Passage: Ephesians 1:1-6

The Big Idea

God is picking teams, and He picked you. Not because He needed a star quarterback, but because He wanted a nobody, so He would get the glory. Ephesians 1 is our team motto: blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ, chosen in Him before the world began, adopted as sons, accepted in the Beloved. It’s all to the praise of the glory of His grace.

Why This Church?

People gather around all kinds of beliefs and rituals. Some religions have strange rules. Some seek the spirit world through drugs. There’s even a “Jedi” church! Yet I believe that when we gather around Jesus, we’re part of the true Church of God. This is the real deal. We aren’t wasting our time with a made-up force.

“How can you be so proud as to think yours is the true Church?”

Great question. The answer is that God says so. I’m not claiming it on my own authority; I’m just believing the Word of God. The Bible says He chose to start this thing called the Church. He uses it as the main way He reaches the world today. And He chooses every member, by hand.

He’s up in heaven picking teams, and He chose you.

What a team to be on! And it’s nice to be picked for once. Although if I were picking, I’m not sure these are the people I’d have chosen.

Paul reminded the Corinthians to look at their own calling: not many of them were wise by worldly standards, not many powerful, not many of noble birth (1 Corinthians 1:26).
We’re a ragtag group.
And that’s so God gets the credit when we change the world!
To Him be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus to all generations (Ephesians 3:21).

He didn’t pick you or me because He needed a star quarterback. He needed a nobody, and we qualified.

The Team Captain (Ephesians 1:1)

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, wrote to the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus.

Paul is like our quarterback, kind of the team leader.

That’s right: the guy who was an accomplice to murder (Acts 7:58; 8:1). Who dragged people out of their homes and threw them in prison for believing in Jesus (Acts 8:3). Who was zealous to stamp out this new faith.
God chose him. It’s almost funny, but really it’s amazing. And who are we amazed at? God, for His power, love and grace to change a man’s life and use him the way Paul was used.

To the saints, the faithful. There’s our team name: the Saints. (Not the New Orleans ones!) And what characterizes this team? Faithfulness. Faith is our ticket in, our one desirable quality. Not how fast or smart we are. Our trust in Jesus.

Grace, Then Peace (Ephesians 1:2)

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Grace first, then peace. That’s how it works with God.

You have to understand how to live by grace before peace becomes the dominant characteristic of your life.
Some people are peace hunters, always chasing it. But peace is a natural byproduct of trusting the Lord Jesus and His resources.
Stop trusting your own abilities. Give up on that. Surrender. And peace will flow like a river from your heart.

Grace means renouncing self-sufficiency and trusting Christ’s sufficiency in everything. Our answer to every challenge is, “I don’t have it, but He does!” I just trust Him, love Him and praise Him, and He takes care of it.

The Team Motto (Ephesians 1:3-6)

Verses 3-14 are one long sentence in the original. Paul, calm down! He’s the master of the comma.

Companies have mottos: “Just do it.” “Think different.” Why can’t we have a short motto like theirs? Well, our team is a lot bigger, so maybe we deserve a longer one!

Paul writes that the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is to be blessed, because He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him in love. He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

Let’s break it down.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”

Our purpose is to bless God: to please Him, to bring Him joy. That’s the foundation of the Church. It’s about Him, not us.
Why be part of the Church? It makes God happy. “But I’d rather sleep in on Sunday!” True. But it isn’t about you, is it?

“Who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing”

We don’t bless Him hoping to get blessings in return. That’s backwards. We bless Him because we’re already blessed!

This verse tells us the kind and the location of our blessings.

The kind: spiritual blessings.

Not gold, silver and nice cars.
Invisible to the world and to the eye.
Yet it’s what the world longs for. They can’t put their finger on it or explain it. So complex to the world, so simple to the believer.
A false teaching has been popularized by some TV preachers: that all Christians should be rich and living in luxury.
But Paul said he had learned to be content in whatever state he was in (Philippians 4:11).
Jesus pronounced a blessing on the poor, because the kingdom of God is theirs, and a woe on the rich, because they have already received their comfort (Luke 6:20, 24).
Paul warned that those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a trap, and into many foolish and harmful desires. He told Timothy to command the rich not to be arrogant or to trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who richly provides us everything to enjoy (1 Timothy 6:9, 17).
The problem is when we desire riches, get proud about them, and trust in them.
Instead, desire to understand what it means that He has richly given us all things to enjoy.

The location: in Christ.

Where do you go to get these blessings? Climb a mountain in the Himalayas, barefoot, alone, thinking only holy thoughts? Wrong!

Everything we need or desire is in Christ. Every blessing is given the same way. It isn’t that half are free and the other half you have to earn.
Every blessing we receive, we receive in Christ. Every bit of progress you’ve made is because of your faith in and connection to Jesus, not your efforts.
You say, “I need more love.” You need more of Jesus.
You say, “I need peace.” You need Jesus.
You say, “I need patience.” You need more of Jesus.
It’s a place you can find. It isn’t hidden. It’s open to everyone who believes, and protected, so no one can break in and steal God’s blessings.

Why do we need spiritual blessings? Bible teacher David Guzik makes the point that if we have no appreciation for spiritual blessings, we live like animals, existing only to eat, sleep, entertain ourselves and reproduce. But we’re made in God’s image, and He has something much higher for us.

And this means God wants to bless us with every blessing available.

There should never be a time when peace is foreign to you,
when true joy escapes you,
when you just can’t be loving,
when patience or kindness are absent from your heart.
Not a day goes by that a life of victory isn’t promised to every child of God.

“But that’s not what I see! I fail. I fall. I doubt.”

Each of those failures, and the consequences that follow, are designed to teach us that the blessings are in Christ.
Peace, patience, love, guidance, victory: all completely ours in Christ, and never given or earned outside of Him.
Why? Because that’s how God decided it works.
That makes some people so mad! They get bent out of shape because God doesn’t do things their way. But that’s a heart of pride and rebellion, and pride always comes before a fall.

“Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world”

Just as all the blessings are already given, God’s choice is already settled. He has decided that it’s through an abiding relationship with Jesus that we’re made holy and blameless, because of His love.
So God chose you. But how?

Paul explains that those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers. And those He predestined, He called; those He called, He justified; and those He justified, He glorified (Romans 8:29-30).

He determined beforehand that we would come to look like His Son. And He called, justified and glorified us. The Father does everything we need, and He has committed Himself not to change that decision.
Does He know who He’s doing this for? Of course! He has perfect foreknowledge. He knew us before we were born, before the world was created.
He decided He would save those who come to His Son in faith. So, will you come to Him in faith?

“Adoption as sons… accepted in the Beloved”

Do you want to be adopted as God’s child through Jesus? That’s what makes Him happy!
It’s to the praise of the glory of His grace. Nothing you work for or earn. All God’s work, done for you. All about Him, not you.
That’s how He makes us accepted in the Beloved.

There’s a well-known story of a Spanish father and son who had become estranged. The son ran away, and the father searched for him for months with no success. Finally, in a last desperate effort, he put an ad in a Madrid newspaper: “Dear Paco, meet me in front of this newspaper office at noon on Saturday. All is forgiven. I love you. Your Father.” On Saturday, eight hundred Pacos showed up, looking for forgiveness and love from their fathers.

Adopted Completely

Historians tell us that under Roman law, adoption was complete. The adopted person received all the rights of a legitimate son in the new family and lost all ties to the old one. In the eyes of the law, he was a new person, and even the debts and obligations from his old family were wiped away as if they had never existed. William Barclay drew out this picture to show what Paul meant.

The Church isn’t about us at all. It’s a group of orphans, adopted by the richest Dad in the world. And He’s a great Dad.

(Not like the two first graders overheard leaving Sunday school: “Do you really believe all that stuff about the devil?” “No, I think it’s like Santa Claus. It’s really your dad.”)

How do you know God is your adoptive Father? Here’s the quiz: Do you believe in His Son? Do you believe He gave His life for your sin on the cross? Do you love Him?

If yes, everything God has is yours. You’re adopted. Peace, love, joy.

If not, why not today? Why not believe and live? It’s wonderful to be on this team.

Grace Takeaway

God picked you, not because you were the best, but so His grace would get the glory. Every spiritual blessing is already yours in Christ, and you were chosen, adopted and accepted in the Beloved before you ever did a thing. When you fail, let it teach you where the blessings are: in Him. Your old debts are gone. You have a new name and a great Father.

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Picking Teams