal family with Him. Many things to think about. things that, as the phrase expresses, blows our mind to comprehend. And yet God reveals His plan. He reveals the mystery that He held as a mystery for so long until the perfect time to reveal it when Christ came to be our Savior. All praise is to be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit for this great and gracious work of salvation bestowed upon us. May he be truly praised in our hearts.