What's Your Story?

Have you ever heard the phrase, you can’t see the forest for the trees. Its about someone who is so focused on one thing to the exclusion of all others. My brother Lloyd is a tree trimmer and when we look at a forest, he’s all about the trees. We were once up in Fergus and a tornado had ripped through and I’m now seeing two forests with a distinct dividing line and my brother, he is looking at one tree on one farm with one job in mind.

In many ways Christians can be the same way, they are so focused on one detail that they miss the big picture. That sin that I’m dealing with, that issue that I’m struggling with, that thing about my church that I don’t like, when is that parking lot going to be fixed. Lord, those people in my small group, they always seem to be dealing with that same issue. My problems, that’s different, they just need to get over their’s. We have all these details about living the Christian life and some of them are good and important, but in being fixated in all of that, we can lose our sense of wonder and awe about the greatness and majesty of God and what Jesus has done for us, when we just look at the trees.

In Ephesians, Paul wants to pull us back and give us a grand view of God. He is praying that our spiritual eyes will be open to know the hope to which we have been called, to know the same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Look at the bigness of God’s plan and great

What is your story??

Everyone has a story. I’ll never forget my first pastor sharing that with me as we watched the masses of people come on and go off the l train in Chicago while going to a pastor’s conference.

Some people have stories that are really encouraging, and when we think about our families it’s a very positive thing. However, for some, the mention of family brings a lot of pain and unresolved issues. Most of us continue to seek to live a life that matters, perhaps longing for our story to become more meaningful before it becomes history.

In the beginning of this series we are going to be see how our stories have their roots in

something much greater and grander, and that is the big picture of God’s story. In Ephesians,

we’ll see that God has called us to be part of his grand story, and we’ll look at what God has done to put us into that story and how it affects our lives day by day.

As we journey through Ephesians, we’re going to emphasize certain themes. One important

theme in the first half of Ephesians is prayer. In the first three chapters, in almost half of the text

Paul is praying. We’re going to start looking at that more closely in the next message. Obviously

prayer was essential to and a guiding force in the way Paul related to people.

Another theme is spiritual warfare. Paul understood that being part of God’s story means you’re

going to be part of the battle that God is in.

In the latter half of the book, we will look at how we live out our stories as part of God’s story. What does it mean in the church as we use our different spiritual gifts? What does it mean in our families, our marriages and parent-child relationships?

From verse 3 to 14, the history of the salvation story unfolds before us, rich in description with incredible detail given to our possessions – spiritual blessings, our position – redeemed, our promise, the seal of the Holy Spirit

Spiritual Blessings through the Father’s initiative v4-6

The greek word for blessing is eulogetos from where our word eulogy. It is spoken with the desire to speak a good word of us and it has everything to do with Him.

When people speak of God’s blessings, it is often related to provision through finances or health that is most commonly thought of; however, the blessings given here go beyond our present circumstance to the very core of our being. They are true of us regardless of where we find ourselves, they go with us no matter where we end up, move, job, they are ‘ours’ in Christ.

At times it is difficult just to figure out if it is God being spoken of in this first section or Christ with all the pronouns being thrown around. The key is determining if it is God is if it is definite action taking place with phrases like, ‘he chose us, adopted us’ and with Christ it is word that are more descriptive in nature like ‘through Him’ or ‘in Him’

It is an incredible mystery to be able to come to an understanding of how the God of eternity past before the foundation of the world could look down the space of time and see our lives completely unfold, knowing us and choosing us in His covenantal love to be part of His family. The fusion of our decision to put our faith in Him along with His choosing us is part of His incredible salvation story.

Romans 8:29 He chose us to experience the fullness of life in Him, to restore us to the beauty of His creative destiny for us, to rescue us from the full effects of sin, to be in fellowship with Him

Our salvation is God’s choosing and the purest way to understanding it is seeing it from heavne’s perspective. It begins and ends with God’s will. For Paul there was no doubt in his mind how it all came together and he recognized his favour with God and we can also experience that same realization.

I have never met a soul who has set out to satisfy the Lord and has not been satisfied himself.

Watchman Nee

Paul from start to finish makes his emphasis in the origin and plan of God from His eternal plan.

Satan’s plan is to make anything of God look restrictive, controlling and confining while Paul is all about what God has invested in us and it makes us wide open, free of all the entrapments that this world is all about. This world is all about branding, wanting us all to look the same, seeking for us to wear its label of approval, use the same technology, be all on the same social networking sites and stamp its message all over the site so you don’t forget the advertisers pathways to health, happiness and wholeness...

The true spiritual blessings that we find here can never be found on earth, they are tangible in the freeing presence they bless us with. We can’t even begin to fathom what it is for us to be the glory of Christ. John 17:10 and glory has come to me through them!

I watched the movie Blindside this week and was really inspired by the story of Michael Oher. The story is told of the Touhy family, a Christian family, who embrace this young man from the projects on the rough side of Memphis. With all the strikes against him, there is one thing that the mother of the family picks up on to inspire ‘Big Mike’ and that while his percentile for learning is low, his protective instinct is 98%! She discovers something that is already part of his makeup to inspire him to live.

The gospel is much like this, it is a divine calling that for many believers they have lost sight of. It is part of our makeup, it is part of the very nature that God has infused within us, but so many are lost to it and it really is the most compelling part of us. It is the infusion of the spiritual blessings of God, the redemptive work of Christ and the seal of the Holy Spirit.

Do you see your life as a divine calling? Our greatest possibilities lie within our reach to capture the essence of our very existence. The trouble with us is that we can become so easily fixated on our own earthly pursuits and it blinds us to the real treasures, the very things that God has called us heavenward in Christ Jesus as Philippians 3:14 lays out.

Here’s the thing about adoption that I have learned from my friends.

It is very costly, it involves a lot of time, it turns your world upside down

The reality is as an adopted child, He does the choosing and He chose you!

Spiritual Redemption through the Son’s death and life v7-10

Paul’s audience would fully appreciate the language of redemption which was a theme in their life right from the slavery and exodus from Egypt that would be a story forever ingrained upon them to their present oppression at the hands of the Romans.

Paul wanted to relate the exodus from slavery and oppression and speak to the second exodus that was theirs because of their purchase and payment from the slavery of sin.

Once again this is all an incredible mystery and really hard to wrap your mind around, but he really wants to hit your heart with this message. The message is that God is raising up a people for Himself from every tongue, tribe and nation, men and women from every background, a glorious group of people that will be complete one day when one day everything comes under the lordship of Jesus Christ.

The forgiveness of sins... some people really don’t like that term, they would rather refer to themselves as ‘morally challenged,’ but the fact is unless we come face to face with the reality of our sin, we will never fully appreciate the price that was paid for our freedom.

Spiritual Promise through the seal of the Holy Spirit v11-14

For Paul there was two very clear evidences that you were part of the body of Christ – faith in Christ and the presence of the Holy Spirit in us.

The HS is our down payment, guaranteeing our future inheritance.

The Takeaway

We are part of the grand story of God, if we really believed this it would change the way we live. Trace the red line through your story!

We have been redeemed, delivered out of bondage and sealed with the promise of the Holy Spirit

Questions for Discussion and Small Groups:

1. Give examples of what you think a spiritual blessing to us in the heavenly realms might be.

2. How do you feel God could have chosen us before the creation of the world?

3. How do you feel it's possible for us to choose to be Christians v13, if He "predestined us," to be adopted?

4. What are tangible ways that we can experience the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, the downpayment, in our lives?