Ephesians 1:7 - Redemption

From January 31st 2021

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Today is the last Sunday of the Month, so our first announcement will be that the Older Kids Sunday School class will be staying upstairs with us adults, while the younger kids get to go and have snacks and fun.

The first Digital Bible Study was this past Tuesday, and the next one will be NEXT Tuesday the 9th at 630pm.

Its on Zoom, so if you want to join, then come see me for the info, or go to our Facebook page for that log in info.

Were going to be look at the Bible and studying what is written to determine, as much as humans can, about the character and nature of God. ----------- Tuesday February 9th 630pm

Were in the Middle of the CareNet baby bottle drive, and they are due back on Valentines Day ---- February 14th.

The last announcement will be that NEXT Sunday is the first Sunday of the month, so we will be sharing in Holy Communion together.

Because of Covid, were asking that everyone bring their own Bread & Wine.

And the younger kids are dismissed. ----if any adults want to go with them for cookies and juice, I won’t judge you.

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Were going to be continuing our study of the Book of Ephesians this morning, by looking at Chapter 1, verse 7.

I’m going to start back at verse 3 and go through to verse 8 ---- to give us the context that this verse comes is in ------- and then we’ll be looking at the first half of verse 7 this morning,

Ephesians 1:3–8

Spiritual Blessings in Christ

[3] Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, [4] even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love [5] he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, [6] to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. [7] In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, [8] which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight.”

( → → Opening Prayer ← ← )

A few Sundays ago we looked at verse 3 - and we read that we have EVERY SPIRITUAL BLESSING.

Not most ---- spiritual blessings

Not 50% of the spiritual blessings that God has for us----

EVERY spiritual Blessing

How many spiritual blessings do we already have? All of them.

Last week we talked about the first blessing, and today were going to talk about the second one we see; Redemption

In verse 7 we read these words:

“We have redemption through His blood…”

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This right here, is what it is all about.

This is the whole shebang ----- the whole enchilada -----

This is the heart of Christianity.

This is it’s essence.

This concept right here ------- redemption -------- contains everything that is essential to Christianity.

BUT ------ before we jump into what it means, and what the ramifications are of it ------ we need to look at the context.

Last week we talked about predestination ---- and actually this will be the topic of our next Bible Study where we dig really deep into the Word.

But when we look at this verse in Ephesians, we can see that we weren't predestined ----------- to go sit on a shelf.

We weren’t chosen before the foundations of the world ------ to sit on the sidelines and watch that world pass us by.

When we look at verse 4, it says this:

“...He chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.”

We were chosen to be holy and blameless.

Holy and blameless

Not pretty good----

Not mostly good----

Not try as hard as you can, and when you mess up it’s ok----

Not more good than we are bad ----- which is the muslim idea of salvation

We were chosen to be holy & blameless

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If you came to our Bible Study this past tuesday, you’ll already know what i’m about to say------- and that is that it is impossible, in our own strength and of our own will ----- to do this.

We can try as hard as we want

Read and study everything ever written

We can kind and compassionate and loving and respectful and sociable

We can work our butts off

Pray until we are blue in the face

Human effort can not make us holy and blameless

---because humans, by our very nature, are evil.

We are all sinners

Fallen from grace

Contaminated

Dead in our sins

Theres an old heavy metal song by a band named Diamond Head thats titled: “Am I evil?”

And im sure they were trying to be all edgy and alternative-----

But the Biblical, Christian response to that question, no matter who asks it, is “yes”

By the Biblical definition; Humans are:

Dead & Evil Lost sheep

And not only that, but Romans 6 even says that we are slaves to our sin.

Not more likely to sin, than not sin-----

Not inclined to do bad more often than good----

Not whenever we feel like sinning we always fight it-----but always lose---

No----- it says we are slaves

Bound--

Confined--

Slaves

So what hope is there?

If by our very nature we are evil----

And we are slaves to our sin-----

What can we possibly do?

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And this right here, is why Redemption is a blessing.

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You see, when Romans 6 says that you were slaves of sin ------ that’s exactly what it means.

You were a slave to your sin.

Your free will was limited by your slave-hood

The only choices you could make ------ were the choices of a slave

Yes we could try hard, and succeed-----

But sometime trying hard led to failure-----

When our bad choices hunted us down and haunted us----

When every lie we’ve told came back to bite us

When every lustful thought stained our heart---

When every sexually immoral action cutaway entire pieces of our heart ----

When every angry thought held our hearts captive----

We did all we could to deny that were slaves-----

When bitterness slowly crawled through our soul, poisoning everything it touched----

When unforgiveness seeped through our hearts----

When our own selfishness and pride stew behind our words, threatening the relationships with the people in our life that we love-----

Every time we lose our patience with our family---

Every time we mess up---

Every times we slip up and act in ways we know we shouldnt, but the ----- overwhelming temptation to give in ----- continually scratches at the back of our minds----

When the filth in this world calls forth the filth in our own heart and we see the effects of our sin ever before us-----

When we can no longer deny that our sins have enslaved us ------- be it the dead end of the road that our own strength has led us down ------

Or the end result of our own bad choices has left us with nothing----

We see the blood soaked shackles of our enslavement, digging through our flesh until they touch bone ----- and then shocking us into more and more denial.

It is a human response, to hide from our own bad choices

We are enslaved to our sin and its ramifications.

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Yes we try our hardest----

Yes we work and study and dig deep to summon forth the strength necessary to make it through another day---

It may sound rude----but the best a slave can do------ is be a slave.

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When all those things I just listed come against us-------each and every single one of them is a shackle upon our heart.

Our past sins and past mistakes bind us in dungeons of self hate and depression

Each of our sins, no matter how big or how small they may be ------ are each an individual link in the chains that keep us bound

Contorting our heart ----

Contorting our mind----

And even contorting the very Word of God for selfish gain-----

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It’s like this, because of the very nature of sin.

Sin isn't simply ----- external bad choices that we make----

It is internal, in our very being ------ corruption.

Matthew 15:19-20 says this:

“For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. 20 These are what defile a person…”

Our sin is within our soul ----- so it touches all parts of our life ------

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I hope that wasn't too heavy handed ----- it may seem like I really harped on this------

But we need to realize the direness of our situation, if we are ever going to see the beauty of redemption.

If we sit back and say “I wasn't a slave to sin” or “I’m not a slave to sin.”

Yes it strong in my life

Yes I hate it

Yes it seems to control me sometimes

But only when I haven't had enough sleep

Only when I haven't been intimate with my spouse does my lust show up

Only when I haven't eaten and I’m hungry ----- then my sin shows up

It may seem like my hatred of my parent has consumed me ----- but i'm in charge of it most of the time

But a SLAVE?! -------- Not even close

If that is our mentality ------ then when we hear that Jesus Christ is a redeemer, it wont make any sense.

We wont know Him and we wont know His Father

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It wont make any sense, precisely because of what being redeemed means.

When we read verse 7 that says “We have redemption through His blood…” the Apostle Paul, who wrote the book of Ephesians, is using a term that was used for technical and financial situations.

The word “Redeemed” = in the Greek = is “lutroo” = which means ……To liberate by payment of ransom

to cause to be released to one's self by payment of a ransom

to deliver: from evils of every kind, internal and external

It is a technical term for money paid to buy back a prisoner of war ------ or ---- to buy back a slave’s freedom.

So when Paul says that we have redemption through His blood ----- He is saying that

“The ransom that was on your life, has been paid.”

“You have been bought”

“Your freedom was purchased.”

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When you are in Christ, you are ------no longer----- a slave to sin

The things in your past that remind you of “Who you used to be” no longer have control over you

If you have repented of your sins and believed in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, then the disgusting power of your disgusting sin, was permanently and irrevocably broken.

The chains of slavery that once held us tight, have not only been loosened by Him, they have been torn to pieces altogether.

We don't HAVE to fall to our sin anymore----

We now have the ability and the desire to resist it---

You are no longer slaves to your old self----

Slaves to fear

Slaves to anxiety

The stinging whip of depression and trauma that one time in your life, drove you forward to complete their evil tasks and live as if everything in your life was centered around their commands ----- has been broken.

You are no longer a slave to sin.

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You see, when Scripture tells us that we have redemption through the blood of Jesus Christ, it may seem weird, that blood was used to pay off our debt, but thats exactly what happened.

We owed a blood debt.

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Not to the devil ----

Not to our parents ----

But to God.

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You see, when I said earlier that all humans are naturally evil -----

And at our Bible Study we talked about how there is sin in all of our faculties

Our heart

Our mind

Our body

Our soul

Our spirit

It means that we were deserving of the death penalty-----because of the perfect justice of God.

The thoughts that flowed through our hearts, where we keep the secrets that would cause even our parents to cry------

The actions we have taken that stand in contrast to Scripture ------

Are deserving of eternal ---- unending ---- all consuming but never destroying ----- searing ---- white hot ---- wrath of God ----- hellfire

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You see, God is not just some fluffy nice old grandpa in the clouds who smiles when His grandchildren do something dumb.

Yes He is perfectly loving----

And perfectly merciful

But he is also perfectly just---- and He will punish every evil action

Every wicked thought

Every selfish indulgence

Every dark sinful lingering thought that flirts with us in the back of our mind will have it’s day in court

Every Human ------ will have their day in Court.

We owed a blood debt to the Judge of the universe ----- who sees the deepest desires and thoughts of man’s heart and casts perfect judgment.

And on that day when we stand before His Holy Court-----

The Son of Man -----

Jesus Christ -----

Son of David -----

The Messiah will stand before us because He Himself took the punishment for our sins.

1st Peter 1:18-19 says this:

“Knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

Jesus Christ paid the blood debt for all who believe in Him-----

No longer do we have to cower in shame before God---

No longer are we slaves to our sin

No longer do the ghosts of our past that swirl and scream and torment our soul ------have ANY say in how we live and what we do.

We have been redeemed from slavery----

We have been liberated from our chains----

The power of our own voluntary sin that one time controlled our very thoughts and emotions ------ bowed before the blood of our King as each drop stained His holy cross.

We are the sons and daughters of God Himself-----

Bought with blood of His Son

And our bad choices and the attacks of our enemy have no say in our life anymore.

You are not your sin

You are not your bad choices

You are not the ghosts of your past

You are not the bad things you have done

You are not the bad things that other people have done to you

Titus 2:14

“Who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.”

If you have repented of your sins and believed in the Gospel of Jesus Christ-----

Then you are blood born Princes and Princesses chosen before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless.

Id like to bring up just a few other things before we close this morning, 2 actually.

The first-----

Redemption is the channel through which our salvation comes

We were guilty and deserving of death -------

But ------- Jesus took the punishment

He paid that price

This is the Gospel

The wrath of God that we deserve will be satisfied because of the unending loving grace of our redeeming savior.

Jesus Christ is freedom and no other name under heaven can free us from our past.

Next week were going to get into forgiveness, and it may very well end up with those exact same words that just flew out of my mouth.

But I want us all to take one more thing home with us today.

Everyone messes up.

No one is perfect except Jesus

This isn't an excuse to go sin, but it’s a reality that we should not let our mistakes define us.

So what do we do then?

We prepare ahead of time.

We exercise our spiritual muscles, so when the time comes to use them------they won't rip and tear and fail.

We spend time in our Bibles

Reading // researching // arguing with our own understanding

We read Commentaries and listen to other Preachers

We go to Church // We Worship

We gather with other believers and encourage and love them

We love our enemies // We pray for those who persecute us

We submit to authority

We live how the Bible tells us to live so when that moment comes where our past comes back to haunt us ----- we don't have to rely on ourselves to fight it.

And ill close with this

1 Peter 1:13–25

[13] Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. [14] As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, [15] but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, [16] since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” [17] And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, [18] knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, [19] but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. [20] He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you [21] who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

[22] Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, [23] since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; [24] for

“All flesh is like grass

and all its glory like the flower of grass.

The grass withers,

and the flower falls,

[25] but the word of the Lord remains forever.”

And this word is the good news that was preached to you. (ESV)

( → → Doxology ← ← )

Praise God from whom all blessings flow;

Praise Him all creatures here below;

Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts;

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.”

( → → Closing Prayer ← ← )