‘Just Jesus’ Advent Week 3 Sermon Outline / 2
How to Use This Outline
The emphasis of this outline is on the exegetical material for the chosen passage. The emphasis of this sermon is on the following issues:
· In Jesus we have been given every spiritual blessing
o The Father’s Love
o Holiness
o Sonship
o Acceptance
o Redemption
o Knowledge of the mystery of His Will
o An Inheritance
The outline will need to be customised and contextualised by each Corps Officer for the congregation to whom the sermon will be preached:
· Adding appropriate illustrations that will connect with the specific congregation
· Modifying language to be appropriate to the socio-cultural setting of the Corps
· You may also wish to make the application more specific to your context.
PowerPoint slides have been provided for the following:
1. Title Slide – Introducing the Sermon
2. Scripture Slide – Ephesians 1:3-6
3. Scripture Slide – Ephesians 1:7-8
4. Scripture Slide – Ephesians 1:9-10
5. Scripture Slide – Ephesians 1:11-12
6. Scripture Slide – Ephesians 1:13-14
Scripture
The Salvation Army: Australia Southern Territory: Mission Resources Department‘Just Jesus’ Advent Week 3 Sermon Outline / 2
Ephesians 1:3-14 (NKJV)
3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, 9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, 10 that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. 11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, 12 that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.
13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.
The Salvation Army: Australia Southern Territory: Mission Resources Department‘Just Jesus’ Advent Week 3 Sermon Outline / 2
Sermon Outline
Introduction
1. Over the past few weeks we’ve been focusing on Jesus. He is the heart of Christmas. No Jesus, no Christmas. We’ve chosen to feed on Him over and above all the other appetites that we can satisfy this season. Two weeks ago we talked about how Jesus is the bread from heaven, the fulfilment of all human hunger. Last week we talked about how Jesus swallowed up death, giving us life. We also looked at how he came to bring an end to injustice and unrighteousness, establishing instead His Kingdom of love on earth.
2. This week we’re going to look at a list of spiritual blessings that we receive through Jesus. This week’s passage is from Ephesians. It was written by the apostle Paul.
3. Read Ephesians 1:3-14
In Jesus we have been given every spiritual blessing
1. Can you hear Paul’s excitement in this passage? He starts by saying we’ve been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, then he adds example after example. He’s bubbling over with excitement and praise for God’s glory and grace. So what’s got Paul so excited?
a. The Father’s Love (verse 3) – Firstly, Paul’s excited because everything that we receive through Christ was on the initiative of the Father. Christ is to us the expression of the Father’s love. Just think of that, before the foundation of the world, knowing that we would choose to sin against Him, God the Father made provision for our redemption in Christ. All of these spiritual blessings the Father had stored up for us even before Adam and Eve first sinned, indeed before they had even been created. So great is the grace of God that sending Jesus was not a “Plan B” that He came up with after the Fall, but was part of His plan before He even breathed life into Adam! “The Church existed in the mind of God eternally, before it existed in creation”[1].
b. Holiness (verse 4) – God the Father chose those of us who would be in Christ to live holy and blameless lives before him in love. The Father had decided before creation that those who would be “in Christ” would be holy and blameless before Him. This means He decided before creation that FAITH in Jesus not works was the basis upon which humans would be in right relationship with Him.
c. Sonship (verse 5) – The Father also decided that in Christ He would adopt us as his children. Jesus is “The Son of God”, but through Him we are also “sons of God”. In John 8:42-44 Jesus said that those who don’t follow him are children of the devil, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now I am here. I did not come on my own, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot accept my word. You are from your father the devil, and you choose to do your father’s desires”. However when we come to faith in Jesus, God adopts us and we become His children.
d. Acceptance (verse 6) – We are accepted “in the Beloved”. Through Jesus, who is the Father’s Beloved, we are accepted[2]. This verse emphasises that it is at God’s initiative that He made us accepted. We don’t have to impress Him so that He will accept us; our acceptance comes purely through Jesus at the initiative of our loving Father. In the Greek the word here meaning “make accepted” also means “be highly favoured”, we are not just “accepted” in a minimal sense. We are highly favoured by God when we are in Jesus.
e. Redemption (verse 7) – Our redemption comes through the blood of Jesus. Our forgiveness also comes through Jesus, according to the riches of His grace. This of course is more of an Easter element to what Jesus is for us. However at this time at Christmas we can remember that if not for His birth then His atoning death would never have taken place. He had to live in order to die.
f. Knowledge of the mystery of His will (verse 9-10) – Another great blessing we receive through Jesus is the knowledge of the mystery of His will. Sometimes we can find it difficult to discern what the will of God is. These two verses tell us very clearly what God’s will is, His will is to “gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him”. God’s will is that everything in heaven and earth would be gathered together in Christ. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:28 NRSV, “When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to the one who put all things in subjection under him, so that God may be all in all” and also in Ephesians 1:22-23 NRSV, “And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all”. The goal, God’s will, is that everything in heaven and earth should be subjected to Jesus. This is why we call him “Lord” and “King”.
g. An Inheritance (verse 11-13) – Finally, we have been given an inheritance in Christ. When we receive the Holy Spirit, this is God’s guarantee of the inheritance that He has stored up for us. This inheritance we will receive when Christ returns.
Conclusion
1. So we can see why Paul got so excited! This is an amazing summary of what God the Father has done for us through Jesus. Isn’t it amazing that the Father had all of this worked out before creation? Before we existed He had already planned to save us, and be in relationship with us through Jesus! What love to setup the safety net before we even fell! What love to make relationship with Him possible through faith rather than works! What love to set us apart as holy and blameless when we live in Jesus! What love to adopt us as His children! What love to accept us, to highly favour us because of Jesus! What love to redeem us! What love to make known to us His will, the bringing together of everything in heaven and earth in Jesus! What love to provide for us an inheritance, and give us the guarantee of that through the pouring out of the Spirit!
2. This is what we’re celebrating this Christmas season. All of this has been given to us through Jesus.
3. Invite people to the Mercy Seat / Response
[1] Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Eph 1:11). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
[2] This is clearer in the NKJV than other translations, verse 6 reading “to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved” compare NRSV “to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved”. The Greek however is “echaritōsen en tō ēgapēmenō” -> “indue with special honor:—make accepted, be highly favoured” in the Beloved