Text:  Ephesians 1: 3-14

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. ⁴ For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love ⁵ he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— ⁶ to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. ⁷ In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace ⁸ that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. ⁹ And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, ¹⁰ to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.

¹¹ In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, ¹² in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. ¹³ And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴ who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

Years ago, I wore a different uniform than today.  Then the  Coast Guard sent me from New Orleans to the Training Center out at Two Rock. Sunday was approaching and I wanted to worship here at Living Word.  I couldn’t get a ride so I decided to check out the base chapel.

When the preacher got into his sermon I started to notice something.  Every time he wanted to emphasize something he got up on his toes.  If it was once or twice I wouldn’t have paid much attention.  But he did it so often I started to chuckle.

Now you can tell me what I do.  But all kidding aside, there are certain places in God’s Word so wonderful, that we have every reason to be up on our toes.  This is one of them.

And what a challenge for your pastor.  I feel like I have a 10 pound bag to deliver a truckload of God’s amazing grace.  For what do we find here?  What does the apostle Paul hold up before us?

IN CHRIST, GOD HAS BLESSED YOU BEYOND MEASURE
i.  In Christ, God chose you
II.  In Christ, God redeemed you
III.  In Christ, God included you

As soon as you begin reading this letter, you can see why Martin Luther called Ephesians the queen of epistles.  Paul begins with words that rise up from his heart in praise.  And notice. These are not words that would be heard at a Rotary Club or AA meeting where people of many faiths or no faiths come together.  For this praise is not directed to some generic Supreme being or higher power.  This praise is directed to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  For in Jesus Christ, Paul writes, in connection with Him, is every spiritual blessing.

Let’s take the first one.  In Christ, God chose you.  ⁴ For he chose us in him before the creation of the world … So often, we hear well meaning Christians talk about their choice, their decision for Christ.  But who chose who?  The good news here is that God chose us.  He chose us long before our mothers held us in their arms. Even before this world was made.

He chose us IN Christ.  In other words, God chose to bring you into a faith relationship with his Son.  He chose us…to be holy and blameless in his sight…  Think about that.  The Bible teaches us that we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.  How do we stack up on our own?  A few weeks ago, we heard King David say in Psalm 130:  If you O Lord kept a record of sin, who could stand? Who could stand since God calls on us to love our neighbor as our self.  Who could stand with the words we have let come from our lips about our neighbor?  Who could stand if God dragged out all the foolish things we did when we were young?

But God chose us in Christ to be holy and blameless in his sight.  For in Christ, only in Christ, we are blameless before God. Our sins are forgiven and forgotten.  So God’ tells us in his Word we have nothing to fear when we stand before God. There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Rom  )

For God chose you to be his child.  …he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ And here you might think of God drawing a line around you, setting you apart, choosing you to be his own long before you were ever born.

But why?  Why did he choose us?  Well we can look at ourselves for the next ten years and we won’t find the answer.  In fact, we’ll find plenty of reason for God to reject us.  It wasn’t as if God looked ahead in our lives and said:  Ooh that’s my kind of person.  I’ll choose him or her. The reason is not found in us.  It’s found in the heart of our Lord.  And it’s so simple, it’s easy to overlook.  In love, Paul writes.  God’s great love caused him to reach forward in time to choose you.

But how can I know?  How can I know that God chose me?  He tells us right here.  Think again of these words.  He chose us in Christ.  There’s your answer.  In Christ.  Are you in Christ?  Is he your Lord and Savior?  There you can know.  For God chose us in Christ.

Yet God’s choice was more than a decision made in the throne room of heaven.  His choice set a plan into motion that goes far beyond our human imagination.  God would make it possible for fallen sinners like you and me to live in his presence.  And here again, Paul can’t help but praise God for his glorious grace.  For in Christ, God has blessed you beyond measure.  In Christ, God redeemed you.

Here is one all important Bible word that is key to understanding the good news of Jesus Christ.  Redemption.  Paul’s readers had no trouble understanding that word.  They lived in world where slavery was common.  Redemption was paying the price to free a slave.  Sometimes Christians did that for their brothers and sisters in Christ.  Just imagine if you were that slave set free.          How grateful you would be to your congregation.

Well in Christ, we have redemption.  In him, You and I have been set free from something that enslaved us all.  We were slaves to sin.  We were slaves to its power to rule our hearts.  And worse yet, we carried its awful burden of guilt.  And unlike the slaves kept in the south, we could not escape our burden.  We could not escape our fate.  For the wages of sin is death, separation from God in a real place called hell.

But in Christ, we have redemption.  In Christ, that burden is lifted.  We have God’s forgiveness for all our sins.  And may we always count the cost.  May we always stand in awe of what God was willing to do to redeem us. For we have this freedom through Jesus’ blood.  We have this freedom because God was willing to offer up the One he loves. To send his own Son to bear our guilt, our shame and die our death.  We have this freedom because God the Son was willing to pay that price.

But why?  Why would God shed his blood and give his life for me?  Again.  There is only one place to look.  And it’s not in the mirror.  Why?  This awesome and wonderful mystery.  The riches of God’s grace in Jesus Christ.

And God has made it known.  He made it known to his apostles like Paul and Peter.  He made known this mystery now revealed to us in this book we call the Bible.  The mystery of his will:  to choose us, to redeem us and finally include us in Christ.

I spend some time in sales.  Long enough to know it wasn’t my calling.  But one thing I did learn.  You have to close the deal.  Nothing good follows if you don’t.  Well in a way, it’s like that with God’s grace.  Unless a person trusts in Christ and what he’s done, it does him no good.

But thanks be to God that he didn’t leave that to us.  He chose us and sometime in our life he acted on that decision.  When? Listen   ¹³ And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.  But not just heard.  Having believed. In Christ God included you when you heard and believed.

And make no mistake.  Your faith is God’s work, the work of God the Holy Spirit.  That’s what Paul goes on to say in chapter 2.  By grace you have been saved through faith and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.  That’s when God carried out his choice.  That’s when God included you in Christ, his Holy Christian church.

Then and there, God gave you a precious assurance.  Not something, but someone. In fact, God gave you himself. Listen.  Having believed, you were marked in [Christ] with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴ who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance

A pastor friend of mine just got a tattoo of Jesus’ cross on his arm.  I’m not into tattoos or the pain involved in getting them.  But it does unmistakably mark him as a Christian.  Well God has marked you.  Not with a tattoo.  But with his Holy Spirit.  He marked you as his own.  And that same Spirit now serves as a guarantee of what is to come.

Paul calls the Holy Spirit a deposit.  We just put my dad’s house up for sale in New York.  If someone decides to buy it, he’ll first make a deposit to show he’s serious and assure us he will give us the rest.  Well God has given us his Spirit  who enables us to say in our hearts that Jesus is Lord.  He has given us his Sprit in our hearts as a deposit to assure us of the glory that is to come.  And here once again, Paul is awestruck.  Again, he breaks out in praise.  From start to finish it’s all about God’s grace in Christ.

One Sunday after worship, a lady came up to her pastor and thanked him for his sermon.  Don’t thank me, he said.  Thank the Lord.  To which the lady replied.  Well I thought of that, but it wasn’t THAT good.

Friends, no matter what you think of this sermon, no matter what you think of this preacher, what God says to us here is THAT good,  We can’t thank him enough.  For in Christ, God has blessed us beyond measure.  Amen.