7/30/06 - Pentecost 8 - Eph. 1:3-14 - You've Got It All in Christ

YOU'VE GOT IT ALL IN CHRIST
- What
- Why

Do you know someone who’s “got it all?” You know, that person who has a great job and a huge house and nice vehicles and the perfect family, they’re always happy and everything seems to be going so well for them… And you look at the person and you think to yourself, “Wow, that person has got it all. They’ve got everything they could possibly need and more.” I think we’ve all seen people like that, whether in person or on tv. People that shouldn’t have a care in the world because they’ve got everything else.
Have you ever considered that you have got it all? It probably hasn’t crossed your mind too often because you know the ups and downs of your life. You know what you have and especially what you don’t. But as I look at you today, and I see what you have compared to what everybody else has, I’m telling you: you’ve got it all! Everything that you need, everything that has ever mattered and everything that ever will you’ve got. Because you’ve got it all in Christ. And that’s not just some arbitrary phrase I’m using because I’m preaching a sermon. It’s not just a catchy theme that means nothing at all. You’ve really got it all in Christ. And this text before us today beautifully explains that from beginning to end and everything in between. It tells you what you’ve got and why. And as you will see, the answers to these two questions are ultimately found in Christ.
So what do you have? If I said you’ve got it all in Christ, I better let you know what you have, right? Well, the answer to that question really starts at the beginning – before the beginning. Because Paul tells us: “He chose us in him before the creation of the world.” That’s the first thing you’ve got: the joy of being God’s number one pick. God chose you. Out of all the people of the world, out of all those centuries, God picked you! And this isn’t some kickball game on the school playground. God picked you not just to be on his side but to be his very own child! And that’s the second thing you’ve got: “He predestined us to be adopted as his [children] through Jesus Christ.” You aren’t his servant, you aren’t his subject, you aren’t just a part of his creation, you are his dear child. And that means you have all the benefits of being his child: his love, his care, his attention, his patience. You’ve got the joy of being the number one pick, you’ve got the privilege of being his child, and you’ve got the adoption papers right here to prove it.
Of course, none of that would have happened if it weren’t for Christ. Because in Christ everything God has planned for us is accomplished. Only in Christ can a sinful human being approach the perfect God. Because Jesus was and is true God and at the same time Jesus was and is true man. He is the bridge, he is the connection, he is our Mediator. We can only receive the blessing from God the Father in Christ. In fact, in our text today, from verses 3 to 14, the phrase “in Christ,” or “in him,” or “in the One he loves,” is used eleven times in the Greek text. Eleven times! That’s a lot of repetition. Paul is obviously trying to make a point here. And the point is: Christ is the key. We have nothing without him. We have everything in him.
And that’s why Paul continues by saying, “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins.” You’ve got that in Christ. And redemption and forgiveness are really two words saying the same thing – but in two completely different ways. Redemption means that you are bought back with a ransom. You were bought back from Satan’s grasp, and the ransom was the blood of Jesus on the cross. But our sins are also forgiven, Paul says. They are no longer counted against us, they are wiped completely away. And because of that redemption through his blood and the forgiveness of sins you have salvation. Salvation!
We use that word so often I think that it has lost its flavor. Salvation in the Bible means more than being rescued. It means more than being rescued from a burning building. It means more than being rescued from drowning in a lake. It means more than being rescued from underneath an overturned car. Salvation in Scripture means being brought back from the dead. “We were dead” in sin, Paul says in the next chapter, but “he made us alive” in Christ. You are Lazarus walking out of the tomb! You are the widow’s son stepping out of the coffin! You are Jairus’ daughter being brought back to life! You now have new life in Christ. You have salvation.
So, let’s review. You’ve got the joy of being the number one pick, you’ve got the privilege of being an adopted child of God, you’ve got the adoption papers to prove it, you’ve got redemption through Christ’s blood, the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation? Is there anything else the Lord gives you? Sure there is. He gives you faith to believe all that. And that’s a very important gift because when it comes down to it: Jesus died for all people. His blood was the ransom for every sin. But the Holy Spirit worked faith in your heart by the grace of God. Listen to how Paul explains it: “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.” And the faith the Holy Spirit gives you is your guarantee. Your guarantee that you’ve got it all.
Because sometimes people wonder, “How do I know I am chosen? How do I know that God adopted me?” Well, here’s the test: Do you believe that Jesus died for your sins? Then there you go. If you believe that, that means the Holy Spirit has worked faith in your heart. You can’t believe without the Holy Spirit. And so he’s your guarantee. Your guarantee that you’ve been chosen. Your guarantee that you’ve been adopted. Your guarantee that you’ve got it all in Christ.
But why? Why you? Why do you have it all in Christ and somebody else doesn’t? Why did the Holy Spirit work faith in my heart, but not in that guy’s? Now be careful. Be careful. Because this is where you can get into a lot of trouble. In the back of your mind don’t let yourself thing: Well, it must be something in me. I must be easier to convert than that other guy. No, you’re not. No you are not. You are just as difficult to convert than someone else. That includes mass murderers, that includes rapists, that includes Saddam Hussein. It took a miracle from the Holy Spirit to work faith in your heart just as it would with the worst of criminals. Because we’re all in the same boat. We were dead to sin.
Now if you went to a cemetery and you saw a grave stone that said a 9 year old girl died in 1934, and right next to it another grave stone said that an 90 year old man died in 1934, who is more dead? That’s a stupid question, right? Dead is dead. A corpse is no more dead than another corpse. There aren’t any levels of deadness. And the same goes for us. Before the Holy Spirit worked faith in our hearts, we were dead to sin. Just as any other unbeliever is dead to sin. There aren’t any levels of spiritual deadness either. So there is nothing in you that could have prompted or enabled the Holy Spirit to work faith in your heart over someone else. Nothing.
So what is it? The question still remains: why you? Our text tells us: God chose you and adopted you “in accordance with his pleasure and will – to the praise of his glorious grace.” God wanted to. It was God’s grace, plain and simple. Because God loved you, he chose you. It wasn’t anything you did to prompt this love. It wasn’t anything you did to earn this love. It wasn’t anything you did to deserve this love. God loved you because he wanted to. Why you and not someone else? Doesn’t say. But in his infinite wisdom, God decided to choose you. No other explanation is found in Scripture. No one deserves to be God’s child, and the fact that he actually chose you is an awesome display of his love. We are forever indebted to him. Thank the Lord for his glorious grace.
And that’s exactly what he wants you to do. He wants you to glorify him. Paul says to us here, we were chosen “in order that we… might be for the praise of his glory.” And that’s why we live how we live. That’s why we do what we do. So that we might be for the praise of his glory. That others may see our actions, hear our words, and glorify the Lord.
My Christian friends, by the grace of God you have been chosen, you have been given salvation, you’ve got it all in Christ. Act like you do. Speak like you do. Live like you’ve got it all in Christ so that all others may hear and believe – to the praise of his glory.
Amen.


“May the name of our Lord Jesus Christ be gloried in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

- 2 Thessalonians 1:12