A Call to Worship
Ephesians 1: 3 – 14
I don’t know if you’ve ever really thought about it, but there very first story in the Bible involving more than one human being, is the story of a wedding. God, after looking at everything else in all creation and pronouncing it good, looks at the man whom he has made in his own image and says, “It is not good for man to be alone;” and he does not then bless the man with a puppy or a kitten or even a new pickup; no, he creates a woman and gives her to the man to stand beside him, to love him, and to be his bride. Then,
“the man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.”
24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
So the story of humanity, this epic tale that is still being told began at God’s direction with a romance. Of course, tucked away in the middle of our Bible, between the Proverbs and the prophets is one of the most remarkable love songs ever written—the Song of Songs’ which is Solomon’s; and we don’t read it often, in fact, I’ve met Christians who were embarrassed to admit that it’s even in there. And if there are children around…well, let’s just say that if the English version is rated PG-13, then the Hebrew edition would certainly merit an R; but it’s there, and it’s in the Bible as a testament to the reality that God created us to live our lives in relationships with others, to know and be known, to love and be loved in return.
And I think that’s why there’s a kind of wonder about a wedding, from the moment the doors of the church are opened to the moment the lights are turned off at the reception hall. and in all those moments, there’s no moment quite like that moment, when the bride enters the sanctuary. Everyone is seated, waiting in expectation, and then, the music changes and that’s their cue to rise and turn to see her as she makes her way down the aisle on the arm of her father.
But no one has a better view than the groom, standing as he is at the front of the church, and no one will ever see her the way he sees her in that moment: the way Adam saw Eve when they were introduced for the first time; the way that Solomon looked into the dark eyes of the wife of his youth. Not even a camera can catch the radiance that surrounds her. And those who view the pictures will never see her the way the groom sees her in that moment—the most beautiful woman in all the world, wearing the most stunning dress—a bride adorned for her wedding.
Now of course, the groom is inevitably well turned-out too; he might even be wearing a tux for the first time in his life, but standing next to her, it really doesn’t matter much what he looks like. Few will notice and most, including the groom himself won’t much care, because the bride is his glory and this day is about her.
And as we were talking last week about a way of seeing—a way of looking ourselves and at the church of Jesus Christ, we need to keep in mind that it’s a fact of scripture that in both covenants, when God considers the people he has chosen for himself, when he looks at
the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven
this is what he sees: a bride, perfect in beauty, adorned in holiness, radiant in glory. Later on we’ll see it in the letter to the Ephesians itself, Paul will write,
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.
But understand, if Adam’s first thought when he looked at Eve was, “Wow!” then that’s also Jesus’ thought when he considers you, the church that he bought with his own blood and dressed in a righteousness that we could never afford.
Oh, we can talk about our sinfulness and the impurity of our hearts. It’s all true,
“There is no one righteous, not even one;”
But this is no surprise to God. Even before he created us, He knew our hearts better than we can ever know them ourselves, but He loved us anyway, and he chose us in Christ, and he called us to be his own. And as we noted last Sunday, if we could begin to see ourselves in that light—if we could begin to see the church as the Lord Jesus sees the church, what a transformation would take place in our understanding.
Like the description of the bride in the Song of Songs. When she first speaks of herself in chapter one, she puts herself down. Like the bride who looks at herself in the mirror before the ceremony and thinks, “My hair is all wrong, and this dress…what was I thinking,” Solomon’s beloved says,
Do not stare at me because I am dark, because I am darkened by the sun.
My mother’s sons were angry with me and made me take care of the vineyards;
my own vineyard I have neglected.
But then, her Lover speaks, and as she comes to see through his eyes, she says of herself,
I am a rose of Sharon,
a lily of the valleys.
And while you’ve probably heard those words used as a description of Jesus at some point, if you follow the analogy of bride and beloved in the Song of Solomon, they actually apply to the bride—that is to say, they apply to us; in a New Covenant setting, they apply to the church. And notice also that as the bride comes to see herself through the eyes of the king, not only does her image of herself change, but her love for the king increases too.
Which raises an interesting point; because lately, we are told all the time that worship (and, in point of fact, life) is “not about you”, there was a bestselling Christian book a few years ago that began with just that premise, and to some extent, it’s true. It’s not about us, at least, not in the way that we might want it to be.
You see, if it were about us in the way that we would like, then we could expect to do in worship whatever pleases ourselves, and we could get bent out of shape if the music wasn’t just right, or if the sermon wasn’t entertaining, or, God forbid, if we didn’t agree with it. We could even start to think of the Church’s service of worship as something optional—something disposable—that we could take or leave at our leisure without consequence because after all, it’s there to serve and to satisfy ourselves, so if it doesn’t, then why bother? Why not find something else to occupy our Sunday mornings.
But it’s not about us, not in that way. The services of the church are services of worship; we gather not to be entertained, not to evangelize, not to receive our weekly vaccination to keep us safe from the pollution of the world; we gather to acknowledge the worth—to proclaim the praises—of our God, and of our Savior, Jesus Christ. True biblical worship is not about us; it’s about Him.
Hence the opening phrase in our call to worship and Scripture text this morning,
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
And there it is; the heart of worship.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
But, hopefully, you caught the context.
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
In fact, Ephesians 1: 3 – 14 is actually a single sentence and without all the modifying phrases, it would read something like this.
Praise be to the God…who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing… he chose us in him be holy and without blame before him…[and] in love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ…to the praise of his glorious grace with which he has blessed us…in Christ.
In other words, true worship is all about God, but true worship is motivated by our realization—by our understanding of the reality that God, having taken us as his own, has blessed us “in Christ”, chosen us “in Christ”, and predestined us for adoption as his children “through Jesus Christ” and all “to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us”, in Christ. True worship—true appreciation—for God, begins with the realization that we have been loved more than we can imagine being loved, we have been blessed, we have been chosen and we have been predestined according to the plan of the one who works out everything according to the purpose of his own will to be adopted as his children through Jesus Christ, our Lord and our Savior.
You see, it is about you, in a way—but not about what God should be doing for you if he really wants you to come to worship every week; rather it’s about those things which God has already done and how those things should be motivating us to praise God.
As it says in verses 7 and 8:
7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight…
And then, verses 11 and 12:
11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.
So, the forgiveness of our sin in the here and now, and then life eternal at the resurrection of the dead; “All this and 'heaven' too…” Forgiveness, redemption and the understanding of our place in God’s kingdom now; and the “by faith” certainty of our place in the fullness of that kingdom at the consummation of all things.
And once more in verse 13:
13 In him [that is, in Christ] you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
So the blood of the covenant that redeems us is sealed to us by the Holy Spirit of God himself as a guarantee that what he has begun, and what he has been promised will inevitably be fulfilled. See, it’s not really about us, but God’s glory is at stake here, and He will not tarnish his glory with even the hint of an unfulfilled promise. “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
So this is how the Lord sees us. This is what the Lord has done. This is what Christ Jesus purchased for us at the price of his own blood, shed for us and for our salvation. And this is our call to worship. This is our call to praise. This is why the church of Jesus Christ gathers regularly to listen to voice of his Word and Spirit, and to come to his table. Our motivation is not supposed to be “What can I get out of it?” but rather,
What shall I render to the LORD for all his benefits to me?
So in the light of what God has already done for us—in the light of his eternal love; in the light of his grace; in the light of the cross—we need to ask ourselves, “What can I give? What can I bring? What can I do to proclaim the praise of my God and my Savior from moment to moment and day to day?”
And then, for the praise of his glorious grace, we come again and again to worship; and we come again to this place—and to this table—where Jesus Christ, the bridegroom and lover of his people opens his arms in welcome, saying,
You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride;
you have stolen my heart
with one glance of your eyes,
with one jewel of your necklace.
How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride!
This is our call to worship. This is the reason why we praise.
May we pray.
