Praising God

January 06, 2019
Pastor Clint Ziemer

Audio of the sermon preached on January 6, 2018, at Cable Community Church, Sherrard, IL.

Episode Notes

Praising God




Eph. 1:3-6


Did you hear about the woman in Iceland who spent half the night trying to find herself—literally?  Her tour bus had stopped in the volcanic Eldgja region of Iceland, and she went into a rest area to change her dress and freshen up. The tour guide counted the people on the bus, realized that one was missing, and a search was begun for “an Asian woman, about 5 foot 3inches tall, in dark clothing, speaking English well.” 


The woman joined about 50 people of the search party, until finally, at 3 a.m., she realized that she was the woman everyone was searching for!  She did not recognize herself in the description.


Today we will be looking at how God describes us. We might hardly recognize his description. It begins in the very first verse of Ephesians, when he calls us “saints.” We are saints, not because we are especially good, but because God has set us apart as his special people.


The text today is found in Eph. 1:3-6  There we will learn things about ourselves as we focus on God and discover…


Our Praise (v. 3)  

Our Position (vv. 4 & 6)       and 

Our Purpose (v. 5)  

  1. Body
    1. Praise. (v. 1)
      1. The entire first chapter of Ephesians is called a doxology because it recites what God has done and is an expression of worship to honor him.
      2. But, which God is being praised here?
        1. Paul begins by calling Him “God”, “theos”, the supreme divinity with divine authority. One of the first reasons to give Him praise is the fact that God is indeed THE God and not just a god.  Other religions may claim to praise God, but if you look closely, NO OTHER religion would praise God in this way.
          1. Look at the words used here:
          2. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…”
            1. No other religions proclaim Jesus as both Lord (Master or King) and Christ (promised one of God, Messiah.)
            2. No other religion worships the supreme divinity as the Father of Jesus.
        2. It is THIS God who created, blessed, chose, adopted, loved, and planned for you. Think about it; the God of the universe knows and loves you.
        3. Stuart Hamblen wrote these words; “how big is God? How big and wide His vast domain. To try to tell, these lips can only start. He big enough to rule this mighty universe, but small enough to live within my heart.” What a reason to give Him praise.
        4. In His sovereignty He knows the beginning from the end because He is the beginning and the end, the first and the last, the Alpha and Omega. He is the same yesterday today and forever.
        5. He is the pillar of fire in Exodus and the fourth person in the fire in Daniel. He is the cloud which leads the Hebrews towards their promised home and He comes in clouds of Glory in Revelation to lead all His to their promised home. He gives the Law in the Old Testament and fulfills the Law in the New Testament. He is both the Lion of Judah and the Lamb of Glory. And He knows you by name.
        6. What a reason to praise Him. He is sovereign God.
      3. Who He is would be reason enough, but then consider what He has done.


    1. Position  (vv. 4 & 6)
      1. We should praise God because He has chosen and accepted us.
      2. Do you know how long you’ve been on God’s mind? Listen to verse 4: “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world.” That’s a long time! God has had you in his plans since before creation! 
        1. And think about the word “chose.” It reminds me of middle school PE class, when the coach picks two team captains for dodgeball, and they start choosing people for each team. Am I the only one here that was ever chosen LAST?  
        2. Yet, in God’s plan, he chose you FIRST! Verse 4 says he chose you “to be holy and blameless in his sight.” God is holy and blameless, and he chose us to be like Him. He chose us to be in relationship with him.
      3. Another word that’s used here to talk about God choosing us is “adoption.” Verse 5 says, “In love he predestined us to adoption as sons...” Ladies, don’t be offended by the word “sons.” It includes the idea of “daughters” as well. The phrase, “adoption as sons,” was a legal term in the Roman Empire. If you chose to “adopt as sons,” you made your adopted child your legal heir in all senses of the word. In the eyes of the government, it was as if the adopted child had always been your biological child.
      4. Paul writes about this in his letter to the Romans. He says, in Romans 8:15, For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”  Now understand, Abba is not the name of a rock band, here; it is the Aramaic word for "daddy." We don’t live in fear as God’s slaves. We live in joy as God’s children. He has adopted us into his family, and in a way as if we were always in his family: adoption to sonship.
      5. I heard a story about a child who was bummed to learn that he had been adopted. His father called him aside, apart from the other kids, and said, “Son, do you really know what adoption means? It means we didn’t just have you; we chose you!” Adoption is another word signifying that God chose us to be in his family.
    2. Purpose. (v. 5)
      1. Finally today, on the list of things for which to praise God, is that He has a purpose - He’s intentional in all of His actions for us.  This is what’s behind the meaning in that word:  Predestined
      2. Let’s try first of all to clear up some possible confusion.  Some denominations have translated that word to mean that God has already chosen the ones who are going to heaven, so there’s nothing to be done. You are either going to heaven or you are not.
      3. Predestined, to me, is more about God’s plans and purpose.  It means that God knew His plans long before you and I ever cast a shadow on this planet.  After the fall of Adam and Eve, God put His plan into action to redeem His lost world.  Genesis 3:15 contains a foreshadowing of what God intended to do by sending His only Son, born of a woman, when God says to the serpent, “I will put enmity Between you and the woman,  And between your seed and her Seed;  He shall bruise your head,  And you shall bruise His heel”.  This is a prophecy, a foreshadowing, of what God was going to do through Jesus.
      4. Galatians 4:4-5 says more about this when it says: “But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we may receive the full rights of sons.”
      5. When did God come up with this plan? A long time ago. Revelation 13:8 describes Jesus as “the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.”
      6. God knew from the very beginning of creation all who would be in his family. Does that mean we don’t have a choice? Does God force us into his family? No.You see, the Bible teaches a holy tension between God’s choosing us (God always takes the initiative) and our responding freely to God. Even though God knows in advance who are His, we are still held accountable for our choosing or rejecting Him. We choose him, even though he first chose us. Both statements are true. We may not fully understand how this works out, but that doesn’t make them any less true. Just know that God chose you. That’s a good thing. That’s something worth praising Him about!
  1. Conclusion
    1. In the 1800s there was a woman named Hetty Green, and she is famous for being the richest woman of that period. She was worth 4.5 billion dollars. She was a great investor, and always wore a black dress that she would replace only  when it would wear out. This earned her the nickname, “The Witch of Wall Street.” 
      1. But Hetty Green isn’t just famous for being rich, she is famous for being incredible cheap and stingy. Although she was rich, she never washed her hands because that would use soap and water, which cost money. She ate cold oatmeal, and drank cold coffee, because it cost money to heat them. She kept her work in briefcases and suitcases so she wouldn’t have to rent an office that was even in a building that she owned. 
      2. She once spent all night looking for a lost stamp, and sadly, when her son broke his leg, didn’t take him to the doctor. When she did, it was at the free clinic, and she wasn’t served because she was so rich, and he eventually lost his leg due to a lack of treatment. Point being, she had it all. She had more than enough, but literally, was not willing to spend even a penny!
    2. Paul says in our text today that this is not like God at all. God has it all and He gives it all. He says, “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”. Remember this, Paul says that you are blessed in Christ with every spiritual blessing.
    3. You are blessed because God loves you; because God has adopted you into his family; and because God has purposed to make you like Him so that you and he might life for eternity in a loving relationship.
    4. OSWALD CHAMBERS  wrote these words that all of us ought to keep in mind:  “I have chosen you.”  Keep that note of greatness in your creed.  It is not that you have got God, but that he has got you.  Why is God at work in me, bending, breaking, moulding, doing just as he chooses?  For one purpose only—that he may be able to say, “This is my man, my woman.”
    5. This… this is the reason we ought to praise God!

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