Ephesians 1:3-14
Based on an idea by Mark Moore
Phishing
While you’re browsing the internet, a message might pop up telling you that you’ve won something — a phone, say, or an iPad, or something else. They simply put together a message or a website that “claims” to have your best interests at heart. They tell you: “Congratulations! You’ve won this or that… We’ll send it to you as quickly as possible. But in order to receive it, you have to enter your name, your identity number, and so on.” And so, without even realizing it, you can hand the thieves your very identity, and they can use it to pass themselves off as you or to do things in your name that you never even suspected. This kind of identity theft is called, in technical language, “phishing” (from “fishing”), because the electronic messages that get sent out are like “bait.” The scammers are hoping that some of the recipients will “bite” on their hooks and reply to them out of inexperience and ignorance.
Phishing is a technique widely used by computer criminals to obtain important information. “All you have to do to receive it is fill in your name, your date of birth and your identity number, and we’ll send you this wonderful gift.” This is how cyber criminals invite you to enter important personal information. The email usually asks you to send it back in reply or to enter it on a website that the message links to. That data — usernames, passwords, and credit card numbers, for example — is then used by the scammers to get money or services in the victim’s name. That is why it is a good idea for children not to have access to their parents’ credit cards, so they don’t enter the card details somewhere in order to get “something,” only for it to turn out later that someone else used your credit card for things you never even suspected.
Identity theft is perhaps one of the most serious kinds of theft. Because if they take something else from you, you might be able to manage without it. But the identity we have is one of a kind. If someone takes it from us, he takes everything we have.
Our Spiritual Identity in Christ
Whether we realize it or not, we have all been the target of attacks from Satan when it comes to our identity in Christ. The first thing we need to know about our spiritual identity is that our spiritual identity is in Christ. We have been blessed “in Christ” (v.3), chosen “in him” (v.4), predestined to be adopted by God “through Christ” (v.5), lavished with God’s grace “in the One he loves” (v.6). “In him” (v.7) we have redemption, forgiveness, wisdom, and revelation — everything we have in a spiritual sense is in Christ.
Let us read our text from Ephesians 1:3-14. And as we read, pay attention to phrases like “in Christ,” “in him,” “through Jesus Christ,” “in the One he loves,” “in whom.”
3 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. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, 9 he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. 11 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, 12 in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13 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, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:3-14)
The first important thing we need to know about our spiritual identity is that it is in Christ.
Our Identity — Received, Not Earned
The second important thing about our identity in Christ is that it is not won or achieved by our actions or efforts. It has been given to us (1 Corinthians 1:30).
30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. (1 Corinthians 1:30)
Our identity has been received, not earned. This applies not only to our spiritual identity in God, but also to our own sense of ourselves — our idea of who we are and what we are like, what we think of ourselves, how we see ourselves. That, too, was not earned but received. Sometimes we think that we are what we are because of our accomplishments or our merits. For example: “I have a company, I make a lot of money, so I’m a good businessman.” Or: “I score a lot of goals, so I’m a good footballer.” In most cases, though, it is exactly the opposite — our identity is not the result of our accomplishments; our accomplishments are the result of our identity. Our idea of who we are produces the accomplishments we have in life.
Our identity is the answer to the question “Who am I? What am I?” Each of us has a mental “audio recording” playing in his head, telling him who he is. That mental recording began to be recorded from our earliest childhood. It contains words that were spoken to us — whether by our parents, teachers, friends, or coaches — people who in one way or another had an influence in our lives. They defined us in some way, and we accepted that we are the person they made us into.
Sometimes these voices are positive, other times they are negative. For example, a father might be tossing a ball with his son. But the son isn’t paying attention, he’s a little distracted, and each time he drops the ball. Then the father gets angry, and in a moment of rage he says to his son: “Son, why can you never catch that ball?” But what the boy hears is: “Son, you’re no good at sports, and you’ll never be a good athlete, and you won’t be able to win my love.” Those words start playing in his head over and over… And he decides that he will never be an athlete and will never be loved. Surely you have words like these in your heads too, don’t you? For example, a mother in a moment of weakness might say to her daughter: “Daughter, at your age I was thinner than you.” Or a teacher who comes to you at the end of the term and says: “Why can’t you pay attention in your lessons like the other children?” But what you hear is: “You’re stupid. You’ll never be a good student at school.” We hear these messages, and they keep playing in our heads. And we reach a point where they become so familiar that we no longer even hear the voices, yet under their influence we have built up an idea of who and what we are — we have built ourselves a soul-identity. But it is not something we achieved or did; it is something we received.
Or these messages we’re talking about could be positive. For example, a father who is a good businessman and who says to his son: “Son, I know how to make money. And I’ve put you in a position where you too could make money and be a good businessman. And if you don’t do it, then something is wrong with you.” This lodges in the boy’s mind, and he begins to agree: “Yes, my father knows how to make money, I know how to make money, I know how to do it.” And so he becomes an entrepreneur, starts a business, and is successful in everything he does — except in being a good father to his children, because he pours all his effort and energy into his work. Such a man is drawn away from his identity in Christ.
Or a mother who delights in her little daughter and says to her: “My dear, you’re so beautiful! Everyone who sees you will love you.” And in that girl’s mind the thought takes hold: “I will be loved because of my physical beauty.” And so, all her life, she is drawn away from her true identity in Christ by the enormous effort she puts into maintaining her physical beauty.
The problem is that, whether through positive or negative messages, Satan does everything he can to make us accept the identities he has in mind for us and forget our identity in Christ. The negative messages playing in our heads become barriers that keep us from reaching our spiritual potential in Christ, and the positive messages become detours that separate us from our identity and our potential in Christ.
But in Christ we have a different identity from the one people have created for us. This identity is divine, because it is given to us by God. If we have believed in Christ, we are new creations in Jesus Christ and we have a new identity that God has given us — a new spiritual “ID card.” The problem is that Satan wants to steal our identity and give us a false one — the kind he has in mind for us — so that we will do what he wants. The only way to resist him is to know our own identity in Christ very well, so that we do not allow ourselves to be robbed and wronged.
How can we tell whether our identity in Christ has been stolen, or, in computer jargon, “hacked”? Put on the Letter to the Ephesians as a recording, or read it, and listen to what God says about us. What does God say about you in this letter? And if at some point God’s description of you begins to contradict the idea you have of yourself, then you have been “hacked,” or your identity has been stolen. For example, God tells you: “You are loved.” And you say: “I’m not loved. My wife doesn’t love me. I’m not sure my children love me, and my boss certainly doesn’t love me.” God says that you are loved, and you say you are not. Then you have been “hacked.” If God tells us “You are worthy,” but you say: “Me? Worthy?! I’m not worthy. I’m just me,” then you have been “hacked.” God tells you: “In Christ I have created you for good works, which I prepared in advance for you to do.” But you say: “I don’t contribute anything to anyone, I don’t feel valued.” Then you have been “hacked” — your spiritual identity in Christ has been taken from you. If you hear: “You are gifted,” and it sounds unbelievable to us — “Me? Gifted?!” — then your identity has been taken from you. If you hear: “You are a blessed and loved member of God’s family,” and it sounds far-fetched to us, then your spiritual identity has been “hacked.” Or if you hear: “You’re a hopeless case, a person with no luck,” and it sounds true to you, and you think of yourself as luckless, then your identity in Christ has been shattered. Because nowhere in his Word does God tell us that we are “luckless” or people without luck, does he? In other words, whenever God says something about you and you shake your head and say: “I don’t know… I’m not sure that’s really about me,” then your spiritual identity has been stolen and you have been hacked.
Our spiritual identity is often stolen. I confess that this happens to me as well. At times I wonder: “Who am I? What am I?” — am I really what God says, or am I something else? Because I am under attack from Satan. We have to admit that we allow ourselves to be attacked. And that is normal, because we are in a spiritual war. But if our spiritual identity has been stolen, then it is time to get it back. How? The Letter to the Ephesians contains a recording of our spiritual identity — who and what we are in Christ — what God’s original vision for our lives is. So if we have lost our identity in Christ, if it has been stolen from us, then this letter — the Letter to the Ephesians — can help us restore it. If we accept its words, a new “audio recording” will begin to play in our heads — a recording that contains not the words of Satan, not the words of people, but the words of God. A recording that tells us who and what we really are. Because what God says is the truth.
So what we want to do is play God’s recording loudly and let it sink into our hearts and push out the negative messages playing in our heads.
Verse 3 says that God has blessed us in Jesus Christ with every spiritual blessing, and that this blessing is “in the heavenly realms.” First it says: “Praise be to God…” God himself is blessed. And because he is blessed, he can bless. And because he is blessed and can bless, he has blessed us with every spiritual blessing. But it says that this blessing is “in the heavenly realms.” In order to grasp our identity and blessing in Christ, we need to gain the right perspective, the right vantage point on who we are, what we are, and how things stand in this world. That perspective is called “the heavenly realms.” Already in verse 3 the apostle Paul launches us up there, into “the heavenly realms.” “The heavenly realms” are the sphere in which the risen Christ sits at the right hand of God the Father (Ephesians 1:20); it is the sphere where we too are seated together with him (Ephesians 2:6). This is hard to believe, but I believe it, because God has said it. Those same “heavenly realms” are also the place where we wage our spiritual war (Ephesians 3:10; 6:12).
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:12)
Tuning our minds to this wavelength is not easy. It is hard to reach “the heavenly realms.” The hurried life we lead gets in the way — we have to think about family, work, finances, school, problems, and many other things. But if we want to restore our identity in Christ, we must, at least for a moment, shake off everything that distracts us and fix our focus on God’s Word.
I Am Chosen (vv.4-6)
There are three things in our text that I would like every one of us to be able to say about himself with confidence, to be able to say by faith about himself. First, everyone who accepts God’s identity in Christ for himself ought to be able to say: “I am chosen.” Perhaps you remember what you felt when you had to be chosen for something. For example, when we were children and played football, the two team captains usually had to pick who would be on one team and who would be on the other. And you wonder: “Will they pick me for this team, or won’t they?” Or later, when we had to be admitted to a certain school, we asked ourselves: “Will they accept me or not?” Or when you come of age to marry, you wonder whether someone will choose you for a husband or a wife or not. Then, for a job: “Will they choose me for the position I want or not?” There is something primal in us that longs to be chosen. We all need to be chosen, to feel wanted and worthy. And I believe that God wants every one of us to be able to say about himself with confidence: “I am chosen.” In his Word God tells us that he has chosen us, and he did it before we were born and even before the creation of the world. I find this hard to grasp. But look at what verse 4 says:
4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. (Ephesians 1:4)
God did not simply choose us. He created us in order to be chosen. Before we had done anything at all, before we had shown ourselves to be this or that, before we sinned, God said to us: “I want you to be a player on my team.” Therefore God’s choice does not depend on our successes or failures, on our good deeds or our sins, because he chose us before we achieved anything good or failed at anything. It depends on the value God sees in us as his creatures.
We are chosen. And we are not only chosen — we are adopted by God. God does not only want us to be on his team. He wants us to be in his family.
5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— (Ephesians 1:5)
The fact that God “predestined” us means that he saw us in the future and chose us in advance. But this foreseeing is not like a weather forecast, which is uncertain — a forecast made on the basis of accumulated experience. This is foreknowledge in which God not only can predict with precision what will happen, because he sees into the future. He also sets the circumstances in motion in such a way that what he has foreseen can come to pass and we can have life in him.
When a child is adopted, the adoptive family opens its home to an outsider and gives him all the blessings of the family. What is more, if the child is from another country, when he is adopted he also acquires the citizenship of his adoptive parents and all the privileges that follow from that citizenship. When we are adopted by God, we become citizens of the heavenly kingdom.
God reveals his plan to us gradually. At first, from Abraham to John the Baptist, he works solely and exclusively with his chosen people — the Jews. But after Christ, not only the Jews but also the Gentiles are included in this plan of God. God grafts us into his olive tree and makes us part of his family. He adopts us.
When we hear that we have been chosen by God, perhaps one of us would say: “I suppose he may have wanted me at a certain point in my life. I mean, when I was six, I was cute. But now I’m not so cute. I have a long history behind me, full of addictions, abuse, violence, divorce, lies, deceptions, thefts…” The list can be long for many of us. And you think that because of your past, you cannot have a future with God. But this is the same mistaken assumption we already talked about — that our identity is earned, not received. If God chose you before you had done anything at all — good or evil — then God will make it so that even after you have done many bad things, you can still come to him.
I Am Gifted (vv.6-13)
The second thing every one of us ought to be able to say with confidence is: “I am gifted.” We are not only chosen, predestined, and adopted. We are gifted. And when we speak about being gifted, someone perhaps thinks: “I am gifted because of the lessons I took, because I can play a certain instrument, or because of the courses I took. I’m gifted at working with certain materials or tools.” Or perhaps you think: “I’m an athlete, because I’m better than everyone else.” Or: “I’m gifted — if only you could hear how I sing and what a voice I have. I’m musically gifted.” But all these examples are based on our own personal accomplishments. In Christ we are gifted not because we have achieved something in life, but because we have received something. We are recipients of the gift of God’s grace. That is why we are gifted. The two great gifts we have received, which the apostle Paul speaks about in verses 6-13, are redemption and revelation. Verse 7 says: “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.” The word “redemption” is a great word, but it comes from the slave market in Ephesus and simply means that we have been bought. We were under the slavery of Satan, of sin, of death. But a price was paid for us and we were set free from them, and we are no longer slaves to those evil masters. “Redemption” is the purchase price of a human being. In some way, through his sacrifice, Jesus paid for us in order to redeem us and set us free from our former masters. Blood he paid as the price for our sin; death he paid as the price for our life. Jesus died on the cross, and through his sacrifice we have forgiveness and pardon for all our sins. Therefore, when God looks at us, he does not see sin in us; he sees his Son, who sacrificed himself for us, and in this way he sees us as justified.
6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, 9 he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, (Ephesians 1:6-9)
Because we are redeemed, God has also given us revelation — “he made known to us the mystery of his will.” How could I tell whether a certain person is a good friend to me? By the degree to which he trusts me — how ready he is to reveal his secrets to me. If someone says he is a great friend of mine, yet I know nothing about him, he is hardly a true friend. But of a person about whom I know everything, I can boldly say that he is my friend, because he trusted me enough to open himself up to me. You don’t reveal your secrets to just anyone, do you? But God has shared his secret with us. The apostle Paul loves the word “mystery.” In verse 9 he tells us that God has revealed to us “the mystery of his will.” For us Christians God has pulled back the curtain and revealed his secrets to us. And it is no small secret. It is the mystery of the universe. What is the “mystery” that God has revealed to us? That at the appointed time, God gathers together in Christ all things — both vertically, what is heavenly with what is earthly, and horizontally, Jews and Gentiles (vv.10-13).
10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. 11 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, 12 in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:10-12)
In verses 11 and 12, when the apostle Paul uses the first person plural — “we” — he is speaking of the Jews, since he himself is a Jew. By his will God chose Abraham and the patriarchs to become the ancestors of God’s chosen people. The Jews were the ones who awaited the Messiah and hoped in him even before the coming of Jesus of Nazareth.
13 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, (Ephesians 1:13)
In verse 13 the apostle Paul is now speaking not of the Jews but of the Gentiles, and that is why he uses the second person plural — “you” — because he himself is not a Gentile. In Jesus Christ, both the heavenly and the earthly, both Jews and Gentiles, we all gather together into one. This is God’s mystery, which he has revealed to us. And because he has given us the gift of redemption, because he has given us the gift of revelation, we can say with gratitude that we are gifted.
I Am Secure (v.14)
If you can say with confidence, together with God, “I am chosen” and “I am gifted,” then you ought to be able to say also: “I am secure.” Many Christians say: “I hope I’ll go to heaven.” What? You “hope” you’ll go to heaven? “I hope I’ll be good enough for God.” What? This is not about what you do. Your spiritual identity is not based on your accomplishments. It is based on what you receive in Jesus Christ. And if you have received redemption and revelation, then you are secure, and you should be one hundred percent certain that you will receive your inheritance. Because as children of God we are also his heirs. We have been promised an inheritance. I have an inheritance. In this world I may have no inheritance, but in God I have an inheritance.
13 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, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:13-14)
Notice here the words “deposit” and “inheritance.” Because what we inherit is the same thing Jesus inherits. We are co-heirs with Christ. So someone might ask the question: “What do we inherit?” The answer to that question is that we inherit everything Jesus inherits. What does he have? The Milky Way? Yes! It’s yours. Streets of gold? Yes. They’re yours. Eternal life? Of course. It’s yours. Everything Jesus will inherit at the end of the age is also yours, to share with him throughout eternity. This is good news. But someone might be skeptical and say: “Oh really? Is that so? If it really is so, I’ll need a guarantee of it.” The apostle Paul realizes that some Christians from the church in Ephesus, from his audience, might say the same thing. That is why he writes: “In fact, we have a deposit that guarantees our inheritance.” All right, what is this deposit? What, in fact, does “deposit” or “down payment” mean? A deposit means an advance payment for something, which, if you don’t buy the thing you gave it for, you lose it, and it stays with the seller. For example, you want to buy a house, and you go and see this house and say to the owner: “I want it.” But he tells you: “How can I be sure you’ll buy it? Thirty people have already come through here, and every one of them says he’ll buy it, but they all backed out. Give me proof of your firm intention to buy the house. Give me a deposit.” The deposit can be anywhere from ten to fifty percent of the deal. And if you back out, do you get your deposit back? No, you lose it. “Deposit” is the exact word the apostle Paul uses in verse 14. Only, he is not speaking about money given as a pledge, but about the Holy Spirit, who lives in you. If you have the Holy Spirit in you, you can be completely sure that you will receive the inheritance God has for you, and that this is a one hundred percent certain and guaranteed deal. Because through the Holy Spirit God has given us not just some pledge or deposit outside of himself. He has given you himself as the pledge, because the Holy Spirit is one of the persons of the Trinity. The Holy Spirit is God. In John 14:23 Jesus said:
23 Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. (John 14:23)
This “home” that the Father and the Son make in us is through the Holy Spirit. That is why we must be extremely careful with regard to the Holy Spirit. It is not by chance that in this same letter the apostle Paul urges us not to grieve the Holy Spirit of God, “with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30).
This is why we can be sure, through the presence of the Holy Spirit, that we will receive our eternal inheritance. He is “our insurance” — and an “insurance” that could never be lost, cancelled, or expired.
Identity and Deeds
Here is how to know whether we have been “hacked” and our spiritual identity has been stolen. If God tells you “I have chosen you!” but you say “I don’t know, I’m not sure that I’m really chosen!” then you have been “hacked.” If you cannot say: “I am gifted by God and I have been redeemed from sin,” then you have been “hacked.” If you cannot say: “My salvation is secure and I will be in heaven,” then you have been spiritually “hacked.”
Why is our identity, or our idea of who and what we are, so important? Because our identity determines our deeds, not the other way around. Our vision is to transform this world through the gospel. And in order to do that, we need every single believer in the church to work at the highest possible capacity for God’s kingdom by doing good works for God. Not in order to earn an identity in Christ, but because of the spiritual identity he already has in Christ. Your true identity is in Christ. Because that is exactly where Satan attacks us. He tells us: “You’re weak, you’re poor, you’re unworthy, you’re not loved, you’re a failure, you won’t even be saved.” And from that position, how could you go out and work for God and serve him? Instead, you must reject all these false identities that Satan wants to impose on you and say: I am chosen by God. I am gifted with redemption and revelation. I am sure that I will be in heaven. My work is already settled. From here on, God has left me on this earth only so that I can help others. From that position we can be effective. This is why we speak about our identity in Jesus Christ. We must know it. We must be Christians with self-assurance. Not a defeated church, crushed, not knowing what to do. No. We have a wonderful spiritual identity in Jesus Christ. And we are happy and confident because of it. When you grasp this and it sinks deep into you so as to silence all the other voices sounding in your head, then you will be able to live a life in which Christ not only lives in you but also lives and is displayed through you — he will do the works of the Father through you.
For this to happen, you can do the following simple thing. Take a small card and write on it, in beautiful letters, the word “chosen.” You can put this card on your refrigerator or your mirror. That way, every time you see it, it will remind you to say: “I am chosen, I am gifted, I am secure.”
What we have noticed is that we manage to hear God’s message better when we say it to someone else. So make not just one card, but two. Keep one for yourself, and give the other to someone else. You may have a son or daughter with whom you are at odds and not on speaking terms. Give them the card and say: “Son, I choose you. Whatever our disagreements, I choose you.” Or you could give it to your husband or your wife. Maybe you haven’t said anything kind to each other for weeks. But give them the card and say: “I know we’ve been through a hard time, but I want you to know that I have chosen you.” Or it could be a colleague of yours who isn’t doing well at work, and the others keep their distance, and they feel oppressed and depressed. Give them the card and say: “I choose you.” And when you see the change in their life because they know they are chosen, it will encourage you too to play the recording of God’s voice over your own life more often.