Hans Christian Andersen’s tale of “The
Ugly Duckling” illustrates the truth that what you know and believe to be truth
determines your behavior. Although hatched in the same nest as the other eggs,
this “duckling” looked different. He was big and ugly, not soft and yellow like
the other ducklings. No one could understand what was wrong with the ugly
duckling – not the Mother Duck, not the Rabbit, not the Turkey . . . not even the ugly Duckling
himself!
Can you imagine what the Ugly
Duckling might have been thinking about himself? “What’s wrong with me? I’m so
worthless! I’m such a failure! I’m not measuring up to the other ducks!” The
result of such thinking was: Depression, feelings of worthlessness, a sense of
failure, always trying to perform like the other ducks and perhaps feelings of
rejection.
But what was the truth? The truth
was that the Ugly Duckling wasn’t a duck after all. It was a swan. Over the
long winter months the “duckling” had changed. It had become what it really had
always been, a swan, beautiful and graceful like all the other swans.
The Ugly Duckling believed that he
was a duck and an ugly duck at that! But just because he thought this to be the
truth, was it really the truth? Indeed not! The Ugly Duckling believed a lie
and because of what he believed, his behavior was affected. So it is with us.
Do you think like the Ugly Duckling
and undermine your true worth? If we believe a lie we will find ourselves in
bondage. If we believe the truth about what God says about us, we will be set free.
What is the truth about who you really are? In Ephesians 1:1-14 the Apostle
Paul describes who Christians really are regardless of their past background,
not only who they are in Christ but also he enlists seven incredible blessings that
are part and parcel of every child of God. Let’s Read (Ephesians 1:1-14)
BACKGROUND TO EPHESIANS
The apostle Paul wrote this letter
during (AD 60-64) to the church in the city of Ephesus ,
capital of the Roman province of Asia (Asia Minor ,
Modern Turkey). Though it was addressed to the Church in Ephesus
it was encyclical, intended to be red by all the churches in Asia
Minor . The city of Ephesus was
perhaps best known for its magnificent temple of Artemis Ephesus proved to be a very powerful
springboard for influencing the world for Christ.
Paul visited Ephesus three times during his missionary
journeys. Ephesians is one of Paul’s five “Prison Epistles”, probably written
while in prison in Rome .
This letter is rich in New Testament doctrine but also is filled with practical
suggestions on Christian behavior. This is a letter of encouragement and
admonition, written to remind believers of their incredible blessings in Jesus
Christ; and not only to be thankful for those blessings but also to live in a
manner of worthy of them. Today we will focus on three Incredible Blessings of
Christians.
Paul begins his letter by asserting
his apostleship then addresses the Ephesians believers as, “saints and
faithful” This was a common way how Paul addressed all the believers. The word
saint means holy, set apart, consecrated. The whole idea here is “separation.”
The word saint designates those whom God has set apart from sin to himself,
made holy through their faith in Christ. If you confess Christ as your Lord and
savior then you are a saint; you may still struggle with sin as we all do at
times, nevertheless you are saints. This is a radical thought!
We tend to believe certain so
called Christian myths, like, “God helps those who help themselves” or “I am just
a sinner saved by grace.” We hear a lot of Christians saying these words without
even thinking. Are we still sinners saved by grace? Is there any scriptural
basis for this myth; absolutely none yet every body keep saying, I am just a
sinner saved by grace. On the contrary, several scriptures suggest that, we are
made holy, we have been justified, we have been from
the kingdom of darkness into His son’s marvelous light; we are a new creation, God
will not remember the sins of our youth, God has removed our sins as far from
us as the east is from the west and so on.
No doubt while we were still yet
sinners Christ died for us and only by grace we have been saved through faith.
But once you are saved you are no longer just a sinner saved by grace now you
are a saint. So next time you tend to think you are just a sinner saved by
grace, stop and be amazed with the truth that God doesn’t see you anymore as a
sinner but sees you as a saint! That is the work of the Holy Spirit in us. If
only we believe this truth and live accordingly, it will revolutionize the way
we see ourselves and other brothers and sisters in the body of Christ.
A simple definition of Christian is
a saint or a set apart one for God. Not only has God set Christians apart for
himself but also blessed them with manifold blessings and seven of them we read
in this passage. Three of them we will study today. The first one: A divine election.
I. A DIVINE ELECTION: (Vs4)
Vs 4 “For he chose us in him
before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless.” This verse talks
about a divine election. It is emphasized in the following ways in this
chapter. Here “he chose us” Vs 5 “he predestined us” Vs 11, “we were also
chosen” and “having been predestined.” Divine election refers to God’s
volitional intention and decision. In other words it entirely depends on God’s
will. He will do what he chooses to do by His own will. The doctrine of divine
election or predestination is emphasized throughout scripture.
For example:
Deut 7:6, “For you are a people holy to the LORD your God.
The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the
earth to be his people, his treasured possession.”
John 6:44, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent
me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.” These two scriptures
seem to indicate that God is the one who saves or draws the people whom he
wants to save.
Therefore no one who is saved can
say that he is saved because of his own choice of God. His salvation is in
response to God’s choice or election of him.
And, on the other hand, no one who
is lost can say that he is lost because God willed him to be lost. God’s
election or predestination does not operate apart from human free will or it
will nullify human responsibility.
In 1982, in God’s providence
salvation came to me. I don’t understand why me and why not so many of my
friends, relatives and people of my home town.
But I am grateful that God chose to save me from eternal destruction,
not because I was better than the others but it was purely his choice that I was
shown grace and mercy. My next question
therefore needs to be for what purpose did God save me or elect me? So that I
might live a holy and blameless life for His praise and glory. It was all God’s
doing and none of my doing.
I simply accepted the invitation
and became the beneficiary of God’s election of me in His son Jesus Christ. The
same applies to all of you who have responded to God’s invitation. We are
called to live holy and blameless lives before Him. The ultimate purpose of
election to salvation is the glory of God. The second blessing of Christians is
a divine adoption.
II. A DIVINE ADOPTION: (Vs 5)
Vs5, “In love he predestined
us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his
pleasure and will.” This scripture talks about our adoption as sons into God’s family.
Again this was determined long ago
by God that he would adopt all those who believe in his Son Jesus Christ as
sons in his family. John 1:12, “Yet to all who received him, to those who
believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” Romans
8:15, “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear,
but you received the Spirit of sonship (adoption). And by him we cry, Abba,
Father.” Being called the son of God is another incredible blessing only given
to Christians. Let me work this concept of “sonship” out for you. Can you
imagine for a moment what it is to be a son of God?
Watchman Nee tells about a new convert who came in deep
distress to see him. "No matter how much I pray, no matter how hard I try,
I simply cannot seem to be faithful to my Lord. I think I'm losing my
salvation." Nee said, "Do you see this dog here? He is my dog. He is
house-trained; he never makes a mess; he is obedient; he is a pure delight to
me. Out in the kitchen I have a son, a baby son. He makes a mess, he throws his
food around, he fouls his clothes, he is a total mess. But who is going to
inherit my kingdom? Not my dog; my son is my heir.” Incase if you ever wonder
about your identity and struggle with self pity, hear the encouraging words of
Paul to the Ephesians believers. It was God’s will and his good pleasure to
adopt you as a son into His family through Jesus Christ His Son.
What does it mean to be a son in God’s family? I John 1:18,
“No one has ever seen God, but God the One and only (the only begotten), who is
at the Father’s side, has made him known.” God deemed it necessary to send his
only begotten son (Jesus) into the world so that Jesus could reveal God to the
world. In other words, if it was not for Jesus we would not know what God is
like. Paul tells us in Christ we become the sons of God. As God manifested himself through Jesus now he wants’ to
manifest His presence through his adopted sons in the family, that is you and
I.
What an incredible blessing it is to know that we
are sons of God! How that was made possible? God did it by granting us
redemption through the blood of Christ.
III. A DIVINE REDEMPTION :( Vs7)
Vs7
“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins..”
Redemption
is neither a “Tattoo shop” nor the latest drug in the market. It is the old
English word which means, “The act of buying something back, or paying a price
to return something to your possession.” In the Biblical Greek it has more in
depth meaning. It means "to
purchase in the marketplace." In ancient times, it often referred to the
act of buying a slave. The Christian use of redemption means Jesus Christ, through his sacrificial death, purchased believers from the
slavery of sin to set us free from that bondage.
It also
means going from something to something else. In this case it is
Christ freeing us from the bondage of the law to freedom of
a new life in him. Finally it means "to obtain release by the payment of a
price." In this case the price was Christ's precious blood, which obtained
our release from sin. Some one said, ““If our greatest need had been
information, God would have sent an educator. If our greatest need had been
technology, God would have sent a scientist. If our greatest need had been
money, God would have sent an economist. But, our greatest need was forgiveness
and redemption, and, therefore, God sent a Savior!
Last week
Americans have seen two redeemers in John W. Henry the owner of the Red Sox who
bought the “Boston Globe” for $70 million and Jeff Bezo the founder of
Amazon.com who bought the “Washington Post” for $250 million. In a sense what
these two men did was to save these age old news paper companies from near
extinction, by doing so they saved many people from loosing their jobs. Let’s
hope that they will improve the image and the circulation of these papers so
that “pure journalism through print media will continue for a long time.
In
essence that is what Christian redemption all about. Romans 3:23-24 “for all
have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his
grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” We were bankrupt on
all fronts. Sin has ravaged our lives. If we die in our sins we would be
totally annihilated forever in hell. But thank God the redeemer, Christ stepped
in time, shed his precious blood and bought us back to himself. Now we are a
new creation. Christ gives us hope. Therefore we can not only survive but also
succeed in this life not only here but through out eternity.
What
incredible blessings Christians can experience in Christ; a divine election, a
divine adoption and a divine redemption. These three blessings are not only
meant for Christians but for all those who believe in Christ and will accept
him as their Lord and savior. Are you assured of these incredible blessings
today? If not this is the time to ask Jesus into your life. Those of you who
have accepted Christ as your savior you have already received these blessings;
now begin to live worthy of these blessings. Amen To be continued…
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