I Am Blessed
Sermon Audio
Sermon Notes
Intro:
Hey everybody my name’s Louis I’m one of the pastor’s here at the church, great to be with you, great to start off the new year with you. Today we’re starting a new series called “Identity: I am ___.” It’s called Identity: I am ___, and it’s all about helping you to fill in the blank with who you really are, not who society has molded you to be, because much of society’s already filled in the blank for you. Much of society’s already filled in the “I am ___” statement for you, and it started the very moment you were born. The very moment you were born you were given a name by somebody in society, somebody who filled in the blank on your birth certificate. They filled in the blank on your birth certificate and as time went on, as you grew up people started filling in more blanks, they started giving you more names, names like smart kid, dumb kid, cute kid, ugly kid...funny kid, fat kid, skinny kid...athletic kid, un-athletic kid...All kinds of names you’ve been given over the years each filling in the blanks for you and being internalized by you, affecting you, shaping you, molding you and your identity into who you are today. Society’s been filling in the blanks for you, molding you and your identity your entire life, and you’ve spent much of your life either trying to live up to that identity, or trying to run from it. You’ve spent much of your life trying to live up to that identity, or trying to run from it.
For example some of you’ve been told you’re gonna be a great success and ever since you’ve been trying to live up to that success identity, live up to that filled in blank space trying to prove to yourself and others you’re successful. Some of you’ve been told you’re gonna be a great leader, business person, engineer, singer, musician, athlete, spouse, parent, or whatever else you’ve been told in life and you’ve been trying to live up to those identities, those filled in blank spaces ever since. Some of you are trying to live up to your identities...But some of you are trying to run from your identities...Some of you are trying to run from your identities, you’re trying to hit the reset button in life so you can have a new life, a new identity, a new blank space. People who do this are trying to find a reset button in things like a new marriage, a new career, a new city, new church, new ministry, even a New Year. It’s one of the reasons why we love the New Year so much. It’s because it’s like a reset button, it’s like a fresh start on our lives. There’s so many ways we try to hit the reset button, and so many people trying to hit it. They’re trying to run from their past so they can have a new life, a new identity, a new blank space. It’s the identity dilemma all of us are in, we’re either trying to live up to our identity or run from it, and it’s all because society’s been molding our identities, filling in our blank spaces ever since we were born. When you were born you didn’t care about living up to or running from your identity, but once society started labeling you, you started to care, and this series is about helping you to fill in the blank with who you REALY are, not who society’s molded you to be. It’s about helping you to fill in the blank not with who society says you are, but with who God says you are, and we’re gonna do it by studying the entire book of Ephesians. So let’s turn our bibles to Ephesians 1:1-23 and get into it. The title of today’s message is “I Am Blessed.” I am blessed.
Context:
Here’s your context. Ephesians was written by a man named Paul who’s considered one of the greatest Christian leaders to ever live. At first he wasn’t a Christian, he was an assassin of Christians. He literally sought Christians out to kill them and was even responsible for the death of the 1st Christian martyr, Stephen. So historically we know he assassinated Christians, but we also know historically that his entire life, his entire identity changed after meeting the resurrected Jesus. After he meets the resurrected Jesus he becomes a Christian and even dies for his faith as a Christian. Ephesians is one of several books he wrote before he died, and he’s writing this book while in prison for his faith. He’s writing it to strengthen Christians in their faith by reminding them of who they are in Christ, and by reminding them of their unity as a church because of Christ. This series is focusing on Paul’s reminders of who we are in Christ, so let’s get into it.
The Word:
Ephesians 1:1-23 states this, “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus. 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Okay so I want you to notice the phrase “in Christ Jesus” because this phrase or its equivalent, phrases like “in Christ” or “in him” are used over 216 times in the Bible. They’re used over 216 times, Paul uses it at least 80 times in his writings, and he uses it over 30 times in the entire book of Ephesians. Why is that important? It’s important because where ever you see the phrase “in Christ” or its equivalent, it’s an identity indicator as to who you are “in Christ,” and the fact that it’s mentioned over 216 times in the bible tells us that knowing who we are in Christ is important to God. It’s as if God’s saying to us over and over again, 216 times, “This is who you are! This is who you are! This is who you are not in society, but in Christ!” Knowing who you are in Christ is important to God, and we’re gonna study not all 30 plus “in Christ” phrases in Ephesians, just the one’s Paul seems to stress the most based on the chapter we’re preaching on, and here comes the first, it’s found in vs. 3.
Vs. 3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ...” God’s blessed us, in Christ. This is a major theme in ch. 1, it’s that we’re blessed, in Christ. We’re blessed, in Christ, meaning when you have a relationship with Jesus blessings become a part of your identity. Blessings become a part of your identity, and so the word “blessed” should fill in the blank on your “I am ___” statement. When you have a relationship with Jesus the blank on your “I am ___” statement should read “I am blessed”...I am blessed... It’s because we’re blessed, in Christ. Blessings are a part of your identity, in Christ. I am blessed.
Again vs. 3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing...” Notice Paul doesn’t say we’re blessed because of “material blessings,” he says we’re blessed because of “spiritual blessings.” He says we’re blessed because of spiritual blessings, which is very interesting to me. It’s interesting because it’s such a different criteria than what we use to determine if someone’s blessed. See our society’s taught us to determine if someone’s blessed by the criteria of material blessings, not spiritual blessings. Our society’s taught us to compare our material blessings, our material possessions with others, and whoever has the most/better material possessions is considered the most blessed. It’s why our heads turn for the Maserati and not the Prius. If material possessions didn’t matter to us we wouldn’t turn our heads for either, but we’ll turn our heads giving greater worth and attention to the person in the Maserati than the person in the Prius because society’s taught us to compare our material possessions. It’s also why you’ll hear people who witness poverty issues overseas or on mission trips come back saying things like “We’re so blessed compared to them.” It’s because society’s taught us to compare our material possessions and if someone has less we automatically assume we’re the ones who are more blessed. This comparison mindset is so deeply rooted in our identity that we’re constantly comparing material possessions with others. We’ll compare things like our cars, houses, jobs, vacations, even our very own lives and based on who we’re comparing ourselves to, will determine how blessed we feel. If you compare yourself with someone who has more you won’t feel blessed, but if you compare yourself with someone who has less you’ll feel blessed. It all depends on who you’re comparing yourself to.
Now here’s the problem with this, here’s the problem with following societies criteria for what it means to be blessed. It’s that it leads to bipolar blessings. When we do this, when we follow societies criteria, when you compare and root your identity in material possessions you’ll experience bipolar blessings where one day you’ll feel blessed and the next day you won’t. One day the cup will feel half empty, the next day it’ll feel half full. It all depends on who you’re comparing yourself to. Our societies criteria will lead to bipolar blessings, and what Paul’s saying in vs. 3 offers us a much better way of life than that. What Paul’s saying is completely different than what our society’s taught us. What he’s saying is we’re blessed not because of material blessings, but because of spiritual blessings. He never once mentions material blessings, and yet he still says we’re blessed. It’s because his criteria for what it means to be blessed is different than our society’s criteria. His criteria’s based on something much bigger and better than any material blessing, and he’s about to tell us what that bigger and better something is.
Again vs. 3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself...” There it is, there’s the bigger and better something, there’s the spiritual blessing Paul’s talking about. He’s talking about our adoption to God the Father, our adoption into God the Father’s family through Jesus. He’s saying The Father’s chosen to adopt us as His very own children. Paul uses the word “predestined” which freaks people out, but it just means God’s the one who does the saving not us. Since before the world was even created God had a plan to save us from sin, suffering, and eternal hell, and that plan was for Jesus to come live, die, and rise again for the forgiveness of our sins. The Father’s plan has always been to adopt us as His children through Jesus, and for Paul there’s no greater blessing than this, there’s no greater blessing than The Father adopting us as His children. It’s because when The Father adopts us as His children, it means we have access to both His material and spiritual blessings, we have access to His temporal and eternal blessings. In fact Paul’s audience would’ve understood the term “adoption” according to Roman law, and in Roman law if someone was adopted into a family they were given the same equal rights to the family’s inheritance as the biological children even if they were a slave. If they were a slave but later adopted into the family, they would’ve been given the equal rights to the family’s inheritance as the biological children. So when Paul says we’re adopted he’s saying we’ve been given the equal rights to The Father’s inheritance as His very own son Jesus. We’ve been adopted into The Father’s family which means we have access to both His material and spiritual blessings, His temporal and eternal blessings, more importantly we have access to The Father Himself. We have full access to The Father Himself, and that’s the bigger deal for Paul. It’s that we have full access to a loving relationship with The Father. The greater blessing isn’t about the possessions we get from The Father, it’s about being in the presence of The Father...The greater blessing isn’t about the possessions we get from The Father, it’s about being in the presence of The Father...
Let me put it like this. A few weeks ago we celebrated Christmas, and on Christmas day people received gifts. But what if instead of receiving gifts, you had to choose between receiving gifts from those you love, or being in the presence of those you love, meaning if you choose the gifts, you’ll never get to see those you love again. Which would you choose?..Would you choose the gifts, or would you choose the presence of those you love?..You’d choose their presence... You’d choose the presence of those you love over the gifts any day, which tells you our society’s criteria for determining if someone’s blessed is false. It’s false because if being blessed is about material possessions we’d chose the gifts over the presence of those we love. But we wouldn’t choose the gifts because we know the material blessing isn’t the greater blessing it’s their presence. We’d much rather enjoy their presence than any material possession the world could offer us. So Paul rightfully points us not to the material blessings we can get from The Father, he points us to the greater blessing which is the presence of The Father through our adoption. But what do we do? We do what our society’s taught us to do, we go for the material blessings over the presence of The Father. We’d much rather have what The Father can give us, over The Father Himself. Deep down inside all of us have a little prosperity gospel in our hearts where we act like The Father owes us something, owes us some blessings, and whenever we don’t get what we want... we get all frustrated, depressed, angry, even shake our fists at The Father. Some of you might even be shaking your fist at The Father today for not giving you what you want, and it’s a sign of your own immaturity. It’s a sign that you’re not as mature of a Christian as you think you are, and neither am I. I mean even as a pastor I still get all angry and pout whenever The Father doesn’t give me what I want. It’s a sign of my own immaturity because the truth is The Father doesn’t owe me anything and even if I had nothing I’d still having everything in Him...Even if I had nothing, I’d still have everything in Him, I’d still have the greatest blessing which is His very own presence. We’re not blessed because of all the material blessings The Father can give us, we’re blessed because of the presence of The Father. We’re blessed because He was gracious enough to adopt us as His very own sons and daughters, and it’s for that reason, that we can always say “I am blessed”...I am blessed...Your cup will never be half empty, it’ll always be at least half full, when you’re an adopted child of The Father.
Again vs. 5 states, “He predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.” Again Paul says The Father has a plan, it’s a plan to unite things “in heaven” and “on earth” through Jesus, meaning the Father’s plan includes both our adoption and the future unity of heaven and earth. It’s why our cups will never be half empty, they’ll always be at least half full and yet to be overflowing. It’s because “in the fullness of time,” meaning when Jesus finally returns, he’ll unite heaven and earth overflowing our cups with God’s presence and blessings. When Jesus came he started the process of filling our cups, but until He returns we’re still gonna face some struggles, wrestle with the whole material blessing comparison stuff, and sometimes feel like our cups are half empty. But we need to remember our cups aren’t half empty, they’re half full and yet to be overflowing. We need to remember our cups will overflow when Jesus returns and The Father’s plan is completed. Paul tells us in vs. 13 this promise is “sealed,” he tells us to praise God for it in vs. 14, and he wraps up ch. 1 praying for us to grow in our knowledge of God and His blessings. He prays for us to be confident in the power of God to make it all happen. He prays for us to remember that Jesus rose from the dead which is our proof...that The Father’s plan is happening, will happen, and in the fullness of time our cups will be overflowing. They’ll be overflowing with the presence and blessings of The Father.
The Big Idea:
Let’s get to the big idea. Here’s the big idea. I am blessed...I am blessed...The cup in your life isn’t half empty, it’s half full and yet to be overflowing...I am blessed...So who are you?.. Who are you?..How would you fill in your “I am __” statement?..Ever since you were born society’s filled in that blank space for you, and I don’t know who shaped or is shaping your identity even now, but what I do know is when you’re an adopted child of The Father part of your identity entails the word “blessed”...When you’re an adopted child of The Father, when you believe in The Father’s plan to adopt us as His very own children through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection your identity will always entail the word “blessed.” Even when your cup is feeling half empty, it’ll still entail the word “blessed” because your cup will always be half full and yet to be overflowing as an adopted child of the Father. The alternative to rooting your identity in that spiritual blessing, is to root it in our society’s material blessings which isn’t a blessing it’s a curse. It’s a curse especially for those who aren’t adopted children of The Father because their material possessions will one day be completely emptied when they die. For those who aren’t adopted children of the Father their cup’s half empty, is being emptied, and will one day be completely emptied when they die. Our society’s criteria for what it means to be blessed is a curse. It’s a curse even for those who are already adopted children of The Father, because it causes us to compare our material blessings with others. It causes us to live biopolar lives, with bipolar blessings. It causes us to crave the blessings of The Father more than The Father Himself.
Look so much of our identity, insecurities, and inflated egos are rooted in this comparison mindset our societies taught us, and the effects of this comparison mindset is being felt even beyond our material things. I mean think about how much happier you’d be, how much more blessed you’d feel if you never compared yourself to anyone again...Imagine how you’d feel if you never compared your body with anyone else’s body again...Imagine how you’d feel if you never compared your looks with anyone else’s looks again...Imagine how you’d feel if you never compared your marriage with anyone else’s marriage, your singleness with anyone else’s relationship, your infertility with anyone else’s fertility, your likeability with anyone else’s likeability, your ministry and church with anyone else’s ministry and church. Your life would be so much happier, more content, and feel more blessed if you never compared yourself with any of those things or anyone else ever again. You’d be completely set free from your insecurity, inflated ego, and feelings of having to live up to or run from your identity. Your life would be so much more content if you never compared yourself with anyone else ever again, and this is the life The Father wants for us. So let’s reject our society’s comparison mindset, remind ourselves we’re already blessed in Christ, and thank The Father for whatever blessings He’s given us. More importantly, let’s thank The Father for the even greater blessing, which is the blessing of Himself. Let’s take a few minutes to do that, to thank God for the blessings He’s given us, especially the blessing of Himself. Then as His adopted sons and daughters, we’ll worship Him for allowing our cups to be half full, yet to be overflowing with His presence and blessings, and for allowing us to have identities where we can always say “I am blessed.” Let’s pray.