Our Riches in Christ

good morning would y'all stand I want to welcome y'all this morning to Calvary Chapel and those of you who are joining us online welcome would you join me in prayer Father we just thank you for this opportunity this Sunday morning to gather to worship you in song and to study your word Father by your Holy Spirit move today give us open ears to hear eyes to see hearts to perceive that which you have today and a willingness Lord to trust you and to obey you as you lead and guide us we just give you thanks Lord Jesus bless our time thank you for your son Jesus for the fact that you sent the Holy Spirit you wouldn't leave us as orphans but the Holy Spirit will be sent to lead and guide us convince us of sin righteousness and judgment

and Lord our hope truly is in you be seated Hosanna our hearts Lord and make them clean open up our eyes to the things unseen show us how to love like you've loved us Lord of the shadow light is a glory night and you fight as your own in the storm the days if I think about it before I come to you Christ and how I would be in a crowd and still feel alone empty God you're so good you fill us Lord you comfort us Lord oh and what you did on the cross for us Lord his hands is my savior mercy mercy thank you Jesus thank you Jesus thank you Jesus thank you Jesus There's a day there'll be a day and you got it all set up and ready Lord and your timing will rise to be with you rather in death in the resurrection the rapture however your Lord

we're gonna be transformed in the year of God And that transition will take place and we'll be in glory with you. Oh God, give us the strength though to live for you and serve you as long as you have us here on the earth. And we give you praise and thanks. And now as Pastor Ryan will come up and teach that you have anointed by the power of your Holy Spirit.

Break forth your word in Jesus' name. Amen. Let's have some fellowship, y'all.

Good morning.

If you could begin the process of finding your seats. Grab a bulletin. We'll get ready to go over some announcements. As always, over on the left-hand side of your bulletin are the things that are going on throughout the week. So take note of some of those things and get yourself plugged in to a spot that looks like would fit you well. Over in the middle section of your bulletin, Vacation Bible School is coming up.

And I think it might not be here by the end of first service. For second service, my wife will be bringing the volunteer sign-up sheets. And then there will be a work day in two. Sunday is on the 25th in the afternoon for anybody that wants to help with some of the decorations and stuff like that that they're going to be making. So if you're interested in getting involved with that, take note of that.

And then also one thing that is not in your bulletin is next Saturday is our men's breakfast. So fellas, take note of that. Eight o'clock down at the other end of the hallway. Those are the things that are going on. If you would make sure that your mobile device is silenced. And for our responsive reading this morning, Psalm 101. Psalm 101. We'll be looking at the New American Standard just so that we all sound the same.

If you need a copy of a New American Standard Bible, there should be one in a row around you. And as you're turning to Psalm 101, if you would stand in the honor of the reading of God's Word.

I will read the odd verses if you will follow along with Glenn and the even verses. Psalm 101, a psalm of David. I will sing of the loving kindness and justice. To you, O Lord, I will sing praises.

I will set no worthless thing before my eyes. I hate all the work of those who fall away. It shall not fasten its grip on me.

Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will destroy. No one who has a haughty look and an arrogant heart will I endure.

He who practices deceit shall not dwell within my house. He who speaks falsehood shall not maintain. His position before me. Every morning I will destroy all the wicked of the land. So as to cut off from the city of the Lord all those who do iniquity. And Father, we thank you that while you are full of loving kindness, Lord, you do not tolerate sin. And Lord, I thank you that you have made a way for sins to be dealt with through the blood of Jesus Christ.

And Father, as we spend time in your Word this morning, I just ask that you would speak to us by the power of your Holy Spirit. Father, minister to us. And open up the eyes of our understanding to see more clearly who we are in you. In Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. And if you would, open up in your Bibles to the book of Ephesians chapter 1.

Ephesians chapter 1. While you're turning to Ephesians, I want to take just a moment and share something with you. I don't typically wear T-shirts at baseball. But I do wear them when I play for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Because I'm actually opposed to the Los Angeles Dodgers, both as a Kansas City Royals fan and as a Chicago Cubs fan. But this particular guy, whose shirt I'm wearing this morning, his name is Blake Traynan.

I don't know if you've heard about what took place with the Dodgers with Pride Month. But they wanted to have a particular night, Pride Night. And they invited a group to come and perform called the Sisters of Pride. perpetual indulgence. While that sounds Catholic, it's not at all. They're actually a blasphemous trans group. And as a matter of fact, don't go look up any of their videos. You'll never be the

same. I only caught some little clips on social media, so you knew that it was somewhat edited because it was social media. It's pretty horrific. Well, this guy, Blake Tranen, who is a relief pitchers for the Los Angeles Dodgers, also from Kansas, from the Melbourne, Osage City type area of Kansas, sent this letter to the Dodgers and then had Sean Foytch with Let Us Worship posted on his Instagram. So I want to read this to you. It says, I'm disappointed to see the sisters of

perpetual indulgence being honored as heroes at Dodger Stadium. Many of their performances are blasphemous and their work only displays hate and mockery of not only Catholics, but the Christian faith. I understand that playing baseball is a privilege and not a right, and my conviction in Jesus Christ will always come first. Since I've been with the Dodgers, they have been at the forefront of supporting a wide variety of groups. However, inviting the sisters of perpetual indulgence to

perform disenfranchises a large community and promotes hatred of Christians and people of faith. This single event alienates the fans and the supporters of the Dodgers, Major League Baseball, and professionals. People like baseball for its entertainment value and competition. The fans do not want propaganda or politics forced upon them. The debacle with Bud Light and Target should be a warning to companies

and professional sports to stay true to their brand and leave the propaganda and politics off the field. I believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sins. I believe the word of God is true. And in Galatians chapter six, verse seven, it says, do not be deceived. God cannot be mocked. A man reaps. What he sows. This group openly mocks Jesus Christ, the cornerstone of my faith. And I want to make it

clear that I do not agree with nor support, nor support the decision of the, of the Dodgers to honor the sisters of perpetual indulgence. And he closes with a verse, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord, Joshua 24, 15, and he signed it. So if, if a 35 year old guy who is playing in professional sports is going to make a stand like that, you better doggone believe I'm going to stand with him. Right? And so, so as soon as I, as soon as I read this whole thing, as soon as I

found out about it, I told my wife, I said, I'm gonna buy one of his jerseys. That's $125. I said, I'm gonna buy one of his t-shirts. So I bought one of his t-shirts. And, uh, so I just, I want to support guys like this because listen, I've read other articles that are absolutely condemning him for doing this. You know what the biggest complaint that they had was he used poor grammar in his

letter, that moron, right? Like, Oh my gosh, how dare he? How dare he use poor grammar in his letter? I mean, if that's all you've got to come up with to, to criticize the guy, that means he's standing pretty strong. So pray for this guy, pray for other guys like him. Clayton Kershaw is another one that made a really strong stand. Uh, there was a guy for the Washington nationals that's

made a really strong stand. There are believers in these places and the amount of, uh, peer pressure that they receive. I don't know that we always can fully grasp as much as you may receive pressure from your coworkers or your friends, uh, with the beliefs that you have. You have no idea what it's like to have the media come against you for the stands that you take. So

pray for guys like this. Matter of fact, let's just pray for these fellows right now. Lord, I lift up anybody that is in a public spotlight like Blake Lord, that's making a strong stand for godliness. This making a strong stand for truth and Lord, I just want to pray that you would protect them. I pray that you would protect them from their enemies in the media. I pray that

you would protect them from their enemies as fans, uh, of the Los Angeles Dodgers. I want to pray that you would protect them from the militant LGBTQ community. Lord, I want to pray that you would protect them from their flesh that might want to lead them into sin and other areas that would damage their witness. And Lord, I just pray for the strength of your Holy spirit and that you would bring a blessing upon them like they've never seen before in Jesus name. Amen. Okay. Ephesians chapter one. Today we get into the, the meat of really

the first portion of the book of Ephesians. We said that the book of Ephesians was going to divide two ways. The first half, the first three chapters of the book of Ephesians is our riches in Christ. The second half of the book of Ephesians is living according to our riches in Christ. And so the title of this morning's message is just that our riches in Christ.

And so we pick up in verse three and I'm just going to read verses three through 14 all the way through. So chapter one, verse three, it says, blessed be the God and father of our Lord, Jesus Christ. And so we pick up in verse three and I'm just going to read verses three through Jesus Christ, who 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 would be holy and blameless before him in love. He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the kind intention of his will to the praise of the glory of his 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 of his grace, which he lavished on us in all wisdom and insight. He made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his kind intention, which he purposed in him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of times. That is the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth, in him. Also, we have obtained an inheritance, having predestined according to the purpose, according to his purpose, who works all things after the counsel of his will, to the end that we, who are the first to hope in Christ, would be to the praise of his glory. In him, you also,

after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, having also believed, you were sealed in him. With the Holy Spirit, you were sealed in him. In him, you also believed that you knew the gospel and that you believed in him. Again, we have obtained an inheritance, having predestined according to the Now I read that as one long sentence because in the Greek structure, that is actually one long sentence.

It's actually thought to be the longest sentence of any Greek work of all time. Because it's one flowing thought that sort of flowed forth from Paul. Now I want you to imagine, remember Paul dictated almost all of his letters. I want you to imagine being the guy that's dictating this and Paul just keeps going. He's like, uh-huh, uh-huh, okay, okay, okay, uh-huh, period.

Can you imagine being the guy that had to dictate that entire sentence? Paul clearly had never heard of the run-on at that point in time. But it's one really long sentence. And this one really long sentence breaks down two ways. We see the source and we see the riches. The first thing that we look at is the source. Notice what it says in verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.

So let's break down that first verse here really quickly. The first word that's used is the word blessed. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now there's two different words for blessed in the New Testament. The first word for blessed speaks of being happy. Oh, how happy is the man or how blessed is the man. That's the word that is used in the book of Matthew with the Beatitudes when he says blessed are the poor in spirit.

But there's a second Greek word that's used for blessed and that Greek word means to speak good of. That's the Greek word that's used here. The idea behind blessed be the God and Father of our Lord. Jesus Christ is worthy of praise is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is a statement of praise to God because as he says blessed be or all praise be he now tells us about the source of our riches the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

What I'm going to read for us in just a moment what we're going to work our way through in just a moment is a list of what I have pulled out. Seven riches that we have been blessed with seven riches that we have been given and they've been given to us directly from God. They've been given to us directly from the father. That means that these are the things that we possess because of our relationship with God.

I don't know if you're aware of this. If I remember correctly, I don't think it's changed. I think Warren Buffett is the richest man in the world. It may be Elon Musk, but I can't imagine. Being Elon Musk's kid, but but can you imagine being Warren Buffett's kid, right? Like you would never have to worry about a financial thing in your entire life because Warren Buffett is your dad.

If you don't know who Warren Buffett is, he's he owns Berkshire Hathaway and the railroad basically and Nebraska Furniture Mart and anything else you can imagine because he's the majority shareholder in an incredible number of businesses and he is worth billions of dollars. Therefore, every child of Warren Buffett, I don't even know if he has kids, is the recipient of wonderful blessings simply because they come from their father. That's the way you and I are. We have all of the wealth in the world, not because of who we are, but because it comes directly from God, the father.

He says, Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed. Us with every spiritual blessing in heaven, heavenly places. Now, this the next thing he says is blessed are us. Now, it's the same Greek word meaning to do good to or me to speak good of. But in this particular usage, it means to do good to I am now going to bless you with something.

For instance, if at the end of the service, I said, I would like to bless you with all with something and you all leave and I give you a thousand dollars. That would be being be doing good to you. I would be blessing each one of you with a thousand dollars. I'm not doing that. OK, so so you can walk by with your hand out all you want to and I will give you a holy high five and that's it.

OK, but that would be me blessing you because I'm doing good to you. He says, blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, because he has blessed us. He has given to us. He has done good to us in a particular area. And the way that he has done good to us is by giving us every spiritual blessing. I want to point out two things about the fact that he refers to every spiritual blessing.

The first thing I want to point out to you is this. It is in direct contrast to every material blessing. Our world usually views blessed as one way materially. Usually when people have a lot of stuff, we say God has really blessed them. And when you see somebody that doesn't have a lot of stuff, you say God has not really blessed them with all that much stuff.

But but may I tell you that blessings from God. Are oftentimes not material. As a matter of fact, the greatest blessings that we receive from the Lord cannot be spent on this earth. They can't always be seen on this earth. They can't be held. You can't wear them. You can't drive them. You can't live in them. You can't eat them. You can't give them to other people because they are spiritual in nature.

But that. Brings me to another thought when it comes to this. And that's that we have to realize that once we become a believer in Jesus Christ, this world, it's not our home. Therefore, the things of this world are not what we should be holding on to because the things of this world will burn up. The things of this world will go away. The only thing the things of this world can do for us is we can use them, hopefully to further the kingdom of God.

He says he's blessed us with every spiritual blessing. And so they're spiritual. Speaking of the fact that they are opposite of material, but they are also spiritual, which is actually the direct context of the word, meaning that they are produced by the Holy Spirit. Each of these blessings that come upon us come from the father because we are in Christ and they are produced by the Holy Spirit.

The Trinity is at work in this very verse three right here, because blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing. In him. Because it's who we are in Christ. And so he says he's blessed us with every spiritual blessing. The next thing that he tells us about how he has blessed us is that he has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies.

Your translation and most other translations say in the heavenly places. But you may take note of the fact that this is something you should always take note of as you're looking at your Bible. The word places is in italics. It's in italics because it's not in the original language. Because. Because what it literally says in the original language is that he has blessed you with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies.

What does that mean? Well, it means two things. Number one, it means that these things flow directly from the throne room of God. Because they are from the father produced by the spirit received because we are in Christ. Therefore, they come directly from the throne room of God. They are in the heavenlies. But it speaks of a second thing. It speaks of the fact that the spiritual blessings that we have.

Begin the day that you come to know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and extend into eternity. As a matter of fact, later on in the book of Ephesians, he's going to tell us that it's going to take all of eternity to fully grasp these spiritual blessings that we've been given by Jesus Christ. He says he's blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. And then the last thing he says is in Christ.

If you're an underliner or a highlighter, you should, as we're going through this, either underline. Or circle or highlight every time it references in Christ, in him or in the beloved. Because remember how we talked last week about the fact that that literally is the theme. Because all of these things come to us, not because of who we are, but because of who we are in Christ.

Not because of what we've done, but because of who our faith is in. Not because of how good you are, but because of how good he is, because you are in Christ. All of these spiritual blessings are not for those who are not in Christ. And it brings me to another interesting point. There are only two positions you can be in in this world. You are either in Christ or you are in sin.

There is no happy middle ground. There is no happy medium place where you'd be like, what? But you don't understand, I'm a pretty good person. Well, that's great, but you're either in Christ or you're in sin. And if you're not in Christ, then you are in sin. And if you are in sin, then Christ is now your judge. If you are in Christ, he is your savior. Those are the only two places that you can be in.

So again, if you're here this morning, you're watching online this morning, and you are not in Christ, which means you've never come to Jesus Christ as your Lord and savior. It's not about the fact that, well, I've always believed in Jesus. No, there needed to be a specific point in time in your life. Because we were all born in sin. There had to be a specific point in time in your life where you said,

I'm a sinner and I need a savior. The problem most people in the world today have is that they don't know that they're sinners. So they don't realize that they need a savior. So he says, All of these spiritual blessings come to us. Because we are in Christ. It's what makes me fit to receive these spiritual blessings. That's the source. Now let's look at the riches.

Starting in verse four, again, seven things. And so I will name these and then we'll read them and we'll talk about them. These are the riches that we have in Christ. Number one, you are chosen. Notice what it says in verse four. Just as he chose us. In him, there's that phrase again. You should circle it or underline it or highlight it. Before the foundation of the world,

that we would be holy and blameless before him in love. Oh, kids, there's a lot to unpack in that little section. So I want to unpack it for you a little bit as we go here. It says that we are chosen. The word chosen means selected out for himself. This is a scary word for a lot of us. This is a scary word for a lot of us. This is a scary word for a lot of people.

Because a lot of people think, well, what if I am not chosen? Because we think if God chooses some, maybe he doesn't choose others. If God chooses some to go to heaven, maybe he chooses some to go to hell. Well, what if I'm not one of the chosen? Well, first of all, I want to tell you something. If you're concerned about whether or not you're one of the chosen,

here's what you need to do. You need to come to Jesus. If you come to Jesus, you'll find that anyone who comes to him, he will in no way. Cast out. He will in no wise cast anyone out that comes to him. That's why we are told, anyone who is thirsty, come to me and I will give you the waters, the living waters that will become a spring of living waters flowing up in you.

Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. That's how you know if you're chosen. But I want you to understand something. If you're here this morning and you're a believer in Jesus Christ, you have been chosen by God. Now, I think that's the coolest thing in the world because I don't know if you realize this about me or not,

but I'm not the biggest guy in the world. And I usually did not get chosen first, especially, wait for it, for basketball, right? I was not the guy most people chose for their basketball team, right? It was me and the kid with allergies sitting over here at the side going, right? Because I wasn't the guy that got chosen because they knew he could be the ball.

I don't think he can play ball, right? And so when I find out that it says that I have been chosen by God, now that's something pretty amazing. That no longer scares me. I don't fully understand it, but it actually excites me because I realize that he has chosen me. He has chosen me to be one of his own. He has chosen me to be his child. He selected me out for himself.

And if you're here this morning and you're a believer in Jesus Christ, you need to understand you have been chosen by God. Now, here's the other scary thing that people think of. Well, does that mean I don't have any free will? Absolutely not. You're held responsible for your choices. We see that. He chose you. Now you need to choose him. He chose you. Now you choose to follow him.

As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. You know that that verse starts with a statement of choice. Choose this day who you will serve. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. There's still a choice. We have a choice on our part, and yet God is absolutely sovereign and did the choosing. You say, Ryan, I don't understand that. I don't either, and neither does anybody else in the world, but I don't have to understand it.

I just have to believe it. You see, too many of us think that it is the job of us to understand everything in the world. You know what? The secret things belong to God. The revealed things belong to me. I don't understand God's sovereignty and man's free will because that's not my job to understand it because that's one of the secret things. The thing I do have to understand is that I have a choice.

Will I follow Jesus or will I follow my flesh? I heard Greg Lordy put it like this one time. He said, on one side of heaven, the gate of heaven, there is a sign that says, to he who will come. Once you walk through that gate on the other side, there's a beautiful sign that says chosen before the foundations of the world. Because do you understand that that's what it says?

Just as he chose us in. Him before the foundation of the world. That's the part that really trips me out the most is that before the world even existed, God was like, I want Ryan to follow me. I want him to be one of my people. That's pretty wild to think about. You know what that means? It means God chose me before I ever did anything good or bad. That means God chose me before I had any sort of history.

God wasn't waiting to see whether or not I was worth choosing. Right? It's like when you hear that. A new movie that comes out and you're like, Ooh, I wonder what that movie is like. I'm going to wait until I see the, wait until I see the trailer. I'm going to wait until I see some reviews before I decide whether or not I'm going to choose to go to this movie.

Sometimes I think we view God like that. Like God's waiting to watch the trailer for our lives. He's waiting to hear some reviews as to whether or not he wants us. And God's like, I didn't read any reviews. I didn't watch the trailer. I just chose you before the foundations of the world. But I want you to notice what he chose us for. Because he didn't just choose us.

So that we could be happy that he chose us. Notice what he did. He chose us that we would be holy and blameless before him in love. The word holy means consecrated or set apart. We talked about it last week when we said that that's who you are. God chose you to be holy. And that brothers and sisters is the position that you sit in this morning. If you've come to Jesus, if you have come to him for refuge and you have sought him,

you are now. You are now holy in God's eyes. Set apart, consecrated unto him. You are a holy object. But not only that, you are also blameless. The word blameless means without spot or blemish. Without any kind of blemish on yourself. That's how God sees you. Because he chose you to be holy, consecrated unto him, and without blemish. And I love the way, I can't remember if it's the Amplified Bible or the Weiss translation,

that puts it, but it says this. You are chosen to be consecrated, set apart to him, and without blemish before his penetrating gaze. That means that God can see through all of the things that he sees to you. And he says you're holy and without blemish. Why? Because you were chosen in him before the foundations of the world. That you would be holy and blameless before him in love.

Number one. You're chosen. Number two. You're adopted. You're adopted. Notice what it says in verse five. It says, He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to himself. According to the kind intention of his will. To the praise of the glory of his grace, which he freely bestowed on us. In the. Beloved. You have been adopted. But I want you to notice the first word that's used there when he talks to us about being adopted.

You have been predestined. Right? It's another scary word. But if you're chosen, you're also predestined. You know what the word predestined means? It means marked out beforehand. That means when God chose you, he marked out beforehand who you were going to be. And who you were going to be is adopted. Now, adoption in the ancient Greek world. We talked about this some in the book of Galatians.

But adoption in the ancient Greek world carried with it some really strong tolerances. And that word adoption means adopted and given full rights as adult sons. Now, if someone really cared about you in the Greek world. And they wanted to adopt you into their family. Everything of who you were before gets absolutely nullified. Your identity gets nullified. Your debts get nullified.

Your previous position. In. Any sort of. In the world gets nullified. Everything of who you were before gets absolutely put away. And you are placed as an adult son with all the full rights of an adult son into that brand new family. Isn't that amazing? Doesn't that seem to paint the picture of what Jesus did for us? That he adopted us as his sons. That he marked out beforehand that when he chose you.

That you were going to be a part of his family. Only when you were a part of his family. When you became a part of the family. Everything of who you were before. Is absolutely nullified. I keep coming back to this subject because I think it's a subject we have to revisit a lot. Because too many of us as believers in Jesus Christ. Hold on to the identity of who we were before Christ.

We still view ourselves as that. And because we view ourselves as that. We keep living like that. You see I was an alcoholic before Christ. So I'll always be an alcoholic. You see I was a drug addict before Christ. And so I'll always be an alcoholic. And so I'll always be an alcoholic. And so I'll always be a drug addict. I was a porn addict before Christ. So I'll always be a porn addict.

I was an orphan before I came to Jesus Christ. So I'll always be an orphan. I was abused before I came to Jesus Christ. And I'll always live as someone who's abused. And I'll always live as someone who's abused. Everything of your identity before Christ. Everything of your identity before Christ. Is all nullified. Including the debt that you owe. What debt did you and I owe?

Well a sin debt. Knowing that that debt was paid in full. Knowing that we have been adopted. Knowing that we have been adopted. Who we were before is no longer who we are now. Instead now you are adult sons of Jesus Christ. With all of the full rights and privileges of adult sons. Do you know what the full rights and privileges of an adult son is? It means that you can go to the Father anytime you want to.

It means that you can go to the Father anytime you want to. It means that all of the riches of the Father belong to you. that you have access to the father like you never did before because you have been adopted it says you've predestined been predestined to be adopted into the family of god and i want you to notice what he says according to the kind intention of his will it was according to the intention of his will you know what that means it means he meant to do it you ever done somebody something nice for someone only you didn't mean to it just sort of happened and they're like oh my gosh thank you so much for doing that for me and you're like i didn't really mean to it just kind of happened

right have you ever done that i do that sometimes i just i just wanted to move that out of the way i didn't know it was going to help you but i'm glad it helped you in the process that's not what jesus did with us it wasn't like son of a gun i never thought never saw that coming like i guess if it's good for you it's good for me so praise praise god no he meant to do it he knew exactly what he was doing when he adopted you as a son it was according to the kind intention of his will you he freely bestowed it on us in the beloved another one of those phrases you should either underline or circle number three you have received redemption you have received redemption

the word redemption means released through the payment of a ransom you could also substitute the word deliverance released through the payment of a ransom why did we need a ransom paid for us well because you and i were slaves of sin we had been taken captive by sin and the only way that we could be set free is if a ransom was paid for us is if is if a fee was paid for us and so you and i sat there in slavery in captivity waiting for the ransom to be paid waiting for the ransom to be paid for us waiting for the ransom to be paid for us waiting for the somebody to deliver us through the payment of a ransom and that's exactly what jesus did only how did jesus set us free through the payment of a ransom well it tells us it says you have

received redemption through his blood you see the amazing thing about us being redeemed is that we weren't redeemed with silver and gold we weren't redeemed with money we were redeemed with the blood of jesus christ we were redeemed through a substitutionary sacrifice so let me tell you a story from the old testament it's a perfect beautiful picture of this so you know the story of joseph joseph was hated by his brothers and when joseph was hated by his brothers they decided they wanted to do something joseph of course was a part of the family of jacob uh who ultimately would be the head of israel and they were the 12 tribes of israel joseph was hated by his brothers and so they sold him into slavery into egypt

so joseph is in slavery in egypt but god was with him the whole time and ultimately through a series of events joseph becomes the most powerful person in the world he world's largest terrorist group such that joseph will pray his ribosome forAMERICANVEAL io powerful man in Egypt, second only to Pharaoh. Well, there was a famine in the land. And so his brothers that didn't know that he was alive came down to visit him, not knowing it was Joseph, just simply so that they could buy some food because they heard that there was grain in Egypt. Well, Joseph sees his brother show up and his brothers don't know that it's him because he's dressed like an Egyptian now, right? And they think he's dead or sold or somewhere else now.

They're not thinking that they're going to see him. And Joseph sees them and God uses him as an instrument of judgment with his brothers, right? So he looks at his brothers and says, you guys are a bunch of spies. And the only way that I'm going to believe that you're not spies is if you bring back your youngest brother to me. And he knew that there was one other brother that

was the favorite of their father and his name was Benjamin. So his brothers go home and they're like, man, I don't know what we're going to do. He says, we can't go back unless we bring Benjamin. Dad's never going to let Benjamin go. So they run out of grain and it's time for them to go back and get some more. And it comes to their dad or their dad comes to him and says, you guys need to go get grain for us.

And they said, we can't go unless we bring Ben and you're not going to let Ben go with us. He says, no, Ben can't go. And Judah stands up and says, listen, Judah is one of the brothers, actually the one whose idea was to sell Joseph into slavery. Judah steps up and he says, make me responsible for him. If he doesn't return, his blood will be on my head. I'll take the responsibility for him.

So they go back down. When they get back down to Egypt, Joseph continues to test them. And so they go eat dinner with Joseph and Joseph fills their sacks with grain and gets ready to send them on their way. Only he tells one of his servants, he says, I want you to take this silver cup and I want you to put it in the bag of the youngest, put it in the saddlebag of Benjamin. So his brothers take

off not knowing that this silver cup is in Benjamin's bag. And he says, now overtake them, accuse them of theft and say that the one who has my silver cup has to be my slave for the rest of his life. So that's exactly what happened. Joseph's servant goes after the men and they find the cup in Benjamin's sack and all the brothers like, no, right? Like Ben can't go because something's going to happen to him. Oh great.

Something's happening to Ben. Right? So they, so they go back to Egypt and they're standing in front of Joseph and Joseph looks at them and says, did you not know that I would figure these things out? What kind of a man do you think that I am? And they all say, listen, don't do anything to Benjamin. He says, no, no, the rest of you can go free. Ben is a slave for the rest of his life. And then Judah steps up and this is the part I

want us to pay attention to. Judah steps up and says, you don't understand. If something happens to Ben, his father will die. Don't take Ben. Take me. That's redemption. He said, he may be on the slave block right now, but I will give my life for his. That is redemption. And that's what Jesus did for us. As Jesus stepped up and said, don't take their lives. Take mine. Don't spill their blood. Spill mine. I will take their place.

And he redeemed us. He paid the penalty, paid the price for us, with his own precious blood. We are chosen. We are adopted. We are redeemed. And then we come to number four, forgiveness of sin. Interestingly enough, this is right in the heart of the seven wonderful riches that we have in Christ. And right in the center of it is the forgiveness of sin. Why? Because right in the center of our biggest issue is sin.

Sin is the major issue that we face as human beings. Sin is the major issue that we face as a society. Therefore, Jesus came to deal with sin. The word forgiveness means complete pardon or liberty. It is literally the putting away of sin. Complete pardon or liberty, the putting away of sin. Again, we have received this. According to the wealth of his grace because of the blood of Jesus Christ. But we have received

this forgiveness of sin according to the wealth of the grace of Jesus Christ. I want you to take note of what it says right here. In him, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished on us in all wisdom and insight. I love the word that's used here in the New American Standard, the word lavished upon us.

Because don't you just picture, right, like somebody who's never had anything in their life and they come across that rich uncle that finally found out that they loved him. This is a movie, right, waiting to happen. And he just lavishes everything on them. He just pours it all over them. Oh, you want some new clothes? Here, have some new clothes. You want all the food you can eat? Have all the food that

you can eat. You want more stuff? I'll give you everything that you need. Only the things that we needed had nothing to do with the material world. They had everything to do with God's grace in our lives. And he lavished it upon us. The Amplified Bible, it says that he made to super abound towards us. And he did it in all wisdom and insight. I love that the words grace and wisdom are used

together there. Because it tells us that in God's wisdom, he lavished his grace upon us. That he knew that was the only way that we could receive forgiveness of sins, is if he poured out his grace in a super abundant way upon us. And so we have received the forgiveness of sins. Number five, we have received the knowledge of his will. This is another little section

that's going to take a minute to unpack. So hang with me. Look at verse nine. It says, he made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his kind intention, which he purposed in him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of times. That is the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth in him. It says he made known to us the mystery of his will. Now in the Bible, when the

word mystery is used and it's used multiple times, and you should take note of all the times that it's used, because it means that it's something that was at one time concealed and has now been revealed. Well, the thing that was concealed is something that has now been revealed. And it's something that has now been revealed. And it's something that has now been revealed. And it's

was concealed to those who are unbelievers. But once you become a believer, it is revealed to you. He has made known to us the mystery of his will or the knowledge of his will. Well, what is the knowledge of his will? Well, we know that it is according to his kind intention, which he purposed in him. Here's where it gets confusing. In verse 10, it says with a view to an administration

suitable to the fullness of times. I'm about y'all, but I read that and I go, huh? Right? Because that's a really confusing statement. Now, I'm going to give you another little Bible study clue, okay? Because sometimes you read things like this in a really literal translation, like the New American Standard or the New King James. I think the New King James calls it the fullness of times. And

you kind of find yourself going, what does that mean? Here's where I like to employ a method called the use of other Bible translations. So you find other translations of the Bible that stated in a little bit of a different way, perhaps that make it mildly more understandable to you. In this particular instance, I came across the New Living Translation. Now, the New Living

Translation is a pretty decent translation. It's considered thought for thought instead of word for word. So it carries more of a paragraph sentence sort of a structure than interpreting every single word. So it's written in more of a readable sort of fashion. So the New Living Translation says it like this. Are you ready? At the right time. Now, that makes

sense to me, right? So we went from, with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of times. We're like, the New Living Translation is like, hey, bro, let me tell you what it means. At just the right time. Okay, then that makes sense to me. So he made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his kind intention, which he purposed in him, knowing that at the

right time will come the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth in him. So that should bring us to another question. What's the right time? Go with me to Revelation chapter 21 real quick. I want you to go to Revelation chapter 21. I want to land on verse six, but I want to have you start in the beginning of the chapter. Revelation chapter 21 says

this. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth passed away. And there's no longer any sea. And they saw the holy city, new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is among men. He will dwell among men and they shall be

his people. And God himself will be among them. And he will wipe away every tear from their eyes. And there will no longer be any death. There will no longer be any mourning or crying or pain. The first things have passed away. And he who sits on the throne said, behold, making all things new. He said, right for these words are faithful and true. And then he said to

me, it is done in the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. It will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of water of life without cost. What does he mean when he says at just the right time, he will bring all things together in Christ, that he will bring all things together in him. Well, he means at the very end of the age, when Jesus, comes back, there will be a new heaven and a new earth, and all things will be restored to their original intent. You see God's intent for this world was not sin. God's intent for this

world was not pain. God's intent for this world was not death. That was not his original intention. All of those things came in through sin. All of those things came in because man failed. And so the mystery of God's will, the thing that was hidden to the unbeliever, but revealed to the believer is that when the time is right, he will restore everything to its original intended state, a new heaven and a new earth, where there is no more pain,

where there is no crying, where there's no mourning, where all things are made new. The unbelieving world doesn't get that. The unbelieving world doesn't know that there is an eternity beyond here. It is a mystery that is hidden from them. But you may remember when you first came to Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, and people started telling you about eternity, you're like,

what? You mean it can get better than this? You mean it can be more awesome than this? Oh yeah. Your best day on earth is nothing compared to your worst day in heaven, if there is a bad day in heaven, if there is a bad day in eternity. But you see, for the unbeliever, their best day on earth is as good as it's ever going to get. And that's pretty sad because he's made known to us the mystery of his will, that in him, that is in Christ,

all things will be restored. Number six, we've been given an inheritance. Back to Ephesians chapter one, we've been given an inheritance. Notice what it says. In, uh, verse 11, it says, also, we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to his purpose, who works all things after the counsel of his will to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of his glory. It says we have been

given an inheritance. We have obtained an inheritance. The word inheritance means a destiny. And it is a destiny. It is a destiny. It is a destiny. It is a destiny. It is a destiny. A destiny of being claimed by God as his own. A destiny of being claimed by God as his own. What is our inheritance? Now, I have been assured by my mother and father that there is no rich

uncle that I'm waiting for them to die in order to inherit something from them so that I never have to work again a day in my life. They've let me know. No, that's actually not true. Don't keep waiting. Bad day's not coming. So what kind of an inheritance is he talking about here? Because I don't think he's talking about a material inheritance. I don't think he's talking about even all of the things that we're going to receive in eternity,

which often we view as very immaterial. What's the inheritance that he's talking about? Listen, brothers and sisters, I believe that the inheritance that he's talking about is him. I want to point out one more thing to you about the book of Revelation chapter 21. You don't need to go back there, but I want to tell you something. And I believe it was verse three.

Three times it was mentioned that the thing that will make, the new heaven amazing is that God's dwelling place will be among men. God has been preparing us for this all throughout the history of the Bible. When God was with Adam and Eve in the garden, we are told that he would walk with them every day in the cool of the day because his dwelling was among them. The thing that prevented his dwelling from being among them was sin because sin caused them to hide from God. Well, the first

thing that we see is that God is with them every day in the cool of the day because his dwelling was among them. The first thing that we see when God gives his law to the children of Israel is he tells them to build a tabernacle. And the tabernacle would be a tent that would dwell in the midst of the camp because he wanted to prepare them for the understanding that God's desire was to dwell among them. And then when they moved into the nation of Israel, when they moved into the promised land, he told them to establish a city that he would choose. And in that city,

they would place the tabernacle because he would dwell among them. And then of course, later came the temple where God dwelt. And then we come into the New Testament, and we know that Jesus is promised. And when the birth of Jesus is promised, do you remember the promise that was given to Joseph? He says, you will call his name Emmanuel. And you remember what Emmanuel means?

God with us. Because for those 33 years, God dwelt among the children of Israel. Well then, but right before Jesus left, he said, I won't leave you as orphans. I will send the helper. He will be with you, and he will be in you. As we're told by Paul, we are the temple of the Holy Spirit, and he dwells among us. But I don't know about you, I don't see Jesus right now.

I mean, I see him through the things that take place. I see him through his presence. And we're going to talk about the sealing of the Holy Spirit in just a minute. But we're still waiting for something. We're still waiting for the ultimate time when God will dwell among us. You see, I think that's the inheritance that he's talking about. The inheritance that he's talking about is him for all of eternity.

Can you imagine when God dwells among us and every day we're like, God, what up? Like, that's me giving God a high five, by the way. Can you imagine what that's going to be like? You're bro-hugging Jesus all the time. It's going to be the most amazing thing in the world. Why? Because that's our inheritance. But not only do we have an inheritance that we have obtained in him,

but he views us as his inheritance. Notice what he says. He says to the end, verse 12, that we who were first to hope in Christ, would be to the praise of his glory. He views us as his inheritance because those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ ultimately bring praise to the glory of God. We've received an inheritance. And then number seven, last one, hang with me.

We are sealed with the Spirit. Notice what it says in verse 13. In him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, having also believed, you were sealed in him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance with a view to the redemption of God's own possession to the praise of his glory. He says in him, that's in Christ.

When you heard the message of the gospel, you believed the message of the gospel. And when you heard the message of the gospel and you believed the message of the gospel, you were sealed. You were sealed with the Holy Spirit. Everybody who's put their faith in Jesus Christ, the moment that you put your faith in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in you.

And that is the seal of you belonging to Jesus Christ. Chuck Smith in his commentary pointed out the fact that Ephesus was a seaport town. And there were lots of merchants that would purchase things in Ephesus, put them on a boat and send them to Rome. And all of these different boxes, all of these different crates would be on the boat that would go to Rome.

And all of these different boxes, all of these different crates would be on the boat that would go to Rome. And the way that they identified who that crate belonged to is that they would have the signet ring of the owner. And they would take the signet ring with a little ball of wax and they would put the wax on the crate and they would take the signet ring and press it in. And everybody would know, I see the seal that belongs to him.

I know who owns this because I see the seal. That's the way it is with you and I. That's why we have great protection in Christ because we have been sealed with the Holy Spirit. That's why we have great protection in Christ. That's why no matter how much the enemy condemns you, you can hold on to your confidence in Christ because you have been sealed. But that seal is not only a stamp of ownership,

it is your down payment. Notice what he refers to it as. He says, He has given to us the Holy Spirit as a pledge of our inheritance. That word pledge means a first installment, a guarantee of full payment. In today's world, we might call it a down payment. You see, we've been given the down payment of the Holy Spirit. And if we've been given the down payment of the Holy Spirit,

it is a down payment for the future redemption. You say, right, I thought I was already redeemed. Well, you've been redeemed in your soul, but one day your body will be redeemed. The redemption will be complete on the day that you go home to be with your Savior because you will have received the final redemption. The final redemption of a brand new body in Christ.

We are awaiting the redemption of the purchased possession. Brothers and sisters, we have great riches in Christ. They find their source in God, but they should be the confidence that we live in. Live confidently in who you are in Christ. And here's my encouragement. Here's your homework for this week. Read back through this section and pray through it. And if you're not sure,

then ask that God would give you a deeper understanding of each of these truths, of each of these riches that you have in Christ. As a matter of fact, in two weeks, because I won't be here next Sunday. I won't be here Wednesday night because I'm going to be at camp with my daughter. And I won't be here next Sunday because I'll be at a basketball tournament with my other daughter because I've determined this summer I'm pouring into my daughters as much as I can.

But in two weeks, we will see a prayer that Paul will give for his people for a deeper understanding of these things. So read back through them and ask God to make them as real to you as he possibly can. Amen? Let's all stand.

And if you'd bow with me. Father, we come to you. We come to you amazed at what you have done for us. We come to you amazed at the riches that you have blessed us with. And Lord, more than that, I come to you amazed that I don't always live in the confidence of these riches that I have in you. And so Lord, would you make them more real to us? Father, would you, by the power of your Holy Spirit,

allow our hearts, minds, and souls to marinate in the truth of who we are in Christ? Lord, that we would come out smelling just like you. Father, we thank you and we praise you for who you are. In Jesus' name. Amen. Be blessed.

Yes, Lord. So Father, may we be available to you. As we live this life day to day, Lord, as you do supernatural things in our natural activities of life each day. We don't even see them coming, but as we're yielding to you, we'll be going along and we'll end up sharing something or doing something that we didn't even realize we were going to, but you laid it on our hearts and you work in the heart of us and whoever we're talking to in a supernatural way as we're going about our daily life.

And we thank you for that. Bless now each as they go. In Jesus' name. Amen. God bless y'all.