Sermon Synopsis
In Ephesians 1:3–14, Paul reminds believers that their identity is not rooted in earthly circumstances but in their position in Christ. Those who belong to Christ have been blessed, chosen, adopted, redeemed, informed of God’s eternal purposes, granted an inheritance, and sealed by the Holy Spirit. These spiritual blessings provide an unshakable foundation when life is difficult, when doubts arise, or when faith is challenged. The ultimate purpose of these blessings is not merely our encouragement, but the praise of God’s glory as we rejoice in all that He has accomplished for us in Christ.
Please note: This transcript is provided as close to verbatim record of the sermon.
Our Unshakable Identity
Ephesians 1:3–14
Introduction
Good morning.
I would like to make a public service announcement for my own well-being. I made a mistake last week while speaking—I mentioned chocolate. As a result, I now have to buy a new suitcase for all the chocolate that has been given to me. While I greatly appreciate your generosity, I also have to fit inside the airplane in a few days. So thank you very much for your kindness, but please try to protect my waistline.
How many of you are familiar with American football?
There is a famous American football coach named Jim Harbaugh. Over the course of his career, he has coached at both the university and professional levels and has accumulated an impressive list of accomplishments. He led the University of San Diego to a combined record of 29 wins and 6 losses and won back-to-back championships. He later coached at Stanford University, leading them to a major Orange Bowl victory and defeating their archrival by 41 points in one season. From there, he rebuilt the University of Michigan football program, winning three straight championships, including the National Championship in 2023.
At the professional level, he coached the San Francisco 49ers and took them to the championship game in each of his first three seasons, including a trip to the Super Bowl. He was named Coach of the Year multiple times and received numerous other coaching honors throughout his career.
I thought about bringing a video clip of one of his locker-room speeches because he is a tremendous motivator. He has a phrase that became famous among his teams:
“Who’s got it better than us?”
He would ask that question after a victory, reminding his players of what they had accomplished together. The entire team would respond:
“Nobody!”
Let’s try that.
Who’s got it better than us?
Nobody!
That is the theme I want us to think about this morning as we consider our unshakable identity.
The Question of Identity
Maybe you are not feeling that way this morning.
Maybe you have asked yourself at times:
Perhaps you have even experienced people mocking your faith or speaking negatively about your identity as a follower of Christ.
Is it really worth it?
Am I really wearing the right uniform?
Do I truly have the best life as I follow Christ?
The answer is yes.
We really do have it better than anybody else.
The Setting of Ephesians
Please turn with me to Ephesians chapter 1.
As we think about our identity in Christ, it helps to understand a little about the city of Ephesus and the people to whom Paul was writing.
Paul established the church in Ephesus during his second missionary journey, probably around AD 52. You can read about that in Acts 18. About a year later, during his third missionary journey, Paul returned and spent approximately three years there. That means Paul knew these believers well. He had invested significant time teaching them, strengthening them, warning them about false teachers, and helping them grow in their faith.
When we read the book of Ephesians, we are reading a letter written to people Paul genuinely loved and cared for.
Sometimes the places and events of Scripture can seem distant and unreal. Yet Ephesus was a real city filled with real people. The ruins still exist today. The library, the temples, the city gates, the great theatre, and even remnants of the famous Temple of Artemis can still be seen. These are not myths or legends. They are reminders that the events recorded in Scripture took place in real history.
As you read your Bible, try to remember that. These things actually happened.
The Big Picture of Ephesians
The book of Ephesians emphasizes that Jews and Gentiles are now one in Christ. Throughout the letter, Paul explains the believer’s calling and urges Christians to live in a manner worthy of that calling. Two key themes repeatedly appear:
Another key phrase appears again and again:
“In Christ.”
The first half of the book focuses on doctrine, position, and calling. The second half focuses on practice and daily living. In simple terms:
Or to use another description:
The section before us today is primarily about our identity—our position in Christ.
Reading the Passage
Let us read Ephesians 1:3–14.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ…”
As we read through the passage, one phrase continually appears:
Paul keeps bringing us back to the same truth: everything we have is found in Christ.
A Longing for Belonging
There is a deep longing within people to belong.
A young man in our assembly in California came from a gang background. He had been involved in drug trafficking and violence. After coming to Christ—actually while he was in jail—his life changed dramatically.
Several years later, after growing in his Christian walk, he made a statement that caught my attention.
He said:
“Emotionally, this feels like being in a gang.”
What he meant was that all his life he had been searching for acceptance, belonging, and identity. Tragically, he first found those things in a group that was doing terrible and destructive things. But after coming to Christ, he experienced genuine love, genuine acceptance, and genuine belonging.
He had finally found his identity in the Lord Jesus Christ and in the church.
That is what we want to think about this morning.
Who We Are in Christ
In this passage, Paul describes believers with a series of remarkable truths.
We are:
If you are a Christian—if you have trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior and are following Him—these things are true of you.
This is your identity.
This is your position in Christ.
And as we consider these blessings, we should keep asking the question:
Who’s got it better than us?
The answer remains:
Nobody.
Blessed with Every Spiritual Blessing
Let us begin with verse 3:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.”
God has blessed us.
The word blessed means to bestow favor upon, to grant gracious benefits. Paul begins this section by declaring that God has blessed His people, and our response ought to be to bless Him—to speak well of Him and praise Him for all that He has done.
Notice the word every.
This may be your first Greek lesson of the day. That word every means every.
God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. There is no second-class citizenship in the family of God. There is not one category of blessings for missionaries, elders, and full-time workers, and another category for everyone else.
Every believer has access to every spiritual blessing in Christ.
That means you.
That means me.
Notice also that these are spiritual blessings.
Paul is not talking about physical advantages. We often say people are blessed because they have athletic ability, a beautiful singing voice, financial success, a wonderful family, or favorable circumstances. Those are certainly blessings, but they are not the blessings Paul is emphasizing here.
He is speaking about blessings that belong to the spiritual realm, blessings that cannot be measured by bank accounts, health reports, or earthly success.
Some Christians enjoy many physical blessings. Others endure tremendous hardship. Yet every believer stands on equal ground when it comes to spiritual blessings in Christ.
And once again, we encounter that key phrase:
In Christ.
Throughout this chapter Paul continually reminds us that everything we possess is found in Him.
Romans 4:7 helps illuminate this truth:
“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered.”
To be in Christ is to have your sins forgiven and covered through His sacrifice.
For those who may not know Christ personally, this is an essential truth. If you are not in Christ, your sins have not been forgiven. If you are not in Christ, your sins have not been covered.
On my journey here, while passing through London, I noticed two Orthodox Jewish men standing ahead of me on an escalator. Their appearance made it immediately obvious that they were devoted to their faith.
As I looked at them, one thought kept entering my mind:
Where is your sacrifice?
Under the Old Testament system, sacrifices were required for the atonement of sin. Blood had to be shed. Year after year sacrifices were offered because sin demanded payment.
Judaism was, in many ways, a bloody religion.
Thousands upon thousands of animals were sacrificed to cover sin.
Yet today there is no temple and no sacrifice.
How does a person deal with sin apart from the sacrifice God provided?
Hebrews tells us that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
The wonderful truth for us is that our sins have been covered by the blood of Jesus Christ. The once-for-all sacrifice has already been made.
Who’s got it better than us?
Nobody.
Chosen to Be Holy and Blameless
Verse 4 continues:
“Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.”
I realize that words such as chosen and predestined can become subjects of theological debate. My purpose today is not to enter into those debates. If you want to discuss them over lunch, I would be happy to do so.
What I want us to focus on is what we were chosen for.
When I was growing up, recess and lunchtime meant one thing: games.
We would rush through lunch as quickly as possible so we could get outside and pick teams. Usually we played kickball. The captains would stand there choosing players one at a time.
If you were athletic, strong, or fast, you were chosen quickly.
I was a pretty small kid.
So I remember standing there watching the line get shorter and shorter while I was still waiting to be chosen.
Sometimes it felt like:
“Well, I guess somebody has to take Steve.”
But every once in a while someone chose you first.
Maybe it was your best friend.
Maybe it was someone who saw something in you that others did not.
And when that happened, you felt special.
You felt valued.
You felt wanted.
Now think about what Paul says here.
God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world.
Think about the billions of people who have lived on this planet.
God chose you.
That ought to fill your heart with gratitude and wonder.
And notice the purpose:
“That we would be holy and blameless before Him.”
When you look honestly at yourself, do you feel holy and blameless?
I do not.
I know my failures.
I know my weaknesses.
I know my sins.
Yet in Christ, because of His work and not mine, I stand before God as holy and blameless.
That is astonishing.
That is grace.
That is identity.
That is who we are in Christ.
Who’s got it better than us?
Nobody.
Amen.
Predestined for Adoption
Paul continues in verses 5–6:
“In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace.”
Again, we encounter the word predestined. Rather than focusing on controversy, let us focus on the blessing being described.
The blessing is adoption.
Adoption is a beautiful picture.
I have several friends who have adopted children. The process is lengthy and rigorous. There are applications, interviews, background checks, and investigations. Authorities want to know whether prospective parents are qualified to care for a child.
Interestingly, none of us had to pass such tests to become biological parents. But adoption carries additional scrutiny—and rightly so.
When we think of our Heavenly Father, however, He passes every qualification with perfection.
I have friends who adopted children from China.
Others adopted from Nigeria.
Some adopted children from families they already knew.
Many adopted children wrestle with painful questions:
Yet when they are welcomed into a loving family, they eventually come to understand something beautiful:
Someone chose them.
Someone wanted them.
Someone loved them enough to bring them into their family.
That is exactly the picture Paul presents here.
We have been adopted into God’s family through Jesus Christ.
What a privilege.
What a blessing.
Notice the phrase:
“According to the kind intention of His will.”
That phrase matters.
God does not adopt us reluctantly.
He does not adopt us with ulterior motives.
He adopts us according to His kind intention.
His desire is to bless us.
His purpose is good.
His heart toward us is gracious.
Paul later speaks again of being predestined to an inheritance according to God’s purpose.
Whatever questions people may have about predestination, the emphasis in this passage is that God has planned wonderful things for those who are in Christ.
And that phrase is the key:
In Christ.
Many of you came here by bus.
Did any of you drive the bus?
Did any of you determine the route?
No.
You got on the bus, and wherever the bus went, you went.
That is a simple illustration of being in Christ.
The emphasis is not on isolated individuals.
The emphasis is on Christ Himself.
Those who are in Him share in everything that belongs to Him.
The blessings belong to all who are united with Christ.
A friend once said in high school:
“When I get married, I’m going to buy a convertible and drive my wife up and down the California coast.”
I reminded him that he didn’t even have a girlfriend.
He said:
“That doesn’t matter. Whoever marries me gets to enjoy the ride.”
That is a crude illustration, but it helps make the point.
Those who are in Christ receive everything that God has prepared for those who belong to Him.
We are predestined to adoption.
We are predestined to inheritance.
We are predestined to blessing.
Who’s got it better than us?
Nobody.
Redeemed Through His Blood
The next blessing appears in verses 7 and 8:
“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us.”
The next truth about our identity is this:
We have redemption.
Redemption is a wonderful theological word. It means to buy back, to purchase, to pay a ransom for something.
You have been redeemed through the blood of Jesus Christ.
Do you have garage sales in Singapore?
The idea is simple. In America, we tend to accumulate things. We buy them, keep them, store them in the garage, and eventually realize there is no room left. So we put everything out on the driveway and invite people to come buy our junk.
Some people carefully label every item with a price. Others simply say, “Make me an offer. I just want it gone.”
It is amazing what people will buy.
There is a saying:
“One man’s junk is another man’s treasure.”
Someone walks up and says, “Look at that old pair of shoes. They’re my size.”
And they buy them.
It’s a strange little marketplace.
In one sense, we are the junk in the garage sale of life.
God comes looking.
He is searching for something precious.
He sees what no one else sees.
He sees value where others see none.
He sees something worth rescuing.
Something worth restoring.
Something worth purchasing.
When I was a boy, I collected Matchbox and Hot Wheels cars. I had hundreds of them. Eventually I decided I was too old to play with little toy cars—though I think I was only eleven years old at the time.
So I decided to sell them.
I carefully calculated their value. If I had 150 cars and sold each one for a dollar, I was going to be rich.
Then a man came along and offered me twenty dollars for the whole collection.
I started trying to do the math in my head.
I panicked.
I couldn’t figure it out.
So I accepted the deal.
After he left, I finally realized I had been taken advantage of.
I thought:
“Man, I got ripped off.”
But that man went home thinking:
“I got a great deal.”
If I am honest with myself, I sometimes think God got ripped off when He bought me.
But God went home saying:
“I got a great deal.”
Think about that.
God cared enough about you to pay the price of His Son.
That is what redemption means.
We may feel insignificant.
We may feel unworthy.
But in God’s eyes, we are precious.
He considered us worth redeeming.
Paul says we have:
“The forgiveness of our trespasses.”
Forgiveness means pardon.
Release from guilt.
Freedom from condemnation.
The guilt that we honestly deserve has been removed because of what Christ accomplished on our behalf.
And God did this:
“According to the riches of His grace.”
Notice that phrase again.
According to.
Consistent with.
In keeping with.
Corresponding to.
God forgives according to the riches of His grace.
And then Paul adds another beautiful expression:
“Which He lavished on us.”
Grace Lavished Upon Us
I like desserts.
I think we’ve already established that.
Imagine a rich chocolate brownie covered in fudge.
Now imagine being given the opportunity to add whipped cream.
Most people put a small amount on top.
I do not.
I cover the entire thing.
You can hardly see the brownie anymore because it is completely hidden beneath the whipped cream.
That is what it means to lavish something.
Or think about standing in the ocean.
When my daughter was about twelve years old, we visited Hawaii.
We were body surfing together.
A large wave came toward us. I was holding her hand, but when the wave hit, I lost my grip and rode the wave toward shore.
For about fifteen seconds I thought it was a wonderful ride.
Then I stood up and realized I couldn’t find my daughter.
Eventually I saw her tumbling toward the beach.
I ran over and, as any loving father would do, laughed at her.
Then I realized she wasn’t laughing.
She was crying.
She was completely disoriented.
Sand was everywhere.
The bodyboard was gone.
Her swimsuit was filled with sand.
She had been completely overwhelmed by that wave.
That wave lavished her.
That is the picture Paul is using.
God took His grace and poured it out on us in overwhelming abundance.
Not a little bit.
Not barely enough.
Not measured carefully.
He lavished it upon us.
His grace came over us like a powerful wave and completely covered us.
Who’s got it better than us?
Nobody.
Delivered from the Domain of Darkness
Colossians 1:13–14 describes redemption this way:
“He delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son.”
What wonderful words:
We all love rescue stories.
Whether they come from books, movies, history, or personal experience, we love seeing someone saved from danger.
Usually when we watch those stories, we imagine ourselves as the hero.
We rarely imagine ourselves as the helpless victim needing rescue.
But spiritually, that is exactly who we were.
We were trapped.
Helpless.
Lost.
Living in the domain of darkness.
And Jesus Christ rescued us.
He delivered us from Satan’s kingdom and transferred us into His own kingdom.
The darkness of this world is real.
If you talk to people in law enforcement, child protection services, or ministries that work with victims of abuse, they will tell you about terrible things that human beings do to one another.
The reality of evil is undeniable.
That darkness is part of the world from which Christ has rescued us.
Before we knew Him, that was our condition.
But now we belong to Him.
We have a Savior.
We have a Deliverer.
We have been rescued.
Who’s got it better than us?
Nobody.
Bought With a Price
Paul reminds believers in 1 Corinthians 6:19–20:
“You are not your own, for you have been bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body.”
When you purchase something, it belongs to you.
That man who bought my toy cars could do whatever he wanted with them.
Maybe he sold them.
Maybe he gave them away.
Maybe he kept them.
They were his.
He had purchased them.
The same principle applies here.
We have been bought with a price.
We belong to Christ.
Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit.
It is interesting that Ephesians repeatedly speaks about being in Christ, while 1 Corinthians reminds us that the Holy Spirit is in us.
What an amazing truth.
We are in Christ.
The Spirit is in us.
Therefore, we are not free to live however we please.
We belong to the One who redeemed us.
We have been purchased by the blood of Christ.
Informed About God’s Eternal Plan
The blessings continue.
Verses 8–10 say:
“In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will…”
Not only are we blessed, chosen, predestined, and redeemed—we have also been informed.
God has let us in on the mystery.
In New Testament language, a mystery is not something mysterious or unsolvable.
Rather, it is something hidden in previous ages that has now been revealed.
The mystery Paul is discussing is explained further in Ephesians 3.
It is the mystery of the church.
The mystery that Jews and Gentiles are now united in one body through Christ.
The dividing wall has been broken down.
A new people of God has been formed.
A new creation.
A new entity.
The church.
Paul says in Ephesians 3 that he was given two tremendous privileges:
First, to preach the unfathomable riches of Christ.
Second, to make known the mystery of the church.
Think about that.
We often appreciate the gospel—and rightly so.
But sometimes we fail to appreciate the church.
The church is one of God’s great gifts to His people.
Before Christ, Gentiles were outsiders.
There were barriers.
Restrictions.
Separation.
But now we have access to the Father through Jesus Christ.
What a privilege.
What a blessing.
Who’s got it better than us?
Nobody.
Heirs of an Eternal Inheritance
Paul continues in verses 11 and 12:
“In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.”
The blessings keep coming.
Not only have we been blessed, chosen, predestined, redeemed, and informed—we have also obtained an inheritance.
What is your inheritance looking like?
My parents divorced when I was in my thirties, and my mother eventually ended up with very little financially. I used to joke that my inheritance from my mother would be about three dollars and eighteen cents.
On the other hand, I have relatives in California who own multiple homes, so perhaps there is a healthier inheritance waiting somewhere down the road.
Imagine, though, being a child of one of the wealthiest people in the world.
Imagine being an heir to hundreds of billions of dollars.
Most people would think that was an incredible inheritance.
Yet Paul says that believers have an inheritance infinitely greater than anything this world could offer.
No earthly fortune can compare.
No estate can rival it.
No amount of wealth can approach its value.
We have obtained an inheritance in Christ.
And that inheritance is beyond anything we can presently comprehend.
Earlier we read:
“Eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him.”
That is true of our inheritance.
The greatest treasures of earth are insignificant compared to what awaits the people of God.
Who’s got it better than us?
Nobody.
A Living Hope
Peter expands upon this inheritance in 1 Peter 1:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”
Notice the language Peter uses.
Our inheritance is:
Everything in this world wears out.
Everything breaks.
Everything fades.
Everything eventually perishes.
Cars wear out.
Houses deteriorate.
Clothing becomes threadbare.
Possessions are lost or stolen.
Even our physical bodies are temporary.
But our inheritance in Christ is different.
It is imperishable.
It is undefiled.
It will never fade away.
Peter says it is reserved in heaven for you.
I love that word.
Reserved.
Have you ever arrived at a crowded restaurant where the wait time was two hours?
The lobby is packed.
People are standing everywhere.
Nobody can get a table.
Then someone walks in and says:
“Reservation for Steve.”
Immediately the host replies:
“Right this way, sir.”
And through the crowd they go.
Why?
Because a place has already been prepared.
A seat has already been reserved.
That is the picture Peter gives us.
Our inheritance is already reserved.
It is already secured.
It is already waiting.
No one can take it away.
No one can claim it first.
God has prepared it for His children.
Who’s got it better than us?
Nobody.
Sealed with the Holy Spirit
Paul concludes this section in verses 13 and 14:
“In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed—you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.”
The final blessing Paul highlights is this:
We are sealed.
After hearing the gospel and believing in Christ, we were sealed with the Holy Spirit.
The idea of a seal carries several important meanings.
A seal speaks of ownership.
A seal speaks of authenticity.
A seal speaks of security.
When a king placed his seal on a document, everyone knew to whom it belonged.
When a merchant sealed a shipment, it identified ownership and guaranteed delivery.
When God seals a believer with the Holy Spirit, He is declaring:
“This one belongs to Me.”
The Holy Spirit is also called a pledge or guarantee of our inheritance.
In modern language, we might think of a down payment.
A guarantee that the full purchase will be completed.
God has placed His Spirit within us as His guarantee that everything He has promised will come to pass.
The inheritance is coming.
The redemption will be completed.
The promises will be fulfilled.
Because God Himself guarantees it.
There are different discussions and debates among Christians concerning security and assurance, but the emphasis of this passage is wonderfully encouraging.
God has not merely saved us and left us to ourselves.
He has sealed us.
He has marked us as His own.
He has given us His Spirit as the guarantee of what is still to come.
What security.
What assurance.
What grace.
Who’s got it better than us?
Nobody.
An Unshakable Identity
As we step back and look at this magnificent passage, notice how Paul builds layer upon layer of blessing.
In Christ:
This is our identity.
Not our occupation.
Not our achievements.
Not our failures.
Not our social standing.
Not our nationality.
Not our wealth.
Not our reputation.
Our identity is found in Christ.
And when doubts arise, when suffering comes, when people mock your faith, when life becomes difficult, you can retreat to the strong fortress of who you are in Christ.
You can remember these truths.
You can stand on these promises.
You can find security in these realities.
Life is hard.
We have talked about that.
Life is difficult.
But we are in Christ.
And because we are in Christ, we possess every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.
Conclusion
Paul begins this section by saying:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.”
Throughout the passage he repeatedly reminds us that all of these blessings exist for one great purpose:
“To the praise of His glory.”
God has not given us these blessings merely so that we can feel fortunate.
He has blessed us so that we might praise Him.
So that we might speak well of Him.
So that all creation might see His wisdom, His grace, His kindness, and His glory.
Therefore, let us bless the One who has blessed us.
Let us praise the One who has redeemed us.
Let us worship the One who has adopted us.
Let us thank the One who has secured an eternal inheritance for us.
And let us never forget who we are.
We are in Christ.
And because we are in Christ:
Who’s got it better than us?
Nobody.
Amen.
Messages: 4
