Open your Bibles to Ephesians
chapter 1. Ephesians chapter 1. That passage that Brother Jim
read is sort of a commentary on the verses that I'm going
to major on here. We're talking about our blessed
union with Christ. Those who believe the gospel
whom God has brought by his power and his grace to believe this
truth of the gospel of his grace in and by the Lord Jesus Christ.
They are in union with Christ and they have been in union with
Christ before the foundation of the world in the mind and
purpose of God. In this passage here that we've
been dealing with, I have this message and then one more on
this subject, blessed union with Christ. We've talked about the
work of God the Father in salvation, how the Father who represents
the sovereignty, the supremacy of the Godhead, how he is the
only source and originator of salvation. Salvation is of the
Lord, not of man. And then in the verses we're
gonna look at today, beginning at verse seven mainly, speaks
of the work of God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, in salvation. How he himself, by himself, as
God manifest in the flesh, formed by his obedience unto death as
our surety, our substitute, our redeemer, the ground of salvation. He's the ground of salvation
and he's the conduit of salvation. Everything in salvation that
is given to us flows through Christ. That's what verse three
says, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who have blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ. And so this is a determination
and a reality in the mind of God from the very beginning,
and it's never changed. And then next week, Lord willing,
I'll be speaking on the work of the Holy Spirit in salvation. This is covenant language, the
covenant of grace. The passage that Brother Jim
read shows the superiority of the covenant of grace over and
above the old covenant law of Moses. Saying things like this,
it's not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take
away sin. That animal blood, those animal
sacrifices were types and pictures of Christ, the Lamb of God, who
by his blood took away the sins of his people by satisfying justice. There was no salvation in the
blood of animals even under the Old Testament. Those were types
and pictures and even you might say prophecies because they pointed
forward to the one sacrifice of Christ and that verse 14 says
it all. It says, for by one offering,
now there was more than one offering under the old covenant of animal
sacrifice. There was thousands, rivers of
blood. But none of that could take away
sin. None of that could bring about forgiveness. None of that
could equal righteousness by which God could justify sinners.
But by his one offering, the Lord Jesus Christ, and that's
what he said here, he talked about the Father preparing him
a body, a human body, God manifest in the flesh. By his one offering
of himself, He hath perfected, that means completed, finished,
fulfilled, forever, forever, them that are sanctified, them
whom God had set apart for salvation. And when were they set apart?
Well, this union with Christ, go back to Ephesians one now.
This union with Christ, we started out last week talking about the
work of the Father, showing how our union with Christ is an eternal
union. It says here in verse four, according
as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world.
God elected a people in Christ. And that was before this world
ever began. That we should be holy and without blame before
him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children.
See, all this is a reality in the mind of God. The believer's
great and gracious union with Christ by which we receive all
the blessings and all the benefits of salvation by God's grace in
and by the Lord Jesus Christ. This has always been in the sovereign,
eternal, immutable mind of God. And it's never changed. And that
eternal union within the mind of our Heavenly Father. He's
never thought any differently. And that's mind-boggling, isn't
it? God who is infinite. God who is eternal. God who is
immutable. Never changes. Now, all that God thought, put
it that way, in the reality of his eternal mind, immutable mind,
had in mind the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
how he saved the Old Testament saints even before Christ came
in time. But now all that God thought
in his eternal mind would have its accomplishment in time. Now
I read in the opening verses, Galatians 4, in the fullness
of the time, that is when God appointed in time, to be accomplished
in time, God sent forth his son, the son of God incarnate, the
eternal son of God, Jesus Christ. God sent him forth, and he was
made of a woman, That's his humanity, his sinless, holy humanity created
for him in the womb of the Virgin Mary, made under the law. That was his responsibility as
the surety of those whom God set apart, whose names were written
in the Lamb's Book of Life. Their sin debt was imputed, charged,
accounted to Christ, not to them. Christ has been our surety, the
surety of the everlasting covenant, forever. He didn't begin to be
our surety at the cross. He fulfilled the duties of a
surety at the cross. What is the duty of a surety?
Well, if you become surety for somebody, it means if they can't
pay their debt, you pay it. Well, we've never been able to
pay the sin debt. Christ took that upon himself
before the world began. But at the cross, he paid that
debt in time. And so our union with Christ
is a redemptive union, where Christ came in time, and as our
surety and substitute, he redeemed us from sin and established the
righteousness upon which God has always justified us in his
sight. All things in eternity and time
in Christ. Listen to this scripture. I'll
just read you a couple of scriptures. Well, I'll read you one, because
I've already read you the other. This is Hebrews 2.17. It says,
wherefore, in all things, it behooved him. Now, we don't use
that word behooved much anymore. And mostly, we don't know really
what it means. But it means he was obligated. This is speaking of Christ. In
all things, He was obligated. Now, why was He obligated? Because
before the foundation of the world, God chose a people, gave
them to His Son, and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, agreed
to do for those people what needed to be done to save them. That was a debt that He took
upon Himself willingly. And that word behooved there
is, if you went back to the original language, it's the Greek word
for debt. He was indebted. Not because
of any obligation to us, but because of an obligation to his
father, where he said, I'll pay their debt. I'll satisfy justice. And what did it take for him
to do that? He had to become flesh. The Word made flesh dwelt
among us. Because he had to die. The Word
made flesh. And he had to shed his blood.
By what offering? And so it says, wherefore in
all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren,
that is, sinless humanity. He's just like us, except without
sin. And one of the reasons we can't
hardly imagine that, because we can't really imagine what
it is to be without sin, but he was without sin, that he might
be a merciful and faithful high priest. Remember what the high
priest did, he went to the Father, went to God on behalf of the
people in things pertaining to God to make reconciliation for
the sins of the people. That's what this is about. So
God the Father chose us in Christ before the world began, that
we should be holy and without blame before him in love, in
Christ, predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus
Christ. And remember what it said over
there in Galatians 4, it says, because you are sons, not in
order to become sons or children of God, let's include God's elect
among the women too, Because you are children, you're already
children, because God chose you. Because you are children, God
sends forth the Spirit of His Son. And we'll talk about that
more next week. But all according to the good
pleasure of His will. And look at verse six. This is
all to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath
made us accepted in the beloved. We're accepted of the Father
in Christ, the beloved of the Father. And it's all of grace. It's not because you work for
God or do any works. It's not because you made a decision
for Christ. You wouldn't make a decision
for Christ, except the Lord gave you a new heart in the new birth. It's grace. Grace saves us, grace
keeps us, and grace will bring us to glory. And grace reigns
through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Grace is salvation conditioned
on Christ. And he fulfilled those conditions
by his one offering, his obedience unto death. There are no conditions
on me and you. If there were, we'd all be doomed.
Why? Because we're sinners. You say,
well, I'm not as bad as some people. Well, that doesn't matter.
I'm glad you're not as bad as some people. That still won't
make you righteous before the Father. Now look at verse 7. Here's where
the redemptive union with Christ. In whom? In Christ. We have redemption. The price paid, justice satisfied,
sin put away, righteousness established through his blood. Now his blood
is his death. Some people have the idea that
the physical blood of Christ has some magical power, but it
does not. It did not. What do you think
if you could find a vial of his blood somewhere? People would
go nuts. They'd be flocking to it. It'd
do you no good. What is this about the blood?
It's his death as the redeemer, the substitute, the surety to
satisfy the justice of God on behalf of his people. For by
one offering, he hath perfected Forever, them that are sanctified. So we are justified by His blood. What is it to be justified? It
means our sins are forgiven. All sins forgiven. Somebody says,
well, if you die without unconfessed sins, you'll go to hell or wherever. That's not true for a believer.
We do confess all of our sins. When did we do that? Whenever
we say, that if God were to judge us based upon our best at any
time, we'd be doomed. That's a confession of sin. Did
you know that? Think about it. If God were at
any time to judge me based upon the best thing that I've ever
done on this earth, past, present, or future, I would be damned
forever. I have no righteousness in myself.
Nothing that I do, the best, the worst, and in between, can
save me, can wash away my sins, or make me righteous. What can
wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. And so, in whom we have redemption
through his blood, we're declared righteous before holy God by
his righteousness, Christ's righteousness, imputed to us, charged to us. That's the surety ship of Christ. That's the substitutionary work
of Christ. That's our redemptive union with
Christ. And it goes this far. He represented,
substituted himself did the work of assurity for all those that
the Father had given Him before the foundation of the world.
And here's how it is. It's so much of a reality, a
union in the mind of God, that when Christ died on the cross,
His people are considered, representatively, to have died with Him. Died with Him. When He was buried. We were buried with him, representatively
now. When he arose again, we arose
with him. Paul's gonna talk about that
in Ephesians chapter two. Just give you a preview, look
over there. Verse four, but God who is rich in mercy
for his great love, we're with him, he loved us. When did his
love for his people begin? Somebody said before the foundation
of the world. I'll go even further, it had no beginning. and it has
no ending. So verse five, even when we were
dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, by grace
you're saved, and hath raised us up together and made us sit
together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. You know, a lot
of preachers, when they go to that verse there, they talk about
the new birth. That's not talking about the new birth. Because
we weren't all born again together. I was born again in a different
day and time than some of you all. But in this sense, we were
born, raised up together. When? When Christ died, when
Christ was buried, when Christ arose again. And now we're together
in Christ as he's seated at the right hand of the Father ever
living to make intercession for us. Isn't that mind boggling?
All right, go back to verse seven. In whom we have redemption through
his blood, the forgiveness of sins. Don't ever let that just
flow over your head. The forgiveness of sin. How much
we need the forgiveness of sin. But that forgiveness of sin is
not just arbitrary. It's not God just looking down
and saying, well, I'm so loving and gracious, I'm gonna forgive.
It's to the praise according to the riches of His grace. Now
what does that mean? That means that the forgiveness
of sin is based upon a just ground. And what is that just ground?
The blood of Jesus Christ. That satisfaction to justice
that Christ made for His people on the cross. By one offering
He hath perfected forever. And that was all according to
the will of the Father. That's what you read there in
Hebrews 10. He said, I come to do thy will. It is written of
me in the book, what book? The book of God's eternal decrees. This is always how it's been
in the mind of God. It didn't change. The cross didn't
change God's mind toward his people. It revealed what God's
mind always had been toward his people. But look on verse eight,
wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence.
This is the wisdom and knowledge and intelligence, you might say,
of God. No human being could have figured
this thing out. How can a sinner be justified before God? There's
not one human religion or philosophy that has ever answered that question. There's only one, and that's
God's book, the word of God in Christ. How can he forgive my
sins? How can he declare me righteous
and still be just? In other words, how can he do
it without perverting his law? Because I'm a sinner, and if
God ever gave me what I deserve or what I've earned, it would
be death and hell. That's right. Lord, if thou,
Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, who would stand? So how can God
do this? How can he look at a sinner like
me and say, you're forgiven, you're righteous, and not pervert
the law, not pervert justice? There's not but one way. Behold
the wisdom and prudence of God. Look at verse nine. Having made
known unto us the mystery of his will, this is by revelation
now, according to his good pleasure, which he had purposed in himself,
Verse 10, that in the dispensation of the fullness of times, he
might gather together in one all things in Christ. There's your answer. In Christ,
we see the wisdom and the prudence of God. In Christ, we see the
good pleasure of his will, which he purposed in himself. In Christ,
as he came in time, the dispensation of the fullness of the times,
he gathered together in one all things in Christ, both which
are in heaven and which are on earth, even in him. I believe
what he's talking about there, he could be talking about the
eternal will of God in heaven and that which was worked out
in time on earth. He could be talking about the saints who
are in heaven and those who are on earth. It's all one in Christ. to the praise of the glory of
His grace. Christ came into the world to
take away our sins, and He took them away. And this was always
true in the mind of God. And think about this, turn over
to John chapter six with me. This is how we learn of the Father. You know, people say, well, God
is everybody's father. Well, no, he's not. Now, you
could say he's a father by creation, but we're talking about that
special redemptive relationship between God and his redeemed
children, whereby we say, as we read in
Galatians 4, Abba, Father. And this is how we learn of the
Father. Look at verse 44 of John 6. Now Christ had already said,
all that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that
cometh to me I will no wise cast out. This is the will of him
that sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should raise
it up again at the last day. Look at verse 44. No man can
come to me except the Father which has sent me draw him. The
Father draws him, and he does it by the power of the Spirit.
And I will raise him up at the last day. Listen, there's no
such thing as being saved one day and lost the next. If God
saved you, He's going to raise you up at the last day. That
means He's going to take you up with Himself in glory. Verse
45, It is written in the prophets, and they shall be all taught
of God. God's going to teach them. Now
how's He going to do it? Through the preaching of the
gospel. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone
that believes. And every man therefore that
hath heard, heard what? Heard the wisdom and the prudence
of God in the gospel, wherein the righteousness of God is revealed,
the redemptive work of Christ. And to hear, you gotta have ears
to hear. If you walk out after hearing
the gospel unaffected, what does that mean? It means you don't
have ears to hear. Now, you may argue with me and
say, well, I heard what you were saying, Prince. You heard what
I was saying, but it didn't mean anything to you. Didn't grab a hold of
you. Didn't convince you. Because
it takes the power of the Spirit to do that. That's why Christ
told his disciples in Matthew 13, he said, blessed are your
ears, for they hear. Well, the Pharisees heard the
same words, but they didn't really hear them. They didn't obey them.
They didn't bow to the word. So he says, every man therefore
that hath heard and hath learned of the Father. How do you learn
of the Father? When you learn how God can be
just and still justify sinners like us in mercy and grace and
love. And what are you gonna do when
you learn of the Father? He says, cometh unto me. You're
gonna run to Christ. You're gonna run to him and you're
gonna hold on for dear life. And he won't let you go and you
won't let him go. Look back at Ephesians 1. That's
the wisdom and knowledge of God. That's what our Lord said. You
know, look at verse 10 and 11. That in the dispensation of the
fullness of times, He might gather together in one all things in
Christ. It's all about Christ. His glorious
person, His finished work, both which are in heaven and which
are on earth, even in Him in whom also we have obtained. We
didn't earn. but we obtained an inheritance. You didn't work for an inheritance.
Somebody dies and bequeaths it to you. Christ worked for it,
he died, and it's bequeathed to his people. Obtained an inheritance,
and what is that inheritance? All spiritual blessings in heavenly
places. Being predestinated according
to the purpose of him, who worketh all things after the counsel
of his own will. Don't you love that? This was
not an afterthought. This is not God waiting on somebody
to accept Him. It's a predestination, a foreordination,
according to the purpose of Him, God, who works all things after
the counsel of His will. Everything. Can you grasp hold
of that? All things? Well, all things
good, somebody said, but not all things evil. Now, wait a
minute. You better read your Bible. You ever quote Romans
8, 28? All things work together for
good to them that are called according to his purpose, to
them that love God. All things good and evil work
together, because God's the one who's working them together.
He's not the author of evil, but he controls things on this
earth. The evil kings, the evil nations, they can only do what
God brings them to do. He stops them. He's going to
bring them to judgment. All for his glory and his purpose.
And look at verse 12, he says that we should be to the praise
of his glory who first trusted in Christ. Now this is the purpose
and plan of God. And at His appointed time, He'll
bring everything together under the authority of Christ, everything
in heaven and earth. In the scriptures, this thing
of salvation by God's free and sovereign grace, based on the
glorious person and the finished work of Christ as our surety,
our substitute, our redeemer, our life giver, our preserver,
All of that of God's elect is an all-glorious, all-encompassing
truth. It spans both eternity and time
where God has purposed, decreed, He's declared in His eternal
mind, He's worked out, He's accomplished in time, He works all things
after the counsel of His own will. It's amazing. Now we're creatures of time.
We don't know anything but time. Why we wear one of these? That's
why that thing's on the wall to tell me when to quit. We speak in terms of time. But
God is not. Let's not try to bring God down
on our level. God suspends time. He's not subject
to time. He's predestined and He controls
all things in time to the praise of the glory of His grace. But He makes it very clear here. It's all based on that act in
time that Christ accomplished on the cross. Everything that
is a reality in the eternal, unchanging mind of God is founded
right there for the salvation of his people. And when he says
those who first trusted in Christ, he's talking about the Jewish
believers there. In verse 13, he talks about the Gentile believers. And what he's saying is this. In Christ, there is no Jew or
Gentile. In Christ, the things that would
separate us and divide us are all gone. Doesn't matter whether
you're a Jew or a Gentile, male or female, bond or free. In Christ Jesus, we're all one.
if you believe in Him, whom to know is life eternal. Well, let's
sing as our closing hymn, Nothing But the Blood, hymn number 212.