What the Father Does for Us (Eph. 1:3-14)

Often we only think about the heavenly Father when it comes to our prayer lives. Yet we also know that the Bible has much more to say about him than details in that particular area of our lives. It would also help our prayer lives when we recall some of the other blessings that the Father has given to his people, and several of them are mentioned in this passage. Some are not, such as his ability to work everything for the good of his people, even the adverse things of life coming into the range that is worked for the benefit of his people.

As is well known, this passage from Ephesians 1 is one long sentence in the original language. The length of the sentence indicates Paul’s excitement has he expressed his worship of the Lord. We can see that in the sentence he mentions each of the divine persons and the reason he does so is because each is involved in the provision of salvation. Nevertheless, we should note that the sentence is actually an expression of praise addressed to the Father.

We should also observe that there is a very close connection with the Lord Jesus and the reason for that is our necessity of a Mediator. All the blessings that are given to believers come through Jesus, or to use Paul’s words here, they come ‘in Christ.’ There are aspects to this divine relationship that we cannot understand, not because we are stupid, but because we are finite. But our inability to understand fully is not a reason to ignore what we are told. I have no idea how an aeroplane can fly, but I appreciate the experience when I have to travel. In a far higher sense we should rejoice in what the Father has done, is doing and will yet do for his people.

Here we an insight into how God desires to be known in the period in which we live. During the period in which his worship was largely confined to Israel, he wanted to be known as Yahweh. This was how he identified himself to Moses. For reasons not found in the Old Testament, the Israelites refused to use that name, imagining that it was inappropriate for them to do so. The name that he wants to be known as today is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Within that name, there are precious ways of addressing him, and we have one of the here – he is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. When that name is used intelligently, he is being worshipped for his salvation.

When Paul wrote this letter, he was guided to do so by the Holy Spirit. This does not mean that he was uninvolved in deciding how to frame the contents. We can see from the start of the letter that his desire was for his readers to have grace and peace. Perhaps he wondered to himself how such divine blessings could be conveyed to them. So maybe he deduced that one way for this to happen would be for him to rehearse for the benefits of his readers what had been done for them in salvation. Certainly, I hope that the outcome of our time together will be a sense of peace in our souls.

Paul reminds his readers that they have been blessed by the Father with every spiritual blessing. Some of them are theirs now by experience and some of them are theirs in prospect. Each kind is equally theirs, whether they have him in this life or are waiting to have them in the world to come. Moreover, those blessings belong equally to all believers. Some may have more understanding of each blessing, and some may have more comfort from each blessing, but none has more right to the blessing. They are all given by grace.

The Father chose his people

Often when we want to tell a story, the listeners will say to us, ‘Start at the beginning.’ In this case, Paul starts before the beginning, a reminder that the Father is eternal. Of course, we are thinking about a great mystery here. One thing we can say about it is that those who were chosen have always been chosen. The Father has never existed without this choice. Another thing that we can say about it is that it is usually very easy to see who the chosen ones are because they have been chosen to live holy lives. In this life, they will not be perfect, but they will be holy in increasing degrees.

It is very important that we don’t use this doctrine as an excuse for not immediately trusting in Jesus. Some people say that if they are elect they don’t have to worry about believing because they will be save anyway. That outlook is a distortion, and distortions are never true or wise. This doctrine is not a barrier, but an encouragement. Just imagine if he had not elected anyone. What hope would there be in that suggestion? Since he has elected some, the best policy is to go and speak to him about and ask him to tell you about Jesus.

The Father adopts sinners

Paul now moves from what happened in eternity to what happens in time. God’s intention was that all the ones whom he had chosen would become members of his family. There is a danger that the contemporary practice of adoption will cause us to miss the wonder of what Paul is saying here. Today, adoption involves children who have lost their parents or whose parents are not capable of looking after them. Obviously, that is a picture of what God does for sinners, but it is not the picture that Paul uses here. At the time Paul wrote, it was adults who were adopted, and they were usually adopted out of slavery into a rich person’s family as the heir to the estate.

Who were we slaves to before adoption? The answer is that we were slaves to sin and Satan. How long were we in that state? For as long as we did not trust in Jesus in response to the gospel offer. Usually, when a rich man adopted a slave, he would adopt one who was dignified, intelligent, who possessed all kinds of skills that would enable him to be a suitable heir. In contrast, God adopted sinners, some of whom had been so for years. Usually, the rich man adopted a slave because he had no son or else his son had shown himself unqualified. In contrast, God had a perfect Son who was his heir, but the Father wanted those who were the opposite of his Son in character to share the inheritance with him.

The Father forgives sinners

Paul moves on to speak about other blessings that believers have received and one of them is the forgiveness of their sins. Each of them had many sins to be forgiven, but there is only one basis for their forgiveness and that is the atoning work of Jesus. On the cross, Jesus paid the price for their redemption or liberation. How do we know that we are forgiven? Not by looking at the intensity of their faith because it will fluctuate. Instead they should go to Calvary and spend time looking at what the Saviour experienced there. We are not forgiven because we are devoted to his cause. Rather we are forgiven because Jesus was devoted to us and paid the penalty for our sins. He offered an atonement that pleased the Father.  

The apostle also tells the Ephesians that since they are forgiven they should look ahead to what the Father has in store for them. The destiny that is theirs is to participate in the most incredible restoration when everything will once more exist in harmony. On that day, those who once were slaves to sin and in need of forgiveness will enjoy the new heavens and new earth.

The Father gives the Holy Spirit to sinners

The heavenly Father promised to give a great privilege to those he had chosen, adopted and forgiven. This privilege would be the same for all of them, although each of them could have a variety of experiences as a consequence. The privilege is that the Holy Spirit would be given to them and for several reasons.

First, the Spirit will be given as a sign of authenticity, of genuineness. This is what Paul means when he writes that the Holy Spirit is a seal. The apostle is using an illustration from transportation. When an owner wanted to send an object he would stamp his seal on the container and the seal would tell others to whom the object belonged. Unlike earthly seals that could fade with time and become indistinct, the presence of the Spirit remains constant because he is the living God. It is impossible for him to be removed from anyone who belongs to the family of God.

Second, the role of the Spirit is to give assurance to the family members that they will yet take possession of the eternal inheritance. They need this particular activity of the Spirit because many things can happen in life that would shake their confidence if they did not have the support of the Spirit in their souls. There are many things that could shake their confidence – opposition, disappointments, personal failures are only some of them. Yet the heavenly Father loves them to this extent that he does not want them to doubt the strength of his love for them. So in times darkness and trouble, the Spirit who indwells them will remind them of the destination that the Father has planned for them.

The outcome

Paul mentions three times what the outcome of possessing such incredible blessings should be – they will engage in the praise of the Father’s glory. Glory here refers to his infinite superiority over any splendour that can be imagined. We recognise that he is working to an eternal plan and that he gives an incredible status and incomparable blessings to those he has forgiven.

We know that Paul has followed a particular order in this chapter because he is referring to the involvement of each person in the Trinity. But what is the order in which we experience the blessings that we have been thinking about. We can close by reminding ourselves of the order: chosen by the Father, forgiven by the Father, adopted by the Father, and given the Spirit by the Father, and the next activity in the order will be to receive the inheritance from the Father. All this is connected to the union believers have with Jesus.

Perhaps we can think about this order and speak to the Father about it later today. After all, we have been called to have fellowship with the Father and such fellowship involves speaking together about what is precious and important to him and to us.