IN CHRIST: WORSHIP
by Beth Madison

 DAY 1 - September 6, 2010

We are “in Christ”

Ephesians 1:1-14

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  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.  For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight.  In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will – to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves.  In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.  And He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment – to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.  In Him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him Who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of His glory.  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, Who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession – to the praise of His glory. (Ephesians 1:1-14)

Introduction

At the time of our engagement, Andy placed a lovely engagement ring on my finger to indicate his pledge of love and promise to me.  I, in turn, accepted the ring (and wore it proudly) to indicate my acceptance of his love and promise to me.  Even though we saw each other only once during our entire 6 month engagement period, both of us remained true to the promise of setting aside ourselves to each other in love until our wedding day when we made the public choice to become one in the Eyes of God and man.  And now, we make the private choice to remain one in the Eyes of God and man daily.  Our wedding promises are relived each and every day by choosing each other, independent of how we might feel at the moment.

What kind of choices do you have to make every day?  How do your emotions impact these choices?

DAY 2 - September 7, 2010

Now we’re alive

Ephesians 1:1-6

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  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.  For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight.  In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will – to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves. (Ephesians 1:1-6)

In the first century AD when Ephesians was written (60-62 AD), it was common knowledge that God was in control but the idea that God would Personally involve Himself in an individual’s life was unthinkable.  That God, God Himself and not a lesser being, would be concerned with the fate of one person, you, me, any person at that, was simply beyond imagination.  Yet that’s exactly what God chose to do for each of us through the once for all gift of salvation (see 1 Peter 3:18 and 2 Peter 3:9).  He set up salvation through Jesus because He chose to love us, not that any of us are (or could be) deserving of His love.  He chose us as a people set aside unto Himself, for His glory (see Isaiah 43:20).

God didn’t choose us so we could be proud or selfish; He chose us to be a blessing to the nations just as He set aside unto Himself  Abraham and others in the Old Testament (see Deuteronomy 7:6-8).  A.T. Lincoln said our calling is “a summons to service” – a calling out to praise God in every thought, every choice, every activity of our lives “in Christ” so that all might come to know Him as God.   And by choosing us, God revealed Himself to us as a loving, saving God so that we might reveal Him in our praise, in our choices, in our lives as a natural result of knowing Him.  We will never be complete until we daily decide to live our lives in such a way that acknowledges we are indeed His – “Thou has formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in Thee” as said by Augustine.

What makes you restless?  What helps to calm you when you’re restless?  How does this quote by Augustine relate to your life now?

Even our position, “in Christ”, indicates God’s grace, God’s favor, God’s delight and rejoicing in us (see Zephaniah 3:17).  And in natural response to the realization of God’s favor placed upon us, Paul’s word choice in Ephesians 1:1 indicates his acknowledgement that God has already done all He needs to do for us to worship Him.  “Saints” is hagios in the Greek which Vine translates as “holy, separated from ordinary/common usage as devoted to God with a sacred purpose, classified as belonging to God“.  And join with me in rejoicing - this definition is for all believers, not just special ones!

God has made us holy through Jesus by forgiveness of sin.  The root word for forgiveness in verse 7 means “to send away” without return as seen in Psalm 103:12 as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.  To the Israelites of old, this distance of the east is from the west was an infinite distance that could never be traveled.  Therefore, the sin was truly gone and not ever coming back to haunt them.  God has done the same for us which should bring such joy to us that we cannot keep from praising Him for only He is Able and only He is Worthy to completely, infinitely remove our sin from us!

How does it make you feel to realize that you are a saint, a holy one set aside unto God?  What impact does this have on you today in your job, your family life, your relationships with friends who aren’t Christians, your thought life, your past, your choice of serving others?

Hagios is also used in reference to the Holy of Holies in the Old Testament tabernacle – that special place reserved for God Himself to dwell where none could enter except the high priest once a year on the Day of Atonement.  And now in the New Testament, all of us as believers, are consecrated by God to be that very place, the new Holy of Holies, where He, the Most High God, dwells in the form of the Holy Spirit (see Ephesians 2:22).  God became flesh once in Jesus and made His dwelling among us” (John 1:14) and then gave His Spirit to seal us as new creation(s) (2 Corinthians 5:17) the moment we came to Him.

Yet God calls us to do what He requires of us for worship – to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God (Micah 6:8).  And for us to walk humbly with (our) God, we must approach Him in worship through confession for forgiveness of sin (see 1 John 1:9) and remain there in the right relationship of humility to Him so that we can learn from Him, Who is gentle and humble in heart (Matthew 11:29).

Is there some sin in your life that you need to confess today but you’re afraid to do so?  Don’t hesitate – come to Jesus today so that you can find rest for your soul (see Matthew 11:28-30) when you fall at His Feet in worship through repentance and find grace, sweet grace, there...

DAY 3 - September 8, 2010

The Sovereign of our salvation

Ephesians 1:7-10

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.  And He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment – to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. (Ephesians 1:7-10)

God did what we could never do – He made us holy.  God chose each one of us in Christ so that we might be holy unto Him as His very own people.  And our natural response to God’s choosing us is to choose to praise Him, independent of how we might feel at the moment.  When we praise God, we tell the truth about Him and about us (Snodgrass, 61).  Paul does just this in his blessing to God, i.e., his recognition of what God has done for us “in Christ”, which extends on and on in a song of praise because Paul simply can’t get over how Almighty God has chosen to bless us, to grace us if you will, with Himself.   Since we, as Christians, are in Christ, we are according to Stott “organically united to (Jesus) by faith”.  (Author’s note: Only God can understand how His Sovereign choice of us and our response to Him work together for salvation as seen in John 6:37 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and whoever comes to Me I will never drive away.)

Think about that for a moment – Sovereign God, Maker of all creation, has favored us so intensively with His grace that He sees us as intrinsically bound to Jesus, His Only Son (see John 3:16).  When we know this, really know this, deep in our hearts our days, our lives become songs of praise back to Him.  Keeping this in mind, how do our songs sound to Him today?  Sweet obedience or sour obligation – humble praise or hardened pride – childlike faith or calloused fear?

What is your attitude toward God about grace today?  When was the last time you thanked God for your salvation?  When was the last time you told someone else you were thankful to God for how He has blessed you?

DAY 4 - September 9, 2010

The many gifts of our inheritance

Ephesians 1:11-14

In Him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him Who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of His glory.  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, Who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession – to the praise of His glory. (Ephesians 1:11-14)

Arrabon, Greek for “deposit” in verse 14, was used to indicate that God gave the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of that which is to come.  A later form of this word was used for an engagement ring and the promise it indicated of the marriage to follow.  Therefore, we, as believers “in Christ”, have been sealed with the Holy Spirit as our deposit, our down payment, our guarantee of our inheritance of every spiritual blessing we have from God “in Christ”, our Bridegroom and coming King (see 2 Corinthians 1:22).   We will never be left at the altar broken-hearted and painfully alone – God will never leave us nor turn away from us (see Hebrews 13:5).  He Himself has chosen us as His own; He Himself has placed us in Christ; and He Himself is faithful in all He does (Psalm 33:4).  For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ (2 Corinthians 1:20).

Have you ever felt the pain of a broken promise?  How does this pain influence your choices towards your spouse, your children, your friends, your co-workers?

Even though we may not be able to see all of these blessings in our lives today, much less “feel saved”, we, as Christians, can claim them with clarity of faith that one day we will experience them and we will see our Betrothed, King Jesus, face to Face (1 Corinthians 13:12).  in Christ, we already have everything we could ever desire, dream of, or yearn for whether or not we might see it – it is ours in Christ.  And nothing or no one can ever rob or even change our inheritance for God has already given it to us in Christ.  Our salvation is sure; our inheritance is certain; our God is Faithful – what more could we long for than what He has already given us in Jesus?

Praise be to You, Lord Jesus, for You are mine and I am Yours! (see Song of Songs 2:16)

DAY 5 - September 10, 2010

Conclusions

John MacArthur said that “Many Christians continually ask God for what He has already given...the believer’s need is not to receive something more but to do something more with what he has”.  God has already given us everything we can dream of “in Christ”.  He has already given grace to us to cover all of our sins (see Psalm 32:1).  He has already  sealed us forever with the Holy Spirit.  Jesus is already in heaven preparing a place for us to be with Him forever (see John 14:2), what remains?  Our choice to respond to Him with clean hearts for obedience in worship (see Psalm 24:3-6)  Let us then join with the Psalmist in saying from our hearts Because Your love is better than life, my lips will glorify You, I will praise You as long as I live, and in Your Name I will lift up my hands. (Psalm 63:3-4).

What have you learned this week from Ephesians 1:1-14?  How does what you’ve learned change your relationships with God, with your family, with your church, with your world?