God's Inheritance (Ephesians 1:11-14)
We got a huge surprise last Sunday night. My parents decided to buy us a camper. They had recently sold a farm, and, with the housing market booming, they wanted to do something nice for us. One of the things they told us is that they didn't want us to have to wait to get an inheritance. They wanted us to have a portion of our inheritance now so we could enjoy it.
Why did I tell you this? Did I just want to brag on my parents? No, but their generosity is fantastic! It blows us away. It just so happens that we are going through Ephesians 1:11-14. Let's read this together.
Ephesians 1:11--14 (ESV) --- 11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
This is a fantastic text about the guarantee of our inheritance in Christ. But this inheritance is not like anything we have on this earth. It's not about an endless vacation, golf session, or fishing trip. Let's dive into this text and develop our understanding of this inheritance.
The Plan of God
First, we must remember that Paul has described an extensive list of blessings we have in Christ. Throughout this 202 Greek word sentence, the repeated phrase is "In Christ" or "In him." God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing through the sacrifice of Christ. He has chosen those who are weak and lowly to be his children. He is drawing men to himself, and they are called to receive the adoption as sons and daughters of God. Isn't that a fantastic idea? We are not called to be slaves, but children. Then, he explains how God could accept us through the redemption that was paid for by the blood of his son. He brought us out of slavery to sin and made us free from condemnation. He unites us to himself ultimately. We can stand in the presence of God because he has made us holy and blameless through the blood of Christ. That was God's plan from the beginning of time, and he brought it about through Christ. What a plan!
God's Portion
Now we come to one of the most challenging sections of the letter. This text has always confused me, but I think I understand it now. Verse 11 in the ESV says, "In him we have obtained an inheritance." But the NET translates it, "In Christ we too have been claimed as God's own possession." Why would the NET translate it that way? The original Greek is difficult. They are trying to determine who has received the inheritance because it is not clear in the text. The phrase in verse 11 means, "In Christ, we have been appointed by lot an inheritance." Is it that we have obtained an inheritance through appointment (ESV), or we have been appointed as God's inheritance (NET)? It sounds bizarre to say that we are God's inheritance. But notice what is said of Israel in the Old Testament.
Deuteronomy 4:20 (ESV) --- 20 But the Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of his own inheritance, as you are this day.
Deuteronomy 9:29 (ESV) --- 29 For they are your people and your heritage, whom you brought out by your great power and by your outstretched arm.’
Deuteronomy 32:8--9 (ESV) --- 8 When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God. 9 But the Lord’s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage.
God decided to choose Israel out of all the nations because of Abraham's humility and faith. He made the nation of Israel his own until they rebelled and ruined the relationship. God purposed to make them his portion among all the nations on earth.
I want to turn your attention to a repeated phrase throughout this sentence. In 4-5, he says God chose us and predestined us "according to the purpose of his will." In verses 7-9, he says he redeemed us and lavished us with grace with wisdom and insight, "according to the purpose of his will." Now, we reach the crescendo. He says if this interpretation is correct, that God has appointed us to be his inheritance like Israel was his inheritance "according to the purpose of his will." Then it says, "He works all things according to the counsel of his will." When you see that repeated idea, I think it becomes clear that this sentence is more about God accomplishing his will than about us receiving what we want.
Don't get me wrong. We have an inheritance---verse 14 points to that. But verse 11 says that we belong to God as his inheritance. Do you see the beauty of that? Paul wants the Ephesians to understand that God wants them. He wants them to feel assured of God's love. He says that God took possession of us as his inheritance as he predestined and purposed. If this is saying that we are God's inheritance like Israel, what does that mean? It means that God wants us for himself. He wants many sons and daughters like we want an inheritance. We are truly his treasured possession (1 Pet 2:9). Isn't that amazing and encouraging? But why would God do that?
God's Purpose
Ephesians 1:12 (ESV) --- 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.
God enjoys and appreciates the praise of his creation. When we sing to God, we might doubt that it means anything, but it does! He seeks to save men so that God might transform them to bear his image and praise his name. He wants all of the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places to see his wisdom and the goodness of his inheritance. If God did this to make us into something that brings God praise, how could we continue in sin? How could we worship and serve the things of this world? How could we defile ourselves with sexual immorality? The temptations to lie, steal, cheat, or hold malice in our hearts must fade away with the knowledge of who God has recreated us to be. We are his children! He wants us. He treasures us. He loves us.
I love the way he describes God's inheritance. They are a people who hope in Christ. We must be a people who set our hope on the blessings we have been promised. If our hope is set on Christ, God will transform us to resemble Christ. That will be our aim every day.
God's People
In verse 13, he distinguishes between "we who were the first to hope in Christ" and "You also." Why does he do that? Doesn't that indicate that he is shifting from another group to the Ephesians? When Paul uses the words "we" and "us," we have always assumed that he was talking about himself and the Ephesians, but now he shifts to bring in the Ephesians. Look carefully at verse 13.
Ephesians 1:13 (ESV) --- 13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
This changes our understanding of this whole text. We thought he was talking about "us" and "we" being Paul and the Ephesians this whole time. He wasn't including the Ephesians until verse 13. Who is included in "us" and "we?"
Ephesians 2:11 (ESV) --- 11 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands---
He was talking about "us Jews." Israel was chosen, adopted, redeemed, and called God's children and inheritance. This is what we saw in Deuteronomy. The Jews were the first to hope in Christ. But they were not the last. The Ephesians also "heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him." Along with all the Gentiles, they are united with the Jews to receive all of the blessings.
Paul includes the criteria of God's choice in this section. He doesn't choose arbitrarily. He chooses based on our response to his message. God draws us to himself, and we choose to believe and set our hope in Christ. Then, all of these blessings are poured out on us. God reaches out to the Gentiles, whom he also chose, adopted, redeemed, and inherited. I don't need to go back and re-preach the last two sermons. They are true. We, as Gentiles, are predestined, adopted, and redeemed in Christ as the Jews were.
God's Seal
Ephesians 1:13--14 (ESV) --- 13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
Notice that all who believe in Christ are also sealed with the Holy Spirit. What does that mean? A seal has a few meanings throughout scripture. There is a picture of something being sealed shut so that no one can open it. In Revelation 20:3, Satan is thrown into the bottomless pit, and it is sealed over him. Then, there is the picture of a scroll with seven seals. In those days, they would use a signet ring and wax to seal a scroll. That seal would close the scroll, preserving its contents, and indicate who had the authority to write the scroll. It was a sign of ownership and preservation. This is probably Paul's thinking when he says we were sealed with the Holy Spirit. God has placed a seal on us, preserving us and stating his claim of ownership. We are HIS children.
In the Old Testament, there is also a picture of God sending a messenger to put God's mark on those who are his. This happens in Ezekiel 9:2-8 before Jerusalem is destroyed, God sends a man with a writing case to go and mark the foreheads of those who are upset about the nation's sins. They are preserved from the judgment. They belong to God. In Revelation, the same thing happens, but there is also a mark of the beast who professes a false religion. God preserves those sealed by his angels, but not those marked by the beast.
Who has God sealed with the Holy Spirit? All believers who are in Christ. Paul is saying that God has sealed us with the promised Holy Spirit. He put a mark on us, stating that we are his chosen blessed people who will be saved from judgment. When did he do that? I want to point out a couple of passages that point to God sealing us with the Holy Spirit when we are baptized.
Acts 2:38 (ESV) --- 38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Titus 3:4--7 (ESV) --- 4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Colossians 2:11--12 (ESV) --- 11 In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.
We received the promise of the Holy Spirit when we were baptized. The Holy Spirit was working in our washing to regenerate and renew us. He was working to remove the guilt of sin and raise us to walk in the newness of life.
What's the message?
God has staked his claim over us. We are not our own. We belong to him. He is our God, and we are his people. It doesn't matter that God made all of those promises to Israel and said he would love them with an everlasting love (Jer 31:3). He opens up the promise to "you also." All the Gentiles are welcomed into the family of God. Once we receive the good news of the gospel, we belong to God and submit our lives to him. He draws us to himself through that message, and he purchases us when we receive it. What an incredible hope we have to set our lives on.
He guarantees that he will save us from eternal destruction on the last day. Isn't that an amazing promise? We bear his seal so that no one and nothing can take us out of his hand. That doesn't mean we can't give it up. This morning we saw how a forgiven servant could become unforgiven. But God has placed his seal on us so that we know we are his. So long as our heart desires him, his heart desires us, and he works with us to bring us into the fold when we go astray. He loves us like his own sons and daughters.
Application
Who are you? We might give someone our name, job title, or relationship to someone they know if they asked us that question. If God has chosen to include us in his group of chosen people, shouldn't that be at the forefront of our minds? How should we think about ourselves? We often think about ourselves by what kind of job we have. So our first question is often, "What do you do?" But our jobs are not the most crucial part of who we are. We are not defined by our role as a doctor, nurse, teacher, or technician. Whatever it is, it does not define us. If we define ourselves with our job, we will always feel inadequate because that role will never fully satisfy us. Our definition doesn't come from what we own. We aren't defined by the lovely neighborhood we can afford to live in or the nice car we drive. Nor are we defined by our family name. These things are all empty.
We are the chosen children of the living God. We are the ones God has adopted to himself, redeemed by the blood of his son, and lavished his grace upon. We are sealed believers in Christ. You can be, too, if you will humble yourself and submit your life to God with faith in Christ. He can add you to his group. It doesn't matter who you are or what you've done. The only thing that matters is what God has done for you and what you choose to do from this point forward. Will you make Christ your life? Will you become to the praise of his glory? There is a guaranteed inheritance waiting for all who live this way.