Our Glorious Inheritance in Jesus

Val Brown (00:01)
Well, hello, beautiful friend. How are you? We are in part two of our series in Ephesians. And almost one month ago, tomorrow will be one month that I recorded that first episode. And I had hoped to do these weekly, but life gets in the way. I'm trying to find my footing in a home that's about to go through a major renovation. I am now living across the street from my daughter who has a farm and we are gathering animals and trying to, I guess, find a rhythm for that. And life is complicated in many ways in my personal relationships as well. So just trying to find my footing. So thank you for your patience in waiting for part two. I pray that this series is a blessing.

This is Val Brown. This is the move your heart podcast. And in this series, I really hope that you will find encouragement, that you will see more of who God is, that you will see more of the big picture that he has for your life, and that maybe he'll speak to your heart and show you new places that he wants to take you in him, because you will see that your ability, your security, and your future, present and your past, too, are in his hands.

So we are looking at verses 11 through verse 23 of Ephesians 1. So let's go ahead and get started.  Let's read from the beginning. And then we're going to pick up our new portion and then we'll begin to pick that apart and find the life juices in it.

Right now, I am reading from the English Standard Version, which is a pretty accurate word-for-word translation of the Bible, as I've been told, and I find it very useful. I also have the Passion Translation, which is a newer translation. And what it does that is different is that it gives us more pictures of what these words mean, because the original language, those languages are very picturesque. One word can be, I guess, expanded upon and magnified, and it would show us a whole lot more of what God is trying to get across to us. Just open up our eyes to see more of His heart. That's why I like Passion Translation.

So I will read that version before we are done. So let's go ahead and begin. Ephesians 1, starting in verse 1, reading through verse 23. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to God's holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus, grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

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. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will--to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment--to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

In Him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of His glory. 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 at deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession to the praise of His glory.

For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God's people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you may know Him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule, and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under His feet, and appointed Him to be head over everything for the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills everything in every way.

So this is Ephesians chapter 1. And in our last message together, we were looking at how God has blessed us with everything in the heavenly realm. And we talked about His great grace, which is His favor and the power that He gives to us to make up our insufficiency, which is great. We know our insufficiencies as human beings, how limited we are.

And we talked about how we are chosen even before he made the world, which is astounding if you think about it, friend. This means that even before he made our world, he had you in mind and he'd already predestined that you would come to know him. So that means no matter where you are right now, he plans that you would know him better--even by the end of this broadcast--than you knew him when you came in; and this is this is God's gracious hand being extended to you, saying I want you to know me and I want you to know how fully I know you. And then he talks about the plan to unify all things in Christ. It really is all about Jesus. If you really wonder why all this hoopla about Jesus, well this is God's Son. This is God in flesh, who came to rescue us.

So it truly is, everything in Jesus. It says that the world's were formed through Jesus. He is the spoken word that Genesis talked about. In the first chapter of the book of John, it talks about the word being made flesh. And that word is Jesus, whenever he took on human flesh to come to earth, to bring God to us so that we could be united to him.

There are a lot of big things that God has done, and Paul when he offers this prayer, it is truly necessary that we pray and we ask God to reveal himself to us, because H,e is so big so much bigger than than we could imagine ,and it is really in increments, in small portions that we come to know God. And when He shows us something, if we embrace it and say, "That's for me," that's when we get to walk into the fullness of it.

So, I'm really excited about our study in Ephesians. And let's go ahead and begin in verse 11, where we want to pick up for this portion in our time together. And here again, it talks about being chosen. And this is according to his plan.

He says, in order that we who were the first to put our hope in Christ might be for the praise of his glory. Now he is talking about the Jewish people, the disciples. When Jesus came, He revealed Himself by His ministry, through his ministry, but He had this group of twelve people who got to know him very, very intimately, and Paul came later; he was a persecutor of the church, and we talked about that in the first broadcast on our study in Ephesians. You can look back on that if you want to hear more.

Whenever we come to know Jesus, we really do become a reflection of his glory. He says in verse 13, 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 . We'll stop there.

So, if you have heard the message of salvation, the message of truth--that you are lost and dead in your sins until that moment when you accept Jesus as your Savior, your rescuer--and then you make him Lord of your life--that means you hand over control and you trust Him with all of your life--then you are this one that he talks about being included in Christ. And he says, when you believed you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance. And I will stop there.

So when we believe, when you believed, the Holy Spirit, God's Spirit, that means the portion of God that can live inside of us, that manifested presence of God comes to live on the inside of us. And so we have a renewed spirit, a right spirit, a spirit that was planned the way Adam and Eve had that right spirit in them and had that oneness with God. That is restored to mankind when we hear the message of truth, and we receive the good news of being saved through Jesus. The Spirit of God comes to live inside of us.

And we have a much bigger inheritance coming. And that's what it talks about. He says, He's a deposit. He's like a down payment. And then there's more to come. There truly is more to come. And it actually happens while we're living life down here, which is super exciting. We don't have to wait till heaven. We can begin to partake of heavenly things right now. And that goes back to what we read in verse three. It says, He's blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. In Christ we can begin to live from these heavenly provisions that are there for us. We just have to know, we have to hear the good news, that there is so much in Christ for us to partake of, to eat from, to live from.

And this is the good news that you're hearing today. So, I hope that this goes deep down into the soul of your heart. And then it's up to God to cause that to grow. But your part is to embrace it and say, "Yes! That's for me!" And I hope that you are doing that very thing. And then we can live to the praise of His glory.

Now let's go ahead and go on to verses 15 to 22. I'm sure we'll stop off along the way. This is Paul's thanksgiving and his prayer. So in verse 15, he says, the reason. So, he's talking about them hearing the message of truth, they've believed it, they've received the Holy Spirit, they have an inheritance, and he says, "For this reason ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God's people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers." And what does he pray? In verse 17, he tells us. It says, I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you may know Him better. Paul knows that I,t's a wonderful, wonderful gift and it's a tremendous blessing to know the glorious Father better; and how we get to know Him better is through Holy Spirit. It says that He would give you the Spirit, the Spirit, Holy Spirit he's talking about. And who is he? He's the Spirit of wisdom and revelation.

So, wisdom is that higher understanding, something that we couldn't know if it were not given to us. And revelation, that's like the dawning of it. It's like insight, like the light bulb is coming on. So he says, "I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you may know him better." And he goes on.

Let's listen. He says, "I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you." And at that point, there is a comma. But let's go ahead and stop, because there's so much here in these next few segments.

He says, I pray that the eyes of your heart--so that's on the very inside of us. This is greater than us learning information. But this is like whenever it gets down on the inside of us, we know that we know. We know that we know that we know, it's been said. So it's like, nobody can convince you otherwise. But what does he want? He says, I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened. So in other words, that's like our heart, whatever is in there is going to have a huge light shone on it so that we can see.

Paul wants them to see. He says--this is the why: In order that you may know the hope to which he has called you. In God, we have such a big hope. We can't even imagine the things that God has stored up for us. But he says, he's shining the light on there. He wants GOD to shine the light on there through His spirit, in order that we might know the great hope that we have. It's because we've been called, and we've been placed in Jesus. So we can pray that to God: "Open up the eyes of my heart so that I can see the vast hope that I have in Your calling and choosing me."

And let's go on to the next part after this comma. What else does he want them to know from the inside and the eyes of their heart being lightened? He says he wants us to know the riches of His glorious inheritance in his holy people. See this? It says that GOD has an inheritance. It says the riches of His glorious inheritance in his holy people. When Jesus came, and He rescued us and restored us to God, we became God's inheritance.

Jesus died so that God could have an inheritance, as much as we could have an inheritance. Isn't it wonderful that God wanted us so much that he would send Jesus, God in human flesh, to die so that he could once again have men and women in relationship with him? That is how much His creation, mankind, means to him. We are so unique from all the other aspects of his creation, more than more valuable than the animals and the beauty of our earth. We are the shining possession that God wanted back for Himself. So this is wonderful. So He wants us to know that, that God has a rich inheritance in relationship with us. So look at yourself as part of that rich inheritance that Jesus came to purchase so that God could have you. He could have you, my friend. Isn't that wonderful? It really is. YOU are part of God's inheritance if you are in Christ. And if you're not there yet, you sure can be, even by the end of this broadcast.

There's a comma there, so what else does he want us to know? And it says, "His incomparably great power for us who believe." And incomparably, so I like to say it the way it is, meaning, there's nothing to compare with it. Incomparably, you could say, but it's pronounced incomparably. His incomparably great power for us who believe. He has, when we talk about grace, and when I said that, that is power, ability that we don't possess in ourselves. God has such amazing power stored up for us who believe; and that's the secret right there. Our part is to believe in the God of power, who holds power for our weakness, who holds power to change our circumstances when we cannot, who has power to transform us, who has power to transform our lives, who has power to bring us into the purpose for which we were created by God. He has incomparably great power stored up for you. So again, the route to that is just to believe. Now, look how big this power is. It says, "That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms. Far above all rule and authority, power and dominion and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come." Jesus did die. He did descend to the lowest parts of the earth where he took the keys of sin and death from Satan, his arch enemy and our enemy. And there's lots to learn about that, but I'll just leave it there right now. But to physically raise Jesus from the dead, to take him out of the bowels of the earth, He raised Jesus on the third day. He was in that tomb physically. His body was in a tomb, but His soul was in another realm; and Father God brought Him back. His power raised Christ Jesus from the dead and took him back to the highest place in heaven, where He came from in the first place. So He seated him, meaning not that He has to sit down always, but that's a sign of authority. Seated on the throne kind of thing is what He's talking about here. He gave him authority in the heavenly realms. It says, far above every other rule and authority that's in the earth and also in the spiritual realm. Because there's a very evil spiritual realm, but Jesus has authority in all realms. It says over every power and dominion.

Every power, we understand what power is. Power is to carry out either good or evil. And dominion, that's again a seat of authority. So it says that He's above all rule and authority and power and dominion. So, no matter what dominion is in our life trying to have control or what dominion is in the evil realm, Jesus and His name, Jesus Himself, is greater than every other one. And it says, "and every name that is invoked."

So if someone calls on the name of whomever, Jesus' name is higher than that name. The name of cancer, Jesus is higher than the name of cancer. If it's any bondage to addictions or sins or any kind of thing, Jesus' name is higher. So we can call on the name of Jesus and say, "Jesus, save me." It says not only in the present age, but also in the one to come.

After man as a race has breathed our last breath and life down here as we know it is over, there's more to come. There's more of this inheritance. So Jesus is in that highest place of authority and dominion now, and He will also hold that high position in the realm to come.

Then verse 22 says, "God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church." And the last verse, verse 23, "which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way." I love this. God placed ALL things under Jesus' feet. God did that. And it says He appointed him to be head over everything.

Head, the head, you know, our own head, it has dominion over every part of our body. What we think, it leads to our emotions, and it leads us to do what we do. So, it's an extension of what our thoughts are and our mind. We are directed by our head, meaning our reasoning, our seat of reasoning inside of us. So, He is head over everything. But it says He did this for the church. So his church that is the collective body of believers, everyone who is in Christ. He is the head and He is to direct us in the same way that our mind directs every part of us. He wants to influence how we think and then we think as He thinks. We will feel different. It affects our emotions. And also as we yield to His thoughts, it affects what we do. So, we want Him to be head over us individually, and we want Him to be head over the church as a collective body. So, it's not the buildings, and it's not any individual denomination or type of belief or flavor that we have; but it's for every believer.

He is our head, and that is so wonderful, because we can say, "Jesus, what are you thinking? Jesus, what are you doing? Show me what You're thinking. Help me, help me." And then He will help us in our weaknesses. It says the church is his body, and it says that we are the fullness of Him who fills everything in every way. So, we make up His fullness.

You know, He is in the heavenly realm, seated in that seat of authority. But we are His body here on the earth. And we are to be affecting the changes that He wants to make here on the earth. So, He moves through people. He moves through us in what we say to other people. He moves through us in what our hands find to do. He moves through us as we go in His name, directed by His thoughts and directed by His heart, and that is so exciting that we make up the the body of Christ. Do you see your position in Christ today? Do you see how you're called and chosen and how He has a purpose for you? It's just so much higher than we could ever know. So, I like Paul, I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, in order that you might know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in you, and His incomparably great power for you who believe. So, that is exciting.

And as I promised, before I go, I want to read this in the Passion Translation, the whole chapter one.

It says, "Friends, my name is Paul and I was chosen by God to be an apostle of Jesus the Messiah. I'm writing this letter to all the devoted believers who have been made holy by being one with Jesus the Anointed One. May God Himself, the Heavenly Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, release grace over you and impart total well-being into your lives.

Every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm has already been lavished upon us as a love gift from our wonderful Heavenly Father, the Father of our Lord Jesus, all because He sees us wrapped into Christ. This is why we celebrate Him with all our hearts. And in Him He chose us before He laid the foundation of the universe. Because of His great love, He ordained us, so that we would be seen as holy in His eyes with an unstained innocence. For it was always in His perfect plan to adopt us as His delightful children through our union with Jesus the Anointed One, so that His tremendous love that cascades over us would glorify His grace--for the same love He has for the Beloved Jesus He has for us. And this unfolding plan brings him great pleasure!

Since we are now joined to Christ, we have been given the treasures of redemption by His blood--the total cancellation of our sins--all because of the cascading riches of His grace. This superabundant grace is already powerfully working in us, releasing all forms of wisdom and practical understanding. And through the revelation of the Anointed One, He unveiled his secret desires to us--the hidden mystery of his long-range plan, which he was delighted to implement from the beginning of time. And because of God's unfailing purpose, this detailed plan will reign supreme through every period of time until the fulfillment of all the ages finally reaches its climax--when God makes all things new in all of heaven and earth through Jesus Christ.

Through our union with Jesus, we too have been claimed by God as His own inheritance. Before we were even born, He gave us our destiny; that we would fulfill the plan of God who always accomplishes every purpose and plan in His heart. God's purpose was that we Jews, who were the first to long for the messianic hope, would be the first to believe in the Anointed One and bring great praise and glory to God!

And because of Him, when you who are not Jews heard the revelation of truth, you believed in the wonderful news of salvation. Now we have been stamped with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit. He is given to us like an engagement ring, as the first installment of what's coming! He is our hope--promise of a future inheritance which seals us until we have all of redemption's promises and experience complete freedom--all for the supreme glory and honor of God!

Because of this, since I first heard about your strong faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and your tender love toward all His devoted ones, my heart is always full and overflowing with thanks to God for you as I constantly remember you in my prayers.

I pray that the Father of Glory, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, would impart to you the riches of the Spirit of wisdom and the Spirit of revelation to know Him through your deepening intimacy with Him. I pray that the light of God will illuminate the eyes of your imagination, flooding you with light until you experience the full revelation of the hope of His calling--that is, the wealth of God's glorious inheritance that He finds in us, His holy ones!

I pray that you will continually experience the immeasurable greatness of God's power made available to you through faith. Then your lives will be an advertisement of this immense power as it works through you! This is the mighty power that was released when God raised Christ from the dead and exalted him to the place of highest honor and supreme authority in the heavenly realm! And now he is exalted as first above every ruler, authority, government, and realm of power in existence! He is gloriously enthroned over every name that is ever praised, not only in this age, but in the age that is coming. And he alone is the leader and source of everything needed in the Church.

God has put everything beneath the authority of Jesus Christ and has given Him the highest rank above all others. And now we, His Church, are His body on the earth and that which fills Him who is being filled by it" [End of Ephesians, chapter one]

What a glorious, glorious inheritance we have in Christ!

Friend, I want to thank you for joining me today. I do pray that you have seen a bigger picture of what it means to be in relationship with God through Jesus Christ. It was His plan all along that you, friend, would come to know Him and would become a part of His body. If you have not accepted Jesus as your Savior, I would urge you to have that conversation today.

Where there might be darkness in your life, you can also pray that the light would be shown in your hearts so that you would know the hope of His calling and the greatness of His power toward you as you believe. So, let me pray with you just one moment.

"Father, I thank You for this good, encouraging word. How you have shone a light on the riches of Your calling and Your choosing us, Lord.

I pray for my friend, the listener, today, Lord. I pray that wherever this person finds himself today, that you would move upon their hearts and cause them to come into a closer, more intimate relationship with You, all by the revelation by Your Spirit of truth and wisdom. So, I commit them to You now in the name of Jesus. Amen."

I hope that you will join me for part three and continue on through this series. And hopefully, it won't be a month in between. So thank you for joining me today. May God bless you.