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THE RICHES OF HIS GRACE

Ephesians 1:114
Opening Thought
1) The New Testament repeatedly calls the message of Gods offer of
grace to sinners, through the substitutionary death of Christ, as the
gospel or good news. When we hear good news, we want to share it
spontaneously with everyone we meet. Yet many believers in Christ are
reluctant to communicate their faith with others. They seem complacent
about this staggering promise of salvation from sin and death through
Christ. Why is this so?

Background of the Passage


Paul had spent three years pastoring the church at Ephesus and instructing
them in the things of God. During that time he would have preached and
taught all the great truths of this epistle. Because of satanic opposition as
well as the human tendency to forget what is true, Paul sensed the need for
a letter of reminder and encouragement. He wanted to challenge his
brothers and sisters in the faith to grow in grace and to stand firm in the
midst of an evil age. Rather than beginning with a long list of what is right
and wrong, Paul begins with a refresher course in theology, answering
questions such as these: How is salvation accomplished? Why did God
bestow his grace on us? What does the future hold for those who put their
faith in Christ? Paul recognized that such an emphasis on difficult
doctrines was necessary because right God-honouring behaviour always
springs from right beliefs. Christians who lack a proper theological
foundation will not have a proper appreciation for what God has done, nor
will they adequately understand the resources at their disposal in the life of
faith. In the following passage, Paul describes our infinite blessings in
Christ. Specifically he gives a panoramic view of Gods great salvation.
These people in Ephesus came to Christ from a background of animism
(the belief that supernatural beings inhabit inanimate objects), goddess
worship, magical practices, and a variety of other religions. Paul writes the
letter to support the Ephesian leadership in addressing a variety of
concerns.

Bible Passage
Read Ephesians 1:114
Greetings from Paul
1

From: Paul, an apostle of the Messiah Jesus by Gods will.


To: His holy and faithful people in Ephesus who are in union with the
Messiah Jesus. 2 May grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus, the Messiah, be yours!
The Many Blessings of Salvation
3

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah! He has
blessed us in the Messiah with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly
realm, 4 just as he chose us in the Messiah before the creation of the
universe to be holy and blameless in his presence. In love 5 he predestined
us for adoption to himself through Jesus the Messiah, according to the
pleasure of his will, 6 so that we would praise his glorious grace that he
gave us in the Beloved One. 7 In union with him we have redemption
through his blood, the forgiveness of our offenses, according to the riches
of Gods grace 8 that he lavished on us, along with all wisdom and
understanding, 9 when he made known to us the secret of his will. This was
according to his plan that he set forth in the Messiah 10 to usher in the
fullness of the times and to bring together in the Messiah all things in
heaven and on earth. 11 In the Messiah we were also chosen when we were
predestined according to the purpose of the one who does everything that
he wills to do, 12 so that we who had already fixed our hope on the Messiah
might live for his praise and glory. 13 You, too, have heard the word of
truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed in the Messiah, you
were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our
inheritance until God redeems his own possession for his praise and glory.

Understanding the Text


2) This passage expresses Gods salvation in terms of the past (election,
vv. 36), the present (redemption, vv. 611) and the future (inheritance,
vv. 1214). Why does Paul take such a broad view?
answer: starting with v. 3, we learn about the nature of the spiritual
blessings when Paul describes them as in the heavenly realm.

Here the phrase refers to the dimension of existence in which believers


experience every spiritual blessing. The phrase in the Messiah refers
even more specifically to the place where these blessings are found. They
belong to those who are within the boundaries marked out by the living
Christ. It is in this realm that hearing the gospel, believing the gospel, and
being sealed [v. 13] with the Holy Spirit take place. This is the realm in
which people experience the same life-giving power of God that raised
Christ from the dead and gave him victory over all Gods enemies. When
we put all this together, we find Paul beginning his letter with a statement
that God is praised among the people whom his Spirit blesses in every
possible way. These blessings occur in a dimension of existence that is
beyond common, everyday experience, and they belong to those who are
united with Christ by their faith in the gospel. Are we able to explain this
dimension of existence via science? Now, in 21st century physics [at the
very heart of whats called string theory] is the proposal that the universe
experienced a dimensional split at 1043 seconds after the creation event.
At that instant, the 10D expanding universe split into two: a 6D piece that
permanently ceased expanding and never produced matter, and a 4D piece
that became our dimensions of length, width, height, and time. That 4D
system continued to expand and eventually produced matter and stars.

The space-time theorem of general relativity establishes not only Gods


extra dimensions of time, but also his capacity to operate in all the space
dimensions the universe has ever possessed. What follows from string
theory and from all these recent findings in particle physics, is that God
must be operating in a minimum of 11D of space and time. We may be
inclined to wonder why God limited our existence to just 3D [when we
could have enjoyed some spectacular advantages by living in a few more].
But as Paul showcases here, we will one day live in a dimension with
Christ far beyond what we can conceive.

As it turns out, human life could not exist in a universe composed of any
more than three expanding large dimensions of space. The gravity that
makes stable planetary systems possible, including the system that gives us
the necessary temperature, atmosphere, day-night cycle, and other lifeessential conditions, would render such systems impossible in a 4D+
system. Thats why we need a brand new creation with brand new physics
to experience direct fellowship with the Trinity. Next in v. 4, Pauls
teaching here communicates relevant and extraordinary truths about
ultimate reality for these believers in Ephesus. Contrary to popular belief,
their fate was not wrapped up in the stars and the planets, but in Jesus, who
made the universe. God had in fact chosen them to be in Christ before he
made the universe. In Ephesus, they lived in constant dread of astral
powers that controlled fate. The Stoic writer Manilius [1st century] writes:
The Egyptian priests were the first to see, through their art, how fate
depends on the wandering stars. Over the course of many centuries they
assigned with persistent care to each period of time the events connected
with it: the day on which someone is born, the kind of life he shall lead, the
influence of every hour on the laws of destiny, and the enormous
differences made by small motions. From long observation it was
discovered that the stars control the whole world by mysterious laws that
the world itself moves by an eternal principle, and that we can, by reliable
signs, recognize the ups and downs of fate.

The cult statue Artemis depicts the goddess as wearing the signs of the
zodiac as a necklace, expressing that as Queen of Heaven she had the
power to break the bonds of fate. Next in v. 5, Pauls focus is not the logic
of election but on its occurrence and the need to praise God because his
choice of a people for himself is such a clear demonstration of his grace.

Paul believed that the presence of Gods Spirit among believers was
evidence that this time of eschatological restoration had begun, that
believers were Gods children, that they were now spiritually related to
Jesus, and that they were heirs with him of a future glory when their bodily
resurrection would make their adoption complete. This is the light in
which we should understand Pauls claim, that God predestined the
adoption of believers. Adoption as Gods children is ours through
Jesus the Messiah because through our union with him, Jesus shares his
divine sonship with us. We are now able to call God Abba Father
because Jesus spoke this way of his relationship with God [Galatians 4:6;
Mark 14:36]. We are heirs of God because Jesus is Gods heir [Galatians
4:7]. His status as Gods Son lifts us out of the status of slaves and makes
us sons and daughters of God with him [Romans 8:1517]. Next in v. 7,
Paul now describes what God has graciously done for believers in Christ
with a new metaphor, and he goes into greater detail about what precisely
Christ did: redemption through his blood. A heated debate has
surrounded the issue of whether the Greek word apolytrsis
[redemption], refers specifically to Gods purchase of people from
captivity to sin at the cost of Christs death, or more generally to Gods
deliverance of people from the plight into which sin has plunged them.
Photius, the 9th century patriarch of Constantinople, puts it this way:
Gods beloved Son himself effected the redemption for us. For we were
prisoners because of our transgressions, but by giving his blood as a
ransom for us, he ransomed us from the tyranny in which we were being
held. Transgression against Gods law incurs a debt that must be paid and
justice to be satisfied. Death is the currency used for the payment.
Therefore, to spare the lives of his people, Christ died for them, thus
paying the necessary penalty. In the death of Christ, God came powerfully
to the rescue of his people just as he had done in former times when he
rescued them from the Egyptians and the Babylonians. Paul saw this
climactic rescue effort, accomplished through the death of his Beloved
One, as a measure of Gods lavish grace. As Chrysostom [4th century
Bishop of Constantinople] states: The wonder is not only that he gave his
Son but that he did so in this way, by sacrificing the one he loved. It is
astonishing that he gave the Beloved for those who hated him. See how
highly he honours us. If even when we hated him and were enemies he
gave the Beloved, what will he not do for us now?

Next in v. 8, along with grace, God also gives us all wisdom and
understanding. It reflects a typical Jewish way of speaking about God
[Proverbs 3:19]. Paul is also saying that when God lavished his grace upon
his people, it was not a haphazard or ill-considered action. Just as God
chose his people before the foundation of the world [v. 4], predetermined
that he would adopt them as his children [v. 5], and did so in joyous
agreement with his considered purpose [v. 5], so also his decision to lavish
his grace upon his people by paying the cost of their redemption in the
death of his Beloved One was in accord with his infinite capacity of
wisdom and understanding. Paul emphasizes that Gods graciousness to
his people is not a marginal or occasional characteristic of his dealings
with his people, but integral to his character and thus to the way he acts.
Jerome [4th century] clarifies: Some attentive reader might object: If
Paul knows in part and prophesies in part and now sees as through a glass
darkly, how is the mystery of God revealed either to him or to the
Ephesians in all wisdom and insight? It is not that they by themselves
have learned this mystery in all wisdom and insight, but God in all
wisdom and insight has revealed the mystery to us, so far as we are able
to grasp it. Whatever wisdom might be sought, there is no genuine
wisdom that is not included among Gods gifts of grace. Again, rather than
having to be achieved through human effort, mystical technique, or ascetic
rigor, such wisdom is simply available through the generosity of Gods
grace. Next in v. 9, God has also lavished his grace on believers by making
known to them the secret of his will. Paul describes this secret more
fully in v. 10, to usher in the fullness of the times. God made the secret
known to his people because it gave him pleasure to do this, and to do it in
a way that made Christ of central importance. His revelation of the
secret to his people was part of his administrative work within history
for accomplishing his ultimate purposes. As Christians, we know that God
becoming a man is seen in Old Testament prophecies about the messiah.
Thoughts of Jesus flow naturally through your mind. But thats because we
have the New Testament. But the Israelites and Jews in exile had no such
thing. It is by Gods design, where the scriptures present the messiah in
terms of a mosaic profile that can only be discerned after the pieces are
assembled. Elsewhere, Paul says: we speak about Gods wisdom in a
hidden secret, which God destined before the world began for our glory.
None of the rulers of this world understood it, because if they had, they
would not have crucified the Lord of glory. [1 Corinthians 2:78].

Augustine [4th century Bishop of Hippo] notes: But if Christ had not been
put to death, death would not have died. The devil was overcome by his
own trophy, for the devil rejoiced when, by seducing the first man, he cast
him into death. By seducing the first man, he killed him. By killing the last
man, he lost the first from his snare.
If the plan of God for the messiahs mission had been clear, the powers of
darkness would never have killed Jesus: they would have known that his
death and resurrection would be the key for redemption through his
blood. The Old Testament profile of the messiah was deliberately veiled.
This sheds light on certain episodes in the New Testament, such as why
Peter couldnt grasp the notion of Jesus going up to Jerusalem to die. Peter
believed Jesus was the messiah. When Jesus announced he was going to
die in Jerusalem, Peter didnt say, I know. I read that in my bible. He
couldnt read it in his bible because there was no single verse for the idea.
Rather, the concept of a dying and rising messiah must be pieced together
from a scattering of fragments within the Old Testament, where each taken
alone, dont seem to have anything like a messiah in mind. None of the
fragments reveal the final assemblage. Even after the resurrection the
disciples had to have their minds supernaturally opened to see a suffering
messiah. Jesus says: These are the words that I spoke to you while I was
still with youthat everything written about me in the Law of Moses, the
Prophets, and the Psalms had to be fulfilled. Then he opened their minds
so that they might understand the Scriptures. He told them, This is how it
is written: the Messiah was to suffer and rise from the dead on the third
day, and then repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his
name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem. [Luke 24:44-47].
The point is straightforward: Only someone who knew the outcome of the
puzzle, who knew how all the elements of the messianic mosaic would
come together, could make sense of the pieces. The story of the cross is the
biblical theological catalyst to Gods plan for regaining all that was lost in
Eden. It couldnt be brightly displayed across the Old Testament in
transparent statements. It had to be expressed in sophisticated cryptic ways
to ensure that the powers of darkness would be misled. Even the angels
didnt know the plan [1 Peter 1:12]. The complete messianic profile and
plan of salvation was cryptically scattered and veiled throughout the Old
Testament.

Then we see that God will bring together in the Messiah all things in
heaven and on earth. There has been a significant rupture in Gods
creation. Angels in heaven have rebelled against God. Sin has emerged as
a power that not only enslaves Gods creation, but also causes people to
revolt against him and his purposes. Paul declares here that this condition
will not continue forever. All of creation [both heavenly principalities and
every person] will someday be forced to submit to the righteous and allpowerful reign of the Messiah. All will be brought under the universal
headship of Jesus. The initial realization of this plan has already taken
place in Jesus incarnation, proclamation of the kingdom, death, and
exaltation to the right hand of God. Believers now await the complete
fulfilment.

Theodoret [5th century Bishop of Cyr] says: Only Gods nature needs
nothing. The whole creation stood in need of his healing order of gifts.
For, since the elements came into being to serve human needs, he made
them subject to corruption, for he could foresee that transgression was
going to make humanity mortal also. As for the unseen powers, they were
naturally aggrieved when they saw human beings living in wickedness. By
recapitulation he means the complete transformation of things. For
through the gift given through Christ the Lord the human nature is raised
anew and puts on incorruptibility. Ultimately the visible creation,
delivered from corruption, will receive incorruption. The hosts of unseen
powers will rejoice continually, because sorrow and grief and sighing
have fled away. This is what the divine apostle teaches through these
words; for he said not simply heaven and earth but those in heaven and
those on earth.
Next in v. 13, when his readers heard and believed the gospel, Paul
continues, they were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the
guarantee of our eschatological inheritance. Seals were widely used in
Near Eastern antiquity to guarantee the quality, authenticity, or ownership
of a piece of property or a legal document. On property, they often gave
protection by preventing tampering, and on legal documents, such as a
kings edict, a bill of sale, or a marriage contract, the seals of the interested
parties provided evidence against forgery. Seals were typically made of
hard stones or precious metals and had a distinctive image engraved on
them [usually the representation of a favourite deity, a hero, or a portrait].
The one true God has also marked his possessions by means of a seal, yet
his seal does not leave a physical impression. He has given his people the
gift of the Holy Spirit as a sign of their belonging to him. Just as the seal of
the Spirit marks Gods people for future redemption, so the guarantee of
the Spirit is a sign that Gods promise of redemption is reliable. Here the
thought is similar to 2 Corinthians 5:5, where Paul says that the presence
of the Spirit with him and his co-workers, is a guarantee that God will
one day replace their mortal existence with immortality. The Spirits
sealing function assures believers they will be redeemed rather than
destroyed on the day of Gods wrath. The Spirits function as a
guarantee assures them of redemption in the future and of the greatness
of that redemption in comparison to the present.

In much the same way that we put a down payment on a car or a home, in
the ancient world someone could put a down payment on an item to secure
a legal claim on it. Although believers have nothing to offer but
themselves, God so loves his people that he has put down a deposit and
will complete the transaction in the future. The Spirit, then, is a
guarantee of the full experience of salvation: the inheritance that
believers have yet to receive. Finally, in v. 14, Paul concludes by stating
the ultimate purpose for which God has sealed Christians with the Holy
Spirit and save them in the future. He has done this for the praise of his
glory.

Summing Up
When God looks at you, he does not shrink back in horror and disgust. He
sees a person of inestimable value and beauty. He loves you so much that
he gave the costliest gift imaginable to obtain you as his own glorious
inheritance. You will be his cherished son or daughter forever.

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