Sermon Series:

Ephesians: The Believer's Bank 

Pulling Back the Curtain: 

The Father-Part 1 

Ephesians 1:3-6a 

PSBC 2/13/00

In a nutshell: Salvation, with all it's objectives and elements was formed as a reality before the "foundations of the world", so God and God alone could receive the glory and credit for it.

I. Introduction

A. Video Clip from Wizard of Oz

In the movie, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy and her companions, the scarecrow, tin woodman, and the lion, along with Toto the dog were required by the Wizard to kill the Wicked Witch of the West, before he would help them. As you probably remember, they wound up melting the witch, and returned to the Emerald City so the Tin Man could get his heart, The Lion his courage, and the Scarecrow his brain, and Dorothy to get back to Kansas.

Watch what happens when they approach the great Wizard of Oz...

(Show video clip of the uncovering of what was behind the wizard...)

I show that to you this evening because, in a very real sense, Paul is acting like Toto, the dog. He is pulling back the curtain and showing us something very important. He's not showing us trickery and deceit, though. Instead, the apostle Paul is revealing to us what Jesus revealed to him–what's behind the process of our salvation.

B. Glimpse into the work of the Trinity

As I told you last week, starting with verse 3 of chapter 1 and continuing on to verse 14, we have one big, long, run-on sentence in the original Greek language that Paul used to write this letter.

But in this long sentence, Paul reveals how God in Three Persons, works to accomplish what He wants to accomplish. I say that because... –in verses 4-6a, we have the work of God the Father in the process of salvation spelled out for us; –in verses 6b-12 we have the work of God the Son in the process of salvation listed for us; –and in verses 13-14 we have the work of God the Holy Spirit in the process of salvation carefully laid out for us.

Tonight we are going to be taking a look at just the first part of that process–the work of God the Father in the process of our salvation–and build our understanding and appreciation for what God did for us. So, let's get into the text. If you have your Bibles, please turn to...

Ephesians 1:3-6a 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will– 6 to the praise of his glorious grace...

II. Focus on the Beginnings of Salvation

What Paul lists for us in these few verses are facts–foundational truths which under gird us in every moment of our life. And unless you and I understand those facts, we can't use them, and we can't benefit from them. In a very real way these truths are like natural laws.

Illustration: Let me explain by using the example of electricity. Electricity follows a natural law. Electricity doesn't care if you are a teacher, or a doctor, or a craftsman, if you own your own company, if you are unemployed, if you're retired-living full-time in Palm Springs–or if you're a "snowbird". Electricity operates the same for someone with a first grade education as it does for someone who has a Ph.D.

And if you violate it's laws–if you cross the wrong wires, or if you attach the white wire where the black one should be, or if you don't have the proper circuit breaker on the proper circuit, with the proper gauge wire, you will reap the consequences–electricity will not work for you as it is intended to work.

The natural laws of electrical current will not do you one iota of good if you don't discover what those laws are and believe them enough to operate on that basis.

So it is with our Christian life. Knowing the process that went into your salvation is important to you, if you are going to receive the many blessings that God has waiting in your spiritual bank account.

So, this evening, we are going to start looking at the 7 elements that God the Father authored in the plan of salvation. We'll be looking at... 1–God's Method for devising this plan of salvation; 2–His Objective in devising this plan; 3–The Time when this plan was set in motion; 4–The Purpose God had in mind for establishing this plan; 5–The Motive God had when He designed the plan; 6–The Result of God's plan of salvation; 7–and The Ultimate Goal in designing the plan of salvation Now, that's a lot to cover, but it's all mentioned in verses 3-6a, and it will take us two weeks to hit it all. But this week we'll look at the first two–the method of salvation, and the object of salvation.

A. The Method–Election

The first element is the method of salvation. And that method is a thing we call "election".

Now, having come from 7 years as a pastor in a Free Methodist church, I can tell you that this first thing that God did, makes most Methodists a little nervous. That's because most Methodists are Wesleyan in their theological bent. Now, that simply means that John Wesley, the founder of Methodism emphasized that man had a free will. Wesley understood from reading the Bible that salvation is freely available to all men, at all times. A person makes a mindful and a conscious decision to accept or reject Jesus Christ as his or her savior. So, a statement like we have in verse 4..."For he chose us in him before the creation of the world..." makes Methodists nervous, and you'll find very few pastors who will even preach on this verse.

John Calvin, on the other hand believed in something called Pre-destination. Basically, that's the belief that God decided way ahead of time whom He would save and whom He would send to hell. A "hyper-Calvinist" would say that man has no say so in the matter of salvation. I grew up in a tradition like this.

In fact there were some churches in my home town who were "ultra-hyper-Calvinists" and refused to support missionary endeavors or things like Billy Graham crusades, because they felt it is a waste of God's money and their effort. Because it was their belief that since God has already decided who will be saved and who will not be saved, it was futile to support any kind of evangelism efforts, whatsoever. So, as you might think, Calvinists love this statement in verse 4..."For he chose us in him before the creation of the world."

I got a "D" in theology in seminary. That was more because my view of it's usefulness, than my ability to study. In the church I pastored in Upland, CA, I was accused by one of the theology professors from Azusa Pacific University's Grad School of Theology as being a "Biblicist". He basically was saying that I was content to teach the Bible just as it was written, and I didn't care about putting it into any theological context. And he's right. So, let me tell you what the Bible says, not what theology says...

1. Three Kinds of Election

The Bible mentions three kinds of election or "choosing before the creation of the world".

a. One is in reference to God's choosing of Israel as His chosen people and the race from which the Messiah would be born.

Deuteronomy 7:6 6 For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.

b. A second "choosing before the creation of the world" was a vocational one. God chose the men of the tribe of Levi to be His priests. They had no say so in the matter. They were priests because God wanted them to be.

c. A third kind is what we have in this passage in Ephesians. This is salvational election. Paul is not introducing anything new. Jesus, Himself said in...

John 6:44 44 "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.

This concept carries with it the idea of an irresistible force drawing a person to God in the same way that a desperately hungry person is drawn to food.

Illustration: If you've ever visited a junk yard where cars are crushed into scrap metal, you've probably seen a giant electro-magnet on the end of a crane. When the electrical power is sent through the magnet, it draws all the ferrous metals that are near it. But it has no effect on the non-ferrous metals, like brass or aluminum.

Well, that's something like what this verse is talking about. Some people are drawn to God, and others aren't. And this process was set in motion "before the creation of the world". Because it was set in motion before the "creation of the world" it wasn't done because of anyone's merit or good deeds, or rewards for their behavior. It is a process of selection that is known only to God.

2. However...

However, election isn't the only thing that the Bible teaches in regards to salvation.

God may have "chosen some before the creation of the world"... however, the Bible also teaches another important fact in other places. It teaches that man has a will and the will is free to chose to accept Christ or reject Him.

My favorite verse in the Bible states that very clearly...

John 3:16 16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Notice that verse doesn't say, whoever was elected before the creation of the world. It simply says, whoever. Human beings are capable of choosing to accept God's plan of salvation or reject it. In fact the Bible teaches that it is a person's responsibility, and God will not reject any sinner who accepts Jesus gift of salvation...

John 7:37-38 37 On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him."

**In fact both of these truths–election and free will–are given by Jesus in one great verse....

John 6:37 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.

Two seemingly contradictory concepts are both taught in Scripture, and both taught by Jesus Himself. And in at least one case, taught in the same sentence. Does this boggle your mind? Does that seem confusing? Does that seem difficult to understand? Does this bother your intellect? Well it should, and it's good that it does.

3. Reconciling the paradox

You see, just this one issue of our inability to reconcile free will and election shows how much greater God is, than we are. Because in the mind of God these two things are very compatible.

Ray Stedman said this about these two issues...(on the sermon notes) "We must realize that we are dealing with an Eternal Being, one with whom there is not past or future, but only an eternal present, only one great "now" who therefore reads our future as clearly as he does the past, who determines all things by the counsel of his will, and brings them to pass so that they all work together to accomplish what he wants done. And we can only sit in amazed wonder and say, "Lord, how great thou art!"

I think many Christians want to follow Wesley exclusively, or Calvin exclusively–or they look for human explanations to make the teachings of election and free will fit together–because many people can not stand the tension of mystery or paradox. I like what J. I. Packer says in his book, Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God...

"All Christians believe in divine sovereignty, but some are not aware that they do and mistakenly imagine and insist that they reject it (in favor of man's free will). What causes this odd state of affairs? The root cause is the same as in most cases of error in the Church–the intruding of rationalistic speculations, the passion for systematic consistency, a reluctance to recognize the existence of mystery and to let God be wiser than men, and a consequent subjecting of Scripture to the supposed demands of human logic. The desire to over-simplify the Bible by cutting out the mysteries is natural to our perverse minds, and it is not surprising that even godly men fall victim to it."

Friends, you will get into trouble every time, when you think you know more than God. The Bible is full of paradoxes which cannot be comprehended by human logic, and can only be comprehended by the mind of God. For instance...

a. The Bible calls itself the work of human authors, yet at the same time it calls itself the very words of God.

b. Jesus Christ is called fully God. Yet is also called fully man. One person being 100% of two things is incongruous to our human minds.

c. Salvation is forever, yet we are told to work to make our salvation sure.

It's not that God's sovereign election, or pre-destination, eliminates man's choice in faith. Divine sovereignty and human response are integral and inseparable parts of salvation–even if you and I cannot explain and harmonize how the two things operate together. God simply asks us to rest in the wonderful mystery and trust his infinite mind, that He knows what He's doing.

The poet John Chadwick said it very well, when he wrote...

I sought the Lord, And afterwards I knew He moved my soul to seek Him, While seeking me! It was not that I found, O Savior true; No, I was found by Thee.

B. The Object–the Saints and Faithful

Now you see why we are only going to cover two out of the 7 elements of salvation this evening. These are such incredible truths, that we can't gloss over them in a cursory manner. The more we know, the more we are able to use what is in our spiritual bank account. So, here is the second element of salvation in which God the Father is involved. This one has to do with the object of salvation. In other words, who is it for?

The answer is in the phrase in verse four..."For He chose us in him before the creation of the world." Who is the us? Look at verse 1...

Ephesians 1:1 1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus:

The object of God's salvation is the saints and the faithful in Christ Jesus. These words–saints and faithful–are more than synonyms. These are two different perspectives on the same person.

1. Saints

The term saints is looking at us through God's eyes.

Illustration: It was Confirmation time and the bishop asked a boy to describe a saint for him. When the lad showed some hesitancy the bishop pointed to a stain-glass window showing the patron saint of the parish. The eyes of the young hopeful followed the pointing finger and then reverted to the bishop with a gleam of recognition. "A saint," he said, "is someone who lets the light shine through."

From God's perspective, that's exactly right. A saint is someone who lets the light of Jesus Christ shine through their lives. In other words, Jesus Christ is in them because they have trusted in His finished work on the cross for their salvation, and the grace of God–the little pieces of God–show through in everyday living. When God looks at saints, he doesn't see their sins, he doesn't see their failures, he doesn't see their inconsistencies–He only sees the perfect life of Jesus Christ, covering their human imperfections. That's a saint.

2. Faithful in Christ Jesus

The other term is looking at the object of God's salvation from human eyes. The faithful in Christ Jesus are the people who understand that their sinfulness keeps them from being in the presence of a holy God. And these faithful also realize that they can't do anything about their sinful condition. So each faithful person has to exercise simple faith.

Illustration: Two gentlemen were traveling on a plane and were seated next to each other. One turned to the other and asked, what do you do? The gentleman replied: "I'm a minister." "Oh," said the first man. I don't believe in that religious stuff. It's for kids, you know, Jesus Loves Me This I know, for the Bible tells me so...." The minister politely laughed and asked the unbelieving man what he did for a living. "I'm an astronomer," said the first man. "Oh, that stuff," said the minister. I thought it was just for kids, you know - "Twinkle, twinkle little star...."

Saints have a simple child like faith that believes that when God says..."whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life", they do it. They believe in Jesus. That's the simple definition of "the faithful."

III. Conclusion

Friends, we've just started to scratch the surface of the blessings that are ours in Christ.

First of all, before the beginning of the world, God loved you enough to want to save you from the consequences of your sin.

And second, that plan for salvation is effective enough to make your useful to God, Almighty and His plans to effect the world; yet simple enough that all it requires is a simple faith to enter into it. Those are two pretty wonderful things that you have in your spiritual bank account. Now the question is...

How are you going to use these two elements of your salvation this week?

Illustration: I came across this in a devotional book recently...

Countless icebergs float in the frigid waters around Greenland. Some are tiny; others tower skyward. At times the small ones move in one direction while their gigantic counterparts go in another. The small ones are subject to surface winds, but the huge ice masses are carried along by deep ocean currents. Our lives are subject to two similar forces. The winds represent everything changeable, unpredictable, distressing. But simultaneous with these adverse gusts or gales is another force more powerful than anything on the surface. It's the sure movement of God in your life and the deep flow of His unchanging love toward you. It's in that unseen current that we must rest our lives, our decisions and our wills.

God loved you before the beginning of time. You are the object of His plan of salvation. Rest your life, your decisions and your will in these blessings this week. You don't have to wonder if God really loves you. He's proved it already in His plan of salvation.

Amen.