I invite your attention to Ephesians
chapter 1, the epistle of Paul the Apostle to the church in
Ephesus chapter 1. My message this morning is from
verse number 6, but we will be considering verses
1 through 7. My message is titled, Eternally
Blessed in Christ, and as you Perhaps now notice,
we did sing a hymn on that subject earlier this morning. In his
son, beloved Jesus, God did choose me by his grace. So we're going
to look at that subject. I love this subject. Well, okay.
I'll probably say that at the beginning of every message, but
it's true. Many times on St. Croix, when
I pastored there, you know, I'd preach a message and Sandy and
I lived in a little apartment that was attached to the church
building and we'd go in, you know, she'd be fixing lunch and
I'd say, you know, I've always wanted to preach that message.
And she would say, you say that every time you preach. Well,
I never preached anything I did not want to preach. If I preach
it to you, it's because I want to. It was a blessing to me. I'm going to hope it's a blessing
to you. eternally blessed in Christ. Paul writes, verse 1, Ephesians
1, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, man
had nothing to do with it, to the saints which are at Ephesus
and to the faithful in Christ Jesus Grace be to you in peace
from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ,
according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made
us accepted in the blood, in whom we have redemption through
his blood. the forgiveness of sins according
to the riches of his grace. My text is in verse 6, second
half of the verse. God hath made us accepted in
the blood. Now Paul the Apostle wrote this
epistle sometime around the year 62 AD. He wrote specifically to the
saints who are in Ephesus and to the faithful in Christ Jesus.
However, this applies also to every other
person in every other place in every other time who is a saint
and faithful in Christ Jesus. Whether you be in Ephesus Asia
Minor or Great Falls, Montana. If you are a saint and faithful
in Christ, what Paul here writes pertains to you, every one of
us. And what's he saying? You are
eternally blessed in Christ. I like that. As Scott Richardson used to say,
that should float your boat. That floats my boat. Eternally
blessed in Christ. We're going to consider here,
this morning, this subject, eternally blessed in Christ. When did it
begin? Well, if these are eternal blessings,
that means they never end, and they never had beginning, so
they come from before the foundation of the world. Everything God
did before the foundation of the world was made in or from
eternity because there was no time then. There was no time
until Genesis 1. When God created the heavens
and the earth, He made time, space, and matter. There was
no time back before the foundation of the world. God lived and inhabited
eternity. And He, in old eternity, blessed
his people in Christ. Their blessings in Christ are
therefore eternal. We just read the passage here.
I'm going to briefly outline this blessedness. And you have
the synopsis or the tract in front of you. You can follow
right along. And then we're going to consider
two points in the message. Two points does not mean it's
going to be a short message, but it's going to have two points.
Here's the summary. This one whom Paul calls the
Beloved is Jesus Christ. God calls him My Beloved Son
in whom I am well pleased. And we call Him My Beloved in
the Song of Solomon. I am My Beloved and He is Mine. Did you know that Jesus Christ
is called My Beloved about 25 times in the Song of Solomon?
That's what I call my wife, my beloved. That's who she is. She's the love of my heart, the
love of my life, my beloved. Above all others, my beloved.
And that's what God calls His Son, and that's what we call
God's Son. Now these blessings are in Christ. Consider seven things concerning
them. First, Well, before we do that,
let me get this point. We are in Christ in two different
ways. Two different ways. Decoratively
and experientially. Now, decoratively does not mean
as a decoration, like on a tree. It means by a decree. We are
in Christ by God's decree. We're in Him decoratively. From
when? Before the foundation of the
world. But we also are in Christ experientially, in our own personal
experience in time. When Paul wrote to the Romans,
he said, Greet this person, this person, and this person. They
were in Christ before I was. What do you mean, Paul? They
were converted before I was. But with regard to God's decree,
They were all in Christ before the foundation of the world.
Did you notice what's in his hymn this morning that we sang?
It said, predestinated at once, but chosen at once and called
by degrees. God called us one by one, but
our choice in him, our predestination by him, it was all at the same
time. When God decreed His blessings
for His people in Christ, every one of God's people was in Christ. In Christ. Experientially, they
were not in Christ until they were converted and believed and
put their faith in Him. Now, in this message, we're going
to consider the blessings we have in Christ from eternity. Notice seven things Paul says
about them. The objects of blessedness in
Christ are God's chosen and predestined people who confess He made us
accepted in the blood. We did not make ourselves accepted.
We did not exist. It was before the foundation
of the world. Second, the author of blessedness in Christ is the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He made us accepted in
the beloved. Third, the ground of blessedness
in Christ is God's sovereign will and God's sovereign grace,
for it is according to the good pleasure of His will to the praise
of the glory of His grace. Fourth, the motivation for blessedness
in Christ is the Father's love for His chosen children that
we should behold Him without blame before Him in love. Fifth, the means for blessedness
in Christ is through His blood. Sixth, the time of blessedness
in Christ was from eternity before the foundation of the world.
And seventh, the state of the blessedness in Christ from eternity
is that of being blessed by grace in the blood. We'll come back
to that point in a moment. Just for the time being, bear
this in mind. Our text says we were accepted
in the beloved. And it means we were highly favored
and graciously blessed in the beloved when we were accepted. We'll come back to that in a
second point. First point, we were graciously chosen in Christ. Verses 3 and 4. Paul says, The God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ hath chosen us in Him before the foundation
of the world, that we should behold Him without blame before
Him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to Himself. We were graciously chosen before
the foundation of the world. Now consider this, God chose
us We did not choose Him. We did not exist. This was before
the foundation of the world. We were not born until a few thousand years later. But
before the foundation of the world, God chose sinners. How did He do it? Through the
good pleasure of His will, according to His own purpose, We're also
told that we are elect according to the foreknowledge of God the
Father. God foreknew his people. He knew
them intimately before the foundation of the world. And those whom
God foreknew, he chose in Christ to be holy without blame before
him in love. Now someone's going to say, Yeah,
that means that God back yonder in eternity past, He looked off
into the future and He says, okay, that one's going to accept
Jesus and that one's going to walk the aisle and that one's
coming down to the altar and that one's getting baptized.
I'm going to choose them to salvation because I foresee that they're
going to choose me. No, no, no. The Scripture says,
elect according to God's foreign knowledge. and not according
to God's foresight. And the scripture says, God chose
us and we did not choose Him. And Jesus confirms and He says,
you did not choose me, I chose you. Folks, it cannot get plainer
than this, can it? Jesus says, you did not choose
me, I chose you and ordained you to be my disciples. God the
Father says, you did not choose me, I chose you and decreed you
to be my son and receive all my blessings. So it is God who
did the choosing. Furthermore, we were chosen in
Christ as our head and representative. We were not the first person
to be chosen. The first person to be chosen
by God the Father was Jesus Christ. You sang it in the hymn this
morning. God the Father says, Christ is my elect one in whom
my soul delights. What's in the hymn that we sang?
He captures the thought so very perfectly. He says, Christ be
my first elect, God said, and then chose our souls and Christ
our head. That's what happened. God said,
He's my chosen one. And all these that I'm choosing,
I'm choosing in Him. He will be their head. He will
be their representative. He chose us in Him. We were in Him from the very
moment He chose us in Him. That point is important. When
God chose us in Christ, we were in Christ. He was our head, our
representative in God's eternal covenant for our salvation. Now, since we were in Christ
before the foundation of the world, according to God's decree, we
were in Christ when He walked upon this earth. Since we were
in Christ when He walked upon this earth, 2,000 years before
we walked upon this earth, but when He walked upon this earth,
and we were in Him. The things that happened to Him
happened to us also. We were in Him. We were in Him. Paul says, I was crucified with
Christ. How can that be, Paul? I was
in Him. We died with Christ. How did
we do that? We were in Him. We were buried
with Christ. How did that happen? We were
in Him. We were resurrected with Christ.
How did that happen? We were in Him. And God has made
us to sit in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus right now. In fact, from the very moment
that Jesus Christ was resurrected from the dead, ascended in the
glory, and sat down in heaven's glory, we did so too. We were raised from the dead.
We were resurrected to heaven's glory. We were made to sit together
in the heavenly places in Christ because we were in Him. We were in Him. Do you see this
glorious truth? Everything that happened to Christ
happened to us. because we were in Him and He
was our head and our representative in this glorious covenant, this
eternal covenant of God's salvation for His people. We were in Him
when these things happened to Him. We were chosen in Christ
for a threefold reason, according to Paul. First, we were chosen
to be holy. To be holy is to be sanctified. Remember, God chose sinners. God chose sinners. He chose them
to be holy. If they are to be holy, they
must be sanctified. What is it to be sanctified?
It is to be separated from the world and its evil and consecrated
unto God. Furthermore, It is to be dedicated
to the worship and to the reverence of God. That's what it is to
be holy, sanctified, separated from evil, consecrated to God,
and dedicated to worshiping Him. That's what holy people do. They
have nothing to do with the world. They have everything to do with
God, and they dedicate their lives to worshiping Him, revering
Him, coming in here on the Lord's
Day morning, singing hymns of praise to the name of His Son,
praying in His name, listening to His gospel, and then afterwards
saying, it was good to have been in the Lord's house. I was dedicated
to worshiping Him, and He has blessed me in so doing. Dedicated. He chose us to be without blame. The word means without blemish,
without spot. When God chose us in Christ,
He chose us to be like Christ, for very specifically we are
told Christ is as a lamb without blemish and without spot. That's
what this word without blame means. We're going to be just
like Christ. Presented to Him a glorious church,
not having spot, nor wrinkle, nor any such thing. We're going to be like Christ,
because we're going to be holy and blameless, like He is. Then, third, God chose us to
be holy, God chose us to be blameless, and God chose us to stand before
Him in love. He did so before the foundation
of the world. Let me tell you what that means.
If you have stood before God, before the foundation of the
world, and everyone in Christ does so, it means God has never
hated you. It means God has ever loved you. It means God will never cease
loving you. To stand before God in love by
nature, Paul tells us in Ephesians 2, by nature we are children
of wrath, but by God's decree We are children of His love,
never knowing His wrath. We deserve it. We deserve it. I'll give you a fourth reason.
Paul gives it somewhere else, why God chose us. 2 Thessalonians
2, verse 13. We are bound to give thanks to
you, beloved. Paul liked that term in talking
to one another. Beloved of God. Why? God hath from the beginning chosen
you for salvation. Oh, preachers, so you believe
God chose some to be saved and some to be damned. No, I never
said that. God's Word never said that. God did not have to choose anyone
to be damned. We made that choice ourselves
in our sin and what we do against God. The Scriptures never say,
God chose some to damnation, God chose some to condemnation,
or that God chose some to reprobation. Never says so. When the Scriptures
speak of election, it is always a blessing unto salvation, to
be holy without blame, to stand before God in love. In summary,
in summary, we were chosen in Christ God chose unholy sinners
to be sanctified saints. God chose blemished sinners to
be perfect. God chose sinners deserving His
wrath to be the objects of His love. And God chose sinners deserving
damnation to receive salvation. Now that should float your boat.
That should float your boat. It floats my boat. on the waves. Think about it. There are some people to whom
this doctrine of election is a hated doctrine. Oh, I love
it. I love it. It is a glorious doctrine. Election predestination. It simply means God is in control
and He made me the object of His love and His blessings. Well, there's more. We've got
a second point. Second point. First point is,
we were graciously chosen in Christ. Second point, we were
graciously blessed in Christ. Verse 6, to the praise of the
glory of His grace by which He made us accepted in the beloved.
Now, watch that phrase. Watch that phrase. Accepted in
the beloved. It does not mean that God chose
us to salvation and then later made us accepted in Christ and
that Christ accepted us sometime after God chose and predestined
us. It doesn't mean that. It doesn't mean that. Because
when we were chosen in Christ, we were accepted in Christ at
that moment. God chose us in Christ and said,
here son, I'm giving you these, I'm chosen. And he says, I accept
them. They come from you. Put them
in me. I will be their head and I will
be their representative. We were accepted in Christ from
the moment we were chosen in Christ. Then what does this word
accepted mean? Those of you who have a marginal
rendering, center column reference in your Bible, and if you do
not have a center column reference, get a Bible that has a center
column reference. It would help you so much. I'll
help you get it. I can show you one of the best
places to get them. They are so valuable in understanding
God's Word. The translators just put some
references in the center column, in that middle column, and it
will greatly aid you in understanding God's Word sometimes. All right,
in Ephesians 1, verse 6, by the word accepted, do you have a
reference to the center column reference? If you do, it reads
Luke 1.28. What does Luke 1.28 have to do
with Ephesians 1.6? In Ephesians 1.6, we are accepted
in the blood. In Luke 1.28, an angel from God
says to Mary, the mother of Jesus, you are highly favored." Now,
what do these two have to do with each other? Here it is. The Greek word translated accepted
in Ephesians 1.6 is found in only one other place in all the
New Testament, Luke 1.28. When that angel said to Mary,
you are highly favored, It means you've been blessed by grace.
That is exactly what Paul is saying here in Ephesians 1.6. To the praise of the glory of
His grace by which He made us accepted, highly favored in the
beloved. You've heard some people when
you ask them, how are you doing? I'm blessed and highly favored.
That's where it comes from. That's where it comes from. I
am blessed and highly favored. Yeah, we surely are. We most
certainly are. We are blessed and highly favored
through our acceptance in Christ. No one is blessed by those who
are in Christ. In Christ, they are Highly favored,
graciously blessed. Now, with what were they blessed? With what were they blessed? To the praise of the glory of
His grace, by which he made us to be highly favored in Christ, greatly blessed, graciously blessed,
blessed with what? The answer is found in verse number three. The God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has blessed us with all spiritual
blessings, or every spiritual blessing. in the heavenly places
in Christ. Every blessing. Every spiritual blessing. If you look around at religion
nowadays, most preachers, you know, and ask them, how can you
know that you're being blessed? If God let you drive a Mercedes
Benz like I do, the preacher might say. Live in a three million
dollar house like I do, yeah, that's being blessed. If you
can get people to send money to you like they send to me,
yeah, that's being... Did you ever notice that the
world looks upon blessings in material terms? Material terms. You've seen the picture undoubtedly
of a woman I suppose maybe in the 1800s. She's sitting down
to a table and it's her daily meal and about
all she's got is maybe a glass of milk and a piece of bread
and maybe some cheese. That's all she's got folks. In
that little hut in which she's living She's in poverty, and
she looks down at her glass of milk, her piece of bread, and
says, what? All this in Christ too? That's the way that Christians
look upon God's blessings. We may be reduced to water and
bread. living in a cave or whatever.
Many of God's children have done so, but they were highly favored
with every spiritual blessing. Every spiritual blessing! When God doles out spiritual
blessings, He withholds nothing from anyone who is in Christ. Thankfully, when God hands your
blessings to you, every blessing is going to be in that bag. Every
blessing. What do these include? Well, Every blessing that we
received when we were put in Christ experientially was given to us also when we
were put in Christ decoratively before the foundation
of the world. I love this truth, folks. I love
this truth. Now listen to me carefully. Before the foundation of the
world, we were sanctified, made holy. Before the foundation of the
world, we were justified, declared to
be righteous. Thank you, brother. Before the foundation of the
world, In Christ, we were cleansed. How can that be? Because in Him,
there is no sin. The Scripture says so. In Christ,
there is no sin, neither in His person, nor in the persons of
those who are in Him. Furthermore, The fullness of the Godhead bodily
dwells in Him, and you are complete in Him. If you are in Christ,
even by God's decree, before the foundation of the world,
you are in Christ sinlessly and completely, without blemish,
without blemish. When God the Father beholds His
beloved Son, before the foundation of the world. He sees in Christ
all His chosen ones. And He sees Christ as having
no sin, meaning that everyone in Christ is sinless and perfect. Chosen to be like Him, and decreed
to be like Him. Well, preacher, that sounds like
you're preaching eternal justification. It does, doesn't it? Notice verse 7. In Him, we have
redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. In Him,
we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. When were we in Him? Before the
foundation of the world. We had redemption in Him before
the foundation of the world. By the land slain from the foundation
of the world. Job! Our brother is reading from
Job this morning. Job lived 2,000 years before
Jesus Christ died on Calvary. 2,000 years. Job said, I know that my Redeemer
lives. Wait a minute, Job. You have a Redeemer? Oh, yeah. He lives. When was he born? Oh, he has not been born yet. But he's your Redeemer? Yes,
he's my Redeemer. Well, if He is your Redeemer
and your redemption requires His death, when did He die? Oh, He'll die about 2,000 years
from now. Well, then, John, you don't have
a Redeemer. Oh, yes, I do. I know that my Redeemer lives.
And I have been redeemed. How could Old Testament saints
know that they were redeemed? justified, sanctified, cleansed,
before the event happened on Calvary? It's because they were
in Christ. And from the moment they were
in Christ, they had every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places
in Christ. In Him, we have redemption. through the blood of that land
that was slain from the foundation of the world. On Calvary we read,
he obtained eternal redemption. Notice, he obtained it, but it
was decreed before the foundation of the world. He decreed what
had been ordained. Peter says, you have not been
redeemed with corruptible things like silver and gold, but by
the precious blood of Jesus Christ. He was foreordained. and is now
made manifest. What happened on Calvary was
God manifesting to men on earth in time what had happened in
His decree before the foundation of the world. In Christ, every spiritual blessing
is mine. God does not say, I'm going to
give you justification, but I'm not going to give you sanctification.
You're going to have to be living in evil. No, it's not that way
at all. Not that way at all. Every blessing. God does not
withhold any of them. And to whom does he give them? They are given to all. who are
the saints and faithful in Christ Jesus. Now folks, we have looked
at some glorious blessings this morning, and they are yours. They are yours. If you are a
believer in Jesus Christ, if your faith is in Him, if you
are faithful in Christ Jesus and living a holy life, sanctified
and dedicated to the Lord, these blessings are yours. I pray they are. O God, our Father,
bless, we pray, this message to the glory of your Son, to
the honor of his name. In his name we pray. Amen.