God's Eternal PlanGod’s Eternal Plan
Text: Ephesians 1:3-14 12 July 2009
The big story that makes sense of human existence is sets out in our reading. Here, we have an account of the eternal plan of God. To a fragmented world where truth is relative, these verses paint a dazzling picture of the purpose that God has for us in Jesus Christ. Where our world is divided by racial tension and war, and threatened in its existence by environmental disaster, this passage offers a message of reconciliation and hope for the whole of creation in Jesus Christ.
There are a couple of important issues we need to look at. First, did Paul write this letter? Or was it a student of his who, following Paul’s death, gathered together the various things he had preached and written arranging them into an anthology which is this letter? There are compelling arguments on both sides. What is not in doubt is that the letter bears the marks of the apostle in the loftiness and originality of thought. For our purposes, we shall refer to Paul as the author.
The other question that we need to consider is this, “Were the saints in Ephesus the intended recipients of this letter?” The issue arises because the earliest Greek manuscripts of this letter do not include the place name. There is almost universal consensus that this letter was designed as a general circular to churches in many different places. The one reading the letter to the congregation would fill in the blank with the name of the town or city. This letter had a general Christian audience in mind and this explains the lack of intimate, personal touches found in the other letters of Paul.
We turn our attention to the meaning of verses 3-14. In the Greek these verses compose a single complex sentence of massive length. It is as if Paul gets carried away with his praise, piling word upon word, phrase upon phrase. J. Armitage Robinson gives a striking description of what is taking place: “The twelve verses which follow baffle our analysis. They are a kaleidoscope of dazzling lights and shifting colours: at first we fail to find a trace of order or method. They are like the preliminary flight of the eagle, rising and wheeling round, as though for a while uncertain what direction in his boundless freedom he shall take. So the Apostle’s thought lifts itself beyond the limits of time and above the material conceptions that confine ordinary men, and ranges this way and that in a region of spirit, a heavenly sphere, with no course as yet marked out, merely exulting in the attributes and purposes of God.”[1] In the poetic words of these verses we detect elements of an earlier Christian hymn of praise which recounts the story of salvation.
In verse 3 Paul exalts, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.” We bless God who first blessed us in Christ. It is important to note that we do not bless God in order to elicit favour and blessing from him. Rather, the Christian life of worship and praise is a response to what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. The ‘every spiritual blessing we have received in the heavenly realms’ are those gifts we have received from God that are part of the unseen realities that lie behind and include the material world.
The blessing we have received in Christ was no accident. It was all part of God’s design. He chose us ‘in Christ’ before the world was created. The hearers of this letter would have been deeply influenced by the idea that ‘fate’ or ‘chance’ ruled the universe. The uncertainty of this world view is countered by the calming belief that with God, nothing is accidental.
Why did God choose us? First, he chose us, “to be holy and blameless before him in love.” Holiness is nothing more and nothing less than the wholeness that comes from living in the love of God.
Second, he destined us “for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ.” We have no right to be God’s children. We could not bring it about. We were adopted because it was his will and pleasure. His adoption of us speaks volumes of his grace which he has given to us in Jesus Christ. As Jesus is the Beloved of God so now we are beloved by His gracious adoption. Adopted by God in love we are called to live in love. The measure of our holiness is the way in which we love God and others.
When the first assembly of the CWM was held in Ayr in 2003, we were privileged to host a member of the conference. Etty was a Samoan woman now living in New Zealand. Etty shared with us that her biological parents had been approached by a minister who wished to adopt her because he had all boys in his family. Her parents gave her to the minister and his wife after she was born. With tears in her eyes she spoke of how her adopted father would take her into his arms and tell her, “You’re so special. We chose you.”
God chose us to be made whole in love. He has graciously chosen us to be his children. We are special. We are loved.
How is it that we have been chosen in Christ? How is it that we have been adopted as God’s children through Him? In verse 7 we discover that in Jesus Christ we have been redeemed by his blood, forgiven of our sins, according to the riches of his grace which he has showered upon us in abundance.
What does this word redemption mean? What is this ‘blood’ business all about? It sounds grisly and gory. Paul is steeped in his Jewish roots and in order to understand what it means to ‘have redemption through his blood’ we need to go back to the Exodus and the sacrificial system of the Old Testament. Redemption is all about emancipation - the release of those in bondage. Do you remember how each Israelite family was to slaughter a lamb and smear its life blood on the lintel and the door posts of their home? The blood was a sign that those within the house were God’s chosen people and the angel of death passed over them. Thus began the redemption - the freeing of God’s people from the bondage of slavery in Egypt. Later on, the shedding of blood in the sacrificial system of the tabernacle and then the temple, was closely linked to forgiveness and cleansing from sin. Jesus Christ redeemed us - emancipated us - set us free - released us from the bondage of sin through the shedding of his blood and sacrificial death upon the cross. Through the cross we have been forgiven of our sin. It is a lavish gift of grace.
God’s gracious choosing, adoption, and redemption is a profound mystery that has been revealed to us. With wisdom and with insight God has made the secret of his will known: that everything in heaven and earth would be brought into unity in Jesus Christ. God’s plan is that the whole created order - the universe - might be completed in Christ. That God’s agenda encompasses not only humanity but the whole creation indicates that environmental concerns must have a part in Christian mission.
Verses 11-14, speak of the inheritance of God’s adopted children which includes both the Jews and Gentiles. In verse 12, the Jews are the first to set their hope on Christ. In verse 13, the ‘you also’ indicates the Gentiles who heard the Gospel of salvation, believed in Jesus, and received the Holy Spirit. To become a Christian, a person needs to hear the message, believe the Christ, and receive the Holy Spirit.
The reception of the Holy Spirit is described as being marked with the seal as a pledge or guarantee of our inheritance. Our inheritance is to be redeemed - completely set free as God’s people. The Holy Spirit is the pledge - the down-payment - which guarantees that that which was begun in Christ will one day be made complete in him.
The whole aim of our redemption in Jesus Christ is for the praise of God’s glory. The phrase “to the praise of his glory” occurs three times in this passage in vs. 6, 12, 14. The whole purpose of our humanity and the created order is to praise God’s glory. The praise of God is what life is all about.
Christians have a joyful song of praise to God’s glory. We have hope because we affirm that God in Jesus Christ is the truth. The story of his death and resurrection is the big story that makes sense of our existence. God’s choosing of us eliminates any fear that we are victims of fate and chance. God’s plan to completely unite everything in heaven on earth in Jesus Christ means that we don’t have to resign ourselves to fragmentation of relationships and the destruction of our environment. God the Father has blessed us in Jesus Christ and sent his Holy Spirit as a down payment of all that is yet to come. We have every reason to live to the praise of his glory. We have a reason for joy - there is a cause for us to sing praise! To God be the Glory!
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