2^nd Sunday after Christmas – January 2, 2011

Ephesians 1:3-6 - ³ 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. ⁴ For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love ⁵ he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— ⁶ to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.

In a cartoon once, there was a lawyer reading a client’s last will and testament to a group of greedy relatives. The caption read: “I, John Jones, being of sound mind and body, spent it all!”

But when Jesus Christ wrote his last will and testament for his Church, that’s not at all what it said. Instead of spending it all, Jesus Christ paid it all. His death on the cross and his resurrection make possible our salvation. He wrote us into his will, and then he died, so that will would be in force. He rose again to make it possible for us to share his spiritual riches. That is why this morning we consider the words before us from the book of Ephesians with this theme in mind: The Christian’s Riches in Christ.

We run across the first spiritual blessing that makes us rich in the fourth verse of our text, “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.”

This verse talks about the doctrine, or teaching known as election, and the doctrine of election is a remarkable teaching. Sadly, it is also a teaching that has confused and confounded many people; but it doesn’t have to be that way. You see, the problems that have arisen with this teaching come only when people try to make it answer questions that it was never intended to answer. This doctrine is not meant to answer the question how we are saved. No, that question is answered with the teaching of justification – the teaching that tells us that we are saved, declared not guilty, by the work of Jesus Christ who paid the penalty for our sin and won forgiveness for us, and that we receive the blessings Christ won for us by faith. The teaching of election on the other hand, simply teaches us that we are saved. It is a teaching of pure comfort. It is a teaching of absolute reassurance. It is a teaching that strengthens and preserves us in faith. It is a teaching that stresses God’s grace in Christ Jesus.

We know that God loves all people and wants all to be saved. We also know that no one deserves to be saved. We read in the verses before us this morning that God elected/chose us to salvation in Christ, and that he did this out of love for us. Beyond that the Holy Spirit doesn’t lead us, nor should we tread. So let us not tread where we ought not to tread. Let us not wander away from the point. Rather, may we simply look at this teaching and receive the comfort and riches God intends to pour out to us in Christ.

So, with that in mind, let me ask you, what is it that robs you of comfort the most? What is it that disturbs you more than anything? I know for me it is my sin! Isn’t that true for you too? My sin is a rancid offense in the nostrils of my holy God. It hurts the people around me and gnaws endlessly at my insides. I find daily that those things I vowed never to do again, I do again and again and again. Then I wonder, was my repentance really sincere! And you know what all that’s like, don’t you? It rips comfort right from our grasp and replaces it with despair. We’re ready to give up hope because we think, “How can God want me!” It leads us to wonder, “Am I really saved?” “How can I be his?” “Does he really forgive me?” Because we repeatedly rebel against him and his will we know we are totally unworthy to receive any of God’s love. And that worries us, doesn’t it? It can rob us of comfort.

But what do we see here in this teaching of election. We find joy beyond joy and comfort of comforts. We hear that, despite being totally unworthy, God wanted us. He has always wanted us. That’s why he chose us from eternity. But he didn’t just make that decision in an absolute manner, but in harmony with his eternal plan for mankind’s redemption through Christ. That is why he chose us in Christ.

What relief that brings. It isn’t because of anything God sees in us (which is good because there is nothing good to be seen there), but he chose us in Christ. He chose us on the basis of Christ’s merits. The riches that are ours are always in Christ. Do you get what that means! This makes our salvation sure. It gives the child of God the comforting assurance of surviving, though our faith is attacked from within. It reassures us that our salvation is not dependant on us, and that’s wonderful news when we are about ready to throw in the towel because our sins are so heavy. We stand holy and blameless in God’s sight. I know, it’s amazing that people as consistently sinful as you and I should stand holy and blameless in his sight. Though amazing, it is the truth, for Jesus’ sake.

So you see, God brought about in time what he resolved to do from eternity. That baby Jesus in Bethlehem’s manger who came to be the man Jesus outstretched on the cross pouring out his blood, who would eventually be the glorified Jesus risen from the grave - tells us that through him and by faith in him we are saved. No spot of sin can be on us, and no accusation laid against us because he paid for them all.

Now, while this teaching on election is very simple, it is also true that some aspects and queries concerning it will not be answered in this lifetime. That’s why instead of attempting the impossible the child of God will stand in holy awe and wonderment and say with Paul, “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! ³⁴“Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?” ³⁵“Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?” ³⁶For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen” (Romans 11:33-36). And that’s what we do, we stand in awe and wonderment as we listen to Paul, in our lesson, continue describing the riches that are ours in Christ: “In love ⁵ he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will.”

You may recall that I said earlier that the teaching of election stresses God’s grace. This verse is a perfect example of it. Now, we learned to define grace as “undeserved love,” and the key in that definition is the word undeserved. The love that is involved in grace is not a love that is called forth by some lovable characteristic of its object, but finds its only source in the person who loves. In other words, God’s grace to us is not because of something good in us, but purely because he is so loving. So listen again and let the beauty, awe, majesty, and wonderment of these words sink in: “In love [God] predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ.”

Right off the bat we see this grace in the term “adoption.” Adoption reminds us that we weren’t born into God’s family. Our first birth was in sin, outside of the family of God. From the moment we entered this world, we were enemies of God and wanted nothing to do with him. On our own, we were incapable of bringing ourselves into his family. In fact, so serious was our condition at birth that if we had been left to ourselves we would have wandered away from God only to end up in hell.

But in love, God adopted us as his sons. And notice again how this adoption takes place, through Jesus Christ. Instead of giving us what we deserve, God sent his one and only Son to be born under the law to become our Savior. He sent him on a mission to restore the relationship between God and man that our sin ruined. And Jesus perfectly accomplished it. He became the substitute for all sinners. He provided the perfection we couldn’t. He endured the penalty of the law as he hung on the cross and received God’s righteous wrath against sin. And with his death and resurrection he won our innocence.

God gave us a second birth by creating faith in our hearts, and he took us as his own, even though, like the lost son, we were not worthy to be called his sons. And since we are adopted, we know we are accepted; acceptable because of God’s grace in Christ. He gives us an adult standing in his family so that we might immediately begin to claim our inheritance and enjoy our spiritual riches in Christ. That means right now forgiveness is ours. As we speak we have a right relationship with God. We know and can be certain and can have confidence that salvation is our personal possession because it doesn’t depend on our choosing Christ, but God choosing us.

We need to hear this since our sinful flesh continues to attack us and tries to get us to think that God chose us because we are not so bad, or little better than others. We need to be reminded that we came into this world as wicked and rebellious as everyone else and that we have been saved by grace alone. We need to be reminded that our adoption into God’s family is not based on flimsy hopes but on God’s sure promise, through the work of Christ. How can anyone still believe that we must earn our way into God’s favor?

It has been said, and rightfully so, that grace – G-R-A-C-E - is God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. Rotten and illegitimate children though we were, God chose and adopted us through Jesus’ blood. And this Christmas season has once again blessed us with clear reminders of this grace. Once again we have knelt beside the manger to see God’s Son our Savior. Once again we have been to the fields where shepherds tended their flock, to hear of the peace our Savior would bring. Once again we have been privileged to the angel’s conversation with Joseph, that his name is Jesus, because he would save us from our sins. All that we are and all that we have is not our doing, but God’s, as he pours out the riches Christ won for us.

Now, we can sing with full confidence the words of the hymnist– “Have no fear, little flock; Have no fear, little flock, For the Father has chosen to give you the kingdom; Have no fear little flock.” Amen.