Redeemed Identity: Union with Christ

Sermon Summary / Transcript

Last Sunday Jason unpacked Ephesians 1:3-14. We looked at nine truths about our redeemed identity in Christ. 

As Christians, we are…

1  …united to Christ. Paul says that we are “in Christ” and uses the phrase more than 160 times in his letters. It is the highest truth about us. In John 14, Jesus says that he and the Father “will come to him and make our home with him.” And in John 17 he prays, “…just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us…”

Application: Is Christian what primarily defines us? If so how does that show in my use of time?

 

2  …chosen in Christ “before the foundations of the world,” not by merit or potential but out of God’s love. His love for us is rooted in his eternal being. What binds the trinity together is what binds us to God.

Application: Do I doubt his love, or do I rest in it? Am I looking for something else? Am I humble in this or arrogant? Am I thankful?

 

3  …blessed in Christ “with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.” Our Father holds nothing back from us; there is nothing lacking. When we receive Christ, he is all ours, every blessing, now. 

Application: Do I understand that it’s in Christ that I have all things? Do I want more than Christ?

 

4  …saints, called to holiness. We are set apart and holy now, but we’re also (and always) growing in our holiness, and this is the purpose of our election. Holiness looks like Christ, and we grow in it by abiding in Him. We abide by his word abiding in us.

Application: Do I desire to look like Christ and to seek after righteousness? Or do I find sin attractive?

 

5  …children of God, adopted. We see “Father” used by Jesus throughout. We are saved to be sons and daughters. In Christ, there is never any question of belonging or of security.

Application: Do I see God as Father? Do I trust God as Father?

 

6  …redeemed in Christ. We have been redeemed through his blood, and it is costly blood. In it we see how precious we are to Him. We were bought. Sin no longer sits enthroned but Christ and grace. Satan has no claim on us, and we no longer have to follow sin. 

Application: Do you know your value to God? Do you know you’ve been set free? Do you revel in it? Do you allow others to revel in it?

 

7 …forgiven of our sins. The weight of sin is heavy. It’s always there and taints everything else. But in Christ my sin is no longer my burden to bear. Jesus says to me, “That guilt is not yours.”

Application: Do I know I have peace with God? Have I given my guilt over to God?

 

8  …inheritors. There are no poor Christians. Adam gave up his inheritance, but Jesus, the 2nd Adam, was faithful and secures the inheritance for us. Jesus now has everything the Father has given Him, and we are fellow heirs.

Application: Do you live as a child of God, an inheritor of all things? Do you rest knowing all is provided?

 

9 …redeemed to the praise of Christ and to his glorious grace. We are redeemed for praise to Him. There is nothing else for us to do; it is all for Him and to Him.

Application: What is your only comfort in life and in death? (Q&A 1 from the Heidelberg Catechism) A. That I am not my own, but belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven; in fact, all things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.

  

Christian, may you be conformed more and more to his likeness, to the praise of his glory.