Opening Illustration: Bob Ross Channel on my TV. For some reason, my TV shows the same channel every time I turn it on. And I don’t really want to change it because it’s the Bob Ross channel! Who knew there would be one TV channel dedicated to watching someone paint? I don’t how many of you would admit to watching Bob Ross paint, but I’ll be the first. It’s absolutely fascinating. Little by little – friendly cloud by friendly cloud – happy accident by happy accident – he’ll take you through each step of the painting. And the whole time he’s talking to you like you could do exactly what he’s doing. I’ve been really tempted to try it out one day…But then, in about 30 minutes, the camera zooms out and you see this masterpiece. And you’re like, “Those are happy trees!” What is the culmination of every painting? What’s the very last thing that happens? The artist signs their name on it – they claim it as their work. They say, “This masterpiece is mine.”

As Christians, it’s easy to lose sight of the reality that God has done the same for us. Before you start thinking that I am calling you “happy tree” or “friendly cloud,” let me read a verse from the book of Ephesians.  Ephesians 2:10 says “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” God created you, claimed you, and sustains you through Jesus Christ. It’s so important for us, at regular intervals in our lives, to gain a deeper knowledge of exactly what Jesus did for us and what that changes about us. Today, we are going to begin a journey through the book of Ephesians. When I started out the year, Ephesians wasn’t on the preaching schedule. But as the elders thought about where we are as church right now, God pressed the book of Ephesians on our hearts. This book of the Bible draws you deeper in the gospel, deeper into your identity in Christ, deeper into church family, and deeper into Christian living. And that’s my hope and prayer for you as we start this Sermon Series: Ephesians: Masterpiece in Progress. That you will see God’s handiwork and it’ll change your outlook on life. So, let’s begin our time in this book with exactly that truth: You can change the outlook of your life by seeing what God changed in your life. Read Ephesians 1:1-14. Pray. 

We read the first 14 verses of Ephesians, but if you were to look at the original Greek, you’d see something pretty amazing. Verses 3 through 14 are all one sentence. It’s 202 spirit-filled words that makes up one run-on sentence. It’s also filled with some major theological statements about what Jesus has done for those who profess Him as Savior and Lord. Let’s start with verses 1 through 6. Here’s what we see first: You were always God’s plan. 

1) You were always God’s plan. (vs. 1-6) Paul starts off his letter with some introductory greetings: ¹This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus. I am writing to God’s holy people in Ephesus, who are faithful followers of Christ Jesus. ² May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. Paul is writing to a group of Christians in a city called Ephesus. It’s a large, port city. Paul had spent several years in the city preaching the gospel. Now, Paul is most likely in prison in Rome. Paul addresses two major issues these Christians were facing: 1) They had been marginalized in society, so their unity for each other was greatly needed. 2) Spiritual warfare had increased against them, so they needed be reminded who they are in Christ and how to fight back in every area of life.

Paul then begins this one, big sentence in verse 3: ³ All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. In this verse, Paul makes a striking statement. In his opening words of encouragement, Paul starts with God. Now, you may be thinking, “That’s not so striking. That makes sense.” I want to remind you that most religions don’t begin with God, they begin with man. The religions of the world are man’s search of God. But the Bible is the opposite. When we read God’s Word, we see our God that takes the initiative with man. And one of these initiatives is that God gives spiritual blessings for those who have a relationship with Jesus. What we then see in verses 4 through 14 is the explanation of what these spiritual blessings are. Paul continues with this idea of God taking the initiative with man. Take a look at verses 4 through 6: ⁴ Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. ⁵ God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. ⁶ So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. 

When we read these verses, there are two things we must do:

1. The first is understand the theological significance. 
   • There are two big theological words to describe what Paul is writing about: predestination and election.
   • I’m going to park here for just a minute because these concepts are tough to wrestle with
   • What do we learn about God in these verses?
     • That God chose us – in advance – to be His children
     • If you’ve been coming to TCSH for anytime, you’d say, “Wait a minute, Jess, I hear you all the time that we should repent of our sins and accept God’s grace. That sounds like it’s my choice to follow Jesus.”
     • You’re not wrong! Verse 13 tells says “when you believed” – which shows the human response to God’s grace
   • So which is it? Both are true!
     • I’ve heard it explained like this before:
       • If you are a Christian, it’s because God chose you. If you are not a Christian, it’s because you have chosen to reject God.
       • If you choose to believe that Jesus is Lord, then you are chosen.[1]
       • In some way, God’s choosing us doesn’t violate our free will
     • The Bible teaches us two truths that – based on our finite knowledge – seem to be in opposition to each other
     • Our job, when we read the Bible, is to not try to resolve the unresolvable.
   • “Jess, I don’t like living in the tension.”
     • When we experience theological tension it should drive us deeper into the presence of God.
     • I am so thankful that we don’t have a God that we can fully understand
       • I am so thankful that we don’t have a God that we can fully resolve
       • Illustration: Swimming in Haiti
         • We swam out about 20 yards where the depth was about 10 to 15 feet
         • I feel like I swimming in deep end of the ocean
         • It wasn’t until the plane took off and I look down to see the ocean
         • Where I was swimming was a light blue color, but if I would have gone another hundred yards or so, the water was a dark blue because it was so deep
         • The depths I was swimming paled in comparison to the depths of ocean
       • We have a God whose depths are inexhaustible and unexplainable
       • That’s the God that I want to live for!
     • Which is the second thing we should do when we read these verses
2. The truth that you were always God’s plan should stir your soul (application)
   • When we read these verses about our master creating us as a masterpiece and that He chose to adopt us before the world was even created, should stir your heart in affection to God
   • Think about it – before God made the decision to love you and adopt you and choose you before He made the world
   • There has never been a time in eternity when God didn’t know you and love you.
   • There was nothing I did for God to choose me – I wasn’t even born yet
   • God chose me – and hopefully you – because He loves you
   • Delight in that truth
   • Let truth change the way you see who you are and how you see your life

When our outlook changes, it also changes our confidence. That’s what we see next: You can live with confidence. 

2) You can live with confidence. (vs. 7-10) These verses keep getting better. Not only did God chose and adopt us, but Jesus died for us. Look at verse 7: ⁷ He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. Even though God chose us from eternity past, there was still a big problem to deal with. The sin problem. Every single person is born with sin. That sin keeps us from God. In our sinful state, we can’t be with God. Not only did God adopt us into His family, He provided His Son as the way for us to enter His family. The only way we can have salvation – the only way we can have access to God – is through Jesus. No other religion or worldview can provide access to God. It’s John 14:6. Our sin deserves spiritual death, but Jesus died that spiritual death in our place. Jesus died our death so that we can be adopted by God. Isn’t this beautiful picture of who we are getting better?! Paul tells us that we are chosen, we are adopted, and our spiritual freedom has been bought by Jesus. On top of that, God blesses us with knowledge. Knowledge about what? Look at verses 8 through 10: ⁸ He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding. ⁹ God has now revealed to us his mysterious will regarding Christ—which is to fulfill his own good plan. ¹⁰ And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth. 

So what are we in the know about? The mysterious will regarding Christ was that Jesus brought salvation to the entire world – both Jews and Gentiles. God’s chosen nation was no longer just for the Israelites, but for the entire world. This, then, points to the bigger plan. There will be one day, when Christ returns. When we He returns, everything will be brought under the leadership of Jesus. At the right time, God’s two creations, His universe and His Church will be unified under Christ Jesus. Just like the Jews and the Gentiles are both included in the family of God, both the universe and God’s people will be brought together, finally and fully. Why is this knowledge a spiritual blessing to us? You know the end and you know where you will be in the end. This means you can live this life with confidence. When the world seems to be flipping itself upside down, you can have the confidence that will restore everything back to it’s proper place. I like how Alistair Begg said it: Quote: “If you get ahold of what is ultimate, then you can deal with what is immediate... If you focus only on what is immediate and leave off the reality of what is ultimate, you will never actually be able to deal with the issues that face you.” – Alistair Begg. When you step back to look at the full picture, you can live confidently. Those “happy little accidents” were accidents after all! If you’re not already busting at the seam to praise God for all of this, it keeps going. Let’s look at one more truth: God will never leave you. 

3) God will never leave you. (vs. 11-14) Do you want some really good news? God will never abandon you. Some of you know that feel all too well. When it comes to Jesus, you will never feel that. Look at these final verses: ¹¹ Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan. ¹² God’s purpose was that we Jews who were the first to trust in Christ would bring praise and glory to God. ¹³ And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. ¹⁴ The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him. When you begin a personal relationship with Jesus, you receive the Holy Spirit. Think about that: one part of the Trinity lives in you spiritually. That’s the promise that Paul is talking about in verse 13. God promises the Holy Spirit when you are adopted into His family. The other part of verse 13 is that Holy Spirit identifies us with Christ. I like how the ESV translates verse 13: “In him 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”. The term “sealed” carries the same idea of being “branded”. Whereas cattle would receive an external seal of who they belong to, we receive an eternal seal by the Holy Spirit declaring that we belong to Jesus.

In addition to the promise and the seal, verse 14 says that God guarantees all of it! The Holy Spirit is a deposit, earnest money for what’s to come. The Holy Spirit is a down payment. The Holy Spirit is the first part of our final inheritance. The Holy Spirit is a foretaste of heaven. God will never leave you because God is forever with you. Do you see how has changed you changes your outlook on life? It’s so powerful! 

I want to end with one final question: Why did God do all of this? Paul gives us the answer. What does verse 3 say? “All praise to God”. What does verse 6 say? “So we praise God”. What does verse 12 say? “Bring praise and glory to God”. What does verse 14 say? “He did this so we would praise and glorify Him”. What’s the answer? God adopted us, chose us, seal us, gave us knowledge, and guaranteed us so that we would praise Him. On the surface, you could hear that and go, “That seems a bit self-serving.” -- It’s not. What’s the greatest thing God could give us to show us how much He loves us? I’ll ask again: What’s the greatest thing God could give us to show us how much He loves us? Himself! The best thing in all of creation is God Himself. God wants to give Himself to us. I love how John Piper puts it: “To be supremely loving, God must give us himself.” – John Piper.

Let me ask another question: When do you experience the fullness of something in life? Think about the birth of your child. Think about that walk off homerun or last second field goal. Think about that mountain range or beach. You experience the fullness of something when you rejoice in it. The things we delight in are incomplete until we praise it. We never experience the fullness of something until we praise it. If God knows the best things in this life is Himself and He knows that we won’t experience the fullness of His joy until we praise Him, then the most loving thing God can do is bring us to praise Him. 

When we see master creating the masterpiece, which is ourselves, we can’t help but praise God and experience His fullness. It’s the most fulfilling, satisfying, and purposeful act we can do – to give glory to God. You exist for God’s glory. Big Inspiration: I can only imagine what would happen in this church family if we grasped the reality of who we are and why we are that way. The amount of praise and blessing and glory that would pour out would be the joyful thing we could experience. If you don’t know Jesus in this way, you are missing out the greatest joy and fulfillment you can imagine. Don’t leave here today without knowing Him. Let’s pray.

Transition to Lord’s Supper

[1] https://summitchurch.com/GetFile.ashx?Guid=d5f75665-5615-498a-bb87-0a2248d47699

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