EPHESIANS 1 MY TRUE IDENTITY IN JESUS2019 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Ephesians 1 My True Identity In Jesus

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2019. Ephesians chapter 1 is where we're going to be tonight as we continue working our way

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And you could consider that and we'll be considering that in many different ways throughout the book of Ephesians. But just realizing and recognizing who we are in Christ. And so as we look at this passage this evening, verses 3 through 14, kind of really beginning the book of Ephesians now. And this passage is packed with

with things we need to recognize and understand as part of our identity of who we are in Jesus. And so let's begin by reading through this passage together and then we'll jump into the message that the Lord has for us. Ephesians chapter 1 verse 3 says, "'Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.'"

Verse 1.

which he made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence. Verse 9. Having made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times, he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth in him. In him also we have obtained an inheritance being predestined,

according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of his glory. In him you also trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also having believed you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of his glory.

As Paul introduces his subject in this letter, he says,

fills these verses with great depth and much riches and lots of things for us to consider this evening. I wish we could spend a year, you know, looking at this passage. There's so much there, but we won't, and we won't keep you here all night either. But as we begin to consider this passage, I was thinking about Jesus when he was with his disciples. And you might remember that time when he was with his disciples in northern Israel, Caesarea,

And Philippi, not Philippi. Oh my goodness, the names are escaping me. What's the northern area, guys? Oh my goodness. Yeah, no, Philippi, that's in Greece. Okay, so near Dan. Oh, it is, that's where we're at, Philippi. Okay.

So up in the northern part of Israel, there is, you know, this fresh stream that comes out from underneath this huge rock. And you might remember there, that's when Jesus asked his disciples, who do men say that I am, right? And the disciples, you know, said, well, some people say that you're Elijah, right?

Some people say you're John the Baptist. Some say you're one of the great prophets and some say this and some say that. And then Jesus looked at them and said, but who do you say that I am? There's all these opinions about who I am, but who do you say that I am? And I was thinking about that as we think about this subject of our identity in Jesus. Just as there was lots of opinions and ideas about who Jesus was,

There's lots of opinions and ideas about who you are. And your identity is the subject of, well, lots of speculation and lots of opinions and lots of discussion. Well, maybe not too much discussion, but there is some perspectives and opinions about who you are. And here as we look at Ephesians chapter 1, I've titled the message, My True Identity in Jesus. Because in the midst of all of these ideas and opinions about my identity and who I am,

even my own perspective on who I am is not often accurate according to who God says that I am. And here what we find in these verses is the Lord's

standard, his declaration of who you are, who I am. I find my true identity in Jesus declared and described here in Ephesians chapter one. And I want to encourage you to let God declare who you are. And don't base who you think you are, your relationship to God, or your standing before God. Don't base any of those things upon how you feel. Don't

Don't base those things upon what others may say about you. Friends, family, society, they may have good intentions, they may have bad intentions, but either way, there's all kinds of perspectives about who you are that may not be accurate according to what God says. And we have an enemy who is lying to us continually about who we are, trying to convince us that we are not who God says that we are.

So that we don't partake of and benefit from all that God has for us. And so this evening and throughout our time together in Ephesians, I want to encourage you, let God declare who you are. That will help us to then walk accordingly and we'll get to that later in Ephesians. But first we need to really just soak it in and understand who am I?

What is my position before God? What is my standing before God? And here in Ephesians chapter one, we have some great insights about that. I like what the Greek scholar Kenneth Wiest says about this passage. He says the contents of verses three through 14 make one long sentence, possibly the longest sentence of connected discourse in existence.

Here we have some of the most important doctrinal words and profoundest and richest truths regarding what God has done for the saints. This is, you know, just one long run-on sentence. It's bad grammar, but good doctrine.

and great insights and great truth. It's full of rich concepts and truths and doctrines and things hard to understand. And yet there's great value in spending time and working our way through this. And so my true identity in Jesus here in Ephesians chapter one, we're going to walk through eight things. We're going to go through them fast. So, you know, you'll be prepared to kind of like write them down and maybe go on and consider them further on your own. But

eight things that Paul kind of highlights. You know, maybe you could say 24 things, and sure you could, but we're just going to focus on a few of these as Paul describes who we are in Christ. And so we're going to start in verse 3 with the first point, and that is, I am blessed with all spiritual blessings. Looking at verse 3 again,

Paul says, Paul begins by blessing God.

This word blessing, it means to speak well of. That's what it literally means. It means to speak well of. And so as he blesses God, he's speaking well of God. He's praising God is another way to declare it or to say it. He's praising God. He's speaking well of God. He's honoring God for what has he done?

Why is he blessing God? Well, because he has blessed us with every spiritual blessing. And so three times this word blessed is used just in this verse. So speaking well of God, you could think of it that way, because God has spoken well of us. And it's interesting to think of it that way. What do you think God says when he speaks of you?

And there is those times, there is those seasons, maybe there's, you know, that happens frequently, that if you were to picture God speaking about you, that you wouldn't picture the words that he would be saying, you know, would be described as speaking well of you, right?

in times of weakness, in times of failure, in times of hardship, in times of difficulty, in times of doubting and wavering, and in different times in our lives, we might say, you know, God would have some hard things, some harsh things, some critical things to say, but this idea of God has blessed us

is conveying the idea that he has spoken well of us. Not just spoken well of us, but you know, God spoke the heavens and the earth into existence, right?

He said, let there be light, and there was light. When we bless God, I mean, we praise him, we do our best to give him the honor that's due to his name, and it's needful, and it's important, and it's good for us to do so. But when God blesses us, it's more than just saying words, but God, when he blesses us, it's actual activity, action, power, and

actual benefit to us. And he's blessed us, Paul says, with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Now, throughout the time of this passage, Paul is talking about being in Christ. He's talking about in him, by him. It's all centered around Jesus. And so we need to make sure that this is, you know, we understand that this is my identity in Jesus. This is not my identity of myself. But as a believer in Jesus...

This is my position. This is who I am. I am one who is blessed with every spiritual blessing. I am one who God speaks well of and who God holds nothing back. Whatever is good for me, whatever is good for me spiritually, whatever is good for me for my life, whatever is good for me, I have that from God. Whatever is good for me, I have that from God. I am blessed spiritually.

Pastor Charles Spurgeon says, Sometimes we don't feel that blessed because sometimes

of our physical situation, our financial circumstances, you know, the things that we're facing, the temporary things, the trials and things that we face and we don't feel very blessed and yet we are and we can look at our life and recognize the many blessings that we have from God and in the Lord. But here Paul is highlighting the

Not the temporary blessings, not the ways that God works miraculously and heals and provides and meets our needs. And all of those things are good. And we ought to praise God for those things. And we rejoice in those things. Absolutely. But we also need to remember the spiritual blessings. And what God has provided for us is far greater than any of those temporary things. I mean, you can recover from, you know, the worst disease. You can think about Lazarus, right? Being raised from the dead.

right? That's an amazing miracle, but that doesn't compare to the spiritual blessings that Lazarus received from the Lord. And we need to keep our eyes, as Richard was sharing on Sunday, not on the temporary things, but on the things that are unseen, the eternal things. And remember that we have everything good for us. God has provided to us as believers in Jesus Christ. I am blessed to

Now there's a lot of people who call themselves Christians who, you know, are Christians. I shouldn't say it that way. There's a lot of people who are Christians and yet they would say, man, I feel cursed. I feel like, you know, God is just taking away all the blessings. I feel like God is, and there is this idea, this misunderstanding of their position and their identity in the Lord. You're not cursed, right?

And you could, you know, people call into pastor's perspective all the time. You know, my family, you know, there's a family curse on us. And, you know, so what do I do? You know, you're not, you're blessed with all spiritual blessings. Everything good for you, God is providing for you in Christ Jesus. Let God declare who you are. Not how you feel, not what others say, not what's passed on to you from, you know,

Family member to family member, not what society says about you, not what the enemy is lying to you about. You are blessed with all spiritual blessings. Well, moving on to point number four, we get point, I'm sorry, verse number four, we get point number two, and that is, I am chosen by God. In verse four, he goes on to say, just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.

Now this is one of those verses that, boy, there's a lot here and we can't get into all the different aspects of things that we could consider. But just stop and consider this idea. He chose us in him before the foundation of the world. And I would encourage you to just try to picture that for a moment. Let's go back to Genesis 1.1 and then just before that. Before God said, let there be light.

before God spoke the heavens and the earth into existence. Before the world exists, just try to rewind the tape in your head. I know it's hard for us to imagine. We can't quite picture it, but there's God. He hasn't created the heavens yet. He hasn't created the earth yet. He hasn't created Adam and Eve yet. There he is intending to, preparing to bring all of this into existence. And in that place, at that time, God knew you and he chose you.

Even before the Garden of Eden was planted, he had Michael Ochoa in his mind before the foundation of the world. And he says, I choose you. And then he put him in a little pokeball. No, I'm just kidding. I choose you. I select you. That word to choose, he chose us. It means to select. He chose you. He selected you in him before the foundation of the world. Now then verse five goes on to use the word predestined. And predestined

This is where we can get tripped up and there's some complex doctrine in this idea of election, predestination, and I don't want to get caught up in all that argument and I'm not going to try to explain that whole scenario. I'll just kind of summarize it to two things. There's two main errors that people make when it comes to this subject about election and predestination. One error that people make is they take it to the conclusion that, well, I don't have choice.

Because God has chosen, so that takes away my choice. And we find that is clearly not the case throughout all of the scripture. That God specifically writes to us and he declares, you know, that he has chosen, that he is sovereign, but he never in that diminishes the responsibility that we have and the option that we have.

Jesus, as he was preaching, he always did it as an open invitation. You know, whosoever will may come. You know, as he poured out the water, you know, in John chapter 7, our theme verse for our church, right? Whoever's thirsty, let him come and drink. Not whoever's thirsty who is also chosen. You know, he didn't, you know, refine it or try to keep, it was an open invitation. And so we cannot take this idea of God choosing us to indicate that I have no choice. Right?

I also have to choose, I get to choose, but also to stop and reflect and consider that he chose me. He selected me before the foundation of the world. Well, the other error that people often will make about this concept of election or predestination is they will go to another extreme and

Not only did God choose me or you to be holy and without blame before him in love, as it says in verse four, but they will go on to say that God chose others. They're predestined to judgment, to hell.

And that is taking it beyond the scripture never says anything of the sort. But, you know, there will be arguments like, well, that's the only logical conclusion. But the problem with that is we're trying to figure out, we're basing, you know, the reality of God based on our logic and our understanding. And we know that God is far above what we can understand. And his ways are high above our ways, as high as the heavens are above the earth. And so we can't, you know,

come to our own conclusions that are contrary to the scripture that's not going to help us or anybody else but so you can wrestle with all those things you can explore all those things there's lots of things that you can consider about that but let's not get too caught up in that for the moment let's just stop and reflect on the reality that before god spoke anything into existence he was thinking about richard he was thinking about roman he was thinking about us and he chose us

Knowing what would happen in the garden, knowing all the things that would take place, knowing, you know, everything about us before we ever existed, knowing everything about us, he chose us. He selected us. I can say I'm chosen by God and not in an arrogant way or, you know, some type of way, but just in recognition that God knew in advance and you could think about it in two ways. He chose me anyway, even though he knew all the, you know,

mess he would be receiving when he chose me. But he also chose me to transform me and change me and to make me into his image, to make me holy. I'm not holy, but he's working on it. He chose me. I'm chosen by God. You are chosen by God. I've always liked the picture that Donald Barnhouse shared. He was a Bible teacher.

who died in the 60s. But he just said it this way. He said, describe it or picture a door. Imagine a door and across the top of the door, it says, whosoever will may come. And it's Jesus's invitation. And so you walk through and you say, yes, I will come. I respond. I believe in Jesus. And as you walk through the door, once you get to the other side, you're now in Christ. And you look back at the door and across the top, it says chosen before the foundation of the world.

And it's both are true. Whosoever will may come, you've believed in Jesus. And that means you have been chosen before the foundation of the world. That's who you are. From the very beginning, God knew you. He selected you. He chose you. Sometimes people feel like, you know, well, Jesus died to save most people and he kind of has to let me in, you know, but it's like,

It's just because of the rules, you know? It wasn't really for me. It wasn't really, you know, because of me that he died. It wasn't, I wasn't the objective. You know, there's much more important and precious people to him. And, you know, no, no, no. Don't let that lie settle upon your heart. You are one of those who were the joy that was set before him for which he endured the cross. You're chosen. He had you in mind. He selected you. You are chosen by God.

Moving on to verse 5, we get point number 3, and that is, I am a child of God. Verse 5 says, And so here we get that word predestined. And again, I'm not going to get into all of the details there, but notice what we're predestined to, to adoption. He's blessed us, he's chosen us, and he has adopted us.

Now, for adoption, in Roman culture, which is where Paul was when he was writing these things, and that's where, you know, the Ephesians were, they were there in the Roman Empire, right? In Roman culture, adoption had some different connotations than we might think of today, right?

Now, you know, as those who are siblings growing up, you know, if there's children and then one's adopted, you know, there might be some baggage that goes with that. Some, you know, perhaps relationship issues and some maybe, you know, it's perceived to be lesser or shameful or something because you're adopted, but I'm really, you know, like, so there's all of that that we might consider with this word adoption. Yeah.

But in Roman culture, there was not that same scenario, wasn't that same situation. In fact, when I think of adoption, I typically think of children, right? You probably do too. When we think of adoption, we think of, well, a child. You don't adopt an adult. Minors are those who are up for adoption, right? Right?

And, you know, going down to infant through teenage, you know, those are the age range usually of people who are adopted. But in Roman culture, that existed, but it wasn't predominantly what adoption was known as. Adoption was actually for adults in Roman culture. Kind of weird, huh? It's different. Why? Why?

Well, because in Roman culture, they were adopting someone not because I want to have a kid and I want to bring in someone who needs some parents and be that support or fulfill that role in their life or I've always wanted children and I have been unable so this is a way to fulfill that and meet that. That's the way that we might think of adoption. But for them, in Roman culture, it was a legal mechanism that

to which they could pass on their legacy, their heritage, their possessions, and many times their position to someone else. So much so that the Roman emperors would typically adopt their successor. So we think of like kings, right? And then, you know, the next or the, you know, the eldest son becomes the next king, right? In the Roman empire, right?

It was not that clear and it wasn't that kind of government. But as a way of maintaining their reign and their authority, so Caesar Augustus, now he was in power over Rome during the time of Christ and even after. And then after him was Tiberius. Both of them were adopted by the, you know, well, Augustus was adopted

by Julius Caesar as a means of him taking over the estate, taking over his position, taking over his role. And so he received all the authority, all the position, all the power of Julius Caesar by being adopted into

and now carrying on his legacy and his position. And then Augustus did that to Tiberius and then Tiberius did that to the next guy and the next guy and the next guy all the way down through, you guys might remember Marcus Aurelius, right? So this was a way that they would handle that situation

and it was governed by Roman law that they protected this so that there was this means to pass on and to give someone else who is not your immediate heir, but to give them that place, that privilege, all the power that goes with it of being that immediate heir. Now, applying that to what Paul is saying here.

I am a child of God. Not a second-class child of God because I was adopted. But I have all of the rights as a child of God. As a direct heir. Now we know Jesus is the only begotten of the Father, right? In Christ, I have that same position.

That's my standing before God. I'm a child of God in the full sense of the understanding. Now, that doesn't make me God or anything like that. I'm not trying to speak deity into any of this. But as far as relationship is concerned, as far as position is concerned, as far as God's relationship to us and our relationship to him and our access to God and his invitation to us, I am a child of God just as much as Jesus is.

I've been adopted. I have full rights and all the privileges to approach God, to call out to God, to commune with God, to walk with God, to talk with God, full access to the Father. In Christ, I am a child of God. Well, we got to keep moving. Verse 6 gives us point number 4, and that is, I am highly favored.

This is one of those that, yeah, I don't always feel this way. Do you always feel highly favored of the Lord? Verse six, to the praise of the glory of his grace by which he made us accepted in the beloved. Now, where is highly favored in any of that? Well, it's the word accepted. And I worded it that way on purpose because, well, my impression of the word accepted is not a very good impression.

When I think of accepted, it kind of relates in my head to the word acceptable, which in my definition means kind of, it's like barely passable. Like you give me something and you're like, you know, hey, will this work? It's acceptable. It'll do. You know, it's not the best. It's not great, but I can make it work. I was thinking back to a time when I was young and my dad was working in Santa Ana and he had this coworker.

who was from Mexico. And so my dad just wanted to reach out to him and be an encouragement to him, share the gospel with him. And so he started inviting him over and he went on family vacations with us and came to dinner many times and was learning English all the while. And so we had lots of fun with him and got to know him a bit. And one of the things that just always put a smile on our face was remembering, I think it was one of the first times that we had him over for a meal.

And, you know, we're having dinner and I don't remember the exact, you know, situation and how it unfolded. But, you know, somebody was asking him, you know, how is the food? And in his limited vocabulary, he said it was edible. And, you know,

That's not necessarily a compliment for native English speakers. It's like, you invite me over to dinner, I say it's edible. You're like, oh, I can eat it. I guess I'll get through it. But it's not that exciting, right? And that's kind of, in my head, that's kind of, oh, I'm accepted. I'm acceptable. It's like, okay, barely passable. You can eat it, but it's not going to be amazing. But that's not at all what this word indicates. The word accepted means

speaks of being charming or lovely, to be honored or filled with blessings, or it could also be translated highly favored. Highly favored. I am highly favored of the Lord. The Lord looks on me and he doesn't just go, you know, it's passable, you know, just kind of barely makes the cut. He looks at you and he doesn't say, ah, you know, just like,

barely made it in, you know, just enough faith to really be acceptable. Now, he looks at us and he says, you're highly favored. You know, some people pray to Mary because, well, she's highly favored. They pray in Mary's name. They pray to Mary. Comes from this idea here in Luke chapter 1 verse 28. Having come in, the angel said to her, rejoice, highly favored one.

The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women. Rejoice, highly favored one. It's the same word. When Paul says you are accepted in the beloved, it's the same word. You are highly favored in the beloved. You might have great esteem for Mary, and rightly so. She had an awesome place in the work of God and the plan of God. Awesome, yes. She's highly favored, and so are you. Now, you might not put yourself in the same position

level, you know, playing field. You might put yourself in the same bucket. The people around you might not think of you as highly favored of the Lord, but that's who you are in Christ. That's what God has to say about you. And when it comes to, you know, walking with the Lord, a relationship with God, eternity with God, what God has to say is he's the one who really matters. He's the one who really has authority to declare who you are. I don't feel that way a lot of times. You may not think that of me any of the time.

God, he looks at me this way all the time. I am highly favored. Let God declare who you are. Not anybody else, friends, family, or how you feel. Don't let the enemy lie to you, try to convince you that you are looked down upon or scowled upon from the Lord. No, you are highly favored of the Lord.

Moving on to verse 7 and 8, we get point number 5, and that is, I am forgiven completely. In verse 7, he says, Here we have this idea of redemption combined with forgiveness, forgiveness,

according to his grace. And we spend a lot of time talking about grace in the book of Galatians and so I'm not going to dive into that in depth. But this idea of redemption, it means to purchase back. It is the picture of someone who is sold into slavery because, well, they've gone into debt, they, you know, can't pay it back and so now they are trying to pay off that debt in bondage and slaved and

To be bought out of that, to be purchased out of that, is this idea of redemption. And that's where we were. We were enslaved to sin, enslaved to death. We owed a debt we could not pay, and we were bound as a result of it. But we have been redeemed. Charles Spurgeon says, observe, it is not redemption through his power, it is through his blood. It is not redemption through his love, it is through his love.

And so we have the combination here, looking at the previous points. We have the love of God. We have, you know, God's affection towards us, his love for us, his choosing of us. But we also have the holiness of God here.

In that his blood satisfied the requirements of the law, satisfied the requirements for redemption to actually be paid. It wasn't just, well, I love you, so I'm just, you know, we're just going to forget about that debt. No, that debt was paid by the blood of Jesus Christ. And so it's a real payment for a real debt that gives us real redemption. That redemption is forgiveness.

It's a washing away of our sins according to the riches of his grace. And so he washes away all of our sin. Again, not just unjustly, just, you know, hiding it under the rug. Let's pretend like it never happened. But no, full payment has been made. And his incredible rich grace has covered all of the debt that we owed. And he's made that grace abound to us, he says in verse 8.

When you talk about the grace of God and teaching through the book of Galatians, some people get nervous. I remember teaching through Galatians on Sunday morning many years ago when I first became the pastor here at Living Water. And I was like,

And there were people who had come up to me after service as I was teaching Galatians and teaching about God's grace. And they'd be like, oh man, you need to watch out because you're talking so much about grace that people are going to think that they can just go and live in sin. And there's this concern like, oh no, if you teach people about grace, that they're going to throw out all kinds of self-control and just indulge in sinful behavior. And there is that concern.

But this grace that he has given to us, he's applied it abundantly. It's not foolish. It's with wisdom and prudence. David Guzik says, many think it is unwise of God to lavish such redemption and forgiveness on guilty sinners. But it is in all wisdom and prudence that he has given this to us. He knows what he's doing. And in his wisdom, he has given you full and complete forgiveness. Every...

wrong thought you've ever had, every wrong thought that you will have, every mistake that you will ever make, every bad thing, every intentional act that you do that is a violation and maybe even like apprehensible and completely disgusting and horrible. Whatever sin you have committed or may commit as a believer in Jesus Christ, you are forgiven completely.

No wrath for you. Nothing to cause you to be fearful of judgment. Nothing that you need to be, you know, thinking that God is out to get you now. That's the grace of God. He's, well, he's still working towards your good. He's blessed you with all spiritual blessings. He's selected you from before the foundation of the world and invited you to be his child completely and fully. You're highly favored.

You stand before him as one who has never sinned, not even once. Point number six, we go on to verse nine and 10. I am included in God's plans. In verse nine, it says, having made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times, he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth in him.

Now here again, man, a couple of verses packed full of interesting things that we could consider for a long time. But God has made known the mystery of his will. The mystery doesn't mean that it's still unknown, but mystery is used throughout the scriptures as something that was previously unknown until God revealed it. Now we know the will of God. What is the will of God? Well, he reveals it a little bit more in verse 10.

In the dispensation or the fullness of times, when all things are said and done, all will be gathered together in Christ, both which are in heaven and are on earth. Jews and Gentiles reconciled, brought together in Christ.

That Christ will be Lord over all. All things in heaven and on earth are reconciled, gathered together, brought together. It all revolves around the person of Jesus Christ, the work of Jesus Christ upon the cross. We know God's will. He's revealed it through Jesus Christ. And so I'm included in God's plans. It's kind of a dual meaning to that. One is I know about God's plans because he's revealed them to me. He's spoken them through his word.

But also, the other part of that meaning is that God has included me in his plans. I'm part of those plans. I'm part of those gathered together in the end. That there is this looking forward to and understanding that God has me in mind in all of those plans. He has a place for me. He has a part for me. He has a work for me. I'm included in God's plans.

I liked what Warren Riersby said about this. He said, sin is tearing everything apart, but in Christ, God will gather together, God will gather everything together in the culmination of the ages. And we are part of this great eternal program. We're not gonna get lost in the shuffle, lost in the mix, you know, just one of those, you know, little mini puny people that come along for the ride or, no, no, no, we're part of God's plan.

He has us on a chart somewhere and at this point, you know, here we are and this is our responsibility and this is our place and this is, you know, the role that we play. This is the part that we have. This is, we're in his plans. We're part of what he wants to do. We're part of what he is seeking to accomplish and together we become the body of Christ, right? The different members of the body of Christ. That's a piece of that as well, that together we make up the full body, right?

We each have a part. We each have a role. We each have a position. We each have a place. And it's important. And God has included us in his plans in that way. I'm included in God's plans. Well, verse 11 and 12 give us point number seven. And that is, I'm an heir of God. Verse 11 says, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.

that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of his glory. So this goes along with the idea of being a child of God, being adopted. That gives us full rights as a child of God. And one of those rights is the right of an inheritance. That is that promise of things to come. Here we see predestined again. So, you know, all of these things are intertwined. It's not, you know, one separate thing, like I'm breaking it up into points exactly, but

But here in the midst of all of these things, he says, look, we have this inheritance, this promise of glory. It's a sure promise because he's the one who works all things according to the counsel of his will. He works all things together for good. He's working out all of history, all of these things, all the new stories, everything. He's working it all out so that we who first trusted in Christ, well, the end result will be, we will be to the praise of his glory.

Our inheritance is that we will get to glorify God for the rest of eternity. We will be testaments of God's goodness, God's mercy, God's grace, and God's glory. We are heirs of God. Paul puts it this way in Romans 8, verse 16 and 17. He says,

If indeed we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified together. The glory that Jesus has in eternity, we partake of that. Again, not, and don't take it weird and, you know, talk about, you know, deity or anything like that, but just all the good blessings and rejoicings and awesomeness that God has in store for Jesus in eternity, we're included in that plan. We're included in that inheritance.

All that Jesus has received as an inheritance, being the only begotten of the Father, as believers in him, we are joint heirs with Christ, Paul says. We're joined together with him. We receive the inheritance that he receives. I'm an heir of God. I have this promise, this guarantee of this eternity with the Father, just like Jesus Christ has. Well, finally,

Point number eight for verse 13 and 14, I am sealed with the Holy Spirit. Verse 13, in him you also trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of his glory. Notice Paul kind of describes there that conversion experience in verse 13. And this is a good reminder for us.

You know, you could look at all of these things and I'm blessed with all spiritual blessings. I'm chosen by God. And again, we're fighting the lies that are being told to us. We're fighting the identities that are being forced upon us, right? And it can be easy to begin to doubt and go, I don't know, really, are these things true? And maybe it's true for some, but not for me. You know, we can wrestle with these things. But here we're able to identify who Paul is addressing here.

So, do you trust Jesus? Have you heard the gospel message and believed it? Have you been sealed with the Holy Spirit? All of these promises are yours. This is your identity. That's who Paul's talking to. He's talking to people who trust Jesus after hearing the gospel and believing.

And if you've believed the gospel of grace, believed the good news of Jesus Christ, then this is your identity. You are blessed with all spiritual blessings. You are chosen by God. You are a child of God. You are highly favored. You are completely forgiven. You are included in God's plans. You are an heir of God. And it's a permanent thing. You are sealed with the Holy Spirit. The idea of a seal is

Again, in their culture was that ring or, you know, that object that would have a certain picture, certain image, certain graphic or words perhaps, and it would be pressed into wax or waxed

some other material, and it would be a stamp of ownership, authenticity, you know, kind of like a signature that we would say, I signed this painting, you know, it's a genuine Jerry Simmons painting, which nobody wants, but, you know, you get that point, that that's what it was, that seal was that stamp of ownership, that authenticity, and you have been given the Holy Spirit as a believer in Jesus, every believer has received the Holy Spirit, and

Paul tells us in Romans chapter 8, if you don't have the Holy Spirit, you don't belong to Christ. But if you belong to Christ, you have the Holy Spirit. It's the seal that proves that, well, he's our owner. We belong to him. Proves that we are authentic children of God, a child of God, that we have the Holy Spirit. And you go, well, I don't know. There's all these quirky things about me. Yeah, but you've got the seal. And we may not see the finished result yet, but you have the Holy Spirit.

working in your life, leading you, guiding you, producing the fruit of the Spirit. And so you have this seal, this guarantee. Paul goes on to describe it in verse 14. So not only is there this seal of ownership and authenticity, but it's also a guarantee, which is a pledge or a deposit. It's something paid beforehand to confirm the deal. This word can also be translated engagement ring. So it's, you know, that...

Guy gives the girl an engagement ring. It's that promise. I'm going to marry you. In the same way, God has given us the Holy Spirit and placed that ring on our finger and said, I'm going to marry you. I'm going to spend eternity with you. And so it's this guarantee. It's this deposit. It's this for sure seal that we've been given for those who have believed the gospel message and trusted in Jesus Christ. This is our true identity.

There's a lot of fake identities we might think of or take on ourselves. There's a lot of fake identities that might try to be imposed upon us. Don't let anyone else define you. Let God declare who you are. I want to share this last quote from Charles Spurgeon. He says, we are not sitting here and groaning and crying and fretting and worrying and questioning our own salvation. Except a lot of times we are, right? A lot of times we are.

We forget our identity. But as we read through these things, as we go through these things, let's go back and remember and be established in this truth. This is my true identity. However I feel, whatever society says, whatever circumstances may be happening in my life, here's what I can know for sure. I am blessed with all spiritual blessing.

And I'm chosen by God. And I'm a child of God with all the rights and privileges that comes with that. And not just because, well, you know, God was forced to because he wanted to save Michael. And so, you know, I guess Jerry has to come along for the ride. No, no, I'm highly favored. He chose me. He favors me. He's forgiven me completely, included me in his plans, and

including the inheritance, the all of eternity and all the glory that he has in store for us. And he's set a seal upon it, proving for sure he is going to finish the work he began in me. That's who I am. That's my identity. That's who God says that I am. Let's pray. Lord, I pray for each one of us. And Lord, again, there is so many lies and such great deception. The enemy seeking to use our feelings,

people around us, society around us, to trick us into thinking something different than what you say. And Lord, as we look in the mirror, we may not see the exact things that you see. But Lord, our sight is limited. Help us, Lord, to not walk by our sight, but help us to walk by faith, believing what you have declared about us. Help us, God, to trust you and your word and to not waver. But Lord, thank you that even when we do,

It doesn't change any of these things. Even when we fail and fall short, it doesn't change. Our standing before you, you still say the same things. We're blessed, chosen, favored, forgiven. God, you're so good to us. Help us, Lord, to walk in recognition of what you've done for us, receiving from you, Lord, all of those spiritual blessings that you have for us. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.

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