Understanding Who You Are?
Written by Ed Allen
Saturday, 09 September 2000 19:00
Ephesians: Christianity for Dummies
Testimony concerning the book of Ephesians:
Dr. John McKay, president of Princeton University for many years:
I can never forget that the reading of this Pauline letter when I was a boy in my teens exercised a more decisive influence upon my thought and imagination than was ever wrought upon me before or since by the perusal of any piece of literature. The romance of the part played by Jesus Christ in making my personal salvation possible, and in mediating God's cosmic plan, so set my spirit aflame that I laid aside, in all ecstasy of delight, Dumas' Count of Monte Cristo which I happened to be reading at the time. That was my encounter with the Cosmic Christ. The Christ who was, and is, became the passion of my life. I have to admit without shame or reserve that as a result of that encounter I have been unable to think of my own life or the life of mankind or the life of the cosmos apart from Jesus Christ. He came to me and challenged me in the writings of St. Paul. I responded. The years that have followed have been but a footnote to that encounter.
Ray Stedman:
It was from this book that I learned how the body of Christ functions. The truth of the fourth chapter was strongly in my heart when I came to Palo Alto, as a young man fresh from seminary, and began to pastor a small group of people meeting here. It was the conviction that the ministry belongs to the saints, and that the business of a pastor is to help the people find their ministries and to prepare them to function in them, and to discover the excitement of living as Christians where they are, which was formative in the early years of Peninsula Bible Church and is still so strongly emphasized here.
It was from this letter that I learned, as a young man, how to handle the sex drive, which God had given me, as he has given it to all of us, and how to live properly in a sex-saturated society. This letter is most practical in that way. It teaches us how to come to grips with life as it is.
This letter taught me profound truths about marriage and about family life. I'm still learning in this area, and have a lot more to learn, but I've already learned a great deal about this subject from the letter to the Ephesians. It was this letter which taught me better than any other passage of Scripture how to understand the strange turbulence I often found in my own heart, the spiritual attacks to which I was subject, and how to deal with my fears and anxieties and my depressions -- where these were coming from, and what to do about them.
This letter was written about A. D. 61 from Rome during Paul's first imprisonment there. It was written to the Christians in the Roman province of Asia. These were ordinary people -- tradesmen, craftsmen, a few doctors and lawyers, some politicians -- the general run of people. Many of them were slaves. The letter is commonly called "The Epistle to the Ephesians," but, as a footnote in the Revised Standard Version points out, this is not found in many of the ancient manuscripts. Most have just a blank for the address of these saints. Many scholars, therefore, feel that this is a circular letter which was written to many churches, probably those in the region of Ephesus. Some think it may have been addressed to the very churches to which Jesus had John address the letters in the book of Revelation, beginning with Ephesus and ending with Laodicea. It may be of interest to you to notice that, in his letter to the Colossians, Paul refers to a letter from Laodicea. Many feel that this is that letter. It was brought from Rome by the hand of Tychicus, to whom the apostle dictated this great treatise. Circulated from church to church, and read in each one, it finally ended up in Ephesus where it was labeled, The Letter of Paul to the Ephesians. At any rate, as we gather from Paul's footnote at the end, it is really a letter addressed to all Christians everywhere. You can read it, therefore, as "the letter of Paul the Apostle to the church at Palo Alto, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus."
Chances are, if you are past your teen years you have experienced an identity crisis at least once in your life. If you think about it, you and I are constantly having to define ourselves. As an employee ? what kind of worker will we be? As a parent ? what kind of mom or dad will we be? If you gave up a career to stay home with your kids, you have struggled with the question of who you are. If you didn't you still may have struggled. If you have lost your health, or some special ability then you have wrestled with the question of your identity. If you used to be a jock and you grew out of it, you have labored over the issue of identity. If you've ever moved you may have wondered who you are and where you fit in. In fact, if you are close to 30 or 40 or if you are entering retirement, you may be struggling with who you are right now.
Underneath the question of identity, there is another more foundational question. That is, where does our identity come from? Should it come from our performance? Should it come from our appearance? Should it come from what others think of us? If our understanding of ourselves is based on any of those things then we will always struggle. Those things are constantly changing. So our understanding of ourselves will be constantly changing, one day up, the next day down.
But if our understanding of ourselves is based on God's understanding of us, then it will be secure. Today, we're going to be looking at how God sees us. He knows us better than anyone. He is an expert in who we are. He made us. So we're going to see what He has to say about who we are.
Last week we talked about "rest." This is one of the themes in the opening half of the book of Ephesians. The Bible tells us that we are seated with Christ in the heavenlies. We said to be seated meant to stop working, to take a break. In fact, we made the point that our faith begins with rest ? not with activity. We don't go out and do all that we can to be better people. To be a Christian means to rest in what God has done for you. This is where all genuine spirituality begins. We ended last week by saying that one of the practical measures that would help us embrace the rest that God offers us is to understand who we are in Christ. Ephesians 1:3-14 has a lot to say about who God says we are.
Ephesians 1:3-14
(3) Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. (4) For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love (5) he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will-- (6) to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. (7) In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace (8) that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. (9) And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, (10) to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment--to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. (11) In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, (12) in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. (13) And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, (14) who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession--to the praise of his glory.
YOU ARE:
1. Honored by God (v. 3)
- What does it mean to "bless" God? Means to honor Him. To lift Him up.
- This same word "blessed" is used for what God has done for us. "Blessed be God who has blessed us." God has honored us. Think of the implications of God honoring you.
- The greater the benefactor, the greater the honor. For instance, for a young boy, there would be a big difference between being honored by his local scout troop versus being honored by the US congress.
2. God's choice (v. 4)
- "in him" last week we talked about the reality of our lives being "in Christ." We illustrated that with one piece of paper being hidden in another ? Also when you are in an airplane, whatever happens to the plane happens to you. In the same way, whatever happens to Christ, happens to us.
- All of this was a reality "before the creation of the world." God has been looking forward to your life for aeons.
3. Someone whose life is ordered and arranged by God (v. 5)
- God has arranged the events of our lives so that we will be all that we are meant to be. We must take the word "predestined" very seriously. The force of God's will and God's plan moves out ahead of our experience, ahead of history ? shaping it and planning it and accomplishing out of it His will.
- Predestined, but not predetermined. We must still choose. We make real choices throughout our lives ? meaningful choices and very real choices. But God's will for us cannot be thwarted. (Psalm 115:3)
- Underneath your daytimer is God's hidden daytimer. He keeps a log of your day, but His log includes everything about you, not just your appointments.
- This means that God is in control.
- And what specifically is God predestining us to?
4. God's child (v. 5)
- We are adopted by God.
- I had the privilege of witnessing the adoption of a special needs child many years ago. He was so proud when the judge pronounced his new name. We are special needs children whom God has gladly and lovingly adopted. He has given us a new name and a new identity.
- You and I have been given a new name by God. We have been adopted into His family.
5. Free (v. 7)
- Sometimes do you feel like a prisoner in your own life?
- Redeemed = bought back (for example from slavery), set free, liberated
- I read the other day that Gloria Steinhem got married. The headline read, "the great liberator got chained."
- According to the Bible Jesus is the great liberator. He has set us free specifically from the penalty of sin ?
- This happened through his blood.
- Because of, or in accordance with, or consistent with his grace.
6. In the know (v. 9-10)
- The purpose of the universe has been made known to you
7. Secure (v. 13-14)
- Goodbye Girl ? old Neil Simon film. He leaves his guitar behind. So God has left behind His Holy Spirit as a guarantee that He will return and make good on His promises.
- God has deposited His Holy Spirit in us.
There was a Chicago family that won a huge lottery, but they did not cash in for a few days. They didn't know what they were going to do with all of that money. That's you and I sitting on God's riches. Let's cash in.