Illus: Speaking of things DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND reminds me of the story of the man who was walking on the beach one day and he came across a bottle. He kicked it and a “Genie” came swooping out. The “Genie” thanked him for releasing him from the bottle and told the man he was so thankful that he would grant him any wish he wished to have granted. The man said, “Well, I have always wanted to go to Hawaii, but I am afraid of water, and afraid to fly, so I could not go. Would you please make a bridge from California to Hawaii so I could drive there?”
The “Genie” rubbed his forehead and said, “Look I am really grateful you freed me out of that little bottle but it is ridiculous to ask me to grant such a wish. It would take me weeks, perhaps months, to have all that dirt hauled in to make a road across the ocean.” The man said, “Nevertheless, that is my wish!”
The “Genie” asked, “Is there something else you would like me to do for you?”
The man thought a few minutes and said, “All right, there is something else I have always wished, that is, could you help me be able to UNDERSTAND WOMEN?”
Again the “Genie” rubbed his head and thought for a few minutes and asked, “Do you want a two lane, or a four lane causeway to Hawaii?”
Yes, we do not UNDERSTAND many things in life, and one of those things is the way the opposite sex thinks.
Illus: Some say the problem is that WOMEN think from the right side of their brains, and MEN think from the left side. But, most of us sometimes wonder if some folks even think at all!
We will never be able to UNDERSTAND each other completely, but with God’s help we can come to understand WHAT the book of EPHESIANS is teaching us.
Simply put, the book of Ephesians is a book that tells us what we have IN CHRIST.
Illus: J. Vernon McGee said, “To me the most important word in the New Testament is the little preposition IN. Theologians have come up with some “Lulus” trying to tell us what it means to be saved. How do you define our salvation? There are words like redemption, atonement, justification, reconciliation, propitiation, and the vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice of Christ. All of these words are good; they are wonderful, but each of them merely gives one aspect of our salvation. What does it really mean to be saved? It means to be IN CHRIST! We are irrevocably and organically joined to Christ by the baptism of the Holy Spirit...We belong to Him and there is nothing as wonderful as that.”
IN CHRIST occurs one-hundred-thirty times in the New Testament. Evidently God is trying to teach us what it means to be IN CHRIST. Let us continue our study to see what we who are IN Christ have. We have seen so far: 1. OUR SIGNIFICANCE, and 2. OUR SUFFICIENCY. But, let us look at...
III. OUR SECURITY.
Look at verses 3-6. We read, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.”
Many have a hard time UNDERSTANDING these verses, but it is worth the work to study it out.
Illus: This reminds us of how it is as a young boy eating hickory nuts. That is, the nuts are quite difficult to open, but once opened they are filled with goodies.
In verse 3, Paul talks about our God... “who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.”
Then Paul shows us HOW God, the Father, has blessed us. Look at verse 4. We read, “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.”
Illus: Some picture God as doing the same thing we used to do when we got ready to play sand-lot football. That is, we would pick two fellows to be the captains and THEY WOULD CHOOSE from those of us who were left, who would be on their team.
Some actually have the idea that God, more or less, flips a coin to decide WHO WILL BE “CHOSEN” and WHO WILL NOT BE CHOSEN TO BE SAINTS.
How could anyone love God if He did such a wicked thing as to create a little baby and then, more or less, flip a coin to determine if that child is to be a SAINT, or an AIN’T -- if that child was destined to spend eternity in HEAVEN or HELL?
The Bible tells us that God did make a choice. WHAT WAS THAT CHOICE?
• That choice was that, “...WHOSOEVER shall call upon the Lord shall be saved.”
• John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Men will be lost, but it is NOT BY GOD’S CHOICE, but BY THEIR OWN CHOICE.
God has made His choice, and His choice, again, is “WHOSOEVER” wants to be a SAINT of God can be one.
Illus: Ironside said, “The whole choice and purpose of salvation had reference to him, and out of him no one was chosen to life, and no one out of him will be saved.”
WHEN DID GOD MAKE THIS CHOICE? Notice, God’s choice was made before the foundations of the world.
Look again at verse 4. We read, “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world
The Word of God is teaching us this; if you think salvation ORIGINATED WITH MANKIND YOU ARE MISTAKEN! All that has to do with salvation ORIGINATED WITH GOD!
God, in his omniscience, knew before He placed man on earth that man would need a Savior. Before the foundation of the world God chose to save lost mankind.
Illus: Dr. Harry Ironside tells the story of a man asking a little boy, “Son, have you found Jesus?” The little boy very wisely replied, “Sir, I did not know He was lost.”
The point is this. You do not do the FINDING, HE FOUND YOU! JESUS is the ONE Who CAME TO SEEK AND TO SAVE THAT WHICH WAS LOST. We did not do this.
Rom. 5:8 states it clearly, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
Illus: The fact that salvation ORIGINATED WITH GOD can clearly be seen in the story of the young black man who wanted to join a white church before the days of segregation. So the deacons were examining him. They asked, “How did you get saved?” His answer was, “God did His part, and I did my part.” They thought they had found something wrong with his doctrine and they could deny him membership because of this. So, they questioned further, “What was God’s part, and what was your part?” His explanation was a good one. He said, “God’s part was the saving, and my part was the sinning. I done run from Him as fast as my sinful heart and rebellious legs could take me. He done took out after me ‘till He run me down.”
Beloved, that is the way everyone here today got saved. You may word it more eloquently than that, but that is what happened!
Everything that deals with salvation ORIGINATED WITH GOD BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD.
Jesus said it this way in John 15:16, “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you...” Our salvation ORIGINATED WITH HIM! We who are IN HIM, what has He chosen us for? The next few verses tell us:
A. He has chosen us to make us holy and without blame.
Look at the last part of verse 4. We read, “...that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.” God has chosen that we should live a HOLY life.
Look at I Peter 1:16. We read, “Be ye holy; for I am holy.” Everyday we should live a holy life before a lost and dying world. But, did you know a man can live a holy life before the lost world and
- Some will say, “That man lives A HOLY LIFE.”
- Others will say, about that same man, “That man is a crook.”
Illus: It was no different with the Lord’s disciples. Some people thought they were the greatest; but others were constantly trying to destroy those same disciples because they hated them so much.
Those who did not like them tried to blame them for the disturbances and riots.
So then, how could we ever live A HOLY LIFE before mankind? WE CAN NOT.
Notice again what it says. Look at verse 4 again. We read, “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame BEFORE HIM in love.” You see, we could never be HOLY and WITHOUT BLAME before all men; but, BECAUSE of the LORD JESUS, Who hath CHOSEN US, and REDEEMED US and GAVE US HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, we can be HOLY and WITHOUT BLAME “BEFORE HIM.”
Notice, men are not selected because they are holy. They are chosen to be made holy.
Illus: God does not see those of us who have been redeemed by the precious blood of the Lamb in our sins. On Calvary He took our filthy self-righteousness, and we took on His pure righteousness. WE ARE HOLY AND UNBLAMEABLE today BECAUSE God sees us as WE ARE CLOTHED IN HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS.
We who are IN CHRIST have been chosen to be HOLY AND WITHOUT BLAME. Also,
B. He has made us His children. Look at verse 5. We read, “Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.” Look at the word, “predestinated.” This is translated from the Greek word, “Proorizo (pro-or-id’-zo)” which means: “To predetermine, decide beforehand.” Someone is saying, “Preacher, do you believe in PREDESTINATION?” NOT THE WAY SOME FOLKS BELIEVE IT! Let me say, I could not state I believe this Bible if I did not believe in it. However, some take this lovely teaching and make God look like a monster.
Illus: There are some people who never had a kind thing to say about anyone. If you listen to some talk, you would be convinced it does not matter who they talk about, they are going to try to make them look bad!
Those who try to make God look bad take this precious verse, that tells us we have been CHOSEN by God before the foundation of the world to be PREDESTINED to BE THE ADOPTED SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF GOD, and make God look mean because they misinterpret this to mean Jesus did not die for everyone--limited atonement.
There are two viewpoints on PREDESTINATION.
A. The Calvinist viewpoint. The Calvinist believes that this choice was:
- Individual (only certain, select individuals have been chosen).
- Dependent solely upon God’s gracious and mysterious will, without any foreknowledge of good or evil on the part of those selected.
- Unconditional and final (there is no possibility of apostasy)
B. The Armenian Viewpoint. The Armenian believes that this choice was:
- Individual (certain select individuals have been chosen)
- Based upon foreknowledge of those souls who would respond to the gospel and persevere in the faith.
- Unconditional and final, in the sense that God already knows those who will persevere to the end.
What verse 5 is teaching is, EVERYONE - MAN, WOMAN, BOY AND GIRL - HAS BEEN CHOSEN BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD - HAS BEEN PREDESTINED TO BE THE ADOPTED SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF GOD.
Illus: Notice, as Paul speaks of ADOPTIONS, he is not talking about a man and woman going to an adoption center and looking over a dozen children and choosing some and rejecting others.
He was writing to Christians WHO HAD ALREADY RECEIVED THEIR “ADOPTION” IN CHRIST.
The lost are those who have been PREDESTINED by the “Good pleasure of his will,” but they have chosen not to come to Him!
Illus: An adopted child is a very special child. Many of us are here because we were “a mistake.” That is, our parents did not plan to exactly have us at that particular time. That is, they did not plan ahead to have us at the time they had us. But in spite of their lack of planning, they had us.
But, an adopted child is one who has been SELECTED. God chose us -- before the foundation of the world we were predestined to become the adopted sons and daughters of God.
Conclusion/Summary: Many folks think these things we have preached about are dark and obscure, but this is not the case. Paul saw that our security IN CHRIST is that we, having received Christ as our Savior, are ORGANICALLY IN CHRIST and before we could ever be removed the Lord would have to have spiritual surgery.
This became so real to Paul that he had to stop and just praise the Lord for what we have IN CHRIST. Look at verse 6. We read, “To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted IN THE BELOVED.”
(Part one of chapter 1:2-6)
I. OUR SIGNIFICANCE.
II. OUR SUFFICIENCY.
(Part two of chapter 1:2-6)
III. OUR SECURITY.
