Reading from Ephesians 1: 1 -14
by Pastor Ken Armstrong
In a culture where consumerism rules, where making and spending money is the be all and end all of life, the events of the last week will be viewed as very worrying. The bank would have been seen as a symbol of stability, a reassuringly safe haven for our savings and pensions, the kind of place that provided secure life long careers. Not anymore. The foundations have been shaking and no-one really knows what is going to happen next. Has the bible anything to say to such people?
For different reasons this letter is written to men and women who felt themselves to be insecure and insignificant. They are members of this church in Ephasus. They live among people who view them as a threat because their businesses are taking a hit from the arrival of this new faith. (Read Acts 19 to discover the details)
There are many reasons why we might be feeling insecure. It may come from the hostility of those around us but it may also be due to our own failings. Or it maybe down to health difficulties or work issues. These verses are full of encouragement for the insecure and the apparently insignificant. But a word of warning before we start.
Paul is going to use words like ‘chosen’ and ‘predestined.’ We tend to put these words in the ‘difficult’ box and leave them for later. This section is one sentence beginning in v3 and running through to v14. It is a sustained unpacking of that first verse: blessed with every spiritual blessing. In other words God puts predestination in the ‘blessing’ box. This teaches us how to read the bible – the bible regards this material not as controversial but as encouraging. You and I ought to learn to treat it that way also.
1. The blessing of sharing in a secure plan.
V11,12
We may feel insecure about our future.
Blessing is at the heart of this section.
When you flick through the pages of the bible this word describes things like: long life, wealth, peace, good harvests and children.
If you were looking for a modern day word to describe all this I guess it would be lucky.
What is strange about all this is the one person whose name is linked most closely to blessing in the OT, the man Abraham, could not be described as lucky. When we meet him he is fairly old, 75 but most significantly his wife is barren – they have no children. He has no secure future.
But God takes the initiative. He steps in and fashions a future for him. He gives him a son who will develop into a great nation, he provides a place for him and his descendents, he brings him under his protection. And none of this is earned or deserved – this man is a pagan idolater when you meet him who will from time to time lapse into a lying to save his own skin. He has not just got lucky, he is not simply successful, he is blessed by God.
Here in Ephesians the focus shifts from Abraham to Jesus.
* V11.(lit) in Christ we were allocated a destiny.
When Jesus gathers his little band of followers together on the eve of his arrest, as the forces of darkness gather he is intent on spelling out to them the security of their destiny.
He speaks to them of the Fathers house and the certainty of him returning to take them there.
A little earlier he has said this: My sheep listen to my voice… I give them eternal life and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.
He sums it up with these words: I have told you these things so that in me you will have peace. In the world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.
In the insecurity of their financial circumstances and their employments prospects and their place in society they are utterly secure through their relationship with Jesus Christ.
This verse does appear rather long winded. Why not simply – you were chosen according to the plan of God.
Why this relative clause: who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will
It ought to be said that to be in secure relation with the God of the bible, does not infer a trouble free passage.
Go back to Abraham. The final sworn confirmation of blessing comes only after the most severe testing imaginable. (the offering of Isaac)
And the mysterious incident where Jacob describes himself wrestling with God ends with him gaining a blessing only after a bruising face to face encounter.
But the Apostle wants us to be clear that everything means everything.
There is no detail left to chance when it comes to the care of his people and the bringing of them to their destiny in Christ.
Are not 2 sparrows sold for a penny yet not one of them falls to the ground apart from the will of your father.
Some of the same vocab that is used here in v11 is used in Romans 8:28.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him who have been called according to his purpose.
If those words had been written by some feather bedded, laid back, well paid, foreign holidayed pastor you would be entitled to say: You need a reality check.
This is the man who has 5x been lashed with 39 strokes, 3x he has been beaten with rods, once stoned, 3x shipwrecked who has been cold and naked, hungry and thirsty and worked night and day to make ends meet.
These nevertheless are among the ‘all things’. These are Gods builders – people find having the builders in inconvenient and disruptive. But they are not a cause for dismay. They serve a useful purpose.
For all that Paul writes this letter from prison he knows himself to be a in a secure place – he is enjoying the blessing of being part of a secure plan. And we are invited to believe that too.
2. The blessing of believing a reliable promise.
This can all sound like an exclusive club that makes strenuous demands of its members or some kind of lottery where the winners are picked at random.
Look at v13
The word ‘believe’ is common currency today.
You know the kind of thing people say. Everyone has to believe in something. Just believe. You can become whatever you want you just have to believe in yourself. Believe becomes a kind of powerful force.
Someone said to me this week in relation to the gospel – Sorry Ken its not for me. They could have been talking about ‘going to the gym’ or Nintendo Wii or rice pudding.
I am not the gym type, or I am not the religious type.
Mike Cain: 2 people walking across the Clifton Suspension Bridge. Admiring the Avon Gorge and peering down at the muddy river 80 meters below. Decide to head down to the towpath so while you make your way back along the bridge your friend starts to clamber over the rail as if to jump.
Don’t do it, you shout you’ll kill yourself
Not me, I am not the gravity type.
He calls this message – the word of truth.
Its tied to reality. Its how things really are. Its nothing to do with what type of person you are. Its all to do with this plan that God is engaged in bringing about.
But it’s a plan that left to ourselves we are not part of.
And that is evident from the next phrase – the gospel of our salvation. We are dealing in rescue here.
Mike Cain begins his book describing the attempted rescue of a pilot whale that had beached itself on Darlington beach Tasmania.
A whale belongs in the sea where its free to swim and leap and sing and dive and hunt. It is an awesome creature. You can still see some of that wonder on the beach but its an admiration mixed with sadness.
No one really knows why whales beach themselves – maybe they tell themselves the beach looks like an exciting place to be.
People are made for God as whales are made for the sea but we have sought liberation from God on ‘the beach.’ We need rescued.
We live in an environment where we don’t flourish.
We may be more technologically sophisticated than the Ephesians with their temple to Diana and their thriving icon industry but little different morally – greed, violence, bullying, death.
The promise that God makes to us is that we will find our freedom in Christ, under the rule of the Lord Jesus. This is the environment for sinners to flourish because it’s a realm controlled by forgiveness and transforming grace.
This is what is so reassuring about all this. Who gets included? The respectable, the religious – those who believe the promise
To be included in Christ is not an easy place to live your life but it is a safe place to live.
3. The blessing of being sure we belong to a gracious God.
V13b,14
We face the insecurity of wondering if we really belong.
These verses talk about being ‘marked with a seal’
Cattle and slaves were branded with their owners seal. It was his way of identifying his property and making clear his intention of holding onto it.
This seal is the Holy Spirit himself. He is the gift given to everyone who believes. This is a letter written to a church in general not a group of superior Christians. When it comes to assurance the question I need to ask is not have I had some experience or other but do I possess the Holy Spirit. And that will cause you to reflect on your life.
Don’t miss the point. God wants us to be sure that we belong to him. Its not wrong to seek assurance. The question is – where should you look.
A seal leaves an impression. The Holy Spirit impresses certain things on our lives.
- you hunger and thirst for righteousness
- you love your fellow Christian
- you come before God frankly in prayer
- you care about those who have never heard
These things can be present in someone’s life and yet still they lack assurance. The bible is a book full of excellent things but not everyone who reads it discerns its divine authorship. That takes the ministry of the Spirit. And we need the Spirit bearing witness by and with the marks of grace. It is as we become conscious of those kinds of concerns that somehow have found their way into our lives that assurance is found.
The great goal in all this is not my comfort and pleasure it is Gods glory. The recurring phrase: the praise of his glory (11,14)
A little later in the letter Paul describes the Spirit’s ministry in terms of his filling. He makes the point that this is distinct, it is dissimilar from drunkenness but rather shows itself in communication, in submitting to one another but also this:
Always giving thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
There is a place for trustful submission
* Psalm 23
There is a place for quiet contentment irrespective what is going on
* Phil 4:11,12
But here is something beyond either of these qualities.
Perpetual thanksgiving
God orders our lives so we come to the place where we increasingly love and enjoy him.
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