How many of you have a will?
Did you put a lot of thought into it? Did you go over the people you love, and the How many of you have a will?
Did you put a lot of thought into it? Did you go over the people you love, and the things that matter to you, and try to make the two match? How many times have you changed it? Some people change theirs every year, some never change them at all. Some people - especially those with a lot of stuff - change their wills regularly to keep their heirs in line, and others set up irrevocable trusts and other complicated arrangements that try to keep control over their property even after they’re out of the picture themselves. The other side of the experience is being mentioned in somebody’s will, being somebody’s heir. It makes a difference, I think, to people’s lives and plans when they know they’re going to come into a nice little chunk of change somewhere down the road. Most people have too much taste to go around daydreaming out loud about what they’re going to do with great-grandmother’s diamonds, but it wouldn’t be smart for someone who’s gong to inherit something important to ignore the presence of that future promise in their lives - if only to know what is and isn’t realistic about your plans and expectations.
The book of Ephesians could be thought of as God’s will - as in "Last Will and Testament." The whole New Testament is, in fact, just that - essentially a legal document laying out the terms and conditions of a changed relationship between a wealthy and powerful donor and the beneficiaries of his generosity. But the gospels are the stories of how and why God changed his will, that is changed from the Old Covenant under Moses to the New Covenant under Jesus. And each one of Paul’s letters explains something different about what it means; Paul’s letter to the Christians in Rome explains how it all works, the one to Colossae explains more fully who Jesus is, while the letter to the Philippians talks about the joys of belonging to God and being part of his purposes. In my view, the letter to the Ephesians explains what God has given to us - the nature and value of the bequest - and the terms and conditions that he expects his heirs - that’s us - to follow as a consequence.
First of all, Paul explains why it is that Gentiles - that is non-Jews - are mentioned in the will at all. After all, the Gentile pagans had no expectations at all. They hadn’t been raised to believe that they belonged to the family of the King of the Universe, "Melek ha olam" as the Jews repeated as part of every prayer, every blessing. And it isn’t because God got mad at the Jews and changed his will out of spite. No, This was always part of the plan. "He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world ... He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ." [v. 4-5] God isn’t capricious, or bad-tempered, or hasty. God always knew that people couldn’t make it back into communion with him, the intimate relationship we were created for, without some very special help.
It’s not that there was anything wrong with the first covenant, that first reading of the will that Moses got on Sinai. It’s just that human beings simply aren’t equipped to manage the inheritance properly. It’s as if God as celestial CEO turned over the day-to-day management of the company to a handful of clueless, greedy and corrupt executives... they had detailed instructions and a limitless line of credit, and ran the organization into the ground within a generation. And if you think I’m exaggerating the speed with which the project went under, read the book of Judges. No attempt at reformation and renewal ever lasted more than 40 years, and usually it was less than that.
No, just handing over the keys to the kingdom would not do. Some different arrangements would have to be made. But do you think God was surprised by this? Of course not! But we had to be convinced, too. We had to be shown that we needed a different kind of help than just a handout or a leg up.
But why us? Why did he choose us? Are we better than other people? Are those of us who are sitting in these and other pews around the country and world better than other people? No. We’re luckier, certainly, more fortunate, more blessed. But just like the beneficiaries of the original covenant, God chose us because of who he is, not because of who we are. " It was not because you were more numerous than any other people that the LORD set his heart on you and chose you," said Moses to the Israelites, "It was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath that he swore to your ancestors, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of slavery." [Dt 7:7-8]
The overwhelming magnitude of the love God has for us is something that practically swamps Paul’s powers of description. As a matter of fact, these 14 verses we’re looking at this morning are one single sentence, one long outpouring of praise that we are asked to join. "Wow, what a gift," says Paul. "Wow, what a God!" Just being allowed to call the King "Father" without being expelled from the throne room for gross disrespect is more than we deserve. It’s just because God loves us that we’re gathered here at all. And it is just because God loves us that we already have so much. And it is just because God loves us that we are promised even more to come in a future we can only just barely begin to imagine.
But Paul tries to tell us. The next thing he does is explain exactly what it is that this inheritance consists of. We have redemption, forgiveness, wisdom and insight, hope, eternal life, and the Holy Spirit. [v. 7-13] To put it in the most simple terms possible, we have a new start, a road map, a destination, and fuel for the journey. Who could ask for anything more? What more could we possibly need?
But wait. The trust is irrevocable - but between the reading of the will and the granting of probate, before we get the keys to the Porsche and to the safety deposit box and to the Manhattan penthouse there are terms and conditions that have to be met.
We are his children. We are adopted by God. But we are his children because of Christ, through Christ, and in Christ. The phrase ’in Christ’ or ’in him’ occurs some nine or ten times in the first 14 verses. In fact the whole theme of the letter is about us being in Christ. God’s plan is all fulfilled in Christ. There is no way to get any of the gifts, to experience any of the blessings we are promised, unless we are in Jesus Christ.
God chose us IN Jesus Christ. God blesses us IN Jesus Christ. God forgives us IN Jesus Christ. The salvation of the world will take place only as and when and if we are gathered together IN Christ.
In evangelical circles we talk a lot about Christ living in us, about inviting Jesus to live in our hearts. And there’s nothing wrong with that, it’s an important way to understand the intimacy and permanence of the relationship we have with him through the Holy Spirit. But the Bible talks far more about us being in Christ than it does about Christ living in us. But what does that mean? It means that we become so identified with Christ, so completely part of him, that we participate in his death and his life becomes ours. Christ identifies with us in the incarnation and atonement, and we identify with him by faith. It’s not just that Jesus was our substitute on the cross, and that since he has done what needs to be done we can go off and live our own lives with an occasional "thanks." No, it’s that we are so identified with Christ that his death was our death and his life is our life.
Our inheritance is exactly and completely the same inheritance Jesus Christ has received - and we can only experience it, share in the blessings, and the power, and the freedom - if we are so close to him that we write with his hands and
speak with his mouth. It means that we actually value the "spiritual blessings in the heavenly places" [v. 2] we are promised more than we value the earthly position and possessions we may be called to go without. Some people call the gifts Paul talks about in this chapter, "pie in the sky by-and-by." But Paul didn’t think so. Paul puts it this way: "I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ" [Ph 3:8] If we are in Christ, "the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, we too will endure the cross for the sake of the joy that is set before us." [He 12:2]
We are redeemed in Christ, forgiven in Christ, made alive in Christ and heirs with Christ for one reason, God’s love for us, and for one purpose: that we might live to the praise of God’s glory. Three times Paul uses that phrase, "to the praise of God’s glory." [v. 6,12,14]
Some people worry about whether or not they are "elect." They wonder how God could be so arbitrary as to choose some and reject others. But that’s not what this chapter is about. This chapter is about God, and what God has done for us, and how to experience the joy that comes with being the beneficiary, the heir, of the creator of the universe and the King of the world. And that joy doesn’t depend on whether we are living on rice in war-torn Africa or on steak and lobster in overweight America. That joy depends on knowing Jesus Christ, on living with him, for him, and in him. And if we do, we will fulfill the terms and the conditions of God’s will: our whole lives will be a hymn of praise to God’s glory.
