Expository Sermon on Ephesians 1:3-14 | Showers of Blessing

Showers of Blessings

Showers of Blessing (Ephesians 1:3-14)

God has given us every spiritual blessing in Christ. God has given us all spiritual, rather than material, blessings. “All” spiritual blessings are in Christ. These blessings are in the “heavenly places”—in heaven where Christ is.

In Christ:

We Have Been Chosen, vv 4-5

God chose us, that is, God chose to bless Christians.

God chose that we be holy and blameless before him in love. “Holy” means to be separated from sin. “Blameless” means to be without blemish—the Old Testament sacrifices were to be “blameless.” “In love” refers to “love” being characteristic of our lives.

God chose us before the foundation of the world.

God chose us to adoption as sons. “Predestine” means “to decide beforehand.”

God chose to adopt us as sons. In the Roman world, individuals were sometimes adopted to prevent a family name from dying out. When someone was adopted, he had all the rights and privileges of a naturally born child. All his debts were canceled—he was considered a “new person.”

In the same way, God has adopted us. Our debt of sin is canceled. We have all the rights of naturally born children. We are new people.

We are called “children of God” because of God’s love (1 Jn. 3:1).

God adopted us “according to the good pleasure of his will”—because he wanted to do so.

We Have Compassion, v 6

In Christ, God has bestowed grace upon us. We should, therefore, praise his glorious grace.

“Accepted” means “to be highly favored.” This standing comes through God’s grace.

We Have Clemency, vv 7-8

We have redemption. “Redemption” means “to set free a thing or person that has come to belong to another.” We have been redeemed by the blood of Christ.

We have been forgiven. Through Christ, we have the forgiveness of our sins. This forgiveness is in proportion to the riches of God’s grace.

God has made his grace abound, overflow, toward us.

We Will Be Collected, vv 9-10

“Mystery” means “something concealed that is later revealed.” He made this mystery known according to the good pleasure of his will.

The “mystery” is what God will do in Christ. The “mystery” will be fulfilled when the times are right. The “mystery” is that all things will be gathered together in Christ—The universe shall be united under Christ’s headship.

We Have Been Conveyed with an Inheritance, vv 11-12

We have obtained an inheritance. In the New Testament, “inherit” carries the idea of obtaining eternal life (Eph. 5:5). The inheritance here mentioned is eternal life.

We have obtained this inheritance by God’s work—God predestined to do this.

The Jews obtained this inheritance that they should live to the praise of God’s glory.

We Have the Comforter, vv 13-14

All Christians receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38-39).

In Christ, we were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. In the ancient world, goods were sealed to show to whom they belonged. We have been sealed with the Holy Spirit to show we belong to God.

The Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance. The idea of a “guarantee” is a down payment. This was a deposit given to purchase something. This payment obligated the party to make further payments.

In giving the Holy Spirit as our guarantee, we have absolute assurance of eternal life.

Conclusion

There is only one way to get into Christ where we find all spiritual blessings. Galatians 3:27. Romans 6:3-4.

Have you been baptized into Christ?


This sermon was originally preached by Dr. Justin Imel, Sr., at the Owingsville church of Christ in Owingsville, Kentucky.

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