Conclusion for Ephesians Chapter One.

Ten Minute Talks – Everything In Christ

Text – 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 for adoption to sonship 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 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 reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under 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 put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. ¹³ And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you 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.

Introduction

In these verses Paul is describing God’s actions in relationship with his children and the rest of creation.  

It is no surprise that Paul used the term “in Christ” eleven times in this reading, 36 times in Ephesians, and 164 times in all of his writings in the Bible! He uses this phrase because it is through, in, and because of Christ that God blessed us, predestined us, made known to us his plan, and did everything else that has to do with us and him together. While we are going through the book of Ephesians, this phrase is definitely worth paying attention to.

Point 1

a.            Point - In vv. 6-7 it talks about redemption and grace, both of which are necessary for us to have an eternal relationship with the community of God.

b.            Illustration - God reconciled his children back to himself so we could be in his family; this is our redemption. Now that we have been redeemed, God has given us grace so he can speak to us and use us anywhere on earth to work for his kingdom. Both of these concepts of redemption and of grace are found In Christ, Jesus that is... Redemption is through him and grace is in him.

c.             Application - Now, since we have been redeemed, and are walking to remedy in the grace of God, free from the law of Moses, we should make every effort to represent Christ at the movies, or our friend’s houses, or at a community pig roast; because without this grace found in Christ, we wouldn’t be able to experience these. Without this grace in Christ, we wouldn’t even be allowed to have a relationship with God because most of us are gentiles! And without redemption through Christ, we wouldn’t be alive to live in grace in the first place!  “In Christ”, its an important phrase.

Point 2

a.            Point - We belong to Christ because a) He chose us in him before the creation of the world, which is v.4a, b) we have heard and believed the message of the gospel, which is our salvation mentioned in v.13, and c) when time comes, unity of all things in heaven and on earth will be founded in Christ, for it is all his inheritance; this is in v.10.

b.            Illustration - Jesus is being made C.E.O. of his Fathers’ business; which is a big business. This business concerns the organization of everything in the heavenly realm, and all things in the physical realm too. He must have the gift of administration.

c.             Application – If we are under the ownership or leadership of Christ, this means that not only are we his, but we are working for him as well, we are of Christ’s business. His business is reconciliation and we have been made ambassadors of it. We get to distribute reconciliation for the rest of our earthly lives, without having to worry about being fired. Could you imagine Jesus: “you’re fired”   poof, gone; Thank God for grace.

Point 3

a.            Point - What is most important to remember, is that Christ is a place, he is the place where we reside, and we are made holy and blameless (v.4b) because we reside in him. This is the key to all life.

b.            Illustration - We ignore God or decide to do the opposite of his call because we often forget where we are. We forget that we are bringing his kingdom wherever we go; we forget that we are standing on holy ground wherever we are because Christ is also in us, he goes where we go.

c.             Application - If we are remaining in his presence, applying his word to our lives, acting in constant concern for what we wants, it becomes harder and harder to say “I know I live in Christ, but right now I’m going to do the opposite of what he expects.” It becomes natural to do what he wants because we are aware of where we are.

Conclusion 

a.            So everything is in Christ. Its funny how much meaning two words can have.

b.            Most of this talk was based on Ephesians 1:3-14,

c.             And we’ve found here, the two main proponents of our existence in God’s family, redemption, which wouldn’t last very long without grace, are both carried out through Jesus being in our lives. With these attributes in play, I am free to wear this shirt. We don’t have to worry about what is right to eat or wear, or where we are allowed or not allowed to go; it has all been taken up in Christ. He protects us because we are his, we’ve been reserved for him. We reside him so that we can have every single spiritual blessing in this life and the next.

Concluding sentence – God has really taken care of us.

Pray.