God’s Work of Redemption Through the Son

Transcript

GR 2311
04/11/2021
God's Work of Redemption through the Son
Ephesians 1:7-12
Gil Rugh


We're going to go to the book of Ephesians 1 in your Bibles, Ephesians 1. Let me read you what one writer wrote, one preacher wrote, it's been 25-30 years ago, but he said this in introductory comments to Ephesians. “The letter is a miniature doctrine of the church and there has seldom been greater need for sound doctrine of the church than today. There is mass confusion about what the church is to be in our time, especially among so-called evangelical Christians. The problem is not with biblical terminology, we know the terminology, but for many people these are only slogans. As I look at the church I sense that our problem is that we are too man-centered, we think of the church as being created and managed by us and for our needs, rather than by God and for God's glory. It is precisely at this point that Ephesians is so valuable, Ephesians is about the church but the place it begins is with the work of the divine trinity—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—bringing it into being.”

I think very truthful and very needy reminder. Ephesians is about the church, the doctrine of the church, and we begin with the focus on God. Some of the people when they are looking for a church, even believers, it is: what am I looking for, what do I expect the church to be, how will I fit. And yet the foundational issue is the church is the pillar and support of the truth, as Paul wrote to Timothy in 1 Timothy when he was at Ephesus. That means that our first concern ought to be: is this church about the truth, not just we believe the Bible is the Word of God. Are we really serious about the truth?

I think it is important to recognize after Paul's introductory comments in the first two verses, verses 3-14 form one long sentence. That one long sentence is about God and His work, His sovereignty in bringing together the church and those that would comprise the church. This is foundational to everything else that we consider. When we as believers get weak on the subject of God being sovereign, then our foundation is beginning to crumble. And I realize we would all say we believe in a sovereign God, but it comes down to, do we really believe it to the details of our lives, the way our church functions, the way our lives are lived. Do we believe that God is sovereign? He reminds us of it repeatedly and it's for our benefit. And we can look around and see the world in a mess and in confusion because they have no knowledge of the living God, no recognition that there is One who is sovereign over all, working His purposes. But the sad thing is when the church loses that focus and thus loses its stability and we as believers individually get unsettled, unsure, uncertain, afraid. So what Paul is establishing here under the direction of the Spirit is the sovereignty of God, and that is a doctrine not to confuse us, not to unsettle us, but to encourage us, it is for our blessing. God has sovereignly worked for our good to bring us His redemption and all the blessings that He has planned for us. And that is settled truth that cannot be changed in an unsettled, uncertain world.

We noted this long sentence, we have it broken up in English into smaller pieces with individual sentences, and that's fine. Just keep in mind that is one long sentence and verses 3-6 focus on God the Father, and we noted that section ends in verse 6, “to the praise of the glory of His grace.” Then the second section is verses 7-12, it's about God the Son and His work in God's plan of redemption, and then that ends in verse 12, “to the praise of His glory.” Then verses 13-14 focus on the ministry of God the Holy Spirit in our redemption, and it ends at the end of verse 14, “to the praise of His glory.” We have to keep in focus, it is not all about us. We come to church and think, I hope it will meet my needs, I hope it will be a place I am comfortable, I hope they will be doing things that I think are practical. In a subtle way we've begun to turn the emphasis of our expectation is me in church and out of church. I come and hope I learn more of the God that I love and serve, have more of what He reveals about me will be seen in His Word. We have to adjust our thinking. We see what has happened to the world around us, the more focused and open it became in its self-centered emphasis, the more unsettled, disorganized and confused it becomes.

We've looked at the emphasis on God the Father and He is the One who “chose us in Him (Christ) before the foundation of the world,” verse 4. In verse 5, “He predestined us to adoption as sons.” So you see it is for our good, our blessing, He was pleased to do that for us, but it was sovereignly done, He chose us, He predestined us, it was according to His will which was His good pleasure, He was pleased to do it. And it would all bring glory to Him, “to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He bestowed on us in the Beloved.” God's grace comes to us in the person and work of His Son, Jesus Christ, the One that God loved. This is My beloved Son, the One in whom I am well pleased, as Scripture tells us. That transitions us to talk about the work of the Son in God accomplishing our redemption.

It is “in Him,” in whom, the beloved, verse 7 begins, “we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace.” What God did in rich grace, in a wealth of grace, is He provided His Son to pay the price necessary for us to have forgiveness of our sins. We think too highly of ourselves, we think too much of ourselves. God's work of redemption took the death of Christ. Redemption means to pay the price, to purchase out of the marketplace if it were a slave. We were slaves to sin, we were slaves to the devil. It took a sacrifice, the violent death of the Son of God, the shedding of His blood to provide forgiveness of sins for us, the forgiveness of our trespasses, as we have talked about. That happened “according to the riches,” or some would translate it ‘the wealth of His grace.’ Just not grace, this is a grace of overwhelming value, all-encompassing grace. That's what we are testimonies to as we will see as we move on in Ephesians, God's grace. That will be true in eternity. The very fact we will be in the glory of God's presence will be an eternal testimony of the greatness of God's grace. Hell-deserving sinners cleansed, washed clean, made new, forgiven, credited with God's righteousness.

The riches of His grace “which He lavished on us.” It's like as the Spirit directs Paul, you just can't pile up enough words—the riches, the lavishness, it's an over abundance of grace. When we as Christians begin to get mired down in ourselves and self-focused and focused on being self-pleased, we lose all perspective on what God has done for us. He has brought us overwhelming grace. We forget what we were. Remember Paul tells Titus in Titus 3 to remind those he is ministering to, that they were just like those lost people. We forget. We settle into we are God's children, and suddenly we begin to develop self-expectations and we get disappointed when my needs aren't being met, when things aren't about me enough and then discouragement sets in and we just flounder around. We should be rejoicing and basking, if you will, in the wonder of the riches of God's grace. Do we ever forget the marvel of that? We ought to grow in the wonder of that, it ought not to diminish. The longer I'm a believer the better I understand the amount of grace and the wonder of grace that He poured out over me, over you, so we could be forgiven. The provision of His Son, that's what he starts out here. We have to get a foundation that we can build on. Believers are coming to church, looking for something for themselves. The more I focus on God, the more comfortable I become in a biblical sense, more settled, a heart more at peace, the peace of God which surpasses understanding stands guard at my heart and mind (Philippians 4:7 paraphrased)because I rest in that grace and in the sufficiency of the God that cares for me.

He lavished it upon us, and then you have starting a new sentence in the middle of verse 8, at the end of that short verse, “In all wisdom and insight.” Again it was one sentence and some take it He lavished it in all wisdom and insight, talking about God's wisdom and insight in what He did. That's true, all wisdom and knowledge is found in Him, but I think here he is talking about it as we have it, “In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will.” God has revealed something to us, it's a mystery. He provided us the “wisdom and insight,” understanding, to recognize this and know it. It is something the world does not know, the most brilliant of unbelievers cannot understand it and know it. But “in all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will.” That wisdom and insight just refers to the fact that God provided for us, He opened our eyes to see and understand and believe that Christ died for our sins according to the Scripture, and He was raised on the third day. He did that for me, I'm the sinner He died for, He gave me the insight and understanding and since then my understanding and appreciation of that has grown.

Come back to 1 Corinthians 1:5, “In everything you were enriched in Him, in all speech and all knowledge.” “In everything you were enriched in Him,” there is our expression again, “in Him,” in Christ. All of this comes when you enter into that relationship with Jesus Christ. Until you do you live in a world of deadness, a world of darkness, a world of confusion. You cannot understand it, you cannot know it. But “in everything you were enriched in Him,” in Christ, “in all speech and all knowledge.” God has opened your eyes, not because we are so smart. Believers begin to drift into trouble when they think they have to be like the world in scholarship and intellect and brilliance, and somehow think that impacts the world. No, understand, this is a supernatural work. In Christ we were enriched in all speech and all knowledge.

Come over to 1 Corinthians 2, while you are here, look down, this is a long section, verse 6, “We do speak wisdom among those who are mature, a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age,” and then he reminds us, “which are passing away.” Worldly wisdom is transitory, temporary and the most brilliant of the men of this world will soon be gone, “but we speak God's wisdom,” note this, “in a mystery.” We'll talk more about that, that's where we are in Ephesians. A mystery is something that cannot be known or understood without God revealing it. So the world can't understand it because they are opposed to God, they are in rebellion against God. So they have a worldly wisdom which reveals to them nothing about God. “We speak God's wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined,” there is our word and we'll hit it again in our passage this morning, “God predestined before the ages to our glory.” That's the wisdom of the salvation God provided in Christ, remember? Before the creation, before the ages of time He planned a redemption for our glory. This is a wisdom the world did not understand nor the rulers of this age; verse 8 says, “If they had understood they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” They didn't know who He was. But then you have this great quote, “Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him.” Sometimes we quote that at a funeral, but it's not really just talking about future things because the next verse says, “For to us God revealed them.” The point of verse 9 is the things of the eye, the ear, the natural processes of this world with our human intellect does not give us the knowledge and understanding. It takes the revelation of God, God has revealed them through the Spirit to us, the Spirit of God has revealed them. We say they are brilliant people, yes, but they have rejected the Word of God. What kind of wisdom do they have, as Jeremiah challenged them. They have transitory, temporal, passing wisdom; they do not know the wisdom of Almighty God, they call God's wisdom foolishness. You can only know it by the revelation of the Spirit because the Spirit searches the depths of God.

Come down to verse 12, “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God.” Aren't you glad God didn't make it an intellectual process, if your IQ is above a certain level, if you are able to grasp these challenging things which are considered important in the intellectual realms of the world? It's all I can do to turn on my computer, how could I have ever built one? I can't even get into my Bible program on my computer because I don't know the password. It's a big help to me. I thank the Lord every day for hardbound books (chuckles). We don't need the wisdom of the world. I'm not unappreciative about that, I appreciate God's grace in giving man knowledge, but the wisdom for salvation which matters not only for time but for eternity, they don't know. Because we have the Spirit of God we can know the things God has given us. Doesn't mean we know everything, but we know everything necessary, all that God intends us to know about His work of salvation. These are the “things we also speak,” verse 13, “not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words, but…” note the contrast, “but the natural man,” the soulish man, this is the word for soul, the man who is just a human without the Spirit of God, “the natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised,” discerned by the Spirit. Only the Spirit of God can give the discernment to know them. The one who has the Spirit and thus is spiritual can discern all things; we have the mind of Christ.

“Who has known,” verse 16, “the mind of the Lord that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.” The arrogance of man who rejects God, rejects the wisdom and knowledge of God, thinks he is so smart, so intelligent. And yet the humblest person, the young child, can be taught and know the Word of God, can believe the truth. We don't want to forget we are what we are by the grace of God. We begin to lose that distinction between the world and us, then we want to be more like the world and we think the more like the world we are the more the world will appreciate us and respond to our ministry. We want to be kind, thoughtful, we want to manifest the character of God to the world, but that's not what makes the difference. The church slides into this, great damage done. But a move was made that we have to begin as Christians to be more scholarly and demonstrate to the world how scholarly we are. And we begin to mix in with the scholars of the world so they see we are very intelligent scholars also, then they will appreciate the truth of the Word of God. It doesn't work that way. Or if we do the social things and begin to meet people's needs, the world will appreciate… This isn't the problem, the problem is spiritual, we forget to understand that. People have sat in this auditorium and listened to the Word of God for years and left and never really understood their spiritual condition and the provision God made. We are dense, we are dead, we are blind, all these analogies to remind us, but God, how gracious He is, brings wisdom and insight so that we can know.

Go to Philippians 1:9, Paul praying for the Philippians, and remember Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, these three letters together, were written about the same time when Paul was a prisoner in Rome. That account is at the end of the book of Acts. He was under house imprisonment, the presence of a Roman guard to keep him but he could write letters, he could have visitors. He wrote Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians. Note his prayer for the Philippians in Philippians 1:9, “This I pray, that your love may abound still more,” and note this, “and more in real knowledge and all discernment.” You see, as believers with the wisdom and insight and knowledge that God has brought to our hearts, that impacts us, we grow in love for one another. Do you know what happens if we get weak in allowing the Spirit to work and move in our lives through His Word? Our love begins to weaken. I want your love to abound still more and more in knowledge and discernment. That just doesn't mean that worldly idea of love for everyone and everything is okay because we don't want to be judgmental and that. No, there is wisdom and discernment here, but for believers our love ought to be growing together because we are growing in maturity as God's children. “So that you may approve the things that are excellent,” we put them to the test, we evaluate them, we have discernment “in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ, having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ.” We have to be connected -- I am the vine, you are the branches, Jesus said -- so that connection with Him, with the Spirit who produces the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. This is a marvelous work of God. I don't want to lose focus. Lord, I'm coming today to learn from You, to learn about You, to have Your Spirit. Give me clarity of understanding so that my life becomes more conformed to Your character.

Come over to Colossians 1:9, Paul was a pray-er, what we would call a prayer warrior. No matter what your situation, one thing you can do is you can pray. Some of you are at home and not able to come out and join the fellowship that we have together here, but one thing you can do at home, you can pray. You can pray for other believers, you can pray for this fellowship, you can pray for our growth. Paul could do that when he was a prisoner chained to a Roman guard. So don't think I have nothing I can do, maybe the Lord put you in a bed at home because He wanted to use you in the greatest way possible, to pray. That's what Paul is doing here as a Roman prisoner. Colossians 1:9, “For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual,” and here we go, “wisdom and understanding.” Believers ought to be getting smarter spiritually, the Word of God ought to be taken in, it's our nourishment, our nurture. That's why the incessant work of the devil is to divert the church away from its emphasis on the Word, taking the Word seriously. We grow up in the church, we are saved by God's grace and somehow the years go by and we didn't learn much. I want to be growing in the knowledge that God has given, the knowledge of His will. I want to have spiritual wisdom and understanding, that which the Spirit gives and produces and develops as we long for the pure, unadulterated milk of the Word that we might grow with respect to our salvation, as Peter wrote in his letter.

You are in Colossians, come over to Colossians 2:3, talking about Christ. “God's mystery,” the end of verse 2, we're going to that word ‘mystery’ here next in Ephesians, a true knowledge of God's mystery, Christ, and the work God does in Christ. That's the mystery you will not understand unless God opens your eyes. “Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this so no one will delude you with persuasive argument.” Verse 8, “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the elementary principles of the world.” Verse 9, “For in Him all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete.” So being in Christ gives us the access to all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Now that's a growing process. In all the years I've been a believer I still haven't exhausted that, I'm still growing in wisdom and knowledge. That's why we gather together around the Word of God, we take it in. As the church moves away from seriously grappling with biblical truth, what will we have? We have a general, superficial knowledge. Yes, I believe in sovereignty. Do you understand God chose you? I don't know whether I'd go there. Well, I don't know, I don't get into those, I think they can just cause trouble. Wait a minute, God's Word causes trouble. It does, it is constantly being opposed by the devil and his servants. So if we want to avoid trouble in this world we have to back off. We want to have discernment, we are in Christ, it's available for every believer. This is amazing.

Our family came to salvation, started with my mother, sitting at her kitchen table in our government housing duplex after World War II, it's where we were. And she is reading a King James Version of the Bible and realized she was a sinner and needed Christ to be her Savior. Then the Word of God comes, it's alive and powerful and salvation comes, and then she shares that with others and we get exposed to the truth as the family and it spreads out. Isn't it amazing? Mother dropped out of school after the eleventh grade to marry my dad. It's grace, she didn't have to say I hope I can go to college and get some advanced degrees and then I'll be able to look at the Bible and find out what God had to say, doesn't take that. Isn't it amazing how gracious God is, does it for us? We give the Word to the children from the youngest age. I believe by God's grace I was saved when I was about 10, I can remember it clearly. What God does, how amazing it is. This is what it is, it is supernatural. When we lose that we begin to try to adjust and be like the world and what the world says is important and how the world does it, and then we want our church to fit into that kind of mold and pattern. What are we doing? We're doing what the world does and we begin to become a barrier to the Spirit of God doing what God would have done through His Word.

Come back to Ephesians 1. He says He made known to us “in all wisdom and insight He made known to us,” verse 9, “the mystery of His will,” the mystery of His will “according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him” Do you see how much this is all about God, just in this verse? “He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His kind intention which He had purposed in Him.” If we don't start out with God and lay that foundation, we're just out here thinking I did it and I'm here and I'm in charge and my life just begins to flounder around. When I realize God is sovereign, I can deal with today because God, You have brought me to today. What I have done, and my stumbles, what people are doing around me, the world going downhill, and what's going to happen to our country, and all of that. God, You are taking care of me. This is the mystery of His will, the salvation we have in Him and all that that entails. That's a mystery, not something hard to understand -- something impossible to understand apart from the revelation of God. But God has revealed it, He has made it known.

That's why we share the Gospel with the lost, but I can't convince them with arguments. I want to share with them as clearly as possible what the Bible says about their sin and lost condition, show them from the Word that they are lost, trust the Spirit will use His Word to convict them of their lostness. He came to convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment. Share the truth that Christ died for them, that through faith in Him they can have God's forgiveness. He is a Savior who is alive. That's a mystery. How amazing is it that you sit here knowing that, and I trust for most of you, you have believed that and you know the reality of it. We come from different backgrounds, different ways God works, but we all had to come to that same place of recognizing the truth of what God said, and that was a work of His grace in opening our blinded eyes.

The mystery. This word ‘mystery’ is going to be used six times in the book of Ephesians because it is important. They were in the city of Ephesus and there were all kinds of ideas about religion and so on going on. But you understand, here is truth that only we understand, this is truth from God. I don't have it because I'm smarter than someone else and I'm not here to prove that I am smarter than someone else. Just the simplicity of the Gospel is what does it. It is a mystery. Come over to Ephesians 3, just jump ahead, Paul says in verse 3, “By revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief. By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ,” and then he defines it, “which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed.” So you see, it is a matter of revelation and what has been revealed is God is bringing Gentiles and Jews together into one body, the church. You could read in the Old Testament about salvation of Gentiles and Gentiles being saved, but there it was in the context of basically coming to Judaism, converting to Judaism, being identified with the Jews. But now something totally new is being done in the redemption Christ provided, it provided for bringing Jew and Gentile together. We'll get into that at the end of chapter 2 and into chapter 3. But you see the mystery of God's work of redemption. Ephesians 3:6, “That the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus.” Down in verse 9, “To bring to light what is the administration of the mystery,” we're coming to that word ‘administration,’ we'll look at it in Ephesians 1 in a moment. “The administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things; so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavenlies.” What a great passage of what God is doing in the church, a revelation to angels of God's work of redemption. We don't focus enough on this, we think we know that stuff, we know that stuff, but it ought to absorb us and fill our thinking.

Ephesians 5:32, “The mystery is great, but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.” Ephesians 6:19, “Pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel.” This isn’t a confused puzzle, but the wonder of what God has now revealed. And here Paul, the one we know and characterize as having such boldness, says pray that I'll have boldness. He was a human being, he was a prisoner, and you're going to make your life more difficult by speaking about things that people don't want to hear; you're chained to a Roman soldier, they could be nasty. And I'm going to be bold with the Gospel? This is going to make things more difficult. The Jews have already worked so that I've been imprisoned, what is this going to do when I come to trial? Sometimes it is better to keep your mouth shut -- Paul didn't know that, he says pray that I'll be bolder. What? Complaining about the way the Roman system has failed me, a Roman citizen? No, that's a passing, transitory thing. That I'll be bold with the truth of the redemption God provided in Christ for these miserable, lost Gentiles, for miserable, lost Jews of which I was one, Paul could say.

That's the mystery. We don't want to fail to always be in awe of that mystery that we know about. I want to tell you something that you cannot learn in college, in graduate school, you cannot learn any other place but from the Word of God. Let me tell you about a mystery that God has made known, that God provided His Son to come to this earth and die for your sin so that if you place your faith in Him, He'll make you His child, forgive all your sins. We ought to be ready for that. I used to make a practice sharing the Gospel, assuming that I had to present it to a person and I had just a short period of time, they are on the point of dying, would I get to the Gospel immediately. We sometimes get an opportunity and we talk like our head is in the clouds and talk about God and God is important to me, but we never can get to the point. Let's tell them about the mystery that they don't know, the marvel of God's redemption.

Come back to Ephesians 1, we're talking about the mystery, look at verse 9, “The mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him,” it is God doing it and it happens only in Christ. Until we talk about Christ and His death, we haven't presented the Gospel. We want to bring light to the darkened mind, it is what God purposed in Him. That's a good touch point, that it's not in your church, it's in Christ; being in this church doesn't mean you are in Christ. Good place to pick up with Catholics and Protestants alike, they think I go to church, my church has this. But do you know what, you could come to my church and not be a child of God. Let's break down that barrier, we're not talking about whose church building you go to. Are you really a part of the body of Christ, in Christ?

He purposed this in Him “with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times.” That word ‘administration,’ if you are using a King James Bible it is translated ‘dispensation,’ we talk about being a dispensationalist. Administration, it's a compound word, the Greek word house ‘oikos,’ the Greek word for law, ‘nomos,’ put it together, you have the compound word. And it could foundationally mean ‘organization, administration, ruling a house.’ But it is used in a broad sense in secular Greek and so on, of someone administering a kingdom, a king administering his kingdom for example. And here it is a picture of God administering, overseeing, managing to bring all creation to His planned, appointed conclusion and climax. “With a view to an administration suitable,” fitting, “to the fullness of the times.” What does that mean? “The summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth.” This is it, in Christ all things are going to be brought to their appointed conclusion and climax, that's the goal of it all, it will bring us to the kingdom. We won't go back to Isaiah 11 where we see all the animosity in creation, even between the animals, is dealt with; all believers are enjoying the wonder of God's presence in God's kingdom. What this entails is when we get to the climax, what God has done in Christ will result in everything being as it should be. And we want to understand what that means; that means wicked angels will be in hell, that means unredeemed people will be in hell, and that will mean all the redeemed will be enjoying the peace, love, joy and blessing of Christ's kingdom.

Come over to Colossians 1:16, we're talking about Christ who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. Verse 16, “For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities --all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church.” “For it was the Father's good pleasure,” verse 19, “for all the fullness to dwell in Him.” Now note verse 20, “Through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.” And then he talks about how He has reconciled us as believers to Himself.

So what about the rest? Well, they are in proper condition, it's like we would say if this would happen in our city, all criminals, all those who have broken the law, are imprisoned, all those who have not are enjoying peace in the city. Everything is as it should be, that's the culmination. It's not that all the wicked are punished in hell, but all by the grace of God who have been redeemed are enjoying the glory and blessings that He intended for His creation, which has experienced the impact of the fall, the sin, but it will all end up the way it should be. That's why whether it is the angels in heaven -- and angels who rebelled will not experience redemption. So as we see in the judgment of Matthew 25 Jesus says to people, depart into the eternal hell that was prepared for the devil and his angels, that's where all sinful beings will be for eternity. So in the work of Christ now God brings to conclusion; because of His work of reconciliation and redemption there will be the salvation blessings enjoyed, sadly not by all, but by His grace there will be those saved. We've seen that in Romans 8 where the whole creation groans in anticipation because that's when the curse will be lifted from the creation. We are anticipating the reign of God.

Come back to Ephesians 1:10, “with a view to an administration,” God's oversight in administering, managing, is “suitable to the fullness of the times,” that climax of it all, toward which all is moving. We don't want to lose this perspective, otherwise we'll get caught up in the turmoil, foolishness, and misery of the world around us. Don't be disturbed, everything is on track, this world is going to destruction, God's purposes are being done. We don't want to forget and think we as a church, we ought to get involved in this, we ought to try to do that, maybe if we got more involved we could… Wait a minute, wait a minute, what is the church here for, to rescue the world? I read a book here again, I had read it a number of years ago, and the man was promoting post-millennialism. Sadly he is convinced that Christians need to get more involved, and the more we get involved in the world and fixing the world, the more we will bring revival, and then revival will change enough of the world that we will bring in the kingdom. It's not that old a book, depends how old you are whether you think the book is old, I believe it was from the 1960s, within my lifetime. And he is still writing that. In the fullness of time the world is going down as God removes that restraining grace, and the climax of that removal is with the removal of the Spirit, I take it, at the rapture. If you think things are coming apart now, it will literally happen overnight. So what are we doing? We are back here, we understand God is managing all things to bring them to His appointed conclusion, that includes things in heaven and on earth.

“In Him,” the end of verse 10, “also we have obtained an inheritance,” verse 11. Well, we are, we were predestined to adoption as sons in verse 5 and we saw in our study of the early chapters of Romans that we are heirs and co-heirs of God in Christ. So that goes with being a son. “We have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined.” It's like God does not want us to forget He is sovereign, He is in charge. We're going to obtain an inheritance because He has “predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will.” It weakens the church… We think, well, some of these doctrines are hard. Why do you think God put it here? So we could overlook it? So we would say there is disagreement on that, I don't think we have to make an issue of that? God tells me what to make an issue of, this is not our decision, we're back to man being at the center. Did God write this because He had run out of subjects? It almost sounds blasphemous to talk that way. That He didn't know that people would disagree over this so it would be better if He didn't say these kinds of things?

I read one preacher that I respect, but he said you should never talk about these things in public services. Why? Where were they going to read this? To the church at Ephesus. Wait, we have some visitors today, we won't read this letter from Paul today. We as believers then think we are God's editors. This is what He says, He predestined these things according to His purpose, and keep this in mind. Someone will say I don't see any purpose to this. You don't have to, He's doing it according to His purpose, not your purpose, not my purpose. Now as far as He has revealed His purposes I can go, but He hasn't revealed everything. You say, I don't know if I see the purpose of that, I could have… Did God consult with you? Didn't consult with me either. He did it according to His good pleasure, remember? He counseled with His own will, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

So “predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will.” He is sovereign. Again I emphasize this because one of the most important things that I have to remind myself of is God, You are in charge. I am where I am today -- you may be in a hospital, things may be bad, but we can all say the same thing -- I am where I am as God's child by His divine, appointed plan. And I want to accept that. Lord, I'm stumbling around here because I'm frustrated, and if I am honest I'm frustrated with what You have planned. And I need to make the adjustment, God doesn't need to adjust. I think I need to tell Him. He knows, it is all “predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be,” and here we go as we wrap up this emphasis on the Son, “to the praise of His glory.” That's where we are going, “we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.” And that's what we get when we get further in Ephesians, in eternity we will be trophies of His grace.

It's such a blessing; we miss the blessing when we don't stop and say Lord, this is the day You have planned for me, this is what You planned for my day, I want to handle it consistent with Your Word and Your will. You have provided the Spirit to dwell in me, He will give me the grace necessary for this day. Some days will be easier, some days will be harder, some days will seem unbearable, but when I understand God has me in His control, all things work together for good to those who love God, to the called according to His purpose and so on in Romans 8. Those are just not words that we memorize, that is truth that we live. Isn't it a relief to know? That's why he starts this way, and we're not done, he is going to talk about the Holy Spirit.

Come and turn on the news, I hardly do that as much anymore, it's a mess, and it may get messier and it may get harder for us. We have had restrictions on meeting together, it may get more restricted. Life could get more difficult and even to be able to get a job, that's what happened in New Testament times, we don't want your kind working for us. Things get more restrictive, we say, what are we going to do? Remember Jesus said, each day has enough trouble of its own. Trust God today, trust Him for your tomorrow. I don't know what tomorrow holds. Remember we did Ecclesiastes, you can't change yesterday, you can't control tomorrow. We want to be what God says we need to be; and we do it with confidence, not fatalism, because my God is my heavenly Father, He loves me, He has planned for me. The pain that comes into my life, the sorrow, the difficulty is part of His work in maturing me and preparing me for a time in the presence of His glory when there will be no pain, there will be no suffering, there will be no tears. I just want to pull that into today, but that may not be the today He has for me.

But it is a day of salvation, you know what Paul wrote to the Corinthians, today is the day of salvation. Be careful, don't think you will make the decision to trust Christ tomorrow, God gives you today, today is the day of salvation, today He has given you the opportunity to hear that Christ died for your sins, He was raised from the dead, He will cleanse you and make you new if you place your faith in Him. Well, I have to give that some thought. Don't think too long, the devil may come and snatch that word away, tomorrow may be different than today, today is a day of salvation. For us who know the Savior we want to remember that. I may have opportunity today to share the truth of the Gospel of Christ, but I don't have tomorrow. God, in Your sovereign plan I want to live that plan, drawing on Your grace in a way that is honoring to You.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for Your Word. It is a rich Word, it is a true Word. And we are not disappointed to know You are sovereign, that is the greatest blessing, You are the sovereign God, You rule over all, all things are under Your control, Your management. It's not out of control, You are working Your purposes. And for us as Your children it's a great comfort, we are in Your care. You love us, You know our every need, You know our every circumstance, You know every trial, You know every blessing. Lord, we can trust You, we can live with peace and confidence and security, we belong to You. You have told us how it will all end, that is our hope and anticipation. Until that time comes we want to live pleasing to You. We come in Christ's name, amen.