God's Beloved

Light increase the teaching ministry of Rich Powell Pastor Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem Bible teaches that those is the only solution to our send problem receive a new status before God forgiven adopted forever in Christ, God looks down on us no longer as judge but as father is not see our imperfections or weaknesses. The perfect righteousness of his son Jesus in this message. Pastor Rich walks us through Ephesians 1336 to give us a beautiful glimpse of how God sees his chosen, and beloved. Have you ever been so excited about something that you just wanted to tell somebody in the first person you came across you just gushed out Adam and you were just going on and on and on about it. You probably have had kids who they experienced something and when they came home and we encountered you. They just went on and on and on exec Jacob and breath some time right the paragraph that Vic read for us this morning is one of those statements is a run-on sentence in Scripture. Paul is just gushing out and ram a three-part series here in verses three through 14. Every spiritual blessing today as part one were to look at verses 3 to 6.

Every spiritual blessing and it becomes kind of been in three different categories here. First of all, in verses 3 to 6 we have the origin of it all. This is the source he gives us the big picture to remind us that we were dealing with here is an infinite being. And so you're going to have to pardon me this morning because sometimes a need to curb my enthusiasm and end as I studied this this week it was.

Frankly, it was overwhelming to me. That's what this is all about. This is all about God and as we determined from the first couple of verses, Paul the apostle is writing to Christians he's writing to seems set apart ones as we study the gospel of John. That was John the evangelist presenting Jesus Christ as Messiah for all the world to consider who he is, indeed, he is God he is the Redeemer of mankind, but here in Ephesians, the apostle is writing to Christians and in this paragraph, particularly verses 3 to 14. All in a nutshell, he's he's providing is everything that God is that God is doing and who we are in Christ is writing the Christians, so verses 3 to 6 is the origin of it all. It gives us the big picture and in verses 7 to 9.

He goes back and looks at history. This is what happened in history as God is out working his plan and purpose of redemption and then when we come. Verses 10 to 14 then he looks in the future. This is what Christians this is what you have in store for you. This is what God has for you and from his perspective, get this, it's already done. That's why he uses words like predestined so what we have here then Nancy comes out. Paul gives his introduction. In verses one to do, but what we have beginning in verse three, and all the way through verse 14 is what is an old word but it's what you would call Pro fusion profusion, it means just gushing out it's it's an extravagance of words and it's describing an extravagance of behavior. That's why it's a run-on sentence you say Rich will gather up. There are periods in there, but the periods are not in the original, they are not inspired. In fact, believe it or not this is a run-on sentence. Paul is just law. He's just pouring it all out there on us.

You need to know who you are. You need to know who God is. You need to know his disposition towards you and your status in him, and there is a phrase that he chooses and encapsulates all of that. So Christians, I strongly encourage you to just read read read and really focus.

First of all, on reading the first three chapters of Ephesians because all the commands come in chapters 4 through six. But if you don't get the first three chapters. If you're not crimped at the core of your being at the level of desire from chapters 1 to 3. You will get chapters 4 to 6 they will make sense to you and you will be able to do them.

So the profusion here is just a gushing out of his praise to God and of his description of who God is and who we are in him and he says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ that we have to stop in the middle of sentence there, unpack what he is saying what he is saying here is we need to bless the one who blesses us.

Blessed be. This is the word you'll get tossed it means to speak well to speak highly of. As this particular word is used, it is used only from man toward God.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, so we need to speak well when you speak highly of him that whatever comes out of our mouth. The music that comes out of our mouth. Is it true is it accurate does it reflect who he is and what he's done doesn't make much of God because he has blessed us.

It says this is the word you'll get old and that means to act kindly towards it's kind of synonymous with the word carries which is grace but he is acting kindly toward us.

The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing. For example, as Jesus said in Matthew blesses those who persecute you. In other words, act kindly towards those who persecute you. That's a God thing. That's why we need him in us to be able to accomplish that. It says in acts chapter 3 verse 26 and God sent him to bless you sent Christ to bless you in turning away every one of you from your iniquities. That's to act kindly towards right so he has blessed us.

We need to bless the one who blesses us. How has he blessed us with every spiritual blessing every spiritual blessing every thing about that. This is that this is a sense of completeness. He is speaking of the lavishness the extravagance of the goodness that God has poured out on us.

He is speaking of every benefit of his spirit that we have his spirit and he has lavished on us every blessing of his spirit also speaks of your status in mind.

Those of us who are in Christ are stead of the status of the human spirit in relation to him you are a spirit being. You are an embodied spirit and as he has blessed us with every spiritual blessing every blessing from us.

He blesses our human spirit in relation to him as Peter says we are partakers of the divine nature. What is that mean God imparts his goodness to us in the very person of himself person of the Holy Spirit. That is why the Christian and only the Christian can say it is well with my soul because he's blessed us with every spiritual blessing and he says in the heavenly places. This speaks of, and points to God's infinite perspective. Remember we are dealing with an infinite transcendent being who is not bound by space and time. He has diluted himself in order to operate within space and time, and that's bound to think only in terms of space and time, so this is why this passage can be so difficult and why Paul gushes forth because such knowledge is too wonderful for me. We can't fully comprehend God. He's an infinite being.

But he's blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. Understand that God created you and me listening. God created you and me to be with him and enjoy him. That's why you exist he created you and me to be with him and to enjoy him and that's reflected in Jesus prayer in John 17 is in the garden praying to his father the night that he was betrayed the night before he was crucified and is in father I pray I ask that they may be with me where I am. Understand this, Christians are you listening God desires you to be with him. You need to know him. That way that's who he is, as Peter said in first Peter 318 Christ suffered once the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God and Hebrews 210.

The writer of Hebrews says that he is the author of our faith. It it was it was appropriate for him as the author and productive our faith to bring many sons to glory is appropriate for him to suffer in bringing many sons to glory.

We have here is, he is speaks of every spiritual blessing this gushing extravagance that the apostle is coming out here. He's just pouring it all out when you paraphrase it for you.

He says let's make much of the one who has lavished goodness on us. Let's make much of the one who is lavished goodness on us obliterate long faced religion.

It does not belong in the church.

Paul was in fact why is it that he comes out this way Paul looks for a freeze that encapsulates everything that describes God's disposition towards us and our status in him and he brings it out right here in verse four, just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. What tremendous phrase that is just as he chose us in him.

The word there is Eck L'Engle my the group word is Lego. It means to speak to gatherer to count to enumerate to narrate its synonymous with logo's to choose who and when it has here Eck L'Engle my out of to speak together out in this text right here is it's used in a sense to choose to prefer.

In other words, God says you are mine. This is how you need to know Christians. This is how you need to know your father. He looks at you and he says lovingly.

You are mine you know God that way and he says and this is so significant. Just as he chose us in him.

Those two phrases just as he chose us and in him are significantly juxtaposed. It means so much that those two phrases are together who is him well.

And speaking of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, and what does God refer to him as he refers to him as my elect one in whom my soul delights that gives us all kinds of insight as to why the apostle and the Holy Spirit under his inspiration chooses this word to describe God's disposition towards us and our status in him just as he chose us in him there is no other words in there and this translation is very consistent throughout all translations. It does not say just as he chose us to be in him, he says, just as he chose us in him even listening to the light and grace teaching ministry of Rich Powell, the pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem visit our church website to see upcoming events or to listen to my messages at GBC. Winston.com to discover how to live by grace to you in with us on weekdays at 10 AM