Ephesians 1:1-14

Ephesians 1:1-14

Praise for Purpose

1. Properly praising God produces truly purposeful lives, so we must praise Him for choosing to adopt us (Vv. 1-6)

1. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, which was likely a circular letter for to be read in all the Asian churches, opens with a lengthy doxology praising God, reminding us who He is, who we are in Him, and what that means for the purpose of our lives. He calls us to join him in praising God for blessing us spiritually in every way. Most often the things which we glorify through the praise of lives are physical and emotional things which are narrow in scope, fleeting in return, and require us to invest continually more energy into our praise while our return continues to diminish. But spiritual blessings from God are wide ranging, eternal, and touch every area of our lives. These blessing begin and end with God, and only come through Christ. Our sin has orphaned us from God, separating us from His family, but because of His great and gracious love for us, He adopts us into His family through Christ. All of these acts are initiated by God by His own choosing, are accomplished through Christ, and are given to us as an act of His free will apart from any merit of our own. God is eternal with no beginning and no end, so all that He does is equally eternal. He does nothing on a whim, but all He does is done according to His sovereign grace, included setting us apart for adoption. That doesn’t diminish our role and requirement of believing faithfully on Jesus. God’s adoption in Christ is a gift which must be received, and the doctrine of human accountability in salvation is always found directly beside God’s divine action in Scripture. The purpose of His adoption is to glorify His Name through making us holy and blameless by conforming us to the image of His Son. To do so God adopts us into His family, giving us His Name, and granting us all the rights and privileges of His Son, thus adoption must redefine our identity, and define our purpose in life. God’s blessings aren’t accidental. He knows you; He cares for you; He desires to glorify Himself by saving you through adoption and conforming you to His image. When we praise Him for who He is and what He does, the return of spiritual blessing continues to increase as we grow close to our Father, grow in the One through whom the blessings come, and share the only true hope, peace, joy, satisfaction, and purpose through the gospel. (Vv. 1-6; Gen. 1:1-31; 6:8-14; 7:11-16; 12:1-3; Deut. 7:6-8; 14:2; 29:29; Ps. 90:2; 115:1-8; Isa. 42:6-8; Luke 9:35; John 6:45; 15:16; Acts 13:48; 18:9-10; Rom. 8:28-32; 9-11; 1 Cor. 1:26-31; Gal. 4:4-9; 2 Tim. 1:7-9; Tit. 1:1-3; 1 Pet. 1:1-2; 2 Pet. 1:10-11; Rev. 13:8) 

2. Properly praising God produces truly purposeful lives, so we must praise Him for redeeming us, giving us understanding, and keeping us eternally (Vv. 7-14)

1. But adoption is just the beginning of God’s spiritual blessings in Christ. All of us are enslaved to sin and death apart from being ransomed by Christ. In order to adopt us God paid an incalculably high cost through the blood of Christ to pay the penalty for our sin.  The term Paul used refers to a slave being set completely and permanently free with no possibility of future enslavement through the exchange of a large sum. Only the blood of Jesus, freely, graciously, and profusely given, sets us free from the penalty and power of sin. But God doesn’t just free us for the sake of freedom. God acts in our lives through Christ to reconcile us to Himself because He has a plan and purpose for us in His will. He blesses us with wisdom and insight to see that He is sovereignly in control of all things physical and spiritual, all things point to Christ, and all will be summed up in Him. History, time, and space are all going to arrive at His destination. And if we belong to Christ, we know who we are, where we’re going, and what the purpose is for our lives and all things. So many today are so uncertain about so many things in life. But God’s plan for all things is centered on One Person, and all will be united and come to conclusion in Him, so if we want certainty in this life we must look to the only One who is certain and in whom all things will come together. When we live lives of praise for Him, we’re grow in confidence, security, and peace about our place in God’s plan, certain that we’re His inheritance, and certain of our inheritance in Him. And lastly Paul’s praise of God points us who belong to Christ to His blessing of sealing on our lives through the Holy Spirit. God chose us, called us, open our minds to hear His Word, and we believed on Jesus through repentant faith for salvation. At that moment God sealed us with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing every promise and blessing of God in our lives for eternity in Christ! God the Father has chosen us, God the Son has redeemed and restored us, and God the Spirit has assured us of our place and purpose for eternity. To praise anything else or anyone else is to forfeit the peace, hope, joy, certainty, satisfaction, and purpose for which we all crave, but which can be found in no other place. What or who is the object of your worship and praise? (Vv. 7-14; Ps. 19:12-14; 33:12; 51:3-12; 103:12; 130:3-4; Isa. 44:22; Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 36:22-27; Joel 2:28; Matt. 26:28; John 6:37-40; 10:27-30; 14:1-6, 16-18, 25-27; 16:7-14; Rom. 3:21-26; 6:5-14, 23; 8:1, 14-27; 1 Cor. 6:19-20; 7:23; Gal. 3:13-14; Col. 1:9-14; Phil. 2:9-11; Heb. 9:22; 1 Pet. 1:3-9; 1 John 1:9; Rev. 1:3-6; 21:1-8; 22:22-27)