Walking as those who
have a great inheritance
Ephesians 1:3-14
July 11th
& 12th, 2009
The news is abuzz these days with celebrity deaths. In the past couple weeks Ed McMahan, Farah
Fawcett, Steve McNair, and of course Michael Jackson have lost their earthly
lives. Their lives have been examined,
the good is assessed, and often the not so good is out there for everyone to
see. Often it is assumed that they are in some sort
of after life, and while that may be the case, I find that the reason and the
way that has been obtained is rarely made clear or addressed in any
detail. Contrast this, general everyone gets there anyway view of
heaven, to Apostles Paul grand statements of something called an
inheritance. In order for him to
assure the Ephesians and us of our inheritance he takes us up into the heavenly
realms, and then pulls us back to before
the world existed. In this very text he then moves us to the cross, redemption, a
guarantee by the Holy Spirit. If I
counted correctly 19 times in these 11 verses from Ephesians Christ or his
pronoun equivalent is mentioned. “Who
has blessed us in Christ, chosen us in him, we are adopted through Jesus
Christ, we receive redemption through his blood, and the list goes on and
on. It is as if Paul cannot talk about
eternal things, without also proclaiming and speaking of Christ and his work on
our behalf. Heaven and Christ go hand
in glove. Christ is the goal of
heaven, and he is the only means by which we have any hope in this dying world.
Last week we began our summer sermon series on “walking”,
under the theme Walking in strength/weakness.
We heard “when I am weak then I am strong”. That is, in our individual and collective
weaknesses, Christ has the opportunity to shine forth his strength in our
lives. In times of weaknesses we are
forced to look away from ourselves, and see more clearly our Savior who loves
us and gave himself for us. This week,
we will walk, live our faith, as those who have a great inheritance.
First a note on that word, inheritance, which is found
twice in our text. Often our
relationship to God is often thought of as a command/obedience situation. He commands and we either obey or don’t obey. While there is truth to this, a greater found throughout
the New Testament is the giver, receiver relationship. It is that second theme which Paul brings
out oh so clearly in our text. This inheritance means we are the receivers
of blessings through Christ and in Christ that span the greatest of
heavens. Blessings that were part of
God’s plan before he said let there be light.
Blessing which drench us with his mercy, literally though blood
shed. On top of it all there is a
guarantee, a seal, which comes to us through the Holy Spirit. If Paul is right, then you and I are not an
afterthought to the almighty God, but rather the object of his eternal and
expansive mercy which reaches its apex in Jesus Christ.
To walk as those who have a great inheritance is to know
that God’s work for us through Jesus started before the creation of the
world. Mathew 25:34 says “Then the king will say to those on his
right, “Come, you who are blessed by my Rather, take your inheritance, the
kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.” This is the scriptural teaching of
predestination, that is, God has such a
hold on you in Christ Jesus and this grip goes back before time began. Here we are in mysterious territory, because
the Bible does not say that he chose some and not others. After all it is Jesus who said he desires
all to be saved and come to knowledge of the truth. We believe in predestination but not double
presentation, and while you can lose your faith if you and I chose to separate
ourselves from God and his Word, the dominate note here is jaw dropping awe,
that God would do such a wondrous thing.
To walk as those who have a great inheritance means that
we do not depend on our obedience (the law), but rather on his promises. A man was at the gate of heaven Peter told him that you need 100 points to get
in, and so the man proceeded to tell him about his wife. I was faithfully married to the same woman
for 50 years and never strayed from her, even in my heart. “That’s wonderful”, Peter said, “That’s worth
three points”. The man was shocked,
three points! But he goes on. Well, I
attended church all my life and supported it with my tithes and service. “Terrific”, said Peter. “That’s worth a point”. One point?” the man complains, but
continues. “I started a soup kitchen ,
and worked as a volunteer in a shelter for homseless men.” “Fantastic! Two
points for that.” That man was getting desperate. “Two points? At this point I’ll never make except for the
grace of God.” Peter rejoices, “Bingo—100 points. Come on in”. Galatians 3:18 says “For if the inheritance
depends on the law, then it no longer depends on the promise; but God in his
grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.”
Certainly our inheritance is dependent on God’s grace in Christ Jesus,
but so is our daily connection to Jesus.
He loves you and me, not because of what we promise , do or don’t do,
but always completely due his work on our behalf.
To walk as those who have a great inheritance, is to know
that this inheritance comes with a guarantee.
“You were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of
our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his
glory”. There was a phrase I heard a
while back, which said that the Holy Spirit is no skeptic. We worry about so much in our daily life, whether
it has to do with finances, health concerns, or the like. We also are blessed with a myriad of
choices, and this is good, but with that also comes some wonderings whether it
was the right one or not. If we are
honest with ourselves and others, our choices are not always the best. Yet, God’s choice of us, and his guarantee of
our future through the seal of the Spirit is a sure deal. This is why the sacraments are so wonderful. They are physical signs which Jesus as given
his church, that actually bring the reality of his death and resurrection into
our lives. Why so we can be assured of
this guarantee? We have the Holy
Spirit. “In his great mercy he has given us new birth
into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and
into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade-kept in heaven for
you…..
The reality of death, even for the