Our identity is based on Jesus Christ rescuing us from the selfishness and rebellion that separates us from God...

This week, we have been looking at the opening section of a letter that is recorded for us in the New Testament of our Bibles called the book of Ephesians, where a man named Paul revealed for us a timeless truth when it comes to our identity in that our identity as a follower of Jesus is the basis of our spiritual blessings. Yesterday, we saw that our identity is based on God the Father’s choice of us to be His children. God the Father decided beforehand that in spite of you He would choose to adopt you as His child.

You see, it is not your performance for God that resulted in His choice of you. Instead, it was God’s choice of you in spite of your performance that led to your adoption. And God’s the Father’s choice of us to be His children was so that He would receive admiration for His transformational intervention and activity in our lives through His Son Jesus Christ’s activity in the world. Today, we will see Paul point to the Son’s activity in the world in Ephesians 1:7:

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth.

In these verses, we see Paul reveal for us the second way that our identity as a follower of Jesus is the basis for our spiritual blessings. And that second way is that our identity is based on Jesus Christ rescuing us from the selfishness and rebellion that separates us from God. With the phrase, “In Him we have redemption”, Paul is explaining the Jesus Christ rescued and delivered us from the selfishness and rebellion that separated us from God through His death on the cross.

But not only did Jesus rescue us and deliver us from our selfishness and rebellion. Paul also states that through Jesus, we have the forgiveness of our trespasses. In other words, Jesus Christ rescued us by freeing us from the punishment we deserve as a result of our selfishness and rebellion that separated us from God.

Paul then explains that the freedom from our selfishness and rebellion was received was a result of the riches of God’s grace, which is the abundant favor of God that we received as a result of Jesus intervention and activity in our lives. And the freedom from our selfishness and rebellion was received was the result of God’s willingness to lavish His Divine favor and transformational activity in our lives through Jesus.

Third, Paul reveals for us that Jesus rescue of us from the selfishness and rebellion that separated us from God was the result of God’s Divine Plan that was once hidden, but now has been made known. Now when Paul uses the word mystery here, this word refers to is a timeless truth about God and His Divine Plan that was once hidden, but now has been made known through Christ.

You see, from before there was time, God the Father had a plan to deal with the traitor race of humanity that refused to live in the relationship with God and one another that they were created for. God the Father had a plan to deal with the traitor race of humanity that was according to His divine wisdom and desires. And God the Father had a plan to deal with the traitor race of humanity that was prepared in advance and arranged to unfold at just the right time.

And God’s plan, that was once hidden, but now has been made known, was to send His unique, one of a kind Son to enter into humanity to live the life that we were created to live but refused to live, and then to willingly allow Himself to be treated as though He lived our selfish and sinful lives so that God the Father could treat us as though we lived Jesus perfect life. God’s plan was designed to unfold in such a way that humanity would be pointed toward the end of God’s story here on earth and would bring all of creation together.

You see, our identity as a follower of Jesus is based on God the Father’s choice and not our performance. Our identity as a follower of Jesus is based on Jesus performance for us and not our performance for God. Paul then reveals for us a third blessing that we receive as a result of our identity as a follower of Jesus in verse 11:

 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.

Here we see Paul reveal for us the third way that our identity as a follower of Jesus is the basis for our spiritual blessings. And that third way is that our identity provides us an inheritance according to His plan and for His glory. Paul’s point is that as a result of being chosen by God the Father to be adopted as a child of God; As a result of being rescued from the selfishness and rebellion that separated us from God by Jesus Christ, we have obtained an inheritance as a result of being a part of the family of God. 

First, Paul explains that our inheritance was obtained as a result of God’s predetermined plan. God purposed, or had something in mind beforehand when it came to the children that He was choosing to adopt as a part of His family. And God had decided beforehand that He would provide His children an inheritance.

Second, Paul explains that our inheritance was obtained strictly as a result of God’s decision and desires for our lives. And third, Paul reveals for us the reality that our inheritance was obtained so that our confident expectation of the future as a result of our inheritance would bring admiration of God’s glory, or splendor. God’s generous blessings and inheritance would shine a light on and make much of His character and conduct.

Tomorrow, we will see Paul then reveals a fourth blessing that we receive as a result of our identity as a follower…