Have you ever seen an unbelievable magic trick? One of those guys that's been coming on to the Tonight Show and blowing Jimmy Fallon's mind?
Some things are difficult - or impossible - to understand or comprehend, much less try to explain. But that’s what we’re doing in this series on Ephesians. Taking a look at unfathomables. Things that’ll blow your mind. That’s what we’re talking about.
Some of these unfathomables keep us going. Because let’s face it - life is hard. And it gets harder. It’s Adam’s curse. And the older you get, the more opportunities you get to experience how broken this world is. And you don’t always get what you want.
How about - have you ever seen those guys on Dude Perfect make the basketball shot from on top of the stadium at Texas A&M? And how they are so excited when they do? Unfathomables can keep us going! Part of what Paul is doing is giving us soe of these mind-blowing reasons to keep going…
Last week we looked at how God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing (in Christ) [3]
God blesses us. It’s what He does. The word in the Greek literally means, a good word. To speak a good word towards someone or something. And what we looked at last week is that, Speaking is God’s means of creating goodness. That’s how He created the entire universe. Which was all good until we broke it. But creating goodness is what God does. He blesses, He creates goodness for His people - with the intent that they would not just keep it to themselves, but that they would both reflect it back to Him - "blessed be God", Paul says - and they would pass it on. Passing on God’s blessings. Ultimately blessing all the families of the earth. Through Jesus, the promised Seed of Adam and Abraham. Messiah.
Last week we talked about how sometimes, for some of us, the way that God is creating goodness for us may not be what we were expecting. It might not be our cup of tea. It might not feel so good. We didn’t get what we wanted, what we expected.
Paul says, every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies. So it may not be something we can touch or feel or even see. We may not see it right now. But it’s there. Goodness which God has created for you. Every thing for anything you need to be all that He has created and gifted you to be. These blessings are all ours through Christ.
We talked last week about how Jesus Christ is central to our faith. 31 times in these first three chapters, a dozen times just in this section - and all these spiritual blessings, all this goodness comes to us through Christ. When we are in Christ, when we believe in Him, put our trust in Him, God puts us in Him and unlocks the windows of heaven.
Which begs the question, why would God do all this for me?
He chose us (in Christ) [4-5]
Because He wants you. He chose you. Paul is writing to these believers, and he says, God chose you, because He wants you to be in His family. If you are a believer in Christ, you can know that God chose you. He wants you. God. Wants. You. Try to wrap your mind around that. He picked you to be on His team, to be in His family. And this of course is just one of the ways God has blessed us in Christ.
Why did He do that? Why did He pick me? Why on earth or in heaven would He want ME? What is it about me that would make Him want to chose me? Simple answer is, because He made me. He made you. You are exactly who God designed you to be. You are a miracle. A wonderful impossible. You are fearfully and wonderfully made - and so am I. Not made in China. Not designed in Cupertino. Designed in heaven and made in the womb - by God Himself. God doesn’t want ANY to perish, but [what…?]… For all to come to that place in their hearts where they have turned around and are trusting in Him.
But Paul says God chose us - in Christ. We must first realize that this choosing does not happen apart from Christ. We will try to unpack this more in a bit. For now, let’s all agree on one thing - this is unfathomable. Far beyond our ability to understand, much less explain. But it’s true - and if you are in Christ, then you can indeed know that God chose you! [boom] To the praise of His glory. To show off His goodness! Blessed be the Lord! This is one huge unfathomable truth that’ll keep you going when you need it most.
But wait - there’s more! When did He choose us? Paul tells us. Well, sort of. He gives us a when - but it’s sort of an ish. When-ish. Paul says, God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. That’s right, sports fans. Before the beginning of time. Before… the beginning. Try to wrap your mind around that. You won’t be able to, because now we are getting into the idea of eternity. Time out of time. It is like a flea trying to understand the ways of people. It is like a 2-dimensional stick figure trying to relate to a 3-dimensional being. 2D guy is confined to the piece of paper. The idea of 3D living is outside of his experience. He can’t even get his mind around what a 3-dimensional Being would be like - UNLESS maybe - such a Being were to somehow cross through his plane of existence. But the same is true for us when we begin to talk about the infinite and the eternal. It is beyond our finite minds to be able to fully grasp. Because we are dealing with a 4th dimension, which is time - but this Eternal Being lives outside and above and beyond that dimension as well. Unlike us, He is not confined by time or by space. He exists forever above and outside of our plane of existence. Time has no bearing on Him. It has no effect on Him. And our feeble finite minds cannot begin to fathom what that is like. The one chance we would have of being able to even get a glimpse of the eternal is if/when the Eternal would somehow intersect our plane of existence. And guess what - He did! Our eternal infinite God stepped out of eternity and into the womb of a Jewish virgin, squeezed out of that birth canal - and He walked among us. The Infinite God - confined to finite human flesh in time/space history. And then this Eternal God, He died for us. Try to wrap your mind around that! [boom] Jesus said, if you’ve seen Me…[you've seen the Father, i.e. you've seen God]. God demonstrates His love for us, in that while we were sinners, Christ died for us.
Before the foundation of the world, Paul says. Before the beginning is when God chose us. Before He cranked it all up, the whole universe-and-creation thing. That’s when He chose us. It’s the same word that He uses of Israel.
Deuteronomy 7:7
“The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but because the LORD loved you…
And what does He tell His people? I have loved you with what kind of love? An everlasting love. Eternal. Timeless. Outside of time. Before the beginning of time. In other words, I have always loved you - and I always will. Before the foundation of the world. [boom - mind blown]
It wasn’t because of what you’ve done or haven’t done, or who your parents are, or where you went to school, or how you look, or how smart you are, or how big and fast you are. He wanted you. He is so for you. No more pity parties. No more looking down on yourself. No more of this negative self-talk. No more talking bad about this one He chose. God wants you, and He always has. But the choosing is completely tied to being in Christ, trusting in Christ.
The life of a Christian depends on a love that never began and will never end. We believe in Christ in this life, but God loved us, and chose us in Christ before the foundations of the world were laid, before the beginning of time, at a time when there was no time. [boom - mind blown]
To what end? Paul tells us. For us to be holy and blameless before Him. Holy and blameless - so, like Him. Way back before the beginning, He design was for us to be like Him. And His vision for us was for those who believe in Christ to be able to stand faultless before His throne in eternity. Not a single spot or blemish. Unashamed. Let me ask you - do you feel holy and blameless this morning? If you died tonite, and you went and stood before the Eternal Holy God, how would you feel? Would you maybe be shrinking back under the weight of the guilt of the things you’ve thought and said and done and haven’t done? We’re all in that same predicament! But that is precisely why the Father sent the Son - to take away all those things of which we are ashamed - to pay the penalty for all those things which separate us from Him, and to make us like Him. His image - that was the intent originally. To be like Him. Holy and blameless. Moral perfection. And this is what God is working in Christ. You and I and all those who believe in Christ are going to be able to stand before the Lord in eternity without even a single tinge of guilt. Even today! In His eyes, I’ve done everything right - IF I’m in Christ. [boom - mind blown]
Paul goes on to say that God has actually predestined us. For a couple of things specifically - but let’s talk about predestination for a minute. And let’s just admit it up front that this is a deep and profound mystery - unfathomable. But we can’t avoid it - Paul mentions it twice in this passage. The word means, to foreordain. To define or set a boundary beforehand. And it makes many of us uncomfortable - even believers. It is the question of fate and free will. Do I have a choice, or is my life locked in? And who chooses who? Did God choose me, or did I choose Him? Do I have any choice in the matter? Some people like to camp out at the extremes. God’s family, taking sides.
One side takes a high view of God’s choice. This is often called Calvinism. God chooses me, and I basically have no choice in the matter. God will make it all happen, and He will bring it to completion. There is nothing I can do to prevent it - or undo it. I can’t UNchoose God - that's called eternal security. And that’s a good thing! But I can’t make other people choose Him either. Some on this side go so far as to insist that there is no need for evangelism or missions. This is why, hundreds of years ago coming out of the Protestant Reformation - led by guys like John Calvin, that there were almost no protestant missions. For 2 centuries! The reformers rediscovered the truths of the Gospel, that we are saved by faith and not by works, they had this high view of God's choosing but they concluded that God did all the work by Himself. So they weren’t taking this Good News to the nations. And then comes William Carey - he's called the "Father of modern missions". 1795. He is reading Matthew 28, the Great Commission, where Jesus tells His followers to go and make disciples of all the nations, and young William Carey stands up in a group of church leaders, and suggests that the church needs to be sending out missionaries, and one of the group replies, “Young man, sit down. When God is pleased to save the heathen, He will do it without your help or mine.” But no - God says go!
The other side takes a high view of man’s choice. Often called Arminianism. Man chooses God. Phrases like whoever believes in Him. Whoever receives Him. Active verbs on our part, things we must choose to do. Love the Lord with all your heart. There is this understanding that real love is neither forced nor coerced. Love which is not freely given is not love at all. But then many on this side insist that since man is able to choose God he can also unchoose God. You can lose your salvation. You can have eternal life today, but tomorrow you might not.
What do you think? Family is free to disagree. Love insists that I give you the freedom to decide. While truth insists that you base it on God’s Word. Personally, I think it’s neither extreme to the exclusion of the other, but somehow it's both (without some of the errors that creep up on the extremes - i.e. loss of salvation, loss of missions). I think Scripture clearly teaches both. And as I’ve studied I’ve found theologian after theologian who say it is both. How they both work together, I can’t fully explain. Unfathomable. But I believe that somehow God predestined me to believe in Him without forcing me to believe in Him. I have a choice whether or not to believe - and if I choose not to believe, I am fully responsible for that choice. I chose to believe in Christ my freshman year at Virginia Tech, and somehow that fully linked me up to God’s eternal plan of creating goodness in and thru my life. [boom]
There is a quote which says, "Before salvation we see a sign on the outside of Heaven’s gates saying, 'WHOSOEVER WILL MAY COME'; we enter in; we turn back and look up and see a sign, 'CHOSEN IN Christ BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD.'"
Some people struggle with this. How can it be both? How can it be both God’s choice and my choice? How can there be both predestination and free will? We call this an antinomy. Two things which cannot simultaneously both be true, but which must both be true. And there are others in the Christian faith. We just mentioned the incarnation - how can Jesus be fully God and fully human? Impossible to fully explain or understand. Unfathomable. It'll blow your mind (exactly!). Theologians debated for centuries on the incarnation. Heretics were condemned for landing on one extreme or the other. But the church eventually decided that we need to be okay living in the tension of the inexplicable both/and. The Trinity is another. How can God be three persons, but one God? Yet another mindblower! Inexplicable. Unfathomable. Cults have formed over the failure to embrace both. But here again, orthodoxy concludes that we are okay with the tension of the inexplicable both/and. Unfathomable. I think this notion of predestination is another one of those inexplicable both/ands. And we need to be okay living in the tension of the inexplicable both/and. It’s okay to struggle with it. Sadly, some choose to divide over it. I think we need to take our cue from the Lord. Did you notice where it says, “IN LOVE He predestined us…?” In love. Let all things be done in love. The greatest of these is love. Love means I stick with you, regardless of what you believe. How does it go? In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, charity. Love. Let me ask you - is this an essential? This question of predestination? Is there any part of the basic Gospel message which requires us to have a clear position on the doctrine of predestination? No. It is a non-essential. It is not salvific. How did Paul put it? Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved. God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him will be saved. We need to be clear about Jesus - but predestination is a non-essential.
Think back to when you first believed. Did you have a clear understanding of any of these? The Trinity? The Incarnation? For most of us, all we knew was, Jesus died for us. And I am a sinner. I’ve blown it. And Jesus paid the penalty for our sins. That’s what we knew, and that’s what we believed. And that was enough. Salvific. For salvation.
Let me ask you - have you believed that? You have a choice - I believe that. You can choose today to trust in Jesus. Knowing that God loves you. He has always loved you. He has good plans for you! He did send His Son to die for you. So that you could become His adopted son (or daughter). Part of His family - through Christ. God wants you to be in His family. Forever. It’s not like any earthly family. That by itself is beyond our ability to comprehend - what is God’s family like? Jesus as my brother. Unfathomable.
It is a struggle to admit that I have sinned. Yes. And it is a struggle to understand how this blessed blessing God can use things which don’t feel like blessings. Remember we are talking about every blessing in the heavenliness - we can’t always see it or feel it. Faith says I believe, even if I can’t always fully see it or explain it.
After a few of the usual Sunday evening hymns, a pastor stood up and walked over to his pulpit. Before giving his sermon for the evening, he briefly introduced a guest minister present in the service and asked him to greet the church and share whatever he felt would be appropriate.
The elderly man stepped up to the pulpit and began to speak. “A father, his son, and a friend of his son were sailing off the Pacific coast,” he began, “when a fast-approaching storm blocked any attempt to get back to the shore. The waves were high; even an experienced sailor like the father could not keep the boat upright, and the three were swept into the ocean.” The old man hesitated for a moment, making eye contact with two teenagers who were, for the first time since the service began, looking somewhat interested in his story.
The aged minister continued with his story. “Grabbing a rescue line, the father had to make the most excruciating decision of his life: to which boy would he throw the other end of the lifeline? He only had seconds to decide. He knew his son was a Christian, and he also knew that his son’s friend was not. As the father yelled out, ‘I love you, son!’ he threw the lifeline to the other boy. By the time the father pulled the friend back to the capsized boat, his son had disappeared beneath the raging swells into the black of night, his body never recovered.”
By this time the two teenagers sat up straight in the pew, anxiously waiting the next words to come out of the old minister’s mouth. “The father,” he continued, “knew his son would step into heaven with Jesus, and he could not bear the thought of his son’s friend stepping into an eternity without Jesus. Therefore, he sacrificed his son to save another.”
“How great is the love of God that he should do the same for us. Our Heavenly Father sacrificed his only begotten Son that we could be saved. I urge you to accept his offer to rescue you and take hold of the lifeline that he is throwing out to you in this service.” With that the old man turned and sat down.
The pastor again walked to the pulpit and delivered a brief sermon, adding a brief invitation. But no one responded to the appeal. Within minutes after the service was over, the two teenagers raced to the old man’s side. “That was a nice story,” one of the boys said, “but I don’t think it is very realistic for a father to give up his only son’s life in hopes that the other boy would become a Christian.”
“Well, you’ve got a point there,” the old man replied, glancing down at his worn Bible. A big smile broadened his face as he looked up at the boys and said, “It sure isn’t very realistic, is it? But I’m standing here today to tell you that this story gives me a glimpse of what it must have been like for God to give up his Son for me. You see, I was the father and your pastor was my son’s friend.”
Will you choose to grab God's unfathomable lifeline today? Trust in Jesus, that His death made it possible for you to have eternal life...
