July 15, 2001
Vicar Rick Marrs
Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The text on which this morning's message is based comes from our Epistle lesson (Ephesians 1: 3-14) read earlier.

I must admit that I was a little taken aback when 30% of you who turned in the Summer Sermon Topic Questionnaires marked "Predestination" as a preferred topic. For those of you unfamiliar with the term "predestination" it simply means determine in advance, decide on beforehand. In our text Paul tells the Ephesian Christians that God decided in advance, from eternity He has chosen them. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us (he decided in advance for us) to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will--

There are many misguided teachings out there among Christians about predestination, about how God decides in advance for us. The Bible is quite clear in our text and in Romans 8 and other places that God does decide in advance for us. Sometimes this concept is difficult for our human minds to grasp, sometimes even one that people fear. We want to fill in any apparent gaps in what God says with our own human logic. We want to explain God rather than hear Him. We want to explain God in such a way that we can fit him into our box of human logic. But, in this area about God's mysterious foreknowledge and advanced decisions, it is best to simply let Scripture speak for God. That is what I want to do today, to let Paul proclaim us the great wonders of God's foreknowledge and predestination, but to do so through illustrations and stories about God's messages to us in this text. The Biblical teaching that God chose US in advance is wondrous Good News, the purest Good News Gospel that we could ever imagine.

V. 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.

A man once told his friend "I don't understand God." His friend responded "God is not to be fully understood; he is to be fully adored." That is where Paul focuses us in verse 3, on adoring and praising God. Paul is, in essence, saying "WOW, what a God." We are to praise him because He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ and has chosen us before the creation of the world. We sometimes forget the blessings and ignore the greatness of his selecting us, but our forgetting and ignoring does not lessen the greatness of his blessings.

He chose us, out of grace in Christ. We as sinners were lost, not deserving of God's grace. But God chose us anyway. Suppose you were wandering, completely lost in a dark tropical swamp, and someone came to you and said, "You are lost." That wouldn't help you, but suppose the man said "You are lost and I am a guide, I know the way out. I will lead you back to your home, back to the ones who love you. Trust me." Now that man would be helpful, even life-saving.

That would be a great blessing. That is what Christ has done for us.

How and why did God bless us in this way? We learn that in verse 5 and following: he determined in advance that we would be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will-- 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace 8 that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.

We did not choose God. He chose us. We were bought back from our lost condition by his blood, his suffering and death on the cross. We didn't deserve that great blessing, but we receive it by grace. And what is grace?

If I were a good neighbor, mowing your lawn while you're on vacation, driving you to the doctor when your car won't start and doing similar acts of kindness while refusing to be paid – and then I became sick and you brought me a bowl of hot soup, that would nice. That would be neighborly love. But if I were a bad neighbor who threw rocks through your windows, dumped garbage at your door, and spread nasty rumors about you so that you lost many friends – and then I became sick and you brought me a bowl of hot soup, that would be grace!

Grace is undeserved mercy. By nature we throw rocks at God's house and spread nasty rumors about him. But by grace He decided in advance to show us mercy. By grace he brought us so much more than a bowl of soup. By grace he gave us Jesus. How marvelous is this God, worthy of praise for our many blessings.

How do we know that we have been chosen in this way? How do we know these words and this choseness applies to us. Paul answers that question in verses 13-14: And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession-- to the praise of his glory.

We have been marked with a seal, a permanent, indelible mark of the promised Holy Spirit. The Spirit of "wisdom and revelation" was poured out on Christ visibly at his Baptism (Isaiah 11: 2). That same Spirit was poured out on you at your Baptism. We remain in that same Spirit as we remain connected to his Word.

You've all heard this phrase from a radio meteorologist: "If you're within the sound of my voice." That same phrase If you're within the sound of my voice" applies to our faith in Jesus as well. When we hear his voice, spoken and read from His Word, he protects us from the winds and tornadoes of this world. When we hear his Word spoken on Sundays, studied in Bible Studies, read through our own personal devotions, then we remain within the sound of his voice, under his protection. When we hear his voice, the great heavenly blessing of his word, He calls us again to turn to Him and trust him. Our full and final redemption is coming when He returns in glory.

That seal we have with the Holy Spirit is like an engagement ring God has placed on our fingers. His Word reminds us of that engagement ring and the coming of the great wedding day with the promise of our reunion with Christ.

What God determined beforehand in eternity, he is carrying out in time. To those he chose in advance, he also called through Baptism and His Word. Those he called he also made blameless and holy in his sight through Christ's suffering and death on the cross. To those he has made holy and blameless, he promises to glorify, to raise from the dead for eternal life. His promises are sure. Wow, what a God we have!

The grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with us always. Amen.