Your Identity: A New Creation

Text: Ephesians 1:1–14 ESV

Introduction

Who are you? Identity is a huge question, and it is a question we all ask at different points in our life, to varying degrees. We need to understand ourselves and our identity well to understand this world and everything that happens around us. To not know our identity is to be adrift in a sea of options and opinions, bobbing up and down and tossed to-and-fro, looking for a patch of land, an island of respite that will give us a firm footing to stand upon. 

Sometimes we ask the question at a practical level: Who am I as an employee at this [name your employer]? Who am I as a mother or father to [name your kids]? Who am I as a friend to [name your friend]? Sometimes, we ask it at a deeper, more philosophical level: Who am I as someone of Hungarian descent, Chinese heritage, or American. Who am I as the son or daughter of my family? We are all such a conglomeration of histories, life experiences, and genetic makeup that there is no cut and dry answer on the surface to your exact makeup and identity. You are unique and fearfully made so by God. 

But sometimes we get past all these questions of varying depth to the core of the question: Who am I—why do I exist, and what is my purpose? This is where we are going over the next several months. We are going to be working through the book of Ephesians in the New Testament of the Bible. Ephesians is about 2/3 of the way through the New Testament, and it is grouped together with several other books called the “Epistles” or letters. They are letters written by different authors to Christians—churches or individuals—encouraging them in their faith. We have titled our series “Who are you?” because we believe you will see throughout this book your very identity.

Amazingly, your identity is wrapped up with Christ and his identity. To know yourself requires you to know God and to know Jesus Christ. There is no other way to know yourself. One of the greatest joys of Christianity is you can finally understand who you are and your purpose in life—and it is one of the greatest tragedies for an unbeliever. Outside of Christ you cannot even know yourself completely. This is why we love studying Scripture! Within it we find the story not primarily about us (though it does speak to us) but about Jesus and God’s amazing purposes and plans through him. We want to know and be clear about who Jesus is because it matters for how you understand yourself. 

Many weeks we do sermon reviews and receive feedback from one another on staff, and we take into account any feedback we heard from you all as well, and, we often wish we had been clearer. Saying 3000-4000 words over 30 minutes means you have many opportunities to say something you wish you hadn’t. Luke Salik wanted me to share one with you from last week. He said this, speaking of Jesus:

“As a human though, some of his shimmer is a little bit faded underneath the clothing of his human skin. There’s a few times actually in the gospel where the disciples see this. The transfiguration is the main one where it’s almost like his human clothing gets pulled back a little bit and they see this bright, dazzling, flashing-like-lightning kind of look.”

Now, you may have heard that and not thought twice about it, but Luke wanted a redo on that statement. It is really close language to a heresy that claims Jesus was only seen as a human but wasn’t really one: it was just an illusion. Or another heresy that says Jesus was divine, put on human nature only temporarily—like skin—and then took it off when he was done on earth. The rest of Luke’s sermon was clear that he believes, just like the rest of us, that Jesus was fully God and fully man, but Luke felt that that his off-the-cuff statement about the transfiguration was too close for comfort and did not want to mislead anyone. That Jesus is fully God and fully man is the mystery and joy of his incarnation and necessary for our salvation!

And it matters! You need to know clearly who Jesus is because you need to know who you are. We pray that is was becomes exceedingly clear in Ephesians—who Jesus is and what he has done, and consequently, who you are! 

Ephesians

“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,

To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus:” (Ephesians 1:1 ESV)

Ephesus was one of the major port towns of Asia in Paul’s day. It had the temple of Artemis there, which was considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. You can still visit it today and see remnants of the great library that was once there, the theater that held around 20,000 at the time of Paul, and its various stadium, baths, and marketplace. As a Roman city, it was Gentile, but there are remnants of a sizeable Jewish population there. 

We see that Paul visited there in his second missionary journey (Acts 18:19, 26) around 51–53AD, and then again during his third missionary journey around 54–58AD. Paul stays there for three years during his second visit (Acts 20:31), and he preached in the synagogue for three months (Acts 19:8), disputed daily in the school or hall of Tyrannus for two years (Acts 19:9-10) so that he could confidently say that “all of Asia” had heard the word of God. Additionally, in Acts 20:17–28, we see that Paul had grown so close to the Ephesians and their church pastors that he wept when he left them. 

It is to the people of Ephesus and more that Paul is writing. We know from records that Ephesus controlled the many smaller cities around it, and this letter also appears to be a letter meant to be read by all the surrounding areas (a circular letter), where they would read it and pass it around to the next city, which is why it seems a little generic and doesn’t mention anyone by name specifically. 

Situation

It is always good to remember the situation of the readers of this letter, and everyone’s situation before God as we come to any writing in Scripture. The Gentiles of Ephesus, the believing Jews, and you and me, we were all lost in our sin. Our sin is our rebellion against God—a god who created all things and has the right to require righteousness from us. We are at war with God when we sin against him. We are declaring that we will determine our path (thank you very much) regardless of the outcome.

It has always been a wonder that God chooses to solve this problem without just killing us all. It was true in Paul’s day, and I think that is true of many Christians today that they know God loves them in Jesus, they have put their faith in Jesus but still, at times, need encouragement on who they are in Jesus. 

It is with this background that Paul addresses both the Ephesians and you and I today:

Grace to you and Peace

“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Ephesians 1:2 ESV)

Paul starts with a typical greeting of peace but specifically says that the Ephesians—and you and I—have grace and peace from God. Remembering our situation means that phrase is not a throw-away statement. It is no small thing that you and I are receiving grace and peace from a God we are in full out war against. Yet this God is actually giving us grace, instead of instant death. He is giving us peace in very tangible ways. In fact, we are going to see three examples and proof of how God is both giving us both grace and peace though 1) adoption, 2) redemption, and 3) his very presence—his Spirit. And this lays the groundwork for the rest of Ephesians.

Paul’s Long Sentence

Two quick verses that are fairly standard for a letter, and now we take a very deep breath, because verses 3–14 are all one, very long, and very quintessentially Pauline sentence. Paul takes multiple concepts and weaves them together, sometimes using the same phrase multiple times, back and forth, as a tapestry to his excitement and the joy he sees in who God is and what he does. He starts here in verse 3:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,” (Ephesians 1:3 ESV)

Our God is to be blessed—we are to praise him—and Paul is going to tell us why.

“who [the Father] has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him [Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.” (Ephesians 1:3b ESV)

Who are you? You, Christian, are blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. Ephesians is going to unpack that again and again for us, describing in detail the amazing blessings we have from God. But note how it happened—in Christ. Without Jesus, none of these amazing truths would be possible. Without Jesus, none of the things that Paul says you have—these spiritual blessings in the heavenly places—could happen or be true. Who you are is tied up in Jesus Christ. As verse four says, God chose you in Christ. God saw you through the lens of who you would be in Jesus Christ, and he decided, before he made anything, that he wanted you. 

Our immediate question should be, “why?” Why would God want to choose us in Jesus Christ? We should be very aware of how fragile, how sinful we were, and how sinful we still are even amidst our struggle against sin. Why would God do this? And we see here that Paul gives us the answer—that we would be holy and blameless before him. God wants to end the war, and he is going to do it himself. He doesn’t just want to stop the war with you—he could do that through your immediate destruction. Rather, he wants to bring you back into relationship with him, and the only way to do that is to make you holy and blameless again that you might be able to stand before a holy and righteous God. This is, as we sing, ‘Amazing Grace’! That God would stop the war with us in our sin this way is spectacular. Paul says it throughout this passage. In verses 7–8 he says this is “Grace that he lavished on us” and in verse six he reminds us that this is “grace which he blessed us with in the beloved.” 

But God doesn’t do this only for your benefit. He also does it, as Paul starts out in this verse, to be blessed—or praised. He says it again in verse 6 that God does these things “to the praise of his glorious grace!” and again verse 12 “to the praise of his glory” and in verse 14 “to the praise of his glory!”.  God doesn’t need you to praise him as though he lacks anything. Any other person doing anything to receive praise would be narcissistic. Yet, God does it out of abundance, and because what else is right for the most glorious, most wonderful, most loving, and most joyful person to do but want you to find relationship with him and enter into this wonderful love and joy yourself! That must result in praise, and so God seeks his own praise. That is a good thing for you and for me because, paradoxically, you and I find our greatest joy and God receives the most praise and glory when we find our satisfaction and purpose in Jesus Christ. That makes knowing who you are, and that you are in Jesus very important. 

It is in verses 4b–14 that Paul unpacks this amazing grace we have in Jesus and how it means peace for us with God. 

Adopted

“In love he [God] predestined us for adoption to himself as sons [and daughters] through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which [his grace] he has blessed us in the Beloved.” (Ephesians 1:4b–6 ESV)

In almost every culture, in every time, being a part of a family has been the most intimate picture we can have. Who else knows you well, can ask favors from you, and who you know will be there for you no matter what? This is why when our families don’t operate in those ways, it hurts so bad, and we long for it to be so. It is no different with God. His original children—Adam and Eve—disobeyed and were punished. Yet he didn’t keep them at arm’s length, even then he provided a way for them, temporarily through regular sacrifices, and permanently through the promise of a son who would come and sacrifice himself for God’s people. 

Adoption embodies the idea of grace because no adopted child can require their adoptive parents to take them. There is an implied status of weakness when you need to be adopted, and it is a very appropriate picture of me and you. This is no mere business transaction or legal document (though it is at least this)—it is a loving engagement with a person in a special relationship.

Even more so, being the sons and daughters of God through Jesus means we are at perfect peace with him. Even the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11–32, when he comes back to his father, is showered with love and forgiveness. It is this picture that leads to the next verses in Ephesians 1.

Redemption

“In him [Christ] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses), according to the riches of his grace, which [his grace] he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which [his purpose] he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. (Ephesians 1:7–10 ESV)

Paul is helpful and tells us exactly what he means by redemption. In our culture, in movies and books, redemption can often mean that someone has overcome a problem, situation, or deficiency all on their own. Sometimes it means that they have somehow atoned, or fixed, the problem. What makes them special is their own striving. When we remember that our problem is sin and rebelling against God, how do we ever plan to fix that? The best we could do would be to stop fighting (as though that is possible on our own), and even then, what would we do about all the times, years, and ways we fought God previously in our sin? Paul tells us that we have redemption, which means “the forgiveness of our trespasses” or sins.

God brought us this grace through Christ Jesus, but we know it because he chose to reveal his plan to us, Paul says. In Jesus, God is uniting all things to himself. (This idea of unity will become very important later on in Ephesians.) It is because Gentiles and Jews both have understanding of what God is doing and has done for us through Jesus that we all have a chance to come to faith, and that is the next turn Paul takes.

His Spirit

“In him we have obtained an inheritance,

[or become God’s inheritance] 

having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,  so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 

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, who [the Holy Spirit] is the guarantee of our inheritance

[or of our chosen]

until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.  (Ephesians 1:11–14 ESV)

This idea of “obtaining an inheritance” makes it sound like you and I have received something. For sure we have, because God has given us many amazing things in Christ. But the idea here, and actually the phrasing, is more like what Moses says in Deuteronomy 32:8–9, where he says:

“For the Lord’s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted inheritance.” (Deuteronomy 32:8-9, ESV) 

In Christ, God is drawing us close. We have actually become his—his portion and his inheritance. The NET translation says it well:

“In Christ we too have been claimed as God’s own possession,” (Ephesians 1:11 NET)

That is the beauty of what Paul is saying here in Ephesians 1:1–14. Gentiles and Jews both are God’s possession only as they are found in Christ—the playing field is level because God has a singular way that he brings his people into relationship with him. That is why Paul can say that those who were the first to hope (Jews) are to the praise of his glory and the Gentile Ephesians are also to the praise of God’s glory. 

This also makes the Holy Spirit of God that much more sweet. Have you ever worried if you are really God’s? How can you know? Paul says here that having been made God’s portion and inheritance can be evidenced by the fact that you are “sealed with the promise of the Holy Spirit.” Until that day when we are fully in the presence of God, when we can relate to him face to face as our good Father, until then we have his Holy Spirit to guarantee we are his possession!

Conclusion

Who are you? You are chosen by God for grace and peace. You have been adopted as his son or daughter. You have been redeemed to holiness, and you are his inheritance, his portion, sealed with his Holy Spirit. You are in Christ. 

Some of you might be feeling that I side-stepped the idea of being chosen or predestined. I didn’t get into the debate that many get concerned with: if some are chosen that means some are not. Yet, if you notice, that isn’t the primary concern of Scripture. 

As we read through Scripture and see this amazing God who loves us, dies for us, draws us back to himself as his son or daughter and treasures us as his possession, we should long to be with him. To find out that he chooses people for himself, even before time, does not diminish their individual choices, it doesn’t make God evil, rather, it is meant to make you wonder, “could it be that this God who loves and cares might actually choose you—a sinner, messed up and broken?” And as you look around this room when we take communion in a few minutes, I hope you see that the rest of us were just as broken, we were just as evil of sinners. The main difference is that we have put our faith in Jesus so we are now found in Christ. 

If you are not yet a believer, you can be that way too. We take communion to remember that we are only God’s in Christ. Accept by faith that God has indeed saved you in Jesus and come to him today, through faith, as a son or daughter, redeemed, and a treasured possession. 

Benediction

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.