Scripture reading: Ephesians 1:3-14

Introduction

  1. What did God accomplish through the events of Easter: Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday?
  2. Easter was the heart of his comprehensive plan of salvation that will ultimately transfigure every dimension of our fractured human condition.
  3. Today we want to reverently explore three things God did to bring about our salvation: He paid our legal debts, began the transformation of our nature and united us to himself in intimate face-to-face fellowship. All of these are available to us through personal faith and obedient loyalty to Jesus.

He paid our legal debts

  1. Our sins against God and one another incurred a legal debt, which Jesus came to fix. He lived a perfectly obedient life to the Father and he died on the cross as our substitute. His moral perfection was legally imputed to us (2 Cor 5:21).
  2. Note the legal transaction language in Eph 1:7: “we have redemption through his blood,” “the forgiveness of sins” (Col 2:14).
  3. The result? Eph 1:4: “that we should be holy and blameless.”
  4. Everything needed for our full, complete forgiveness has been done!

He began the transformation of our nature

  1. He didn’t just fix our legal problem. He fixes us.
  2. Romans 8:29 : “Those people whom God foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son, that he (Jesus) might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”
  3. This is suggested in Eph 1:14: “you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise who is the deposit guaranteeing our inheritance”.
  4. 1 John 3:9: “9 No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s sperm (sperma) remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God.”
  5. So this text is saying that God’s desire and plan from the beginning of creation was to change your very nature; to transform you from someone who is by nature a sinner into someone who is by nature a holy one (2 Cor 5:17). When he saved you, he transplanted his divine DNA into your genome so that you are now fundamentally, foundationally, genetically a different species of being.

He united us to Himself in face-to-face companionship

  1. He loves us and wants us to be with him in face-to-face companionship forever. This relational theme runs throughout the bible.
  2. Note the rich, warm personal language of Eph 1:3-5: “blessed us” (v.3), “chose us” (v.4), “before him” (v.4), “in love (v.4), “according to his good pleasure” (v.5).
  3. God loves you, he chose you, he wants to bless you, he wants to live with your forever. When we internalize that fact, is allows us to rest in the confidence that we are God’s favored ones. 

What role do we play?

We receive this Good News by faith, put our trust in the goodness and saving work of the triune God and grow in love, faith, righteousness and obedience as we hold onto our eternal hope in Jesus!