“A Spiritual Foundation”

The Appomattox Court House Presbyterian Church Pulpit
The Lord's Day, May 22, 2005
Ephesians 1:1-14
Rev. Cameron S. Smith

The letter to the Ephesians begins with these words, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love[.]" In these opening words, we have a purpose statement for the entire letter. It is this: God the Father is to be praised for what he has done in the Son, Jesus Christ. Resounding praise builds in verses 3-14, in fact the entire passage is one, long, divine eulogy (in fact, vv.3-14 of the Greek text is one long sentence!) "According to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved"; "according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. [With] all wisdom and insight"; and twice, the response to God's goodness: "To the praise of His glory." The motivation for this strategically, repetitive praise is that God's people have been showered with spiritual blessings; spiritual in the sense that they proceed from the hand of God through the work of the Holy Spirit.

These spiritual blessings are listed in our passage this morning (N.B. certainly not an exhaustive list!): [1] Adoption (v.5); [2] Redemption & Forgiveness - a package deal in my estimation! (v.7); [3] The Revelation of God's Plan, i.e. "the mystery of his will" (v.9); and [4] A Heavenly Inheritance (v.11). These blessings seem to me to serve as a means to an end, for in the second part of that purpose statement you read that God chose certain people before the foundation of the world so that through the Spirit-guided process of sanctification, they might become holy and blameless. Note well that this doesn't mean becoming self-righteous, puffed up or arrogant simply because a Christian knows God and others do not. No! The modifying phrase, "in love" sets the tone: In love, they are to grow into Christ-likeness. Oh, "that Christians would be holy and blameless before Him. In love[.]"

By way of brief introduction to Ephesians, let me first confess that we know very little about the original recipients of the letter; though it does seem to most observers that there weren't any major church-threatening concerns among these churches: No serious doctrinal divides; no leadership issues and no immediate threats of persecution on the horizon. It seems that Ephesians was intended to be a pastoral letter of instruction from the apostle Paul - spiritual counsel, if you will. Very possibly, the letter circulated not only in Ephesus proper, but the entire region of southwest Asia Minor. Perhaps it was a circular letter? We don't really know for sure. But one thing that we are able to say somewhat confidently is that Ephesians describes a new creation in Christ with its consequent exhortations from the apostle to grow and live into this new reality.

Now, some of you may remember that I preached from this very same passage last Thanksgiving (11/21/04). I spoke in some detail about these spiritual blessings in Christ; so I'm not going to repeat or try to improve upon that exposition this morning. However, there is something in this passage that I didn't touch upon, and I recognize now that I was not entirely honest in passing it by -- Okay, I confess, I wimped out! It's the hot topic of predestination. To say that it's a doctrine that seems to stir up raw emotions in Christian circles would be a massive understatement! Consider this story:

A group of theologians were discussing the tension between predestination and free will. When things became so heated that the group broke up into two opposing factions. But one man, not knowing which to join, stood for a moment trying to decide. At last he joined the predestination group. "Who sent you here?" they asked. "No one sent me," he replied. "I came of my own free will." "Free will!" they exclaimed. "You can't join us! You belong with the other group!" So he followed their orders and went to the other clique. There someone asked, "When did you decide to join us?" The young man replied, "Well, I didn't really decide--I was sent here." "Sent here!" they shouted. "You can't join us unless you have decided by your own free will!"

But, all silliness aside, when I read the passage at the beginning of this message, you heard these penetrating words: "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God" (v.1); "He chose us (literally, elected, us) in [Christ] before the foundation of the world" (v.4); "He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself" (v.5);and "we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose" (v.11). Whether we like it or not, the Bible clearly teaches election and predestination.

Currently, I have posted a sermon from Dr. Twyman Williams - longtime pastor of this church - here on our church web site under Pulpit Archives. The title of the sermon is, "Answering Some Questions about Predestination." It's a helpful sermon and a rather lengthy treatment of the topic and I encourage you to check it out this week. Dr. Williams began that sermon by quoting John Calvin; and I think it's appropriate to revisit that piece of advice this morning:

"The discussion of predestination - a subject of itself rather intricate - is made very perplexed, and therefore dangerous, by human curiosity, which no barriers can restrain from wandering into forbidden labyrinths, and from soaring beyond its sphere, as if determined to leave none of the Divine secrets unscrutinized or unexplored….Let us then, in the first place, bear in mind that to desire any more knowledge of predestination than that which is unfolded in the Word of God, indicates as great folly as to walk through impassable roads, or to see in the dark."

As we go through Ephesians this summer, we'll be coming back to predestination so frequently that I don't feel constrained to empty all of my "ammunition" this morning! But I do want you to understand this one thing about predestination this morning: Biblical predestination is not the same as fatalism! This week I took my trusty thesaurus and looked for some synonyms of fatalism. I found words like, resignation, acceptance, passivity, submission to the inevitable, inexorable necessity, and determinism. That seems to be the view of Islam, as this illustration from a staff reporter for the Wall Street Journal wrote many years ago:

He reported that, "Iran must have the wildest drivers in the Middle East. It is a country of fatalists who believe that all accidents are preordained by Allah. Thus highway safety is really in higher hands and not of concern to mere motorists. Judged by the accident rate in Iran, it would seem to be a vengeful deity indeed" (Quoted in the October 1977 issue of Eternity Magazine, p. 12).

Incidentally, that's kind of like that joke about the Presbyterian who fell down the steps, got up, dusted himself off and said, "Whew, I'm sure glad that's over with!"

But here's the difference between fatalism and Biblical predestination: Even as the Bible teaches predestination, it also warns about the consequences of the choices that we make. How is that possible? How can that be? I don't know! I've read that the one thing that kept Albert Einstein from any true faith in God was this concept of predestination and election. His brilliant mind simply couldn't comprehend it, so he rejected organized religion as untenable. If it's a true story, it's profoundly sad.

Truthfully, you and I know that there are many things in the Bible that we can't quite comprehend. That God is Triune. That's beyond explanation, but Scripture teaches that God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. That Jesus is fully God and also, at the same time, fully man. That blows my mind! That God ordains all things that come to pass, and yet is not the author of evil. The problem of evil is not going to be satisfyingly solved by any philosopher or theologian, period. How about God's infinity? God has no beginning or end; ruminate on that one! And, I would suggest that predestination falls in the same category as the ones that I've just cited: That we are moral beings and make ethical choices that God holds us responsible for; and yet God is sovereign! In the book Chosen by God, R.C. Sproul wisely noted that if there exists but one maverick molecule in the entire universe, then God is not sovereign. Proverbs adds to the mix with this aphorism: "The lot is cast into the lap (i.e. the dice is rolled), but its every decision is from the Lord[!]" (Proverbs 16:33).

But, in spite of these mental teasers, doesn't Scripture resonate with the confirmation that "With God all things are possible"? (Matt. 19:26); and "Is anything too difficult for the Lord?" (Gen. 18:14). Perhaps it's high time to stop confining God to our human limitations and confess afresh that God is God and we are not!

God said that his people were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. God's chosen people, through the work of the Holy Spirit, have been adopted; they have been redeemed from the bondage of sin and truly forgiven. To these chosen people, the "mystery of God's will" is revealed: It's called the Gospel of Jesus Christ, (cf. 1 Peter 1:10-12). To them, the heavenly inheritance of eternal life has been vouchsafed by the Holy Spirit of God: "[They] were marked in [Christ] with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing [the] inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession" (vv.13-14).

Predestination is absolutely indispensable to this passage. In it is found an assurance to those in Christ that God works, and will continue to work in their life. Predestination means eternal security because of the revelation that Christ keeps those who belong to him in the palm of his hand -- never to let go, never to lose them (cf. John 6:39; 17:6, 9, 12; 18:9). Delightfully, this allows God's people to grow freely as He works in their life for His greater glory. Thus Paul can say of those who belong to God, Oh, "that we would [become!] holy and blameless before Him [i]n love."

That, my friends is a spiritual foundation. I hope that you've noticed that I've been using the third person plural "them," "those," and "their" instead of my usual second person plural "you" to describe the blessings in Christ. I have purposely done this because I want you to ponder anew what we've talked about this morning. I know you, but I don't really know you. I don't know your heart, but God does. You may have tuned me out as soon as I stood up to preach. I don't know, but God does. But, as I close this morning, let me ask you two serious questions: Do these spiritual blessings belong to you? And, do you belong to God?