Sealed By God

Text: Ephesians 1:1-14

Focus: The Holy Spirit

Function: To help people see the family of God.

Form: Bible study explanation

Intro:

I remember at a Church I used to pastor that had two “sort of” factions, not enemies, but people of different persuasion about the doctrine of eternal security, the doctrine that once we are saved, nothing we ever do will take us away from God, and these groups wanted me to settle it once and for all by taking a stand on this passage of scripture.

I don’t like arguing points of theology, but this scripture, especially in the King James talks about being predestined by God. Verses 4&5 -“predestined from the time before the universe was created”- to be part of His family.

Again, I am not going to argue one way or another, I think I could prove either side from scripture. And that isn’t the point of the passage.

Sadly, too often, one doctrine or another has been held up as a litmus test for “true faith” to see who is in or who is out.

The problem is that just a simple, saving relationship with Jesus Christ isn’t enough for us when our sinful nature gets involved.

For example, I loved the bowl games, and I’m getting excited abut the NFL playoffs because my team is sitting on the top. Sports, in that sense, are fun because if we have a healthy attitude about them, then we can have a healthy attitude about competition.

But some people get carried away. It gets crazy, as if a person’s entire life is based upon the success of these professional athletes. The truth is that if they win or lose, it isn’t going to change the fact that the next day, the sun is still going to rise.

But that idea, that principle, that sense of pride that we have something, a faith, a belief, a team or a doctrine that somehow makes us better than others is part of our sinful nature.

We want to feel better than others.

This doctrine of predestination has been taken out of context in one evil way. Some people have taken it to mean that we have some sort of manifest destiny and that no matter what we do; we must be in the right because we are the chosen.

It has also lead to a sort of “Christian irresponsibility.” Because up until the great missionary movement of the 1800’s the doctrine taught that it was God’s responsibility to preach the gospel to the whole world and if people didn’t come into God’s family, into a saving relationship with Christ by trusting in His death and resurrection, it was somehow God’s fault because only “we” and you can insert whatever name of the group you want to, are chosen by God.

So Brother Paul talks about this very concept as he explains in this passage that because of God’s love, before the world was ever created, God had it in mind to come to earth as Jesus the Savior, die on the cross and forgive the sins of everyone who trusts in Jesus and God’s circle was bigger than one nation.

And that is made clear in the way the Apostle opens up the circle of the elect, those who are called the chosen, by explaining to everyone that it isn’t just the Jewish people who are in this special covenant with God. Nope, it is everyone who trusts in Jesus.

I believe that God ultimately knew who would trust in Him in the end, but I also believe that His foreknowledge does not mean that He arbitrarily chose who goes to heaven and who goes to hell. 1 Peter 1:2 says that.

If He decided it, it wouldn’t be the actions of a God who is dedicated to ultimate justice and fairness.

Although Romans 9 states that if God did choose who was in and who was out, we couldn’t argue with Him because He is God and we aren’t.

But it never says God decided who would or wouldn’t make it into eternity.

And this passage drives home the fact that God wants to include everyone who believes in His family.

God left the Church here on Earth as His plan to be the agent to bring everyone to Him.

There is a glorious concept in this passage.

Before the World was created God had us in His mind. He knew/knows each and every single human being that ever lived. He is so spectacular, Jesus said, that not only does He know every human that lives, He even knows the number of hairs on each of their heads.

I love God, and I am trying to make it easier on Him (because I am bald).

We hear that them repeated in the song: “When He was on the cross, we were on His mind.”

But Jesus makes it clear that intimate knowledge of each and every one of us is not an impossible task for God. He is GOD.

He knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows our sin, He knows our good, He knows our strength, He knows our weaknesses, He knows the noble things we have done and He also knows the thing or things that we are terrified to for others to discover.

And in all of that, seeing that from before creation began; the text says that God called us because He has always loved us. ALWAYS!

In love, He has brought us into His family.

He loves us in spite of our sin, weaknesses and brokenness. He loves us enough to place His Holy Spirit, the very essence of Himself inside of everyone who believes.

Before Christ came, the Jewish people were pretty sure that they were the most favored people in the whole world. And they enjoy this special relationship with God.

And this passage is God making it clear that He isn’t just the Jewish God, but the Savior of the entire world.

Brother Paul hammers this concept home. He is saying that God is calling every single person to Himself.

I pray the hardest for the salvation of my own children, their spouses, and their children. I keep telling them: “Heaven won’t be the same if you aren’t there.”

And I realize again that for God, the more who are there, the better it will be for Him. He grieves greatly over every one who makes the choice to reject Him.

The good news about this promise, this persuasion that the Apostle is trying to make to everyone, so that they won’t fall into fear and back away from faith is that the promise is more than just his words on a page. It is more than just Paul’s theology, even though the Bible says that his theology was given to him by a direct revelation from God. Galatians 1:12

There is more to this faith than these words and that is the most important part of this passage.

And that is our theme for most of the month of January.

The promise, the proof of our salvation, the proof that we are part of His family is the real, genuine and personal relationship that we have with God through the fact that the Holy Spirit dwells in everyone who believes in Jesus.

He calls it “the seal of our salvation.” (Vs 13) He tells us that God has sealed us up for the promises He made to us by living inside of us.

In one way, I am an amateur student of the physical sciences. I am not like brother John Hepner who subscribes to Scientific American, but more on the level of Phil, who subscribes to Popular Science.

Sometimes I daydream about what it would be like if some famous figure from history appeared in the 21^st century and I get to explain to him what those long contrails are in the sky, how a jet engine works, how electricity gives us so much, how computers do so many mundane tasks for us and I try to imagine what it would be like for them to grasp a hold of possibilities that they were never even able to imagine.

Daydreams can keep us focused on what is important. They reveal a lot about our character. Sometimes I daydream about what my life would be like if Jesus Christ was visiting us, or if I spent three years with Him while He was showing humanity how to live and love each other.

Think of the questions you would ask Him. It is a healthy daydream because it focuses us on what it means to have a personal, genuine relationship with God. How much more real would our faith seem if He was right here?

But right before Jesus left the apostles, He told them He was leaving and that by leaving, it would be even better for them.

In John 14: Jesus said: “If I go away, I will come back to you in the form of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is one with Me and the Father, and He will make you one with us. You will be in Me, and I will be in you. You will continue to see My power at work in even greater ways because I am in you.”

The apostles didn’t want to let the physical form of Jesus to go away from them; they had come to depend upon His presence.

And Jesus knew that, so He came back to them and He dwells in every single person who has asked Jesus to save them.

We forget what that means. The apostle tells us the first and foremost, it is proof of His salvation.

It is proof of His love and acceptance for us.

Brother Paul made it clear in this passage and Galatians 3:2 that the Holy Spirit doesn’t come to us because we obeyed the Jewish law. He comes because we have trusted in Jesus.

And His coming isn’t meant to prove who is elect; His coming is to draw us into the family of God.

Stay tuned as we learn more about the Holy Spirit this month. It is a fantastic miracle.