Praising God'€™s Son

January 13, 2019
Pastor Clint Ziemer

Audio of the sermon preached on January 13, 2019, at Cable Community Church, Sherrard, IL

Episode Notes

Praising God’s Son




Eph. 1:7-12

Dr. Bryan Chapel tells the story about an author who was interviewed on National Public Radio. He described his experience in a New York subway. A reasonably dressed, but apparently disturbed man walked through the crowd, pointing to individuals and addressing them with these words: “You’re in, you’re out.” There was no apparent rhyme or reason to the choosing. One chosen to be “in” might be poorly or well dressed, black or white, male or female. Sometimes two or three in a row would be “in” and then abruptly someone else would be “out.” “You’re in, you’re in, you’re in, you’re out.”

The crazed man making choices for no reason at all neared the author, whose heart involuntarily began to pound and his breath quickened in anticipation of the coming choice. It was silly. Apart from the potential danger of the crazed man, there was nothing to gain or to lose in being chosen. There was no competition to be won, no qualification to be met. Who cared if you were a loser in this game? The man came still closer, pointing a finger at young or old without distinction: “You’re in, you’re out.” Finally, he came to the author, pointed a finger at his chest and said, “You’re in.”

The author said later that he could not help feeling a sort of euphoria. He was among the chosen. Chosen for what? He did not know. He knew it was senseless to be proud of being so chosen, but he couldn’t help but feel that there was some privilege earned, some approval gained, or some reward deserved now that he was among the chosen. He felt special for being chosen, but at the same time he felt silly for appreciating such a distinction that had no apparent benefits.

Last week we began a series from Ephesians, chapter 1, looking at reasons for praising God.  We praise Him, of course, for who He is, but also for what He has done.  We learned that He has chosen and accepted us, and that was all within His plan from the beginning of time.   The text today is found in verses 7-12  There we will learn that we are chosen as we look to God’s Son and discover that in Him we have…

Redemption (v. 7a)  

Forgiveness (v 7b)       and an

Inheritance (v. 11)  

  1. Body
    1. Redemption. (v. 7a)
      1. Paul wrote “In Him we have… redemption.”
        1. The Greek word used here for redemption means “to release or set free, as in  the process of freeing a slave.” The word carried the idea of paying a price, a ransom, to release a person from bondage, especially the bondage of slavery.
        2. Mark 10:45: “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
      2. This redemption that we have is through His blood
        1. 1 Peter 1:18–19: “knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”
        2. Hebrews 9:12: “Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood [Jesus] entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption”
      3. John MacArthur notes,    During New Testament times the Roman Empire had as many as six million slaves, and the buying and selling of them was a major business. If a person wanted to free a loved one or friend who was a slave, he would buy that slave for himself and then grant him freedom, testifying to the deliverance by a written certificate. [The Greek word for redemption] was used to designate the freeing of a slave in that way.


    1. Forgiveness  (v. 7b)
      1. In Him we have…forgiveness 
        1. Micah 7:19: “He will again have compassion on us,  And will subdue our iniquities.  You will cast all our sins. Into the depths of the sea.”
        2. Jeremiah 31:34: “No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
        3. Psalm 103:12: “. . . As far as the east is from the west,  So far has He removed our transgressions from us.”
        4. 1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
      2. according to… His grace
      3. Illustration 
        1. Kent Hughes tells the story of Charles Colson watching Albert Speer being interviewed on “Good Morning, America.” Speer was the Hitler confidant whose technological genius kept the Nazi factories running throughout World War II. He was the only one of the twenty-four war criminals tried at Nuremburg to admit his guilt, and he had served twenty years in a Spandau prison. The interviewer referred to a passage in one of Speer’s earlier writings: “You have said the guilt can never be forgiven or shouldn’t be. Do you still feel that way?”
        2. Colson says he will never forget the look on Speer’s face as he responded, “I served a sentence of twenty years, and I could say, ‘I’m a free man, my conscience has been cleared by serving the whole time as punishment.’ But I can’t get rid of it. This new book is part of my atoning, of clearing my conscience.”
        3. The interviewer pressed the point: “You really don’t think you’ll be able to clear it totally?”
        4. Speer shook his head. “I don’t think it will be possible.”
        5. Colson then wrote these words:
        6. For thirty-five years Speer had accepted complete responsibility for his crime. His writings were filled with contrition and warnings to others to avoid his moral sin. He desperately sought expiation. All to no avail. I wanted to write Speer, to tell him about Jesus and his death on the cross, about God’s forgiveness. But there wasn’t time. The ABC interview was his last public statement; he died shortly after.
        7. The good news of the gospel is that Jesus provides full and complete forgiveness
    2. Inheritance. (v. 11)
      1. In Him also we have inheritance… 
        1. Romans 8:16-17.  The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ…
        2. What does that mean.  It means that our every conceivable need is met by God’s gracious provision in accordance with His divine promises. Here’s a loist of some of the things that we are promised in Christ;  peace, love, grace, wisdom, eternal life, joy, victory, strength, guidance, power, mercy, forgiveness, righteousness, truth, fellowship with God, spiritual discernment, heaven, eternal riches, glory—those and every other good thing that comes from God.  Paul says, “The world or life or death or things present or things to come; all things belong to you, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God” (1 Cor. 3:22–23).
        3. 2 Peter 1:1-4. To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:  Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
      2. according to [His] will. 
      3. Illustration 
        1. Warren Wiersbe writes,  “A distraught wife sought out a Christian marriage counselor and told her sad story of a marriage about to dissolve. “But we have so much!” she kept saying. “Look at this diamond ring on my finger. Why, it’s worth thousands! We have an expensive mansion in an exclusive area. We have three cars, and even a cabin in the mountains. Why, we have everything money can buy!” The counselor replied: “It’s good to have the things money can buy provided you don’t lose the things money can’t buy. What good is an expensive house if there’s no home? Or an expensive ring if there’s no love?” In Christ, you and I have “what money can’t buy,” and these spiritual riches open up to us all the wealth of God’s vast creation. We enjoy the gifts because we know and love the Giver.”
  1. Conclusion
    1. There’s a fictional story about the former pro golfer Arnold Palmer that illustrates the riches that we have in Christ Jesus.  
      1. Palmer once played a series of exhibition matches in Saudi Arabia. The king was so impressed that he proposed to give Palmer a gift. Palmer demurred; "It really isn't necessary, Your Highness. I'm honored to have been invited.”
      2. "I would be deeply upset," replied the king, "if you would not allow me to give you a gift.”
      3. Palmer thought for a moment and said, "All right. How about a golf club?  That would be a beautiful memento of my visit to your country.”
      4. The next day, delivered to Palmer's hotel, was the title to a golf club. Thousands of acres, trees, lakes, clubhouse, and so forth.
    2. Next week we will conclude this short series by looking at God’s Holy Spirit, and we will be reminded how we know that we are in Christ, but for today, we who are in Christ have 
      1. redemption through His blood
      2. forgiveness according to… His grace
      3. An  inheritance… according to [His] will

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