Shabbat Shalom everyone. Let's open our Bibles today to the book of Ephesians. We are studying in the Brit HaChadasha, in the New Covenant. And we began already, if you remember, we dealt with the introduction to this amazing epistle, amazing letter that Shaul Paul wrote to early believers, a letter to the Ephesians, El Ha'efsiim. I want to read today from verse 3 all the way to verse 14. And please follow me as we are reading this portion. And so we read, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world.

That we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He has made us accepted in the Beloved, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace, wherein He has abounded towards us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known unto us the mystery of His will according to his good pleasure, which he has purposed in himself, that in the dispensations of the fullness of time he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in him, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worked all things after the counsel of His own will, that we should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ in whom ye also trusted after that ye heard the word of truth.

The gospel of your salvation in whom also after that ye believed you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of his glory. I stop here in verse 14 in the reading of this first chapter, because there is a nice break here in the context of that first chapter. It's very encouraging to see, as we read these verses 3 to 14, that in this first chapter of this epistle, the Apostle Paul, of whom we already gave the introduction in a previous meeting together the apostle Paul now write to the believers at Ephesus and show them the riches that they have and you and I as well because of the finished work of Yeshua the Messiah and I mentioned in the introduction that many times you and I who are believers in our Lord Jesus the Messiah do not enjoy and not even realizing the spiritual wealth that we possess in the Mashiach in Christ and oftentimes we live our lives as believers in a sense as a poor.

Believers because we don't appreciate sufficiently what Yeshua the Messiah have done for us and so brothers and sisters in this first chapter the apostle Paul introduced before us all the three persons of the Godhead showing to us their involvement in this great work of salvation not only God the father not only God the son and not only God the holy Spirit Abba ben Ruach all the triune persons of the Godhead were involved in this great salvation that God provided for this world and so he's writing now after the introduction in verses one and two where he wished the grace the hen and the peace the shalom that will be upon those believers at Ephesus, then you notice that in verses 3 to 14, he presents before them the triune God and what God has done for the believers in Yeshua the Messiah.

First of all, he presents God the Father in verses 3 to 6. Then he presents God the Son in verses 7 to 12. And finally, in this. Context he presents God the Holy Spirit in verses 13 and 14 and I would like us to kind of follow please with me verse by verse as we continue in the study of Ephesians. Now you notice first of all in verse 3 he's writing to the brothers and sisters at Ephesus and he said blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ in Mashiach in Messiah now notice he's saying three things here immediately in verse three the first thing he does he shows us who is the one that is the source of all the blessings that believers possess that word for blessing really it's the praising it's not the same word in the Greek that we have in Matthew chapter 5 blessed are the meek blessed are the peacemakers it's a bit different word there it's something else it has to do with the word happy but here it has to do with the word praise he is scribing praise to God the father.

And he's saying, look, praise be unto God the Father, this is the Abba, of our Lord Jesus the Messiah. Remember, how many times Yeshua, when he was on earth, spoke about the Father? You know, to our Jewish people, when the Messiah spoke about the Father, immediately it was very difficult for our people to accept him. God, Jesus has a Father? And God is his own Father? In other words does God have a son well you remember in John 10 Yeshua says I and my father are one in other words God the son the Messiah has a father and here we find out that the source of the blessing that we received as believers is really God the father and God the father in verse three he had blessed us and notice he's the source of all the blessings that we have today in our Lord Jesus the Messiah notice that he's telling us a few things here in this verse he says blessed be the God and father of our Lord Yeshua Jesus the Messiah and notice that who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings now i'll pause here for a moment the word for all should be really changed to every not only a lump sum but every detail every spiritual blessing that you and i have today the source of all this blessing is none else but God the father and you notice he.

Says blessed be the God and father of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah who had blessed us with every now notice that he said spiritual blessings he doesn't talk here about material blessings though we have to admit the Lord had blessed us immensely with physical and material blessings here in this world but the blessings that God the father had provided for us are spiritual blessings now of course if a person is not a believer he or she do not have anything to do with those spiritual blessings it's only for believers the apostle Paul writing to the local assembly at Ephesus understanding that they are believers they have already accepted Yeshua the Messiah but a spiritual blessing and you know sometimes we wonder what is the meaning of the spiritual blessing that the Lord had provided for his own people these blessings are benefits that we have that connected with our salvation as we live our lives together in relationship with God in other words in order for us to enjoy a relationship with the living God.

The creator the sustainer the upholder of all things for us those spiritual blessings enable us to live our life with all the benefits that are connected with our relationship with the living God do you know only a believer can speak to a living God as his father and have those benefits and joys in our hearts that we can speak to a living God and we can share with him the burdens on our hearts and we can hear his word and live with him and for him here in this world and so he's saying to them that we have been blessed with every spiritual blessings now to Israel our people in addition to many spiritual blessings that Israel have received if you remember in Deuteronomy chapter 28 God said to Israel our people how he is going to bless the people of Israel if they will obey him but there it's not so much emphasizing the spiritual blessing but the material blessing in the land of Israel you remember what he said in Deuteronomy chapter.

28 it shall come to pass if you shall hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord your God and to observe all the commandment which i commended thee this day that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all the nations of the earth and these are all the blessings shall come upon thee and overtake thee blessed shall thou be in the city and blessed shall be in the field and blessed you shall have the fruit of your body and so on it is Deuteronomy chapter 28 verse 5 blessed shall be thy basket and thy store blessed thou shall be when you come in and blessed thou shall be when you goeth out in other words God is saying to Israel you will have physical literal blessings in the land if you will obey my voice but to the believers in the church age our blessings are not physical necessarily but spiritual blessings and notice it says at the end of verse three blessed be the God and father of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah who has blessed us.

With every spiritual blessing but where are those blessings it says in heavenly places this expression in heavenly places should be really said in the heavenlies it is a realm whereby we can live and enjoy a relationship with a living God while we are still here upon the face of this earth. You know, someone said that every one of us who is a believer, we live in two spheres. We live in the human sphere, we are here on earth, but we also live in the divine sphere, we can relate to a living God. Then we also read that every believer lives in invisible and indivisible. Divisible is what we see today with our eyes.

But we also live in the realm of the invisible, meaning that we know things. Because God's word teaches us that others do not comprehend and understand the invisible realm. Another point here in connection with the two spheres, that we also live in the sphere of the physical, here and now, but also in the realm and the sphere of the spiritual. In other words, you remember what we read in 1 Corinthians 2, the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, because there are foolishness unto him. But the spiritual man, the believer, He can understand them and appreciate them. And it is amazing what a privilege we have.

It is God, the Father, who is the source. And he had blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places. But notice, he doesn't stop here. He added the end of this verse, in Christ, in Mashiach, in Messiah, in Christos. What does that mean? That everything that we have we received it because of the person of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah it's not on our own we didn't gain it on our own we didn't earn it on our own but it's all linked with Yeshua the Messiah Jesus you know in Adam all died in Messiah all were made alive in Adam we inherited a sin nature in the Messiah we've inherited a new nature a divine nature a nature we are now born from above children of this father from heaven and you remember John once said he came unto his own and his own received him not and then he says But as many as received him, to them he gave the authority to be called the children of God, even to them that believed on his name.

John 1 verse 12. Which were born, not of the will of man, not of the will of the flesh, but they were born of God. Born from above. It's amazing, because really we are passing through here in this world, And all the trials that we experience here in this world are really temporarily because we are heading to the Father's house where we are going to be spending eternity with our blessed Lord, Yeshua, the Messiah. So everything we possess, brothers and sisters, in our spiritual relationship with God, it is because of the person of our Lord, Yeshua, Jesus, the Messiah. So precious for us to realize this in this verse 3 that we have before us.

So I want just to emphasize this expression in the heavenlies. You notice that a few times the book of Ephesians point to this expression in the heavenly, the word heavenly places, it should really be in the heavenlies. Not in heaven yet, but in the heavenly realm. Notice for example if you turn in chapter 1 look at verse 20 for a moment it says which he wrote in a Messiah when he raised him from the dead and set him at his own right head in the heavenly places or in the heavenlies notice chapter 2 and verse 6 and this is amazing it says he has raised us now together and he made us to sit together in heavenly places in the Messiah Yeshua now how is it possible that you and i positionally are seated in the heavenly places or in the heavenlies but practically we're here now in this world in this earth now it is only possible because we have to understand the distinction between the positional truth and the practical truth positionally when the Lord look at you and i he sees you and i as we are already seated next to Yeshua the Messiah in the heavenlies in heaven but practically we are here now as we are here today at the meeting sharing the word of God singing to him praising him while we are here.

Upon the face of this earth so you notice again and again he uses the word the heavenlies in this chapter in chapter 3 and verse 10 the apostle point again when he says here to the intent that now unto the principalities and power in heavenly places might be made known by the church the manifold wisdom of God we're going to get to these verses later on but i just wanted you to see that many times using the word the heavenlies in this book of Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 12 he also says for we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities against powers against the rulers of darkness of this world against spiritual wickedness in high places this is the same expression in a heavenly realm in heavenly places so he began by introducing to us the father he is the source of the blessing that you and i have he blessed us not with material blessing necessarily though he have but it is with spiritual blessing it is in the heavenly.

Is heavenly realm and it is linked with the person of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah wonderful truth to understand if you are believer today and we can be assured that we have received these blessings from the Lord in heavenly places and it is because of what Yeshua the Messiah have done for us now he's moving on and in verse 4 5 and 6 he adding some of the things that we have received from God the father notice he says here in verse 4 that the father has chosen us now you know how often time we think that we have chosen God now we have to quickly realize if we know our hearts well we will know very well that men by nature love darkness rather than light we have this actually in John chapter 3 and verse 19 men by nature we don't love God by nature had we loved God we would have come to him long time ago and even when we have already come to him we would have.

Lived a life that will be suitable for the presence of the Lord at all time but we know very well that all nature does not really want the will of God and we are struggling with it all the time and that's why we find out that God in his wisdom have chosen us now this is where a lot of people having a problem with the truth of election is oftentimes troubling a lot of people and I can understand that because in the body of Messiah today we have those two groups those who believe in what you call calvinistic teaching and those who believe in the armenians teaching the calvinistic teaching believe that there is total inability of men to come to God man is depraved by nature and those who believe in what you call armenianism they believe that there is a free will and there is a human ability to come to God on his own.

And that's where we have these two views today, and we are struggling with it to find a good balance because the Bible does teach us whosoever will. But the Bible clearly teaches us that we have been elected and chosen by God. And look at this verse 4, according, as he has chosen us, and notice that, brothers and sisters, he chosen us in him, in the Messiah, but he chosen us before the foundation of the world. Now, where were you before the foundation of the world? Some of us are 70, 80, 90? Where were you before 90 years ago? And since creation, we know it's at least around nearly 6,000 years since creation of Adam and the creation.

Where was Adam before the foundation of the world? Now, if the Bible says before the foundation of the world, don't you think that we should simply accept what the Bible says? Why do we have to be complicating everything? And this is our own problem. In theology, oftentimes, we just don't accept what the Bible is saying. And so it says here, he has, listen to that, according as he has chosen us in the Messiah, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. And so what God did in His wisdom, and you know, you and I were not there to give Him counsel.

We didn't tell Him whom to choose and whom not to choose, and who we do not know at all. We are simply one of those people that have been privileged to open our hearts and to accept Yeshua the Messiah, but to realize that God has elected the believer already before the foundation of the world. And you ask me, Brother Gideon, explain this to me. I can't. I can only tell you what I'm reading and you have to read it for yourself. You can maybe try to explain it otherwise but let me just give you an illustration that I thought it was very helpful. Sometime when we hear the message of the gospel and we see an unbeliever convicted they realize that they are sinners that they are not right with God and they need to settle matter with God before it is too late because if they will not settle matter with God they will have to be judged at the great white throne judgment so they are so convicted that they accept the message of the gospel and they say God I've accepted what you offered to me, Yeshua the Messiah, and I'm embracing him as my Lord and my Savior.

And they become believers, and they become part of a local assembly, a local church, local fellowship, and they begin to grow, and as they grow, they realize, you know what? It is really God who searched for me, who have elected me in eternity past, And in time, he sent the Spirit of God through a messenger to present to me the message of the gospel. And he quickened me. He walked in my heart. And he softened my heart. And I have embraced the Messiah. He convicted me and he drew me unto himself. And then we come to the Lord. And so while we look at this door and we see it, whosoever will, let him come.

And we came in, we became believers, but when we come in, we look at the same door, and at the top of it it says another sign, chosen from before the foundation of the world. And we realize that in the eternal plan of God he have elected whom he have elected nobody gave him counsel we were not there to tell him what to do neither can we tell him what to do today that's the way the Scripture presented and so what we find out that he have chosen us in the Messiah before the foundation of the world beloved brothers and sisters there was no creation here on earth there was nothing in existence when God the father and you might say the whole triune God have selected whom it knew that they will want to be part of this great redeemed company now you might say in somebody who is here maybe he's not a believer well if God haven't chosen me I will not come to know the Lord first of all you don't even know whether you have been chosen or not secondly you and I cannot say well I'm going to go and preach the gospel only to those people.

Whom I know that God has chosen you and I do not know whom God has chosen therefore we will preach the message of the gospel to every creature and let God do his work through the Spirit of God in the lives of individuals let me develop this a little bit turn with me to John chapter 15 and verse 16 Yeshua in the upper room speaking to his disciples and he said to them very clearly you have not chosen me but i have chosen you and the disciples might say well Lord I've chosen you I know I've been the one who've chosen the Lord said to them right to their faces you have not chosen me but I am the one that have chosen you and I've ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit and that your fruit should remain that's the first verse that i want you to see turn with me also to Colossians chapter 3 we read in verse 12 put on.

Therefore as the elect of God here's that word that i was looking the word chosen is not here but the word elect is here holy and beloved bowels of mercy and kindness humbleness of mind meekness and long-suffering notice he's telling them as elect of God the responsibility that these elect believers has that they ought to put on to live out this kind of godly character kindness humbleness meekness long-suffering which ought to characterize every person who have been elected by God to be part of the family of God one more verse I'm going to read turn with me to first Peter chapter 1 he's writing to early Jewish believers and he said to them in verses 1 and 2 Peter and apostle of Yeshua the Messiah to the strangers that are scattered throughout Pontius Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, and he said, elect or chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and the sprinkling of the blood of Yeshua the Messiah.

Notice all the three persons of the Godhead were involved in the. Election of those early Jewish believers that were scattered throughout all those areas such as Pontius, Galatia, and Cappadocia. So this is something that you'll have to consider. And I know that believers are not always agreeable with this, but I find these truths of election immensely affecting the fact that because I know, I'm speaking for my own self, that had God not chosen me and work in my life and my heart, I would not come to him at all. That's what I feel for myself, and I trust that the Lord will give you the wisdom to make a decision concerning this.

Now, one more verse in connection with this. Look what Jesus the Messiah had said in John chapter 6 and verse 37. And that's why some believe that both election and men's responsibility are important to emphasize in the teaching. The two aspects, you might say, John 6, 37, all that the Father has given to me shall come unto me. That's the first part of the verse. Election, the Father gave. But then notice the human responsibility we might say the free will in verse 37b him that come to me i will in no wise came cast out you notice the other side of it so all that the father gave to me will come to me that election and him that come to me i will in no wise cast out this is the free will aspect of the teaching that we are speaking about today so what we really have here that the father gave us to the son and we in due time came and everyone that the father gave to the son will surely come to Yeshua the Messiah and the one that come then the Lord Yeshua the Messiah will never cast him or her out and so we can see the two line come together i want to mention years ago i asked a brother well how do we handle this because the Bible say many times whosoever will let him come come unto me all you that labor and are heavy laden and i will give you rest.

Many verses in the Bible invite people to come so i asked him well brother how do we explain it Ephesians tells us we are chosen Colossians tell us we are elect Peter tell us we have been elected according to the full knowledge of God but then other passages says you gotta come so how does it meet and he said to me you know sometimes we can't understand various doctrine in the Bible but a good way to understand such verses as this is take for example you have a train track one train riding on two tracks and when you are kneel on top of these train tracks and you're standing there you see two tracks.

Perhaps we can say one track represents the election, the other one represents free will. But he says, as you look far away, as those tracks go on, somehow you no longer see two tracks, but you see them blend together. And so what he's really saying, yes, we may not quite understand this election versus free will. But one thing we have to realize, both of them are taught in the word of God. And at some point, they are meeting together. God's sovereign choice, man, human responsibility, meeting at some point in the life of every individual. Now, the reason that I lean so much more to the election to the truth of calvinism you might say because the Bible shows us so many times the total depravity of men men by nature do not want God we are dead in trespasses and sins by nature how can you raise up a dead person a dead person need to be quickened by God himself and only God by the holy Spirit of God can quicken a person otherwise he or she will remain dead away from God and therefore personally i'm speaking for myself i understand from.

Scripture that it is the election the truth of God choosing us in eternity past in his wisdom and he have brought us to himself at a certain point of time in our life that does not give an excuse to the unbeliever to say i haven't been chosen and therefore i will not come well the unbeliever will have to stand before the very same God and God will show him very much that you have had the opportunity to confess the Messiah and you have heard the message again and again, and you refuse to accept me. God knows the heart of every man, and God will expose the heart of man in due time, when man will have to stand before him.

So, verse 3, the spiritual blessing that we have been blessed in the Messiah. Verse 4, we have been chosen by the Father already in eternity pass before creation blessed be the God and father of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah who have chosen us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame. Before him in love now why does God choose someone for himself that this person will be set apart for him holy without blame before him in love in other words when God have elected his own he made them suitable for his presence without any blame anymore because positionally all the blame that we ought to receive have been passed to the person of the son who died for us on the tree on the cross and paid for the penalty of our sins now notice brothers and sisters as we move on God the father not only had blessed us and have elected us but also he have adopted us he have predestined us to be adopted children look at this verse 5 now it says having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Yeshua the Messiah to himself according to the good pleasure of his will now this is also a very important verse to understand because let's say you have a family and you adopt someone from outside and you brought him into the family and now instead.

Of having only three children of your own you have an additional fourth child who have been adopted and while it is very similar to this but here the thought is far beyond it the reason is simply this adoption doesn't save us adoption doesn't forgive us in other words we did not become children of God on the basis of adoption but what happened in order to become children of God it was totally and entirely on the basis of redemption the finished work of the Messiah new birth but a new baby have accepted the Messiah become born again now he's being placed in the presence of God as a mature child that is ready now to receive the blessing that the Lord have intended for them so he had predestined us and to adoption in other words placed us as adult children already ready to receive from him the many mercies and blessings that he intended for his own people so we are not saved by adoption we are saved because of a new birth we are born from above.

We receive new life but we have been brought in adapted as a mature son and daughter ready to receive the benefits that God has for us and he noticed that it says that he predestinated us that means that beforehand he had the destiny for those who became the children of God that mean before time in his plan in his wisdom he predestined the believer unto becoming a mature child that is ready to receive the benefits that God would give him in the Lord Jesus the Messiah and notice it says here in verse 5 according to the good pleasure of his will it's not your will it's not my will it's according to the pleasure of God's will it is his will that you and I will become born from above and we also become adopted sons and daughters and ready to receive the blessings that he has intended for his own people to connect with this some verses Paul also speaks about it when he wrote to the Roman believers Paul said Romans 8 i'll read verse 14 for as many.

As are led by the Spirit of God they are the sons of God verse 15 for ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear but ye have received the Spirit of adoption whereby we cry Abba father you see the believer had received the holy Spirit of God that have adapted us not only gave us new life and new birth but placed us positionally as a mature adult son and daughter ready to receive the blessings from the Lord look at Romans 8 29 and 30 it says for whom he did foreknow he also predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son that he might be the firstborn among many brethren moreover whom he did predestinated them he also called and whom he called them he also justified and whom he justified them he also glorified notice the words here predestined he foreknew us he predestined us to become like his son and that his son will be the firstborn among many brethren so he have one son namely Yeshua the Messiah but we have become many sons.

He brought to glory and he adapted us to be in such a favored place and favored position and now notice in verse 6 we have been accepted in the beloved look at that God have accepted us in verse 6 he says to the praise of the glory of his grace wherein he made us accepted in the beloved you know God the father have accepted us imagine he have accepted you and I sinners by nature he have accepted he says listen I can accept you on the ground of the finished work of my son I now bringing you into my own home and you're going to be part of this family you are accepted because of what my son Yeshua the Messiah have done you know what a wonderful thing to be accepted you know a lot of people today they are in many homes in many places they never feel accepted they're not good enough i try to do this and i try to please him and i try to.

Please her and it's not acceptable i worked on a Job you might say and i tried to please my boss and i was not accepted it was not sufficient but you see God does not say to you and i you better work your way so i will accept you earn your way work hard be good and better and superior and try your best you see otherwise i will not accept you you know God say i know you are sinner but i accept you because you have been brought into a relationship with my son and you notice he called him it says here in verse 6 that we have been made accepted in their beloved one the heavens opened if you remember in Matthew 3 in Matthew 17 and he said this is my beloved son I love my son and if he had finished the work for you now you can be accepted and brothers and sisters never for a moment think that you need to improve yourself in order to be accepted in the presence of God he has already accepted you.

If you belong to Yeshua and if you confess your sins and you honestly have invited him into your heart you have been not only elected and chosen and been adopted in eternity past but in time you have been accepted it doesn't matter how you look it doesn't matter what background you came from nothing matters what matters is that you have been accepted by God on the basis of his beloved son when you have invited Yeshua into your heart God the father can say you accepted in the beloved son you remember in the book of Philemon there was a man by the name of Philemon that had a servant by the name of Onesimus.

Onesimus fled from the home of his master Philemon. He ran all the way to Rome and in Rome he met the apostle Paul, Shaul. And he was gloriously saved. The Lord used Shaul to bring him to the knowledge of Yeshua the Messiah. And Paul led him to come to acknowledge Yeshua the Messiah. And now the Apostle Paul was sending Onesimus back to his master, and notice what he. Said to Philemon. In Philemon verses 17, 18, and 19, he said to him, Philemon, if you count me, therefore, a partner, receive him as myself. If he has wronged thee and he owe you anything, ought put it on my account i Paul have written it with mine own hand i will repay it albeit i do not say to thee how thou art unto me you always unto me even thine own self beside Philemon you owe me so much and I want you to accept Onesimus as you accept me you know what Yeshua said to the father father I've died for them accept them on my behalf as if you are accepted me and you know the father say as we read here you are accepted in the beloved none of us should feel for a moment unaccepted in the presence of the Lord.

We might not accept each other because we fail each other many times, but God looked at the believer and he said, I accept you because. Of what my son, their beloved one, has done. So we have here in verse 3, 4, 5, and 6, the father planned this beautiful salvation he is the one that he've chosen us in the Messiah before the foundation of the world he have adapted us to become sons and daughters of the father and he have accepted us we have been accepted in the beloved this is doctrinal truth you might not feel all the time accepted but positionally every believer in Yeshua the Messiah is accepted in the presence of God not only for time but also for eternity now that we finish to talk about God the father and the one who planned this great redemption work now we're talking about God the son and in verses 7 to 12 God the son in order for us to be able to be in such a favored place God the son had to pay the price in order that he might provide such a great redemption and.

So i want you to notice that in verse 7 to 12 what God the son what Yeshua the Messiah have done first of all in verse 7a it says that he had redeemed us in whom this is in the Messiah in Christ in Yeshua in the beloved we have redemption through his blood notice brothers and sisters you know what the word redemption mean geula in Hebrew ligol mean to buy back you see we were once belonging to God anyway by creation God created humanity and men belong to God by creation but we left the Lord sin put a distance between us and God and what happened in order for God to bring us back to himself he had to buy us again to make us his own again because of creation we fell through sin he had to buy us back that's where you get the word legal and that's where we get the word goel the Redeemer will come out of Zion and the Redeemer indeed came and our Lord Jesus our Lord Yeshua it says in whom.

As we read here in verse 7a in whom we have notice it doesn't say we might have one day we may be going to have redeemed we might lose this redemption he said in whom we already have redemption but how did he redeem us it was through his blood the price that Yeshua paid is his life the life of the flesh is in the blood and God said i gave you that to make an atonement for the soul the blood had to be drained and shed the blood of the Messiah and think about it every time when you think about your great place and my great place in the presence of God realize this again and again that it cost the blood of the Messiah had to be shed he had to die on a cross Peter said that in first Peter 1 18 and 19 for you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation received from your fathers but you were redeemed with the precious precious blood of the Messiah it's of a lamb without blemish.

Without spot Yeshua had to pay for that he had to pay this great price when he shed his precious blood as we have here the son the Messiah the Lord Jesus Yeshua redeemed us but it cost him a great price he had to shed his blood when he was raised there upon the cross we just came from Golgotha some of us were just there we just came from the garden of Gethsemane Gatshmanim and we were reading the text of the Bible where Yeshua said Father, if it is possible take this cup away from me you think it was possible? He says nevertheless not my will but thine be done it was not possible that the cup of God's righteous indignation against sin will pass away he must drink this cup of God's righteous judgment against sin when he was placed on the tree and on the tree remember what he said my God my God why did you forsake me and God forsook him as a judge he laid upon him the iniquity of us all that's why Paul emphasizes here so strongly he says we have redemption yes we have been bought again but it cost the blood of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah that's why we can never take this lightly because something that can be saved without the blood of the Messiah why do you tell me every time that you must be born again on the basis of the death of the Messiah why we say it because there is no other way except the blood of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah the psalmist of Israel said this listen to this Psalm 49 they.

That trust in their wealth and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches none of them can by any mean redeem his brother you cannot buy a person's salvation and redemption with all the money and all the wealth that you have in this world that's why he says none of them can by any mean redeem his brother no give to God a ransom for him Psalm 49 verses 6 and 7 you cannot pay for salvation with any merit or any wealth in this world because it says in verse 8 for the redemption of their soul is costly and it ceases forever. You cannot give to God anything in order to redeem a soul.

You can never do so by any price because the redemption of their soul is very expensive and the only way to redeem a soul is on a basis of the blood of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah that's why he says and here is what the son have done the Messiah have done he paid for. The price of redemption every one of us brothers and sisters today when you really sit before the Lord and realize your redemption your salvation again and again we ought to go back to the basic it is the precious precious blood of Yeshua the Messiah that was paid in order to redeem me for my sin and my sins the blood had to be shed without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins Hebrews 9 22 there is no other way so we have redemption but the price was the blood of the Messiah secondly in verse 7 he adding up another one to mention about what Yeshua the son have done he have forgave our sins notice that verse 7b after he said in whom we have redemption through his blood and he adds here the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace you know every sin that we have committed have been forgiven to us and it was according to the.

Riches of his grace he forgave us as far as the east is from the west so far he removed all our transgressions from before him all our sins so great so many were forgiven to us because of what Yeshua the Messiah have done for us so he redeemed us verse 7a he forgave us verse 7b and then verses 8 9 and 10 the Messiah made known to us the will of God it is Yeshua that made known to us the will of God let me read you those verses Ephesians 1 and verse 8 it says that he gave us an exceeding amount of wisdom and prudence wherein He, this is God through the Son has abounded towards us in all wisdom and prudence the word for prudence can be intelligence the word for wisdom, chokhmah in other words, He gives us exceeding amount of information to enable us to be wise and intelligent in the things of God.

You know, why is it that the believer knows about the plan and the program of God while the unbelievers totally have no idea about the future and the things that God has in mind for mankind? Well, because we have received it through the Son who had given to us, notice, all wisdom and also prudence or intelligence. He gave us so much wisdom and intelligence. Oftentimes when you read in the Bible about believers in the history of the church, as well as the history of our people Israel, you notice how much wisdom these men of God had because of what the Lord have done for them.

Verse 9, he continued, he made known unto us the mystery of God's will i'm reading verse 9 having made known unto us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure which he had purposed in himself now that word for mystery is not something that is hidden from the believer it's not hidden in other words God through the Messiah made known unto us the mystery of his will we have the knowledge according to the word of God not with some sort of speculation on the basis of the word of God we have the knowledge of the. Mystery of the plan the purposes and the will of God he showed this to the believers we know that the church will end in a certain period of time of the church history that the believers will be taken out of here we know that there is a tribulation time that is going to come in the future day that God in his will and purpose and wisdom going to have a seven-year tribulation where there will be a time of Jacob's trouble we know that the Messiah is going to come again and that he is going to establish the messianic kingdom in the coming day we know that how do we know it well he revealed to us the mystery of his will and it is according to his own purpose which he purposed in himself and now verse 10 as well let me read then notice what is the will of God.

That's beautiful. God's will is to gather together in one all things in Christ, in Mashiach. You know what God wants? He wants that everything in eternity future and coming soon will be gathered together under his own son, the Messiah himself. Look at verse 10. That in the dispensation of the fullness of time he might gather together in one all things in Mashiach in Messiah both which are in heaven and which are on earth even in him you know there are group of professing christian or name the name of Christ or the Messiah who don't believe that Jesus is the son of God they don't believe in his divine nature and while the father say listen this is my beloved son hear him they bring him down God elevates him and so we find out in verse 10 that God is saying that in the dispensation of the fullness of time in other words he takes us all the way to the end of the ages and he says look what i want to happen in the coming days that i'm going to gather.

Together in one all things in my son in the Messiah everything that we have link us with the person of Jesus Yeshua the Messiah notice the word dispensation the word here for dispensation is really the Greek word oikonomia which simply means economy or economy of God or an ordered age and so what God is saying that in the ordered age that God planned he intended that all things might be linked with the Messiah and that everything is going to be under His authority and His supremacy when every knee will bow when every tongue will confess that He is Lord this is amazing can you imagine the very one that died on the cross and was rejected is the very one that is going to rule and reign in the coming days the one that people today use his name as a curse word as a swear word this is the one that is going to be placed in a full authority over this universe in the dispensation in the ordered age of the fullness of time.

God will give him this wonderful place of being over all things and everything will be subjected unto him beautiful to see that and so verses 7 he redeemed us verse 7b he forgave us verse 8 to 10 he made known unto us the will of God and now quickly verse 11 and 12 he made us God's inheritance you know when our parents pass us away whatever they leave for us become our own inheritance but do you know brothers and sisters that not only that we are going to receive inheritance in the future day but we become his inheritance in other words you and i though we don't necessarily think it's so but you and i every believer today every believer in Yeshua the Messiah become his own inheritance we become a treasure to the person of the Messiah we became a gift of the father to the son it says in verse 11 that the believers became God inheritance listen to that in whom again the word in Messiah in whom also we have obtained now the word obtained should be said.

We have been made not obtained but been made an inheritance being predestinated according to the purpose of him who work all things after the counsel of his own will now you notice that brothers and sisters that the believers become an inheritance that the father would give to the son it's like you and i like trophies you remember John chapter 17 Yeshua said father i will the day which thou had given me will be with me every believer is a gift of the father to the son God the father gave the believers to become a gift for his own son and we become an inheritance of the son that's why the Bible tells us in the book of Corinthians where we read knowing not that you are not your own and you were bought with a price now we sometimes don't realize that but we are really not belong to ourselves we have been bought with a price and we belong to Yeshua know you not Paul said to the Corinthian that you are not your own anymore you have been.

Bought with a price as the father gave the gift to the son don't you know that he said we are a gift from the father to the son important to understand it beloved brothers and sisters and even Paul when he was on the way to Damascus and he was persecuting the believers Yeshua said to him Shaul Shaul why do you persecute me when he was persecuting the believers he was persecuting those that are the heritage of the son the head is in heaven the body is on earth and we belong to Yeshua the Messiah we became an inheritance that the father gave to his son and in verse 12 in connection with the sons the believers are for the praise of God's glory it says here that we should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in the Messiah we should be to the praise of his glory every time a person become a child of God it is a praises to God it is for his.

Own glory not for our glory but for his own glory that we should be not only do to praise God and to glorified him but we become to the praise of the glory of God because we have been elected and chosen but also we ultimately who trusted in Yeshua the Messiah now if you will bear with me i want to conclude with verses 13 and 14 so we'll have the whole triune Godhead before us here in these verses now that we talked about the father verses three to six who is the one that had planned this from eternity past this great salvation we talked about the son verses seven to twelve who paid the price for this great salvation now in verses 13 and 14 we have God the Holy Spirit who sealed us every one of us who became believer in Yeshua the Messiah and mocked us and say you belong to me notice i'm reading those two verses look what the Spirit of God did it says in verse 13 in whom in Yeshua in Messiah he also trusted after that he heard.

The word of truth of the gospel of your salvation in whom also after that he believed you were sealed with the holy Spirit of promise let me just make a remark or two about this verse notice the order there are three things that he says here in verse 13 he's speaking about them they heard the message of the gospel then they believed the message of the gospel and finally they were sealed by the holy Spirit of God notice the order they first heard the message that were preached then in response to the message they believe it and thirdly they were sealed after that you heard first of all the gospel must have been preached faith cometh by hearing Romans 10 hearing by the word of God then when they heard this it says the word of truth the gospel of your salvation and then he says in whom also then after you believed you were sealed with the holy Spirit of promise now what is the sealing does you know when you write a letter to somebody.

And you address it to a certain person you lick the envelope and you seal that letter that this letter will be open only by the person whose name is on that envelope what we really find out brothers and sisters that God have marked us he has sealed us he put a stamp of sealing and he said this person belonged to me the Spirit of God came and indwelt in the believer once we have accepted Yeshua we have now become believers and we are sealed by the Spirit of God you cannot be unsealed for a moment you cannot be unsealed a letter you might be able to unseal a stamp you might be able to erase but you can never unsealed a person that was sealed by the holy Spirit of God and so he's Say to them, after you heard the message, you believe the message, you have been sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise.

As it is mentioned also in chapter 4 of this book, in verse 30, he said, There, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. So, you and I are sealed people. No one can take us away from Yeshua. The Holy Spirit of God came and dwelt in every one of us who have accepted Yeshua the Messiah. And finally, in verse 14, what the Spirit of God's sealing does? He becomes an earnest down payment, verse 14, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of his glory the holy Spirit of God is a pledge God gave us a pledge and he says listen you have accepted me you belong to my son Yeshua i'm giving you a pledge a promise take that pledge meaning the holy Spirit of God and this pledge is only a temporary assurance that there is a full redemption yet ahead when the body of ours after we'll be receiving a new body a glorified body and all these human beings spirit, soul and body are going to be presented before God for time and for eternity so the Holy Spirit of God is an earnest it's eravon in Greek it's called araban or arabon in Hebrew is eravon it's a pledge that the full promise of salvation will surely come to pass in the life of each and everyone that have accepted Yeshua the Messiah so brothers and sisters to conclude here with our chapter for today.

The father is the originator he is the one who planned the son he is the one who paid the price the spirit he is the one who sealed us and made us a sure individual who belong to the father for time and for eternity. That's the rich blessings that we possess because of what God had planned it for us in eternity past. Well, may the Lord just bless what had been said by the grace of God for his word.