A FULL THEOLOGY IN 70 SECONDS

Ephesians 1:3-14

by

Eldridge E. Fleming, Ph.D, FPPR

New Hope Presbyterian Church

Rienzi, Mississippi

January 2, 2000

Our Old Testament reading this morning comes from Jeremiah 32:7-14.

Our reading from the epistle comes from Ephesians 1:3-14, and I announced at the Booneville church that this lengthy passage was the text on which I was going to preach. One of our dear fellows challenged my timing on it. I said this was a full theology in seventy seconds and he said, "It took you eighty-two to read it." So, I guess I was reading while sitting down and it didn't take as long as I was reading it to myself. But anyway, this is where I got the idea and it is a passage from Ephesians 1:3-14.

The gospel for the morning comes from John 1:1-18. If you can, will you stand with me as we hear the gospel?

The Word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God.

This is a unique passage and I want to spend some time with you on it, but I want you to relax because I'm probably going to have a very short sermon if it goes the way it did down at Booneville this morning. I want us to look at this passage from Ephesians as we begin our new millennium and our new year thinking about some resolutions that we are working on, trying to resolve problems within our own personal lives as well as in the lives of those around us. Let us think some, then, about this passage which is the first chapter of Ephesians, verses three through eighteen.

As I said earlier, it is a very powerful passage. In fact, it is so packed that when I read it I have to stop and back up and say, "Wait a minute, I didn't get that. Do it again." And so we have to rework it to make sure we understand it.

The passage begins with the title or the salutation, which is common to all the letters of Paul. But then, at that point, there is discussion among scholars as to whether or not this particular letter - the Ephesian letter - was actually so named or intended to be in this particular place in the writings of Paul. There is some question as to whether or not the apostle wrote the letter, of course. And there are other epistles where there are no questions about whether or not the apostle wrote them. There are a few attributed to him -- Hebrews being one in particular - where there are serious questions whether or not these are legitimately Paul's letters or whether someone later penned that attribution at the top so people would understand something about where each of them came from. If you look at the book of Hebrews, it is a very fascinating book. It is different from the Pauline letters per se -- so therefore, you find some reason to believe someone else might have written it. But when you look at this one, it does start off with "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are also faithful in Christ Jesus."

It is at that point that we first get an indication that there is some scholarship discussion about to whom the letter was sent and why it is named as it is. Martha and I went to Ephesus, Efes, as it is called today, and we saw the ruins and the places where Paul had walked according to tradition and records they have. We saw the places that had been demolished because of earthquakes through the centuries. We had a chance to walk, perhaps, on the same places where the apostle walked when he lived and worked in Ephesus. So there's no question that the apostle was there, the question is to whom was this letter addressed? Some think it was written as a kind of introduction to the other letters that had been gathered from the Apostle Paul - the Colossian letter, the Philippian letter, the Galatian letter, and the others - and this was, maybe, put as a cover letter to those. In the Revised Standard Version the word Ephesus is not in the first verse; but if you're looking at a King James Version or some other translations, you probably will see, "to the saints at Ephesus."

It is a general kind of letter, as I said, and some scholars have said that there are questions as to whether Paul wrote it specifically to the church at Ephesus or whether it was to the whole group of churches in Asia . However that may be, when you move to the third verse, move to the part that I read a few moments ago, you get into instantly some heavy theological issues. These are the issues that I want us to think about for a few moments.

If you are looking for a summary, a thumbnail sketch, of Christian theology from the Pauline point of view, you will find it in these verses. So, let us take them one by one and look at them to see what we come up with as far as our learning and our understanding of what God is and where God is in our lives. I say it that way because I want us to really be doing some thinking about what we are going to be doing in this century, in this year. What is our commitment? What is it that we have resolved in the past and we keep working at it to be good Christians? What does that mean? So, Paul is saying some things in these verses that will help us.

There was a kind of freedom to worship God as a Jew, unless you happened to be living in Rome. At a certain point in the 50s, Claudius ran the Jews out of Rome because the people got tired of them and protested loudly. In that sense, the Jewish faith was illegal in Rome; but elsewhere in the Empire, they could set up synagogues and have their religious freedom as long as it didn't go too far. So Paul is saying to the people at Ephesus that here is something that we need to be thankful for and that is "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ."

One of the things we run into as believers in God is the concept of the Trinity. We talked about that some on Trinity Sunday, the fact that we have God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. It is difficult for some people to understand and say that there's one God above all, because we do believe in a monotheism. That is, there is only one true God. That one true God is above and over everything else and nothing else exists as a god. That's the part we have trouble with. So then, why is it that we talk about God as Father, The God and Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ? Why do we talk about God as Father and then turn around and talk about God as Son and then God as Holy Spirit? You may say, "It seems to me that is three!"And we say it that way - the Trinity, the three - but Trinity is three in One. Where does the One come from? The One is God of all, but then how does God display God to people? Watch what Paul says, "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."

Now we're getting deeper all of a sudden. It's like going down off a riverbank. You are in the edge of the water and then all of a sudden, p-f-f-f-f, you plunge underneath. This gets deep in a hurry because Paul is saying here, at this point, that he blesses God, and then says instantly that God is Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Who has blessed us in Christ? God has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, in heaven and on earth. You see, in the Lord's Prayer we say that, we'll say that in a few minutes, "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven," and that image is, the meaning is, that there is a heavenly place, a heavenly sphere and God ultimately rules there completely. Not just sometimes, but all the time. And so, there are special blessings - spiritual blessings - that are available to those who are with God. Paul is saying that through Christ, God is sharing with us those special spiritual blessings. In other places he talks about those special blessings. He enumerates those. At this point he is saying that the spiritual blessings are shared from heaven with us because of the coming of Christ.

"Even as He chose us in Him," God chose us in Christ and watch when it happened, "Before the foundation of the world." So whether or not we are going to have salvation is not an issue that is going to be decided today. That was decided a long, long time ago. Whether one accepts it or not may depend on your action today, but the fact that the transaction was completed was done before the foundation of the world. Paul strongly believed that God knew what was going to happen and He set that choice in place for each of us and for everyone who would to be His and He chose us through Christ from before the foundation of the world. There was a reason He was choosing us, "That we should be holy and blameless before Him." So when we say, "I'm a weakling, or I can't get things done, or I can't do this or that," we have to watch our language; because in Paul's mind, and in this theology we're looking at here, we can do it. We can do it! That's what God wants us to be: blameless.

When you were a child, did you ever have your father or mother call you? You're out somewhere. They call you. You don't have any clue as to why they are wanting you. "Just come here." When you come in, you come in with all kinds of feelings and emotions, and as you come into their presence, if you've just been engaging in something you shouldn't have, do you remember that feeling you had? You didn't want to look at them. That was the first signal. The other signal was that you felt a little bit shaky and nervous and you knew that you were standing in front of them without any excuse. And you are shamed and blamed. You are guilty of something. You know that feeling? That's not a good feeling, is it? From the foundation of the world and before, God chose through Jesus Christ that we should be holy and blameless when we come before him. That happens through Jesus Christ.

There is a sinful nature within us that makes us want to do things we shouldn't. We call it pushing the envelope. Some people call it going over the edge. But we keep doing those things, trying to get by with more and more whatever, and we end up being sinners. We want to be blameless. That's what God wants us: to be blameless, but that part of us that keeps on rebelling against God makes it where we can't be. So therefore, God in his love chose through Jesus Christ to make us blameless and with commitment and dedication to Him, we become holy. Holy not because of our deeds, but because of his deeds. Through him, God chose to make us blameless and holy so that when we stand before the Father Almighty, we are indeed without sin and have been forgiven.

Paul continues, "He destined us in love to be His sons through Jesus Christ," and we could just as easily use the word children instead of sons. "He destined us in love to be His children through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will." His will, you see, is for us to be with Him. "To the praise of His glorious grace which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches according to His grace which he lavished upon us." Did you get that? "In Him we have redemption through his blood according to the riches of His grace which he lavished upon us."

I know I'm a little bit weird, but every time I think about lavishing something on somebody, I think about lathering something on somebody. Isn't that weird? How do you ladies put on makeup cream or hand lotion? You put it on rich and thick and rub it so that it softens the skin. It cleanses away spots. It makes the skin soft and smells good. When I think about lavishing the grace of God on, I think about that which God has provided to cleanse us, to make us whole and healthy. He just piles it on and rubs it around until we are cleansed, until we are holy and blameless through that. But you know, the color is crimson red. He lavished His grace upon us for He has made known to us in all wisdom and insight the mystery of His will according to His purpose which He set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things, things in heaven and things on earth, to be united in Him.

Does God have a plan for you and for me? Indeed he does. Indeed he does. He has a purpose. "He has a purpose to accomplish everything," Paul says, "that He set out to do." Look at those things. He chose us before the foundation of the world and He lavishes on us His grace so that the sins are taken away and we become blameless and holy in His sight. Look at verse eleven, "In Him according to the purpose of Him who accomplishes all things according to the council of His Will, we who first hoped in Christ have been destined and appointed to live." For what? "For the praise of His glory."

What is the purpose of man? To praise and honor God. In Him, you also who have heard the word of truth -- the gospel of your salvation -- and have believed in Him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit which is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of His glory. So you and I step in at that point, for Paul says, "In Him you also" - you, each of us - "who have heard the word of truth which is the gospel of your salvation and have believed in Him." You've heard it, you've believed it, you've paid attention to it; you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. What is the seal of redemption? The seal of redemption is the Holy Spirit's action, which is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it. That means until we get to the heavenly court and claim that which was there for us. At that point, we will have arrived. All of this is to the praise of Glory and to praise God forever.

A lot of theology in a short time! I may have taken more than seventy seconds to read that passage the first time to you, but as we pay attention to it, it includes a lot of things. It talks about how and why we have salvation, the way we get salvation, when it was decided. All of that is packed into these few verses.
Later we'll be dealing with other parts of Ephesians, but today this gets us started on our new year. I hope that you have made a few resolutions - not more than you can bear to struggle with, but enough to get us going in the right direction in this year of 2000. It is important that we have a full theology. Amen.