Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Illustration: In life, if you get invited to someone’s home and they cook a wonderful meal, on usually would give thanks to the person who cooked.

January 15, 2009, US Airways flight 1549 took off of La Guardia to Charlotte, NC.

They flew into a flock of geese and had to land.

Captain Chelsey Sullenberger III safely landed the plane on the Hudson!

Would it not be natural to express thanks to Sully?

Historical context: We are with a really long praise that goes all the way to verse 14.

More than 200 words, praising God for who He is.

Paul is addressing saints, those who have believed in Christ (Eph.

1:1).

Proposition: Consistently praise God because He choose us and blessed us in Christ.

I. Bless God for Blessing Us in Christ v. 3.

Eph.

1:3 Paul begins with a verbal adjective “bless” (εθλογητος) that has the force of a command.

Paul is basically commanding them to praise God.

Paul then goes to define who the God is:

The “Father” – God is described as “father.”

Which is important to think about in which sense is God “Father?”

While “father” can mean the “immediate biological ancestor” (BDAG, 786)

But is can mean “6. the supreme deity, who is responsible for the origin and care of all that exists, Father, Parent” (BDAG, s.v.

“πατήρ,” 787).

Here God is mentioned as “Father” of “our Lord” (κυριου ημων).

The use of the genitive limits the Fatherhood who ever is the Paul’s and the Ephesian’s Lord – Since Paul does not have another author with this letter, the “our” has to mean the church in Ephesus.

The “Lord” is identified as Jesus Christ

If Jesus is Lord over Paul and the church in Ephesus,

Then what would be the Father of their Lord be?

God the Father would be our authority, Jesus said that He always does the will of the Father (John 8:29).

God the Father said that Jesus was His Son in whom He was well please (Matt.

3:17).

There is no difference between what Jesus says and what God says

So if Jesus is Lord of your life, God is your Lord too!

Paul’s verbal adjective “Bless!” or “Praise!” is because God “bestowing special favors” (ο ευλογησας Aor.

Act.

Part.

N. M. Sg.).

The participle is adjectival modifying God “The participle may function just like an adjective and either modify a substantive (attributive)” (Daniel B. Wallace, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics: an Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament, Accordance electronic ed.

(Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996), 617).

God the Father is the bestower or the one has bestowed special grace to Paul and the Ephesians.

Paul is going to give a series of prepositional phrases that will explain how God has bestowed grace:

“in every spiritual blessing” – Dative: Instrumental – How? it answers the questions how is God bestowing special grace the answer is He is giving “Spiritual blessings.”

What is Spiritual blessings?

That sounds like magic beans!

1. Spiritual can mean a person’s inner life, i.e. spirit.

2. Pertaining or corresponding to the divine Spirit.

The word is used in Eph.

5:19 to refer “spiritual songs” which comes from being filled with the Spirit (Eph.

5:18).

Eph.

6:12 here the word “spiritual” refers to the evil powers we fight against.

Paul says what the Spiritual blessings are:

“in the heavenly (places)” – Dative: Locative – Where?

It answers the question where, God has blessed in heaven, in contrast to the earth.

Jesus told His disciples to store their treasures in heaven because they will rust or get stolen (Matt.

6:19-21).

Your blessing from God is a spiritual blessing in heaven.

“in Christ” – Dative: “To/for whom?”

The special grace that is being bestowed to us is being bestowed to us “in Christ” (εν Χριστω).

Paul is developing the centrality of Christ in receiving the spiritual blessing that God is giving out.

That have been “bestowed special favor” because they are “in Christ.”

I. Bless God for Blessing Us in Christ v. 3.

How can we apply this to our life.

I believe it gives two areas that we need to force our minds to consider:

A. God gives us our identity

God is the Father of our “Lord.”

Jesus’ Lordship gives us our identity:

Jesus as Lord means I am not able to create my own reality.

I am not Lord.

My reality is Jesus’ reality.

Jesus as Lord means my Jesus gives me my value system.

I value what God values, and I despise what my Lord despises.

The Christians life is about living a life that uses wisdom, where you have to make a decision, will this action be in-line with my Lord, will it exalt my Lord?

Or will tear Him down or be contrary to His desire?

B. God secures our blessing

There are many uncertainties in our life.

There are many things what we think that we should be able to accept as axiomatic, only to find out that they are not always as fundamental as we think they are:

Parents should love their children – and yet some parents will choose their own pleasure over the best interest of their children.

Marriages should be like forever – but life happens, and spouse dies, or leaves, or stays and you wish he would leave.

Nothing seems very secure – for many this causes a certain amount of fear and dread.

But those who are in Christ, who have Jesus as Lord, their identity and their blessings is secure.

Storms can come, but as long as God is God, who you are in Christ is secure.

That is a huge blessing in world where nothing is secure!

I. Bless God for Blessing Us in Christ v. 3.

II.

Bless God for Choosing Us in Christ vs. 4-5

Eph.

1:4 The verse begins with a conjunction “since” (καθως) which is being used as “cause.”

Paul explains the “cause” of the blessing:

“He Himself choose” (εξελεξατο Aor.

Mid.

Indc.

3rd Sg.) “1. to pick out someone or someth., choose (for oneself)” or “3.

gather in a crop, gather” (BDAG, s.v.

“ἐκλέγομαι,” 305).

The middle aspect puts an emphasis on the Subject doing the action, as in He Himself.

How has this word used?

Martha and Mary had the opportunity to chose between cooking an amazing meal or pulling out crackers and sitting at Jesus’s feet.

Mary choose, she made a decision.

The context is Jesus saying that He is the vine, and we are the branches.

Jesus goes on to say that the choice for them to be branches was Jesus!

Here is a decision God deciding foolish things over the wise worldly things.

Nobody gets bent out of shape when God decided SOVEREIGNLY to use the foolish things of this world to shame the wise.

Paul wrote them to say that they and him were chosen, they did not chose themselves, were chosen “in Him” (εν αυτω) referring to Jesus.

They were chosen in Christ:

before the foundations of the world!

In 2004 Magnus Carlsen (13 yrs old) played Garry Kasparov in chess and drew.

Garry was the leading champion of the world and 28 years Magnus’ senior.