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Dear Heavenly Father, we thank 
you for the privilege and honor it is to be in your house. We 
thank you, Lord God, that you revealed to us your word. You've 
revealed to us your plan to save sinners, to purchase sinners 
in Christ Jesus, Lord God. We know that we were once slaves 
to sin, but those who believe on Christ have been purchased, 
have been bought with a cosmic price. Father God, help us to 
consider these things and understand these things and meditate on 
these things, for slavery is something that is not prevalent 
in our day. But it's something that was prevalent certainly 
in the ancient world, Lord God. But we know that many are spiritual 
slaves to sin. And believers here, too, we were 
once spiritual slaves as well. Father God, help us to consider 
this. Help us to revel in your grace, which you've lavished 
upon us. Help us to revel in your inheritance, Lord God. Help 
us to meditate on these things and understand these things and 
find encouragement in these things. For this is a blessed truth, 
something that needs to be proclaimed, Lord God. And I pray that it 
would be proclaimed. I pray that if there's any here 
that do not believe, I pray that they would believe by your spirit, 
Lord God. And I pray the saints here that they'd be edified by 
this word, Lord God. and ultimately you would be glorified. 
I pray now that you would give me strength, Lord, how I need 
you, how I need your help, Lord, for I know this is a holy task 
and a difficult task, Lord God, but I know that by your Spirit 
you can give me strength. And I pray that your name would 
be proclaimed. I pray that I would just be a 
mouthpiece. And I pray that you would be lifted high throughout 
all the earth. And I pray that any other churches that are preaching 
the truth today, I pray that you'd give them strength and 
aid. that your gospel would go forth, Lord God. And may you 
be glorified in all things. Amen. So we are continuing our 
exposition of Ephesians chapter 1. Tonight, as I said, we're 
looking at verses 7 through 12. Ephesians chapter 1 verses 3 
through 14 actually comes at the introduction of the book 
of Ephesians. And so what Paul says here is going to be fleshed 
out in the rest of the book. Remember I said last time that 
the book can be structured in two main points or main headings. 
One, chapters one through three, which is right doctrine or salvation, 
and chapters four through six, right practice in response to 
that salvation. So we are in the section on orthodoxy 
or right practice or right teaching before we even get into the right 
practice responding to that right teaching. And so remember we're 
talking about something called the Covenant of Redemption, or 
it's called the Pactum Salutis, or the Pact of Salvation. Last 
time we looked at the Father's plan of salvation, how he planned 
in love to save and elect in Christ. Today we are going to 
look at the accomplishment of the Son in history of that plan. And so we can summarize the covenant 
redemption this way. The Father plans, the Son accomplishes, 
and the Spirit applies. So as I said, tonight we're looking 
at the wonderful accomplishments of our Lord and Savior, Jesus 
Christ. So the Father is found in verses 
3 through 6, the Son is found in verses 7 through 12, and the 
Spirit is found in verses 13 and 14. And this can be set up 
by the three ways in which Paul says, to the praise of his glory 
at the end of verse 6, to the praise of his glory at the end 
of verse 12, and to the praise of his glory at the end of verse 
14. That's how I've divvied it up 
and it also works well with this covenant of redemption. And I 
want to highlight something that's very important in 7-12, verses 
7-12. There's a lot of slave language 
here. Slavery is something that I do 
not think we fully understand the import or the grasp of it 
today. And when I say slavery, I'm not 
meaning man-stealing like in the South, but I'm talking about 
something different that occurred in the ancient world. But you 
see, we don't really see slaves a whole lot, do we, in our modern 
world? We are free citizens, which is a wonderful, wonderful 
thing. But in ancient Ephesus, about one in three people were 
actually slaves. And it was a different system, 
a system that was regulated at that time, that even the Apostle 
Paul deals with in Ephesians chapter six. It's not something 
that he condones, but he regulates submitting to one another in 
Ephesians chapter six. So it is something that we need 
to think about. Because the reality is, even 
though there's not a lot of physical slavery in North America, there's 
certainly spiritual slavery throughout. Believers, one day or before 
we were saved, we were slaves to sin. We were shackled, tied 
together, bound to sin. Something that held us was a 
tyrant, was wretched, that sought to give us death, but thankfully 
we've been redeemed. Thankfully, we've been purchased 
by the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, unbeliever, you are still 
a slave to sin today. And the price to pay for your 
purchase, the price to be redeemed, you cannot fulfill. You cannot 
fulfill this price. And so may I ask you and implore 
you to listen today, to listen and hear about the wonderful 
work of the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. So in Ephesians 
1, verses 7 through 12, Paul praises God the Father for the 
redemption that believers have in Christ. In Ephesians 1, verses 
7-12, Paul praises God the Father for the redemption that believers 
have in Christ. And we will look at this redemption 
or this accomplishment under four headings tonight. We will 
look at the redemption by the Son in chapter 1, verse 7. We will look at the revelation 
of the Son in chapter 1, verses 8 to 9a. Then we will look at 
the reconciliation in the Son, chapter 1, verses 9B and 10, 
and then we will look at the reward in the Son as well. Chapter 1, verses 11 and 12. So we have four R's, redemption, 
revelation, reconciliation, and reward. Let us first look now 
at redemption. Notice in chapter 1, verse 7, 
by Him we have redemption. By Him, we have redemption. And so what Paul is trying to 
highlight here with this we have is that the Ephesian church can 
already experience the present blessings that Christ accomplishes. 
And this word redemption is originally connected with something called 
the manumission of slaves. Manumission just means the freeing 
of slaves. Just think, if you're a man on 
a mission to free a slave, you have manumission. Pretty simple, 
pretty clear. It's just talking about the freedom 
of freeing a slave from slavery. And so it's used, again, as a 
slave way. And it's now applied to how sinners 
are released from sin through Christ. It's now applied to how 
sinners are released from sin through Christ. And I want to 
talk about how slavery functioned in the ancient world just for 
a little bit. Aristotle, the ancient philosopher, says this. The slave is a living tool, and 
a tool a lifeless slave. The slave is a living tool, and 
a tool a lifeless slave. A slave was no better than a 
living broom. A slave was just simply a piece 
of property that an owner could buy and could purchase. And so 
slaves were subject to the absolute power of their masters. Subject 
to the absolute power of their masters, just like as sinners 
are slaves subject to the absolute power of sin, subject to this 
tyrant, this sinfulness, this wretchedness, this tyrant of 
sin that seeks to drag us down. And so slavery also was, as I 
said already, was not necessarily Man-stealing. There were many 
ways that slavery came about. Or you could buy or purchase 
a slave. There are four ways that one 
guy highlights in his book. He says, you could be a prisoner 
of war. Someone, other countries come 
in, conquered you. Now the conquered country is 
now cheap labor for the conqueror. You could also sell your child 
or yourself to pay off any debts that you might have. There's 
also punishment as well. If you commit a crime, you might 
become a slave. And one of the punishments, or 
one of the things related to the punishment of slavery, is 
you might be sent to the mine to work, which is really a death 
sentence. Most slaves died in the mine. And the fourth way is by birth. 
Maybe your parents became a slave from the three previous things, 
and now by birth they're born into slavery as well. So this 
word redemption is talking about this release, this manumission 
from slavery, and there are many ways in which you can be freed 
from this slavery. And I'll go through them now. 
A slave could purchase his freedom by himself, and that was probably 
the incentive for good service. See, a slave could work hard 
to earn dough or earn a reputation, and that way he might be able 
to buy himself out of slavery. Another way is what's called 
sacral freeing. That is, the deity would act 
on behalf of the slave and that, therefore, the slave could be 
released based on the relationship between the deity and the one 
or the master of that slave. So the deity almost acted as 
that mediator for the slave. That was in the pagan world as 
well. A friend or a relative could 
free a slave. Or the master could release the 
slave as well. The master could release the 
slave as well. And I'm going to draw these ideas 
out, hopefully, throughout the rest of this time together. But 
it is something we need to think about. Something we need to consider 
and understand. Even as believers, what we once 
were, how we were once slaves to something else, and by the 
grace of God, we've been purchased. We've been brought out of slavery 
to sin. And the primary, the great illustration 
of this comes from the Old Testament. That is the exodus from Israel, 
this idea of redemption. Remember, the people of Israel 
were slaves to the Egyptians, were slaves to that tyrant Pharaoh. But Yahweh, the divine warrior, 
in his goodness and in his kindness, took and he redeemed this people 
out of slavery and made them his own, a people for his own 
possession. It's truly, truly a wonderful 
thing when we think about what redemption actually is. How when 
we were once sinners, we were bound to this sin. We were tied 
down by the shackles of our sin. How we didn't know where to go, 
nowhere to turn, yet God in His goodness sought to redeem His 
elect, sought to redeem sinners from this slavery. Notice under 
redemption the price of slavery. In verse 7, in Him we have redemption 
through His blood. In Him we have redemption through 
His blood. You see the price for our purchase 
was a cosmic price. It required, it was an eternal 
price that we had to pay. It was something that only eternity 
would have satisfied to the One who was our owner. But you see, 
thankfully we have redemption through blood. We have redemption 
through the One who is eternal. We have redemption through the 
God-Man, by Him. We have redemption through His 
blood. This blood sacrifice, this atoning 
sacrifice. Remember, Pastor Cam read this 
morning in 1 John 1, chapter 2, verse 2, that Christ is a 
propitiation, that is, He is an atoning sacrifice. Or it means 
the turning away of the wrath of God. That turning away of 
the wrath of God. You see, we needed this sacrifice 
to purchase our freedom, to purchase our redemption from slavery to 
sin. to purchase this for us. And 
so it is truly a truly wonderful thing when we think about the 
cosmic price that we had to fulfill. You know, working would be a 
death sentence. We would be like those ones in 
the mine who would be going to die. If we tried to earn our 
own salvation, tried to pay our own debt, we would have failed 
immensely. We would have failed immensely. 
We could not have done it. It was an eternal price and only 
one who is eternal could pay for that. Only one who was eternal 
could pay for that. I notice as well in chapter 1 
verse 7 the nature of redemption. We have redemption through his 
blood. Why? For the forgiveness of our trespasses. for the forgiveness of our trespasses. And what this word means, it 
talks about the act of freeing, the act of freeing from any obligation, 
guilt, or punishment that we might have. The act of obligation 
from the guilt, or freeing from the obligation or guilt that 
we might have. Remember last time I talked about 
this idea of adoption. The idea that any person could 
be adopted, and the one who was adopted could have their previous 
debts canceled. They have their previous debts 
canceled. Therefore, we see this here. 
We receive pardon. We receive freeing from our debts 
because of the work of Christ. It's truly, truly a wonderful 
thing. And notice what we're forgiven of, our trespasses, 
i.e., the violation of a moral standard. The violation of a 
moral standard. You see, God has his law, those 
ten commandments, that first table that is vertical towards 
him and that second table that is horizontal relating to people, 
and we have broken that. We have fallen short of that 
obligation, we've fallen short of that standard, therefore we 
receive punishment. We receive punishment And yet, 
thankfully, in Christ, we are forgiven of that. We are forgiven 
for these offenses, for this wrongdoing. And it's truly, truly 
a wonderful thing when we think about slavery being tied down. 
No way out. No way to pay for our debt at 
all. And Christ comes and He pays 
that debt. He purchases us out of slavery. Truly, truly a wonderful thing 
when we think about it. And notice that He does this 
at the end of verse 7, according to the riches of His grace. According 
to the riches of His grace, or the wealth of His grace. That 
idea of adoption again. We are adopted into a wonderful, 
eternal inheritance that cannot change. We are adopted into this 
wonderful, eternal inheritance that will not change at all. It is salvation from sin It is 
a cosmic inheritance. It is an eternal inheritance. 
One that all the riches that would be far above all the riches 
of this world. Far above being adopted by Bill 
Gates. Far above being adopted by Donald 
Trump. It is far above any riches that 
we would ever see on the face of this earth. And it was all 
according to what? His grace. All according to his 
goodness. All according to his kindness. 
Thanks be to God for this grace, which He was not obligated to 
give to us. Which He was not obligated to 
give to us. And as we saw at the end of chapter 
1, verse 4, remember, the Father predestined in love. The motive 
for this is love. The motive for this is kindness 
and goodness. Thanks be to God for the salvation 
for the redemption from our slavery, from our bondage. What a wonderful 
ransom that was paid by the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That 
cosmic debt was paid by the only one who could pay it. And so 
I want one takeaway we can take away from this idea of redemption. 
That is, I think we need to meditate more and more, especially on 
the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. We live in a busy, busy 
world. We go, go, go, go. And we need to stop sometimes, 
quiet our hearts, and think about this idea. Think about what we 
once were and what we now are in Christ Jesus. We've been redeemed. We've been purchased from something 
that we could not have purchased for ourselves. It is truly a 
wonderful thing. And I have to admit, even as 
a seminary student, that I have to fight for these times as well. 
You would think that being at seminary would be easy to meditate. 
I've said time and again to my fellow colleagues, and they echo 
the same thing, I get the information in my head, But sometimes I don't 
stop and think about the import of it. We need to stop sometimes 
and think about this work of redemption, what Christ has done 
on behalf of sinners. It's truly, truly a wonderful 
thing that we need to meditate on, day in and day out, especially 
as believers. So we've seen this redemption 
in Christ. We've seen how we've been purchased 
by the blood of the lamb. Now let us look at the revelation 
of the Son in chapter 1, verse 8 to 9a. He says, which, at the beginning 
of verse 8, he says, which he lavished upon us all, which he 
lavished upon us all in all wisdom and insight. This idea of lavishing 
is causing to have something exist in abundance having something 
to exist in abundance. It's something truly, truly wonderful. 
And one guy highlights the immediate context that this includes the 
Gentiles in this as well. You see, it's not just for the 
Jews, but it's for the Gentiles as well. Most of us in this room, 
we can have this redemption if we believe on Christ. We can 
be considered righteous in the sight of God because of the work 
of Christ, even now, because of this wonderful, rich grace 
that includes the Gentiles in the salvation of sinners. That 
was the plan from the beginning to save a multitude that no man 
can number, from every tribe, from every tongue, from every 
nation, It's truly, truly a wonderful thing. Notice, he lavished this 
upon us in all wisdom and insight. Now, I take the beginning of 
9a to talk about what preceded 8b. That is, I think 9a should 
be translated after making known, he lavished wisdom and insight. After making known, he lavished 
wisdom and insights. And so we have this revelation 
of the mystery of his will. We have the revelation of the 
gospel of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, and then he gives them 
understanding. He gives them the ability to 
grasp this. He gives them insight. This idea 
of wisdom and insight is a gift. for people to understand and 
comprehend the Gospel. We need it revealed to us objectively, 
but we also need the work of the Spirit inside of us, within 
us, that inner testimony of the Spirit, in order that we might 
grasp these things, that we might understand the Gospel. The Gospel 
really is clear and simple. We are sinners in need of a Savior. 
Christ lived, died, and rose again to save sinners. Yet, we 
still need the work of the Spirit in our hearts, in the hearts 
of sinners, to fully understand this Gospel, to fully understand 
what it means. And so we see here, the Father 
makes known the mystery of His will in Christ Jesus to save 
Jews and Gentiles, but He does it with wisdom and insight. He 
gives those people wisdom and insight. Wisdom probably refers 
to the capacity to understand and function accordingly, whereas 
this idea of insight is more the ability. So we have the capacity 
and the ability to understand. And we need the Spirit for both 
of those things. We need to have the right amount 
of room, if you will, in our heads, but we also need the ability 
to do that. And that only comes from the 
work of the Holy Spirit inside of us to understand who Jesus 
is, to understand our sin and our need for the Lord Jesus Christ, 
to understand this great work of redemption in Christ Jesus. in Christ Jesus. And so, as I've 
already said, we've seen how He does this in Wisdom and Insight. 
He reveals the mystery of His will. And this word mystery carries 
the idea of something that was previously hidden, or only known 
vaguely, but is now more known fully. You see, this is the redemptive 
historical thrust of this passage, because at once we thought in 
the Old Testament it was just for Jews, but there were times 
when we see Gentiles that are saved. But now we know that God's 
plan from all eternity was to save both Jews and Gentiles in 
Christ Jesus. It's truly, truly a wonderful 
thing for Gentiles like you and I that he would reveal this to 
us in order that we might know the work of Christ, know our 
sin, and see our need for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. This is a special revelation, 
this is the work of God, this is the work of God to reveal 
to us His plan, to reveal to us the gospel of Jesus Christ. 
And you know what? We need someone to tell us about 
this truth. We need someone to reveal this 
to us. The gospel is something that 
is proclaimed, it is not something that we do. The gospel is something 
that is proclaimed, not something that we do. And so we have one 
clear application I think we need to take away from this. 
We need to proclaim the truth. We need to tell people about 
the truth. And hopefully the Holy Spirit 
will take and work in the hearts of the elect to bring them out 
of darkness and into marvelous light. As a one who preaches 
the truth, we do not know who the elect are, but we are still 
mandated to preach that truth that sinners might come to salvation 
in the Lord Jesus Christ, that they might see this work of Christ 
and believe on Him and have this redemption from their slavery, 
this redemption from their bondage, and so we need to proclaim the 
truth, whether that's in the pulpit or sharing it with friends 
and family at the appropriate time. I'm not binding your conscience 
that you have to go out on Saturday morning and go door-to-door, 
but the gospel is something that must be told. Something proclaimed, 
something shared, not done. We live in a manner consistent 
with the gospel, but we proclaim that gospel. So we've seen this 
redemption in Christ. We've seen how God reveals the 
work of Christ to his saints. And now let's look at the reconciliation 
in the Son, chapter 1 verse 9b to verse 10. He says, according to His purpose, 
which He set forth in Christ. Now this purpose here is also 
found in verse 5. That is, He predestined us for 
adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose 
of His will. I think it's better translated, 
rather than purpose, good pleasure. The good pleasure of His will. 
That is, God does this out of His goodness and His kindness. 
It's in this state of favor or being favored. That is, God does 
this because He favors His people. Because He has a good pleasure 
according to His plan. It might not always seem like 
it's a good plan, but it's a great plan. It's the best plan. And 
He does it out of goodness and kindness to save many sinners 
in Christ. And notice he says, this mystery 
in Christ is revealed. This mystery in Christ is revealed 
and it's set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of 
the time. Now this idea of plan actually 
probably refers to God's unique plan to save sinners. The unique 
plan of salvation to save many in Christ Jesus. And it kind 
of comes from the idea of house, the idea of building, the idea 
of planning, the idea of setting forth his plan to build up his 
church, to build up his people, to bring them out of darkness 
and into marvelous light. Truly, truly a wonderful thing 
when we think about this plan. He set it forth in Christ. He set it forth in Christ And 
notice at verse 10, he says, as a plan for the fullness of 
time. As a plan for the fullness of 
time. Or, it's probably translated, 
when the time was ripe. At the appropriate time. You 
see, we've been talking about this plan of redemption to save 
many sinners. But God accomplishes His plan 
according to His time. He works in the way that he said 
he would work. He works according to his sovereignty 
and in the way that he said he would do it. And the primary 
centerpiece of history is Christ Jesus. And the plan centers around 
the work of Christ Jesus. Remember, in that covenant of 
redemption, the Son consents or willingly sets aside his life 
or plans to set aside his life to save many sinners in Christ 
Jesus. He willingly does this. Christ 
is the centerpiece of all history. Christ is the centerpiece of 
this plan to save many sinners in Christ Jesus. to save many 
sinners in Christ Jesus. And that's what we see in Ephesians 
chapter 3 verse 11. This was according to the purpose, 
the eternal purpose, that he has realized in Christ Jesus 
our Lord. Christ Jesus is the plan. This is the salvation of sinners, 
that Christ would redeem slaves from the curse of the law, and 
it's a great thing to consider and understand when we think 
about this wonderful truth. But notice the purpose for this 
fullness or this plan. Look at this purpose, to reconcile 
To unite or reconcile all things in Him. Things in heaven and 
things on earth. To unite all things in Christ. To unite all things in Him. Or 
to sum up, is probably a better way, is a good way to translate 
it. To sum up everything in Christ. To bring everything together 
in Jesus Christ. Edie says, the idea seems then 
to be that heaven and earth are now united under one government. The idea that heaven and earth 
are now united. It's not so much universal salvation, 
but unification. Not universal salvation, but 
being united in Christ Jesus under one government. And notice 
it says, things in heaven and things on earth. This highlights 
a major theme in this book, this cosmic reconciliation. Our sin was a cosmic sin. It was an eternal sin. We only 
needed someone who could fulfill those demands to purchase us 
out of that, and now we see this cosmic reconciliation in Christ 
Jesus. And so we saw a cosmic fallen 
Adam, and now we see this cosmic reconciliation in Christ. Gordon 
Clark says, this does not imply an eventual universal salvation. so that Satan might be saved, 
but merely a unification and subjection by which Satan is 
put in his place. So to speak And as just indicated, 
the destruction of the present physical world in a universal 
blazing fire. So we see unification, but we 
also see the judgment of sin. We see the judgment of God Most 
High upon His enemies and how Christ unites all things in heaven 
and things on earth in this cosmic way. That's what the Apostle 
Paul is trying to get at. This whole plan centers around 
Christ Jesus. Now, the application I think 
is one we can all consider and think about. The purpose of all 
things is summed up in Christ, not you and me. Christ is the 
center of the world. Christ is the center of the universe. 
Christ is the center of the plan of salvation. We are not. Sometimes 
it's easy when we're driving along the road and some guy cuts 
us off to think that somehow the world stops there because 
we're angry. We must remember that this world 
does not revolve around us, even as believers. Even as believers, 
even as a seminary student, it's easy for us to get into our head 
that we are the light rather than preach the light. And I 
pray that we would not be that way. I pray that we would preach 
the light. We would be a silent mouthpiece 
to proclaim the truth rather than me proclaiming myself. And 
I admit, brothers and sisters, that that is a struggle. That 
is a struggle, I'm sure, for any pastor who gets up in here. 
It's easy to think that we're the light rather than proclaim 
the light. It's easy to think that salvation 
and history is moving to the time where we get up into the 
pulpit and preach. No, Christ is the center. Christ 
is the one we need to preach. Christ is the one we need to 
proclaim. And we need to remember that He is the center of all 
things. He is the center of reconciliation, not you and I. Not you and I. So we've seen this redemption. 
We've seen this revelation. We've seen this reconciliation. 
Now let's look fourthly at the reward in the Son. Chapter 1, 
verses 11 and 12. He says, in Him we have obtained 
an inheritance. In Him we have obtained an inheritance. This refers, I think, to promised 
heaven. Some commentators think this 
refers to the idea that God has obtained for himself an inheritance, 
namely his people. But I think it probably does 
refer more to the idea that his saints have an inheritance. His saints have a promised heaven. His saints have a promised land. And so the idea is that the noun 
form of this verb here has the idea of something that's assigned 
kind of by lot or simply given as a portion. So it has the idea 
of us being given an inheritance. And it probably was used for 
the distribution of the countries that the Jews conquered. That 
is found in the Old Testament. That is the dividing of lots, 
the giving of the giving of the promised land, the separating 
of it after Joshua conquered the people in the land of Canaan. 
And so we have this promised land imagery. Now this promised 
land for believers is not something that is physical. It's something 
that is eternal. It's something that is far greater 
than anything on this earth. It's truly a wonderful thing. 
We have salvation in Christ. We have an eternal inheritance 
that cannot go away. Thanks be to God for that wonderful 
work in Christ Jesus. Calvin says the Apostle Paul 
is showing that from first to last, all have obtained salvation. That is, all believers have obtained 
salvation. by free grace because they have 
been freely adopted according to the eternal election. We have 
been given free grace. We've been given this salvation, 
this inheritance by free grace because of this, through this 
free adoption because of the work of God the Father, God the 
Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We have this wonderful inheritance 
that will, that does, that pales in comparison to any inheritance 
we might receive on this earth. And notice this idea of predetermining, 
this choosing beforehand is repeated once again. He says, the Apostle 
Paul says in chapter 1 verse 11, having been predestined according 
to the purpose of him. Being predestined, and that word 
carries that idea that decide upon beforehand. Things are pretty 
clear in scripture. That's a clear word. God decided 
beforehand what he would do. It's pretty crystal, pretty clear, 
and thankfully he did that. Thankfully he chose sinners out 
of free and sovereign grace, sinners like you and I, because 
we would not have been able to pay the purchase price for our 
redemption. That's, yeah, wonderful, wonderful 
stuff. And notice it's according to 
the, uh, the, the, the, uh, according to the purpose of him. Now this 
purpose word here is different from the words that we saw in 
verse 5 and verse 9. And more carries the idea of 
divine purpose in advance. Not so much good pleasure, but 
his plan beforehand. His plan beforehand. Again, predestination 
is clear in Scripture. We just twist it and change it 
because we don't like it. But nonetheless, God the Father, 
God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, they accomplish salvation. God the Father predetermines, 
the Son accomplishes, and that Spirit applies. And notice, to 
bring about, to work, who works all things according to the counsel 
of His will. He works all things. God does 
this. God does this. He's the one who 
has the capability to bring this out, not you and I. Not you and 
I. Then we see at the end of chapter 
1, verse 11, the counsel of His will. or the idea of this resolve, 
this the one who decides, this resolution, the decision of the 
divine will. This plan does not change. This 
plan has always been to save sinners in Christ Jesus, to the 
praise of the glory of God Most High, to the praise of the glory 
of God Most High. And notice in chapter 1 verse 
12, so that we who are the first to hope in Christ might be to 
the praise of His glory. We need to praise God for the 
hope that we have in Christ. And this idea is that we have 
this realization of this hope already. We have this inheritance. 
We have been redeemed. And we need to praise Him as 
believers for His wonderful work, for that work of salvation, for, 
remember, the goal of redemption. The goal of redemption in mankind 
is to enjoy, to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. That is our 
focus, that is our purpose. Whatever we do, whether in word 
or deed, we do it all to the glory of God Most High, even 
in our thoughts, even in our words, and even in our deeds. 
For the glory of God Most High. And notice he says, so that we 
who are the first to hope in Christ Jesus. Now this we here, 
I think, refers to the Jewish Christians that were in Ephesus. 
I think this refers to the Jewish Christians that were in Ephesus. 
Remember he said in Romans, for the Jew first, then the Greek. Remember the gospel spread from 
Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the outermost parts of the 
world. We see kind of this emphatic 
we here, and then we see another emphatic you in verse 13. That is, we who are the first 
to hope, i.e. Jews, and then we see you who 
are the first to hope, or excuse me, you, in him, you also when you 
heard the word of truth. That is, he's distinguishing 
between Jews and Gentiles here. Not as though before he wasn't 
talking about the unified church, but these emphatic pronouns, 
these we's and you's, seem to indicate he's separating between 
the Jews and the Gentiles. Bruce says, Jewish believers 
are foundation members of the new community, the first fruits 
of the people of God in the age which Christ has inaugurated 
by his death and resurrection. So the Jews were the first to 
receive Christ. Christ set forth his apostles 
that they might proclaim the truth to the outermost parts 
of the world. So one thing we can take away 
from this is pretty simple. It's at the end. Praise God the 
Father for the hope that is in Christ Jesus. Remember how he 
starts. Blessed be the God and Father. 
And so we need to praise God the Father for the work of the 
Son in redemption. It is something that we could 
not have done. It is something that we could not have purchased. 
It was cosmic and only one who was eternal could purchase that 
for us. So praise be to God the Father 
for his wonderful work, his plan to save sinners in Christ Jesus. Now in conclusion, As I said 
at the outset, there is redemption in Christ through atonement. 
There is redemption in Christ through this atonement. And as 
we looked at, we saw this purchasing from slavery. We saw this idea 
of redemption being revealed to us. And then we saw this reconciliation 
in Christ, who is the center of all things. And we also have 
this reward in Christ Jesus as well. We have this reward in 
Christ Jesus that cannot perish. And so I'll close with reminders 
first for believers and then for unbelievers. Believers, as 
I've said already, we need to meditate on the gospel. We need 
to consider it, we need to think about it, we need to understand 
it, we need to stop sometimes in our busy schedules and meditate 
on this wonderful work. When we consider what slavery 
was, when we consider we were once this lifeless tool Ah, it's 
truly, truly wonderful that Christ paid that price, that Christ 
purchased us from that. So we need to consider that and 
remember that as well. Secondly, we need to proclaim 
the Gospel. We need to proclaim this truth 
because it's something that must be shared. There are those that 
are in slavery, that are fighting, that want to... I'm sure there 
are some that want to come out, and we need to proclaim that 
truth. to them, that some who are bound to it have sin and 
guilt and they don't know where to turn. They need to turn to 
the gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. So we need to proclaim 
that truth. And thirdly, we need to live 
in a manner consistent with this gospel. As I said, Ephesians 
starts chapters 1 through 3, 1 through 3. is talking about the right doctrine 
or right salvation or how salvation works, things we need to know, 
and chapters 4 through 6 talk about how we must live in response 
to that. One man comments concerning this 
freedmen idea. He says, the freedmen owed the 
former master reverence and gratitude. And this freed man would sometimes 
work for a specified number of days a year, and even give a 
portion of his estate to this One who redeemed him. Now, when 
it comes to sin, it was God who we sinned against. Yet, when 
we were enemies, He purchased us. When we were enemies, He 
purchased us from this slavery. And so we must live in reverence 
and gratitude for being purchased out of that slavery. When we 
think about that slavery, where we were, oh, should we not respond 
in reverence and gratitude to the Lord God Most High for that 
salvation in Christ. And so remember we have aid from 
our new Master, from our new, the one we're supposed to serve, 
we have aid from the Holy Spirit to serve the Lord God Most High. 
Not perfectly, but certainly we must strive because He has 
paid a great price. He has paid a great price and 
we need to be awakened and soul-stirred. Ryle says concerning right living. He says, watch, pray, and fight. Watch, pray, and fight, believers. We need to watch and pray and 
fight. Now, unbelievers, this slave 
to sin leads to an eternal death. That's what the Apostle Paul 
says in the book of Romans. This slave to sin leads to this 
eternal death. Do you like being a slave to 
this sin? Do you like being under this 
bondage to this tyrant? Why would you not believe on 
the One who has paid that price? Why would you not look to the 
Lord Christ and have faith in Him and believe on Him? Remember 
what Aristotle said about a slave. It's a lifeless tool. You are 
dead in your trespasses and sins. You are dead in your works and 
you need to believe on this Christ. Do you like being lifeless? Why 
would you not believe and have life? Why would you not believe 
on the Lord Jesus Christ and have this redemption in Christ 
Jesus? For if you do not, you could 
go out and die today, and you will die in your bondage to sin. And you will face eternal punishment. And you will remember the times 
your parents spoke the gospel to you. And you will remember 
the time it was proclaimed to you. You need to believe on this 
now. Believe on it now that you might 
not have eternal torment, not only in the mind, but physically 
as well. Believe on Christ that you might 
not be saved, because you cannot pay your debt. Your debt is too 
large that as much as you want to try, you cannot fulfill that 
purchase price. Now believe on Christ and you 
shall be saved. Believe on Christ and you shall 
be saved. Now blessed be the God and Father 
who has redeemed us, who has accomplished his work in the 
sun of redemption. Amen. Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank 
you for this day, Lord God. We thank you for the work of 
redemption in Christ Jesus. We thank you that you've saved 
sinners in Christ. You've redeemed us from the curse 
of the law. You've purchased us from that 
slavery, Lord God, something that we cannot purchase ourselves. 
We thank you for it, Lord God. We thank you for that work of 
Christ, who paid the price. Father God, we pray that for 
believers here that we would consider this, we would meditate 
on this and understand this, and that we would live in a manner 
consistent, that we'd walk with reverence and gratitude to the 
one who has freed us. We thank you for this, Lord God. 
And we pray that if there are unbelievers here today, Lord 
God, only you can save, Lord. We pray that you would save them. 
We pray that you'd convict them in their hearts, and that you 
would call them out of darkness into marvelous light to believe 
on the Lord Christ. And Father God, may you forgive 
us of our sins as we sin, Lord God. We thank you for the work 
of Christ. We thank that he is that advocate. 
We thank that he is that propitiation and the one who has redeemed 
us. May you be glorified in all things, Lord God. Amen.