Delighting in the Knowledge of God Ephesians 1:15-23

(v. 18) What is the hope of His calling:

Redemption has a result; a consummation – your right-relatedness to the Trinity through Christ has a very clearly defined goal; it is ultimate conformity to Christ. Our election before the foundation of the world is aimed at this goal – “chosen that we should be holy and blameless before Him in love” (1:4).

You’ve been called out of darkness into His marvelous light for this very purpose – that you may gain the glory of Christ (2 Thess 2:14). The more fixed your hope is on the final goal and outcome of redemption, the more straight and resolute will be your walk towards that goal.

All history is moving towards this event in which the sons of God are presented publicly to the rational universe (that is the holy angels). The entire creation is poised for this event (Rom 8:18-25).

The goal of redemption is not adequately described as simply the absence of sin, death, and sorrow and a new immortal body. The consummation of redemption will be the enjoyment of God in Christ communicating Himself to us forever. It is eternal love attending you: it is Christ given to be your life, light, and blessedness without cessation. And it is the redeemed enjoying God and pleasing God perfectly.

In glory the Church will be a spotless reflection the character of the Godhead – God’s communicable attributes will have reached maturity in her – she will be as much like God as a creature can possible be. Relations within the society of the redeemed will reflect the excellence of relations within the Trinity (perfect love, honor, deference, goodness, humility, wisdom, truthfulness).

Now all of this is to fulfill God’s vision (dream if you will) – for He has never desisted from the goal He announced originally to make man in His image and likeness. What is His dream? It is to have an eternal temple to dwell in. Not a temple made of inanimate things, but a temple of living stones. That is how God describes you, the redeemed; the saints – as living stones that are growing together, being fitted together, being built up into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit; a spiritual house for a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (Eph 2:21-22; 1 Pet 2:5).

(EX. Heaven is not an eternal vacation – it is an eternal vocation for that will be the source of our bliss. Randy Alcorn observes in his book, The Treasure Principle, “heaven will be a place of rest and relief from the burdens of sin and suffering; but it will also be a place of great learning, activity, artistic expression, exploration, discovery, camaraderie, and service,” p. 36.)

At the consummation the ages, the aim of redemptive history shall be realized (as announced by an angel) – “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He shall dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be among them. . .” (Rev 21:3). And there shall no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His bondservants shall serve Him; and they shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads (Rev 22:3-4).

There’s an old Chinese proverb that says fish and guests smell after three days. If we are careful about who stays in your home for an extended period of time – how much do you think God cares about who His eternal human companions will be? (APPL. This should give us some insight into our tests and trials; for they keep surfacing where our affections lie. God is wise to test us – testing exposes our loyalties. Affliction shows us what we really love; it detaches us from the love of the world and anchors our hope more securely to God as our true ‘home.’)

When Richard Baxter went house to house visiting church members, he always asked his parishoners this question, “Do you see all of life as preparation for the next life?”

(v. 19) What are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.

Not only do the riches of God in Christ comprise our inheritance (also the physical creation! Abraham, a type of every believer lived in tents his whole life even though he was heir of the world (Rom 4:13). Yes, the meek shall inherit the earth; but we who make up the company of the redeemed are also Christ’s inheritance; His Bride – that the Lord Jesus Christ might be theFirst-born among many brethren (Rom 8:29).

Heaven is about mutuality – I am my Beloved’s and He is mine. Mutual ownership will take our joy over the top. This is to be a source of delight to us – the marriage metaphor is a figure of speech filled with incredible promises of mutuality and intimate love (Jn 17:26).

(EX. -- C. S. Lewis offered the following contrast; compared to the Lord dwelling with the redeemed in glory, the most ideal romance among mortals is like a glass of milk mixed with water (it’s insipid by comparison).

Mutuality means that we give ourselves to God and He to us in a covenant of co-ownership– As Spurgeon said, “I’ll be able to say on that day, God on yonder throne is mine!” This is where God is taking us – this day is moving closer and closer to us. (In glory our fellowship with the Lord will be one of perfect intimacy. “Our communion with God lies in his giving himself to us and our giving ourselves and all that he requires to him” (Owen, Communion, p. 3). (APPL. What this means for the present – though by faith, the saints have begun this communion with God now).

To be in God’s presence is to behold God. The pure pleasure involved in beholding God has begun in the saints (2 Cor 3:18). But for the present in our beholding we see in a mirror dimly –then it will be face to face. “And it will be said on that day, ‘Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us” (Is 25:9).

And there shall no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His bondservants shall serve Him; and they shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads (Rev 22:3-4).

The Reformers referred to “The beatific vision.” To beatify is to bring a person to a state of exalted joy above anything possible on earth. It means the vision that makes us blessed, orhappy. Beatific is from two Latin words: beatus, blessed, and facere, to make. To look at God will change us and make us like Him: “We shall be with Him and see Him as He is (1 Jn 3:2).

The beatific vision which will bring us endless exalted joy will be our beholding of Christ in His glory (this is what our Lord prayed for in John 17:24 – that the saints would behold His glory.)

The sight of Christ glorified will ravish our souls (2 Thess 1:10). We will never cease to marvel at the sight of God looking out at us through eyes of flesh – our amazement will never cease as we behold our glorified Savior with the marks of our atonement on His glorified body. The slain Lamb is the center of heaven; the Light of heaven. (EX. The invalid Puritan, Isaac Ambrose, said, God’s desire is to converse with us after our form.)

This vision of God will be the consummation of our knowing God and will give us full delight and joy for all eternity: “In your presence is fullness of joy, in your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Ps 16:11) (Grudem, Systematic Theology, pp. 189-190).

Invalid Puritan Isaac Ambrose said, God’s desire is to converse with us after our form.

Your present ability to behold the Lord, albeit in a mirror dimly, is what differentiates you from the unsaved around you. Beholding is a gift of sovereign grace that has begun for the redeemed (2 Cor 4:4-6). Scripture describes the redeemed in 2 Corinthians 3:14-18 as the unveiled ones.

Though you behold in a mirror dimly now, you are being fitted to behold face to face. In order to behold face to face, you must be a partaker of God’s holiness so that you can look upon Him without fear, shame and covering your face. This will happen the moment you see Christ – when we see Him we will be like Him for we shall see Him as He is (1 Jn 3:2; Phil 3:20-21).

Your eternal vocation will involve beholding – it will be your source of ravishment and bliss.(APPL. -- Is beholding so as to delight in the Lord a part of your vocation now? If so, then you are experiencing the answer to the prayer in our text.)

(EX. I find myself agreeing with Maurice Roberts and other divines who caution us about studying God’s attributes in a cold, sterile, philosophic manner. Our study of God ought to be in a doxological mindset – that is for the purpose of delight and enjoyment and adoration and relational knowledge of Him. This exhortation is a logical bridge to our third point.)

(v. 19) What is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.

God’s attributes were not on display all at once until the work of Christ. Understanding this fact is an important access point to your growth in the knowledge of God. Here’s why -- consider that God has literally harnessed His attributes and put them to work in your salvation.

Think of it -- He is exercising His infinite love, wisdom, and power (which are all resident in Christ) in order to bring you to glory. God is exerting His attributes for your eternal welfare and glory.(APPL. This is so important to our topic – God wants you to grow in the knowledge of Him by seeing His attributes at work in your salvation.)

God can only be known in covenant because He dwells in burning holiness – the cherubim cover their faces as they call out holy, holy. God says who would dare to risk his life by approaching me – I dwell in unapproachable light (Jer 30:21; 1 Tim 6:16).

God cannot be known and enjoyed apart from a place of safety – creating a place of safety is what He has done in placing us in Christ, our ‘City of Refuge.” For God has carved out a place of protection for us in the wounds, blood, and body of Christ. Christ is given to us as our covenant with God.

Let’s go even deeper – the unsearchable riches of the Godhead are put on display in Christ – which means that HOW God is taking the Church from dust to glory that is the revealer of the Godhead to the holy angels (Eph 3:8-10). (EX. Give the example of the Jay and Jerry Feller water purification plant.)

It says in 2 Peter 1:3-4 that the precious and magnificent promises of the Gospel are given to us out of (or by means of) God’s own glory and excellence. Thus the Gospel promises to forgive you and to adopt you in Christ are promises cast in the foundry of God’s attributes. God took His own attributes and poured them into the mould of the Gospel promises. (APPL. God wants you to know Him better and better as you take delight in all that He is toward you in Christ. Dwell upon Him as the God of all grace who is exercising His mighty attributes on your behalf. This makes you an owner, not merely a spectator or observer.)

God exports His life, love, blessedness, and righteousness across time and eternity and gives Himself to us in Christ. This is why at the moment of salvation (2 Cor 4:4-6) the believing sinner beholds God Almighty’s glory in the face of Christ. The sinner sees for the very first time WHO God is – that God plucks out His own heart (so to speak) in the giving of His Son in order to reconcile hostile sinners to Himself. It’s God’s attributes harnessed in the Person and work of Christ in order to bring us to God.

When the sinner by faith beholds this display of divine love; it casts enmity out of his heart – it makes a friend of a former enemy (it reconciles – Col 1:21-22).

When the sinner sees by faith that his own eternal welfare and God’s glory are forever joined and bound up together in the Person of Christ –hostility toward God is purged from the sinner’s heart; it’s impossible for the former enmity to remain there.

The exercise of God’s immutable and glorious attributes (in the redemptive work of Christ) accomplishes not only your highest good (eternal salvation) – but it also is the highest form of God’s self-revelation; this revelation of God in our behalf will redound to the eternal glory to God.

The more that sinks in – the more delight you will have as you meditate upon who God is (it is always who God is toward you in Christ. It is always Christ’s perfect suitability for our every need. It is always Christ who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption – 1 Cor 1:30). Christ is the wisdom and power of God; He holds His offices of Prophet, Priest, and King in order to bring you to God.

This is the truth of the Gospel which dispels lies about God; lies that kept the soul in its dark dungeon. Now that we are sons of light; we find that we have communion with God when we take Christ for the reasons God gave Him (acceptance, forgiveness, righteousness, access). God is exalted when you keep taking Christ for the reasons God gave Him. Listen to what Owen says in Communion with God:

We must assure ourselves that there is nothing more acceptable to God than to keep our hearts filled with him as the eternal source of all that rich grace which flows out to sinners in the blood of Jesus. Our resistance to walking close with God stems from the fact that we do not behold and receive his love. The more we see God’s love by faith, the more will we delight in him (p. 32).

God’s giving of himself as an all-sufficient God, to be enjoyed by his creatures, to provide for all their needs out of himself, is only revealed in Christ. In Christ, God is in covenant with his people to be a Father to them. In this covenant he has promised to lay out himself as the one who alone can meet the needs of his creatures. In Christ, God has promised to give himself to them for their eternal good and to be their exceedingly great reward (p. 87).

We must be convinced that God will use all his glorious attributes for our good. He has set forth Christ to be the Lord our Righteousness (Isaiah 45:24,25; 1 Cor. 1:30; 2 Cor. 5:18). We must be convinced that His attributes are powerful and able to bring us into eternal glory. To assure us of this, God wraps up the whole covenant of grace in one promise: “I will be your God.” Now we know that this Gospel covenant is confirmed in the blood of Christ. To be in Christ by faith is to know the wonder, excellence, wisdom and knowledge of God exercised in the salvation of sinners (pp. 88-89).

Going to Christ as one’s sin bearer is the believer’s daily work. Christ calls the believer to daily lay the burden of their sins upon him. By faith the saints are to see God laying their sins upon Christ. This is what it means to know Christ crucified. Believers draw near and take from Him that righteousness which he has wrought for them, so fulfilling what Paul taught (2 Cor. 5:21). Christ is delighted that his saints should always hold communion with him by giving him their sins and receiving his righteousness. We commune with Christ when we keep taking Him to be our righteousness (p. 144).

 

 

 

 

 

Facets of Salvation: Assurance of Salvation

How important is your personal assurance of salvation? As you search the Scriptures you will find that you cannot live a life of gratitude to God without it (Col 2:6, 7), you cannot worship aright without it (Ps 116:12, 13, 17), you will not be eager to obey and put off sinning without it (Col 3:5-11).

Because of these reasons – Scripture makes Christian assurance a duty – 2 Peter 1:(9) 10. Where true faith exists, it will long for assurance just as much as you long to know where you stand with your best friend.

Scripture is not stingy in extending solid promises of assurance to those who are truly born again. See 1 John 5:11, 12. This is certainly then an important question – how may we know for sure that we “have the Son?”

In many quarters of Christianity one might hear in answer to this question, “Just trust your decision that you made and do not doubt it.” But the more you search the Scriptures, the more you’ll find that this advice is bereft of biblical support.

Evidence for assurance of salvation in Scripture is far more three dimensional and comprehensive. God has given us a THREE-F0LD WITNESS TO ASSURANCE in order that we may know for certain that we possess salvation. This three-fold witness makes a complete testimony of the true believer’s salvation – it is the biblical foundation for assurance of salvation.

The three we will be discovering together are: 1.) The witness of saving faith in the Gospel. 2.) The witness of a changed life. 3.) The witness of the Holy Spirit in the heart (of the believer).

1.) The Witness of Saving Faith in the Gospel (vv. 1-4).

(vv. 1-2) In this section, the Apostle expands upon the believer’s assurance and hope. (This section resumes the theme of assurance and hope set forth in 5:1-11. Paul wants the glory of our salvation to fill our minds and hearts – filling our consciousness that we are accepted in Christ to the glory of God.) “The spirit of life in Christ” is an entirely new operating principle. The believer has been set free from the old principle of sin and death.

(v. 3) The law couldn’t nullify sin’s power – the law was impotent to deliver us, Christ alone accomplished our liberation (2 Cor 5:21). The law is reveals God’s righteousness, and according to Romans 3:20, the law is the revealer of human sin.

In our nature, Jesus blotted out sin’s guilt, he condemned it, He overthrew its power, He brought us nigh to God. This could only be done in human flesh! He took on the battle in the same human nature that had sinned – the same flesh that had become the seat and agent of sin. In our human nature, He conquered sin and death. His work on the cross is the means by which sin’s dominating power and penalty have been broken. In the crucifixion, the Son of God was judged and condemned in our place so that the claims of sin on a believer become invalid. That means at the cross, the judgment and condemnation of sin has resulted in power to the believer to live free of sin’s dominion.

(v. 4) As those set free from the tyranny of sin and death (and free from the sentence and punishment of being wrong with God), we begin our new life of overcoming. The law is fulfilled in us (yes by Christ’s obedience in our place) but also in a normative fashion in our walk – by the Holy Spirit’s directing, enabling power. (The grace of God in Christ translates the righteous requirement of the law into action – the Spirit loves God’s will.) We ought to examine ourselves in light of these verses. Does your life bear testimony to the fact that your entire hope is grounded upon Christ’s finished work for you?

QUESTIONS: Do you love the way God saved you (i.e. by the Gospel of Jesus Christ)? Do you take great delight in God’s way of salvation? Do you see God’s holiness, kindness, love, and wisdom in His plan to send His only begotten Son for sinners? Do you find now that the Law of God is written on your heart so that you desire to fulfill it and please God? Has the Gospel reconciled you to God so that you are no longer His enemy and so that you no longer walk according to the flesh and the world? Can you attest that the only possible solution to your dilemma of guilt, enslavement to sin, and love of the world was for Christ to die in your place? Is it your testimony that before faith in Christ, you were helpless and hostile to God?

2.) The Witness of a Changed Life (vv. 5-13).

(vv. 5-6) There are two different kinds of persons described here, one, a natural man, the second, a regenerated man. The two are described in terms of their settled mindsets. One is under the influence of the flesh, and the other is under the influence of Christ and His Spirit.

For Paul there is a strict correspondence between what a person’s interests are and who he is in his essential being. The man whose thoughts are according to the flesh operates in such a way that his affections, interests, thought life and will are one unified complex. His natural reason advises him to choose what he thinks is best for himself, not what the Word of God commands. (Jesus said that a tree is known by its fruit – Matt 7:16-20ff.)

(vv. 7-8) “Inner man” does not just describe the thought life, it is a man’s interests, affections, direction. Therefore to “live after the flesh” is to be governed by that fleshly complex of reason, will and feeling. And what is Paul’s conclusion? For those who are in the flesh (unregenerate), it is morally and psychologically impossible for them to do anything well-pleasing in God’s sight. This is the doctrine of man’s total depravity and inability. It presents a graphic picture of man’s plight – his desperate need of regeneration by the Holy Spirit.

When self is supreme, the uncontested “lord” of one’s life, that person will regard God as an enemy. The unregenerate man is hostile toward God. Enmity toward God stems from that entire internal fleshly complex which is oriented toward the lusts of the world (1 Jn 2:15-17).

(vv. 9-11) At the moment of the new birth, the Holy Spirit planted a new principle in the believer with new affections, new desires, and a new bias toward sin.

As a new creature, now we are mindful of the things of the Spirit. Now there is the powerful evidence of a changed life. “The old things have passed away.” The former pattern has been displaced by the new – the new man is governed by the rule of Christ’s Spirit.

The indwelling Spirit is the believer’s antidote to the flesh. At regeneration, the benefits and fruits of Christ’s redemptive power and mission are applied to the believer. The believer is renewed and regenerated -- but remember, this is unto a new relationship. It is because of the Spirit’s indwelling presence that the believer experiences (realizes) the fullness of Christ (note Phil 2:12-13).

(vv. 12-13) The assuring ministry of the Spirit is basic to our mortification of sin. As the Holy Spirit communicates the confidence to us that we are the Father’s adopted child, we are emboldened to fight sin. The Holy Spirit assures us that we are secure in Christ’s love –the result is a confidence that we are equipped with infinite resources to fight sin.

We are under obligation to put sin to death. We are not to allow what remains of the lower nature to set the standard for our behavior. The Holy Spirit stirs us to put to death selfish actions. We are to declare war and wage war against sin – it is conquer or be conquered, overcome or be overcome (1 Pet 4:1-6; 2:11).

The very activity of the believer putting off sin is evidence of the Spirit.

QUESTIONS: Do you find that you have a whole new principle operating in you with new affections for the Lord, His Word, and the things of God? Do you have a new bias and power against sin? Can you honestly say that because of Christ you are a “new creature?” Can you say that formerly you were opposed to God’s Law, but now through the Spirit you are able to obey it? Has your relationship to the Bible changed so that it is no longer a “closed,” often mysterious book, but now you can understand it and it is your daily food? Do your thoughts now frequently turn toward God and all that He is toward you in Christ? Does your gratitude for salvation motivate you to please God and to daily fight indwelling sin (by the power of the Holy Spirit)? Do you have a solid, well-grounded hope that Christ will receive you favorably into His eternal kingdom?

3.) The Witness of the Spirit in the Heart of the Believer (vv. 14-17).

(vv. 14-15) Walking in the way of holiness is described as the “leading of the Spirit.” This holy walk of putting to death sin and communing with God is the specific mark of the true child of God. Adoption and leading go together – the Holy Spirit does not leave us orphans. As those justified, freed from condemnation, set free from the power of sin, taken into the family of God, the Spirit desires that we be PERSUADED by Him that we belong there.

The Spirit’s leading is persuasion, not force, fear and bondage. He guides into truth and holiness (obedience). The Christian is to walk by the power of the Spirit (Gal 5:16). Since the Spirit is leading the believer, the Christian must “Walk in step with the Spirit” (Gal 5:16, 18; 2 Cor 7:1).

Sonship is the glorious goal and triumph of God’s grace. The Spirit imparts the assurance of sonship. As sons of God we have the right to cry “Abba” because we share sonship with our Lord Jesus Christ. Sonship guarantees eternal life itself (Gal 4:4-6).

(vv. 16-17) The Spirit bears witness to our spirit that we are the sons of God. This internal testimony or witness is the assured awareness of our sonship. He produces in us the posture and life of a son. He seals to our hearts that the promises of Scripture belong to us – they are ours. He instills a supernatural hope that we may build our very life and future upon – namely that we are heirs of God and fellow heirs of Christ. He assures us of our Father’s love. 

QUESTIONS: Do you have peace with God so that you know your standing before God? Do you know for certain that He has forgiven you? Do you bring your hopes, fears, requests, and sins to your Heavenly Father? Does the Holy Spirit continually produce in you the consciousness that you are God’s beloved child? Has the Holy Spirit testified to your spirit that you belong to God? Do you consider it a privilege to suffer for Christ socially, and if necessary in other ways? Is God’s Spirit leading you into greater holiness and into the habit of putting your sin to death? Do you count it your greatest treasure to be an heir of God?

CONCLUSION: When the true believer comes to Romans 8, his doubts come to a full stop. (His fears, agitations, wanderings – lay down of their own accord as he enters Romans 8 because this is his identity and his experience in personally knowing God. This chapter describes the glorious reality of his life as a “new creature” (2 Cor 5:17).

The Christian says of Romans 8, “This is my spiritual experience! These are the changes God has produced in me! These are the truths He has written on my heart!”

These are the spiritual realities that fill the mind and heart of the Christian. This is his “home turf” so to speak – these are his spiritual surroundings. His hopes and affections are thrilled by the consciousness that his spiritual life is described so beautifully in this chapter.

What if you cannot say that this is your spiritual home, you do not have this three-fold witness of assurance? Ask God to show you your sin. Welcome conviction of sin. Go to the passages of Scripture that teach the Gospel of grace in Christ. Ask God to give you faith and have mercy upon you. He is willing to receive all who come to Him in Christ (Jn 6:37).