Ephesians 1:7-12 “Redeemed in Christ”
“Redeemed in Christ” is a sermon preached from Ephesians 1:7-12 by guest preacher Michael Beatty at Covenant Baptist Church in New Berlin, Wisconsin – a confessional Reformed Baptist church subscribing to the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith.
Scripture Reading
Please turn with your Bibles with me to the book of Ephesians. I want to consider chapter 1, verses 7 to 12 this morning.
Hear now the reading of God’s word:
In love, he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace with which he has blessed us in the beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.
Thus far for the reading of God’s word.
Opening Prayer
Please join me as we ask our Lord’s blessing upon it.
Father, we ask that you would bless the preaching of your word. We ask that you grant by your Holy Spirit that each one gathered here today might truly hear the voice of Christ, and that in so doing you would cause us to be conformed to his image. In his name we pray. Amen.
Introduction: Grace and Peace
Paul begins in verse two of chapter 1 of Ephesians by telling the Ephesians two things in his commendation to them: grace and peace. I want to think about peace for a moment. We hear a lot about it. It’s kind of everywhere. Our culture longs for it. We see it in the news. We hear it in music. It’s very difficult not to find some sort of reference to peace throughout our daily occurrences. Wherever we might walk, there’s a longing for it.
Yet oftentimes, when we think about it as our culture does, peace is the absence of something. It’s the absence of conflict, or the absence of war, or the absence of loss. And yet that’s not what Paul is saying to them when he says grace to you and peace. It’s not only the absence of something, but it’s the presence of something else.
The Nature of Peace in Christ
The peace that he’s speaking of is something that is found in Christ—something that not only is the absence of conflict with the Lord but also the presence of communion with him. Peace then is a positive state. It’s that positive state in which we enjoy the many good things that God has given to us because we’re at peace with him, having entered into his rest. We’re no longer children of wrath but children of promise.
Paul, in speaking of this peace, strikes upon that very thing that is offered to us in the gospel, which is Christ himself. We have grace and peace in Christ because we are redeemed in him. We find that peace lavished upon us in Christ as we find every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places spread upon us so gloriously and without lack, want, or limit as the Lord grants them to us in his Son. This is grace and peace in Christ Jesus.
Outline of the Sermon
In Ephesians 1:7–12, we’re going to see these blessings secured by Christ for us so that we would glorify him, really working out what that peace looks like for the Christian. I want to look at that in three points, phrased as three questions:
- How will we receive them?
- When will we receive them?
- Why will we receive these?
Point 1: How – God’s Plan Accomplished
First, how? This is God’s plan accomplished. The first thing we need to see is that the securing of the promise of grace and peace is something not accomplished by anything we do, but rather by what Christ has done. It’s redemption.
Perhaps if you have ever been to an arcade and you receive a number of tickets—hopefully if you’re doing well—you can go to the counter and redeem those tickets for something behind the counter that has a voucher price. Or perhaps if you like to use coupons, you can redeem that coupon for some sort of discount or something the store will give you. It has a redemption value; it is something you give in place of something else.
Christ’s Redemption is Greater
Christ, in speaking of redemption, is speaking of something far greater: he is redeeming his people from the slavery into which we were born. He’s delivering us. Ephesians 4 later describes this as a train of captives following him—those whom he secured in war, those whom he has earned as the outcome of his work.
The Old Testament refers to redemption in similar ways: it is something taken in return or instead of the life of the person who sinned. For example, Exodus 21:30 says:
“If a ransom is demanded of him,” speaking of someone who committed a sin unto death, “then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is demanded of him,”
that he gives in redemption something or a token in place of his own blood.
In another place, it speaks of those sold into slavery. Under the Mosaic law, it allowed for the redemption of one’s family members if they were sold into slavery. Leviticus 25 says:
“Or in the case of a man who has no kinsman, but so recovers his means as to find sufficient for its redemption, then he shall have redemption. Right after he has been sold, one of his brothers may redeem him.”
This idea then is of Christ purchasing us and giving something instead so that we might be brought into this new, free, and peaceful estate in him.
Redemption Accomplished by Christ Alone
This is something which he did, not something we are doing or something that will be accomplished in the future, but something that has already happened in the past. If you would like to look at Psalm 111 with me, we see again that this redemption is eternal in the sense that it goes on forever. Psalm 111:9:
He sent redemption to his people; he has commanded his covenant forever. Holy and awesome is his name.
This redemption then was accomplished by Christ. Not only that, it is tied to the covenant, which goes on to everlasting.
The Permanence of Redemption
That is really important because if we think about it, we’re relying upon this redemption. What good is a redemption that only lasts for 30 days? It’s good for 30 days certainly, but you’d have to do something again at the end of the 30 days or whatever length it might be. Instead, what we hear is that what Christ has accomplished has been accomplished once and for all of his people, and it continues on into everlasting.
Turning back to Ephesians chapter 1, if you’re not already there, this is the extent of what Christ has done. It’s that deliverance which we have in his name. Even as you think about the early verses that we often read at Christmas time, Luke 1:68–71:
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old—salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us.
Redemption and the peace we have are intricately tied together. It’s freedom from those who would oppress us. It’s freedom in Christ and salvation in his name—something he has accomplished from the very beginning and which is found in no one other than Christ.
Summing Up: Redemption Defined
As those who have been brought near by his blood, we look unto him. It’s only he who may come and accomplish these things—and he has.
Summing up this first point: redemption is used in the Scriptures to refer to the deliverance of one in bondage to be delivered to their family and inheritance. Paul is communicating that Christ has redeemed us as the ransomed people of God, as our kinsman redeemer. That is what we are hearing, and what a wonderful thing we are hearing—that Christ has stood in place as the one who is closest to us, who had the right to buy us as our elder brother, and he has taken us from that horrible estate in which we found ourselves. He has purchased us by his blood and brought us near to himself.
Redemption Through His Blood
Verse 7 says:
We have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.
Christ accomplishes for us by granting to us all these things by the shedding of his blood, and he has done so in a way that goes far beyond anything we might have hoped or imagined because Christ has done that which we could not do.
The Need for Redemption
Why is redemption needed? We often speak of redemption, but we don’t often think about it in a way that relates to our own person. I don’t know about you, but perhaps it’s just a personal statement—I don’t often think about needing some sort of redemption for myself outside of what Christ has done, outside of that sort of brief circumstance.
We don’t often think about needing to be redeemed from an employment contract or debt or something similar. I don’t use coupons, so I don’t think about them very often—I leave that to Sarah.
Redemption’s Importance
It is important for us to consider because it is what Christ uses to communicate the way he has acted to bring us into communion with himself. If you’d like to look at Romans chapter 6 with me, Paul describes it using the imagery of slavery to communicate the situation we find ourselves in by birth.
Romans 6:20:
For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Slavery to Sin and Freedom in Christ
The situation in which everyone finds themselves upon birth, upon conception, is that we are slaves to sin. We are in bondage; we’re not free. We can only do that which our hand finds and flows forth from our heart, which is sin. That doesn’t mean we can’t do things that are relatively nice for people, but we don’t do them for good reasons. Rather, we do them as an extension of ourselves, or because we hope that they repay us, or for a variety of other reasons. It’s impossible to do anything that pleases God, to do those things that are truly good.
Paul is saying that as we’ve been redeemed by Christ, we have been brought into a new relationship with the Lord. Now we are freed up as slaves of righteousness to do those things which are pleasing to the Lord, leading to eternal life—that which has been secured by Christ for us.
The Positive State of Peace
That is really that positive state of peace in which we find ourselves. Now we are slaves of righteousness. That is what we’re about; that is what we’re doing—the things that we seek in this life flow from the free gift of God, which is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
We’re no longer enslaved to sin, but rather we are now slaves of Christ. This is so important, because as slaves before—or if you’re apart from Christ today—this is what is true of you: you stand condemned before the law of God for original sin, that which we received from our parents. No one ever had to teach us how to sin; it just flowed out. We might have been helped to perfect it in a variety of ways, and we can have familial sin patterns that we learn and perfect and become more skillful at. But we were never taught that we needed to sin; it simply flowed forth from our hearts.
Actual Sin and Our Desperate Need
Secondly, there is actual sin. By that I mean those sins which we committed in our own person—those which we did “accidentally,” not thinking about them, and those which we did knowingly and willingly against the law of the Lord. That is what we need to be freed from: from those sins which we have actually done. We require Christ to accomplish redemption on our behalf so that we might know that true peace and grace found in him alone.
Turning back to Ephesians chapter 1, if you’re not already there, we see that not only has Christ done all that was required, but also that we truly have a great need for it to be accomplished for us. We cannot do it ourselves, and we are in such a desperate state that it can truly be described as slavery by the Scriptures.
Reflection: Freed to Love and Serve
As we think about these things, let us take time to reflect upon our own circumstances if we’re in Christ today—to think about what we have been saved from and what the Christian life is now, having come into a state of peace with the Lord. That good peace, or shalom, is a positive state that we have because we are found in Christ.
Consider what that would mean for our individual lives. We have been freed up to do good because we have been redeemed by the blood of Christ, and he has forgiven us all our trespasses according to the riches of his grace. What would that mean for our lives? How would we live? How would we love? How would we walk, whether individually or corporately?
An Infallible Hope
We have been freed up to love the Lord and to love our neighbor. As we heard in Sunday school, we have an infallible hope grounded in the promises of the gospel. It’s not a mere wishful hope like “I hope this will happen” or “I hope you’re having a good day.” It is an infallible hope—something certain and true, grounded in the very word and work of Christ.
Redemption Accomplished and Needed
Continuing on, this redemption is that which is accomplished simply by what the Lord has already done. This is why it is needed, and it is accomplished through Christ, through him alone.
What we might say then about this redemption is that we ultimately need to look to Christ alone for our redemption. In other words, if you’re apart from Christ today, don’t look to anything else—whether it be yourself or someone else who is not Christ, or to the things you may or may not do—but rather look unto him. He is the one who lavishes upon his people all wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of his will. He is the one who, in the fullness of time, was born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law. It was unto him that all these things were accomplished. So look unto him.
Looking to Christ Alone
Even for a Christian, consider how strange it is as we go through our lives and think about what it is that we feel we need to be redeemed from. Don’t seek the wisdom of the age for that redemption. Meaning, we might ask ourselves a variety of questions such as these:
What do we tell ourselves is necessary so that we might be delivered and redeemed? We may not use that language, but what do we tell ourselves in the quiet moments when we’re alone?
Perhaps we might say, as many do, “When you’re true to your authentic self”—freedom from self-doubt so that you can be your true self. Or perhaps, “When others finally give you your due”—freedom from the haters, we might say—that if only I could have that, then I would feel at peace. Or perhaps, “When I achieve a certain level of material success and no longer lack anything.”
The Myths of the Age
Yet all these are myths. They are all based on myths, and they are alive and well not just in the culture but in us because they ultimately tell us a story seeking to explain the world, and yet they fail to deliver on their promise. They tell a great story: “If you only had this, life would be better. You’d be redeemed from all your problems.” But what we see here in this passage is that what we require in order to be truly redeemed—body and soul—is only possible through what Christ has done.
It’s only in him that we find true peace and grace, lavished upon us in the beloved, because he has done so by the shedding of his own blood. It’s in him that we find this great hope of glory.
Christ Redeems from Sin
Ultimately, that’s what we’re looking unto. It’s not some myth we seek to follow, but rather we follow after the living God. For it is Christ who redeems us from sin. It is Christ who delivers upon the promises of the gospel, which he has told us in his word.
So if we think about and reflect upon our status as redeemed persons, what else can we say but, “Praise the Lord!” that today we have that sort of freedom that is from him. We have that freedom to go forth and to love one another, to love our neighbor as ourselves—especially those of the household of faith—because we have peace.
A Lasting Peace
And we don’t have peace that is fleeting, like a ceasefire or a peace treaty, but rather we have something that has been wrought and perfected by the very blood of Christ. Something that every Christian has. Something that we should reflect in the way in which we walk.
Even as it says in Ephesians, if you look back up at the introductory greeting to the saints who are in Ephesus (verse 1), “and are faithful in Christ Jesus: grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,” all these things are bound up in the picture of the church. He’s not writing to an individual person per se; he’s writing to the church—to all the saints.
Peace Within the Congregation
So that peace is found here within the congregation as well because of what Christ has wrought for us. We have that even today as we gather on the Lord’s Day to rest with one another. Why? Because we’ve been redeemed. If we look at one another and we’re members of this church, we have peace. We have grace, because Christ has done so for you and for me if we are in him today.
Having seen then this conception of how God’s plan is accomplished, I want to move on to when this plan is revealed in Christ. This is picked up in verse 10:
As a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
Looking to Christ Alone
Even for a Christian, consider how strange it is as we go through our lives and think about what it is that we feel we need to be redeemed from. Don’t seek the wisdom of the age for that redemption. Meaning, we might ask ourselves a variety of questions such as these:
What do we tell ourselves is necessary so that we might be delivered and redeemed? We may not use that language, but what do we tell ourselves in the quiet moments when we’re alone?
Perhaps we might say, as many do, “When you’re true to your authentic self”—freedom from self-doubt so that you can be your true self. Or perhaps, “When others finally give you your due”—freedom from the haters, we might say—that if only I could have that, then I would feel at peace. Or perhaps, “When I achieve a certain level of material success and no longer lack anything.”
The Myths of the Age
Yet all these are myths. They are all based on myths, and they are alive and well not just in the culture but in us because they ultimately tell us a story seeking to explain the world, and yet they fail to deliver on their promise. They tell a great story: “If you only had this, life would be better. You’d be redeemed from all your problems.” But what we see here in this passage is that what we require in order to be truly redeemed—body and soul—is only possible through what Christ has done.
It’s only in him that we find true peace and grace, lavished upon us in the beloved, because he has done so by the shedding of his own blood. It’s in him that we find this great hope of glory.
Christ Redeems from Sin
Ultimately, that’s what we’re looking unto. It’s not some myth we seek to follow, but rather we follow after the living God. For it is Christ who redeems us from sin. It is Christ who delivers upon the promises of the gospel, which he has told us in his word.
So if we think about and reflect upon our status as redeemed persons, what else can we say but, “Praise the Lord!” that today we have that sort of freedom that is from him. We have that freedom to go forth and to love one another, to love our neighbor as ourselves—especially those of the household of faith—because we have peace.
A Lasting Peace
And we don’t have peace that is fleeting, like a ceasefire or a peace treaty, but rather we have something that has been wrought and perfected by the very blood of Christ. Something that every Christian has. Something that we should reflect in the way in which we walk.
Even as it says in Ephesians, if you look back up at the introductory greeting to the saints who are in Ephesus (verse 1), “and are faithful in Christ Jesus: grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,” all these things are bound up in the picture of the church. He’s not writing to an individual person per se; he’s writing to the church—to all the saints.
Peace Within the Congregation
So that peace is found here within the congregation as well because of what Christ has wrought for us. We have that even today as we gather on the Lord’s Day to rest with one another. Why? Because we’ve been redeemed. If we look at one another and we’re members of this church, we have peace. We have grace, because Christ has done so for you and for me if we are in him today.
Having seen then this conception of how God’s plan is accomplished, I want to move on to when this plan is revealed in Christ. This is picked up in verse 10:
As a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
Point 3: Why – God’s Plan Applied
Ultimately, there was a purpose to this redemption—an end or a goal. Looking at verses 11–12:
In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.
Redemption with a Purpose
Think back to the verses I read from Leviticus 25 and Exodus 21. The redemption under the Mosaic covenant always had a purpose. You wanted to buy back your brother or a family member. There was always a real loss or need for that redemption.
In other words, redemption is distinctly a family affair under the Old Testament. Those are the people who have a right to buy back. Think about Boaz with Ruth—it is always a family member redeeming. When someone redeems a family member under the Old Testament, they are buying them back into the full privileges of the family. They enter again into all the freedoms and blessings they have. No one can compel them to be elsewhere or to work without consent. They have been bought back.
Redemption Brings Us into God’s Family
So when Paul uses redemption to speak about what Christ has done for us, it is within that context of a familial relationship. We are being bought back into the very family of God as sons, as heirs.
That is what verse 11 says: we have obtained an inheritance. We are like the firstborn son, receiving all that the Father gives, with nothing held back. In being redeemed and bought back, we have an inheritance—and it’s something we have already obtained.
Already Possessing Our Inheritance
When we speak about inheritance today, typically we’re waiting for a will to be enacted, which requires someone to die. You haven’t received it yet. You’ve been told that you will, but it could change—they could write a new will or fall into debt.
That’s not the case for us. Verse 11 again says:
In him we have obtained an inheritance.
It’s already done. It has already been accomplished. We are not waiting for it in the future. We have already entered into it in Christ.
Every Spiritual Blessing Lavished Upon Us
When we hear in verse 3 that he “has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,” he hasn’t held anything back but has given us all that he has in his storehouse of grace, lavished upon us freely in Christ Jesus. As it says in verse 8:
Which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight.
That is the inheritance we have now in Christ. Having received that, we are brought into this relationship with the Father for the sake of Christ and by the operation of the Holy Spirit.
Redemption Gives Peace and Adoption
Redemption gives us the picture that not only do we no longer have conflict with the living God—which in itself is a glorious state—but more positively, we are now in the family and have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
We’re not in the family with a footnote. We’re not the red-headed stepchild. We’re in the family as heirs with Christ. The grace and blessing we have received are not contingent on something we have done, nor on what others will do, but on what Christ has done—something that has already happened and which we already enjoy.
The Beginning of Full Enjoyment
Certainly, it is not the full enjoyment we will have in heaven, simply because we are still sinners and do not yet have faith become sight. But we already have the beginning of it here and now.
Redemption brings us into peace with God as he sums up all things in Christ, in heaven and on earth. This summing up or concluding in Christ is what we are dealing with in the interim. But we now have that peace with the Lord, that shalom, that rest which comes in the family of the Lord.
Peace Reflected in Our Walk
Let us then give thanks to him, and let us live as Paul describes in chapters 4 through 6 of Ephesians, because we are at peace. That peace works out in our lives.
In chapter 4, verse 1, he calls us to:
Walk in a manner worthy of the calling.
This includes humility, gentleness, and patience—virtues directed toward others because we have peace. If we have peace with Christ, we have peace with one another as well, though it can be a struggle because we are all sinners.
Growing into Unity and Maturity
Continuing in chapter 4, verse 13:
Until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
We grow into it. We grow into our knowledge and our experience of it, and into the way in which we live within that state of peace and grace as those who are redeemed.
Peace Worked Out in Relationships
It works out in our homes, our lives, and here in the church. In chapter 5, verses 22–33, this peace plays out in the marriage relationship between wives and husbands, giving a picture of Christ and what he has done for us and how we then relate to one another.
In chapter 6, it continues with children and parents, bondservants and masters. In short, the state of peace and grace is something we each enjoy individually, but it also has a communal or corporate sense, as the letter is directed to the church.
Peace Within the Church
It concludes in chapter 6, verse 23:
Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible.
The peace we have and enjoy in our individual lives should be reflected in the way we love one another. Imagine how strange it would be to say, “I have peace with the Lord, and I know this person has peace with the Lord, but we’re not at peace with each other.” That is not the shalom that Christ has accomplished.
Walking as Redeemed People
Let us walk then as imitators of God, doing those things that are pleasing in his sight, because we have been redeemed. We do these things out of gratitude for what the Lord has done.
This redemption truly has consequences, outlined here for us. Let us respond with gratitude for what Christ has done, pursuing those good works he has set before us that we might walk in them. When we see those who are in Christ, let us greet them as fellow relatives in the family of Christ, who have received the inheritance along with us. Let us live with them, pray for them, and desire all good things for them because of what Christ has done for us. We have received an inheritance.
To the Praise of His Glory
As Paul hints at in verse 12:
So that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.
And in verse 13:
In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.
He rejoices at what has occurred for the Ephesians. It is not any lessening for him, but rather they have been brought into the family as well, and he praises God for them. Let us do the same in how we live with one another, even in times of difficulty.
Final Exhortation
Wherever our circumstances might be today, let us look not to whatever myth we or our culture tell us we need in order to have peace or grace. If we are in Christ, we have it today—no more or less than we will ever have it in the future—because of what Christ has done. He has accomplished redemption for us, even at the shedding of his own blood, that we might have our trespasses forgiven according to the riches of his grace.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Ephesians 1:7–12 gives us this brief yet rich picture of redemption. It helps us understand our place within the family of God as heirs, and to begin to see something of the grace and peace the Lord has given to us. These have external implications in how we respond to them out of gratitude for what Christ has done—that we might show grace to others and peace to others because of what our Lord has done for us.
Closing Prayer
Please join me as we pray.
Father, thank you again for your word. We ask that you would help us to fully apprehend the way in which our redemption has earth-shattering ramifications upon our daily lives. We pray, Lord, that you would help us to do so for our own sake, that we might all the more be assured of our salvation. We pray, Lord, as well for the way in which we would walk here among the congregation, that you would help us to understand what it means to be a body of redeemed people. We pray, Lord, for those in difficult circumstances today, that you would be with them and help them to know all the more the richness of your grace in Christ, and that you would comfort them in knowing that they belong to you, body and soul, even as we ask that you would cause all of your children to know this day. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen.
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