We have three basic or foundational needs: identity, comfort and protection. These needs when we look for them in the wrong ways, places or at the wrong time become the cause of temptation into sin and idolatry. However, they are real needs and meant to be met in and by Christ.
Here, I want to focus in primarily on the first of those. Identity. What is my value? What is my purpose? The authors of the Westminster Shorter catechism started with this as their first question: “What is the chief end of man?” Their answer “to enjoy God and glorify him forever” could have been drawn from Ephesians 1:3-14.
And whilst we tend to ask the question about each of us individually, it applies to all of us together as a church as well. What is the purpose of our local church? So we are going to look at this passage and see how Paul answers the question both for each one of us personally and for our church.
We discover our identity by knowing who God is (v3)
The catechism says that we are to glorify God and Paul starts his letter with a prayer of praise, inviting us to join in with praising or blessing God, the Father. Notice that he is specifically, the Father of Jesus Christ. It is because he is the eternal Father of the eternal Son that we too can call him Father. We are included in the family as sons and daughters through Jesus. We are, as we will see, adopted children, he is the only begotten son. This description of God as “Father” is therefore unique to Christianity. He is not just a supreme and all powerful ruler. God is love and we are invited to glorify him by enjoying him and that starts when we learn to discover his fatherly love.
This love which begins with the Father’s eternal love for the son is poured out upon us as well. We are blessed with every “spiritual blessings”, these are the good things that come to us from God and are about more than material provision. In a moment we are going to find out more about what those blessings are, our identity is rooted in what God has done for us.
Notice where we are blessed. It’s in heavenly places in Christ. So, we will finish by seeing where or how we receive these blessings. However, at this point I want to highlight something important from the start of Ephesians. Here, we’ve been told that we are blessed “in Christ, in heavenly places”. In verse 20, Paul will tell us that God
20 raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.
Paul was writing to a culture that feared the spirit world. There was a fully divine entity, God if you like, but that God was impersonal, unknowable and remote. Filling the void between heaven and earth were a hierarchy of spiritual beings or demi-gods to be feared and appeased. You know, things haven’t really changed that much. Some of us may have grown up in cultures where there was a greater awareness of the spiritual world and a fear of evil spirits. However, whether or not we have experienced that kind of fear, we all find things to fear, people, organisations, our own history. The things we fear are the things that become our idols. Again this is true of churches as well as individuals. Well Paul tells us that Jesus is exalted above such things and in chapter 2:6 we are told that:
“6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,”
It has become a bit of a tradition for us to head to Butlins for our summer holiday. Another litte tradition whilst we are there is that we head down to the beach and after a long walk through the dunes finally arrive at the sea. My daughter has a fascinating relationship with the sea, she loves the thrill of going in to the waves but she fears them too. So, she insists that I carry her, lifting her safely above the water squealing with delight as the incoming tide laps against me. She is safe in her father’s arms high above it all.
And that’s the sense we are meant to get of where we are, in Christ, seated with him, lifted up to safety away from any real danger. We do not need to fear the things around us.
We find our identity in knowing what God has done for us (v4-6)
Paul now tells us a bit more about how God blesses us. What has he done for us. He has chosen us to be holy (v4) and he has predestined us to be sons (v5). Notice that this is all part of God’s eternal plan. We were chosen before the foundation of the earth and notice his purpose. We are to be holy, in other words we are to be set apart as distinct, different, bearing something of his family likeness.
Family members are meant to share something of the family character. Earlier this year I was visiting Bradford and went to the church where I grew up. Someone came up to me and said “oh you must be Roger and Margot Williams son”. Then instead of saying “you look just like them they said “your daughters are just like them.” We expect that with biological children but actually it’s true with adopted children too. Our girls somehow seem to share much of the same sense of humour, the same mannerisms etc. And God’s plan when he chose us was that we would become like him. That’s the purpose of us individually and as a church, to become Christlike, to be godly.
This is because we have been predestined to be adopted into God’s family as his children. The word “predestined” means that God determined this to happen from the beginning. There’s been a lot of controversy around this word, its split people and churches. However, Paul’s intention was not to stir up controversy. His aim is pastoral not philosophical. The point we are mean to get is this. That the good and loving heavenly father chooses to love us despite all of our sin and rebellion. He loved us despite knowing all of that about you and me before we were even born and chose to bring us into his family.
Our adoption is through Jesus and it has a purpose. It’s so that we will glorify God and specifically by drawing attention to his grace, his loving kindness freely given to us. The statement starts with God’s love for us and finishes with The Father’s love for the Son. Indeed, we, the church are a love gift to Jesus.
This is important because it really helps us to understand our purpose better. We can think so much in terms of all the things we have got to achieve but our purpose is to point to God, our purpose is to be part of the family and we fulfil that purpose not by what we do but by grasping, appreciating, enjoying what God has done for us.
Let that soak in. Let it help you to rest and relax. We live in an anxious age. We are always being told what we have to achieve. I remember turning 40 and there was all this talk about bucket lists, things you were meant to do, places you were meant to go to before you hit the magic age. Well, I never made the list and if I had, then I suspect I have failed miserably to achieve all of those things by 50, never mind by 40.
It can be true of churches too can’t it. The Christian book world and increasingly blog world is awash with all kinds of manuals for how to develop your mission and strategy as a church, all the things you are meant to have, how much you are meant to grow by. And that can be draining. When I started my first job I remember bounding with youthful enthusiasm into my boss’s office and asking him what our aim was. He responded with worldly weariness.
“Just to get to the end of the week in one piece.”
It wasn’t much of a compelling vision though by the end of the week I understood better! Perhaps that’s how you feel at the moment about yourself about church. You are clinging on, it feels like you are just about surviving. To try and think about mission and purpose sounds too much. The good news is that you are already fulfilling your purpose by being here because you are showing everyone around you what God can do, what he has done, what he is doing.
We live out our identity by knowing how God has achieved all of this for us (v7-14)
Paul now draws our attention to focus fully on Jesus. He is the beloved Son and it is in him that God does all of this. So, our identity is in Christ, indeed, so too is our security and comfort. Here are four things that we have received in Christ.
We have redemption through his blood ((v7)) Redemption means that we have been bought back. It’s a funny old word not used so much these days. However, if you own a house and have taken out a mortgage, you will see that there is a redemption date when it becomes fully yours. Our redemption is through Jesus’ blood. Sin meant that we were slaves to sin, Satan and death, The debt was settled at calvary, we are free from our old masters and belong to our new family.
Take in the richness of the language here. God, in Jesus lavishes grace on us. He draws us in. By the way, this reminds us of the significance of inheritance. When we adopted, one of the first things we had to do was to get wills made. This was another way of making it clear that the girls really are part of the family, they belong, our home is theirs. They aren’t just guests.
And another way we are included is that God reveals his will to us. He includes us in his plans and purposes. Those plans are described as “a mystery”. Paul uses that language to refer to things that previously were hidden from us but have now been made clear. Specifically, his purpose is that all people and everything will be united together under the rule and reign of King Jesus, By the way, this will become a big theme in Ephesians.
so that one of the purposes of the local church is that we show what it means to be united despite all the things that make us diverse and different, gender, class, politics, ethnicity, secondary doctrine, worship styles etc etc.
We are chosen as heirs(v11). Notice that here Paul makes a distinction focusing first on the initial follower of Jesus and so identifies Paul and the first Jewish believers They were chosen to “display his glory.” There’s an image in Ephesians that points to the Church being a trophy of grace.
His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms (3:10).
We are meant to be on display, a witness to the authorities and powers of this world but also to those who don’t know him yet. The focus here is on Paul, the apostles and first Jewish believers to emphasise that purpose. They were not just meant to enjoy the good news for themselves. So this points to the fact we are very clearly included in that purpose as the next statement confirms.
We are sealed with the Spirit (v13) So we too are included. How does this happen? Well, first of all, we heard the Word of Truth or, we heard the Gospel. There was a day when someone told you that Jesus died for your sin and you believed. With those two things happening, something or rather someone, vital was given to us. We were sealed with the Holy Spirit. A seal is a mark of authority. It proves authenticity. So we are identified by the presence of the Holy Spirit as truly belonging to God the Father.
The Holy Spirit is also described as “a deposit” and “a guarantee”. This has sometimes been likened to an engagement ring and the word used here has that sense in modern Greek . When I proposed to Sarah, I gave her a ring. It was a kind of proof of my intentions. When she looked at that ring and when other people saw it, they knew that we really were getting married.
Specifically though, it’s the deposit guaranteeing our inheritance. There’s something legal going on here. Why does inheritance matter. Why do wills matter? This came across powerfully to me when we adopted. One important thing we had to do was to get our wills drawn up. These made it clear that our children had a full stake, our home, our belongings our money was theirs too. They weren’t just temporary guests, they are permanent members of the family.
The presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives both enables us to live for Jesus now nut also points forward to the future hope that we have of the wedding day when Christ returns and makes all things new, so that we will fully enjoy all the goodness of his blessing.
Conclusion
What is our identity? As individual believers, we are sons and daughters of God. This means we get to call God Father and we belong to the family. Our identity and purpose is found in Christ. Our salvation and the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives is a witness to the gospel of Grace. This means that we have doubly immeasurable value, we have been made in God’s image and have been redeemed, bought back so that once again we bear the family resemblance.
The Church’s identity is also, corporately the bride of Christ. Once again, that means that our identity and value is found in relation to him. Together we can say that our lives are hid in Christ. This means that a local church’s identity and value is not based on human measures of success but in faithfulness to our Lord.
This is good news for anxious Christians. Take a moment to consider what you might be worried about in the week ahead. Are you worried about what people think about you, what they might be saying about you? Are you anxious about your achievements, whether you measure up to expectations you have set yourself or that others have set for you? Maybe your anxiety is less about yourself and more about your church and how it is doing/what people think and say about it. If you are anxious, then can I encourage you to bring those anxieties to Jesus.
It’s good news for those of us who maybe have the opposite kind of temptation too. Maybe you tend towards over confidence. Is pride creeping in? The Gospel reminds us that we have nothing to boast about. We have received a free gift, it’s all Christ’s work. If that’s you, I would urge you to take a moment to recognise this, to repent, to say sorry to the Lord and thank him again for his underserved love and grace to you.
Faithroots 