On to Ephesians #2

Two quick points before we dive in. I will be using the first-person plural “we” to describe a lot of what I believe. Please keep these in mind while reading.

1. If you are a Christian and reading this, then these are things that I believe apply to you or should apply to your walk with Christ.

2. If you are a non-Christian and reading this, then this is what I believe a Christian should to look like and strive to become.

So please don’t assume that just because I use “we” to describe myself and beliefs that it automatically assumes your religious beliefs or automatically disassociates yourself from the conversation.

I will lay out a few verses ahead, try to pinpoint the commonality between them all as you read.

“And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you 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 1:13-14

“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”

- Ephesians 4:30

And also in order to further look into it:

“Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.”

- Romans 8:23

“… set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”

- 2 Corinthians 1:22

“Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose of God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”

- 2 Corinthians 5:5

What do these verses have in common? Redemption. Through the Holy Spirit and by the promise of sealing/guaranteeing our redemption. Now, growing up I always assumed that redemption was an immediate effect of being born again. In fact, I probably didn’t even consider it that much and had a hard time deciphering the different between that and a lot of the other “religious” words. In my mind, as a child, it was like this: You’re born again, forgiven, justified, sanctified, and redeemed all in one swoop. It has been a learning process to learn that some of these have their different places. I’d like to focus mostly on redemption today.

Redemption is:

1. The action of saving or being saved from sin.

2. Regaining or gaining possession of something in exchange for payment.

What was gained, what was exchanged, and what was paid? In short: We were gained by Christ when he exchanged his life as payment for us. Another way to look at it is: We gain back eternity because of His life exchanged as payment. So what is significant about this prospect of redemption? It is in the words “sealed” and “guaranteed”. It means it has not happened yet, but is the promise of the future coming. When Jesus died on the cross, he not only died for our sins but he also died that we might become the dwelling place of God and have his Holy Spirit come live in us.

“And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”

- Ephesians 2:22

Just as an interesting side-note, this is not merely a New Testament idea.

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.”

- Ezekiel 36:26-27

But wasn’t that a word meant for Israel and God’s “people”? Ephesians once again contains a truth in answer to the mystery. In fact a good amount of Ephesians is used directly to answer this. Ephesians uses these words “we” “us” “together” while explaining God’s gift of the Holy Spirit.

“This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.”

- Ephesians 3:6

“He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will.”

- Ephesians 1:5

We are adopted to be “heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17). Therefore what was said in Ezekiel as a promise to his people applies to us today. So is this just another new testament promise? Well I’m glad you asked!

“Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations.”

- Isaiah 42:1

Another version says “Bring justice to the gentiles.” This verse is a prophecy about Jesus. Justice to the nations, which was then a mystery, is now made known in Ephesians to mean that the gentiles (everyone besides those who are Jewish) are also adopted into Christ. We. Together. Us. I make this point of the old and new testament aligning because I know that I, for one, used to consider them two separate parts of the bible, or more importantly, two different Gods. Seeing that we were predestined for adoption and prophesied to be co-heirs with Christ, along with the Israelites, it just solidifies in my mind that God is the same forever and always.

I give all of this background information because I believe that it is important to know this truth:

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son…”

- John 3:16

I could probably just leave it at that because you probably know what the rest says, its arguably one of the most popular verses in the bible. Just as important, is the verse that comes after:

“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

- John 3:17

The truth is God loved us enough to not condemn us but to save us. All of us, if we are willing to believe. Bringing the point back to redemption. I say all of this because the act that was done by Christ in his sacrifice solidified our redemption by the sealing of the Holy Spirit. What does this mean?