We are Blessed

Well, good morning, friends. It's 2026. The first month of 2026 is gone already. We're into

! Month two, how fast it goes. And this year marks 125 years since this church here, St. Paul's

! Chastwood was started. And so this term, as Nick has said, we are launching our vision for the next

five to 10 years of what our life and ministry will be together in this place. And as we get into

those details of those plans and what we're hoping to do under God, it's crucial that we understand

that it is built on a foundation of who we are. Who is the church? It's not often the way that we

think about church, though, is it? Who is the church? We normally think of it in terms of an

institution or things like a denomination or a building. The church is a building.

Or people say it's a lovely church, which they're referring to the building. Or it's the place,

it's a destination. I'm going to church this morning. When we think of the church, we think

of plans, we think of methodologies, we think of vision, we think of structures, we think of programs,

we think of budgets, we think of all those things. And they all have a place. But first and foremost,

we must understand who the church is. Not what the church is, but who the church is.

You see, the Bible overflows with powerful imagery of God's affection and his love for his church.

Imagery of the family, the body of Christ. And the one that we often maybe don't talk about

is the church being the bride of Christ. That is, the church reflects God's eternal beauty and glory.

And I wish I could unpack this one in just a sermon by itself. But the great English preacher,

Charles Spurgeon, called the church the dearest place on earth.

Not often the way we think of the church, the dearest place on earth. And so what we have in the

Apostle Paul's letter to the church at Ephesus, the Ephesians here, which is what we're going to be

working through this term, is the grand vision of the church's cosmic role as the body of Christ,

Christ as the bride of Christ in God's eternal plans. That's what we have in the book Ephesians. You

won't find anywhere else in the Bible so clear about the vision that God has for his church,

the bride of his son, Jesus. The Ephesians reveals the position and the job description of the church

in effecting God's grand plan for all time and eternity. In fact, the church is central to God's plans.

The 18th century American pastor and theologian, Jonathan Edwards, emphasized this point in a sermon

where he said that so centralism. He said, God created the entire universe for one main end.

And that end was to obtain a spouse for his beloved son.

And so as you read through the Bible, what you see reflected again and again is the language of God's

love and affection for his church.

When he looks at his church, he doesn't look at the things that we look for,

the programs, the timing, the people, the buildings, the air conditioners, whether they're working or not,

which one of them isn't working this morning. He doesn't look at that.

He sees the beauty of his bride for his son, beautified by the blood of his son.

And he longs for the day, as Revelation tells us, where the buyer is beautifully prepared

and ready for the marriage feast.

That's his church.

And so as we look ahead for our plans for our next phase of life and ministry together,

my prayer is that our affections would be awakened for his church

and why we exist.

And that that would transform our lives.

To quote Spurgeon again, nothing in the world is dearer to God's heart than his church.

Therefore, being his, let us belong to it, that by our prayers, our gifts, and our labours,

we may support and strengthen it.

May that be the outcome.

So the first thing I want us to see this morning is that who we are, we are blessed.

And I've got three points, which you can get on the St. Paul's app as we go through.

So first of all, God has a plan.

Now, no English translation of the New Testament is able to capture fully Ephesians 3 to 14.

Because in the original language, the Greek language, that is one sentence.

Verses 3 to 14 is one sentence.

202 words in one sentence.

And to get to the meaning of a sentence, as you would know,

I had to Google this, but you probably don't need to Google this.

But to get to the meaning of a sentence, you need really to find two things.

You need to find the subject of a sentence, and you need to find the predicate of a sentence.

And then you capture the what is the sentence about.

The subject and the predicate.

So for those of you in basic English, you might want to write that bit down.

So the subject tells us who or the what the sentence is about.

And the predicate tells us what the subject does.

And in this very long sentence, it's very clear the subject is God.

And the predicate in the English language is a little bit harder to spot.

Because there's a number of little, you know, predicates in this sentence, in the English language.

God is doing many things in this.

But in the original language, in the Greek, the predicate is very clear.

And it's in verses 9 to 11.

And it is very simply, particularly verses 8 and 9.

With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will,

according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ.

And verse 10.

Everything in history is in his plan.

To be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment.

And Jesus is the point of the plan.

The second half of verse 10.

To bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

Subject is God.

And the predicate is what God is doing through all of history is to bring everything unified under Christ.

That is what God is doing through all of history.

And his church is central to that plan.

Which means, having read that from Ephesians, Bertrand Russell was wrong.

Bertrand Russell's view, which is basically the secular view of our time,

is that there is no plan for time and space.

In his book, The Free Man's Worship, he wrote,

Man, humanity, is the product of causes which have no prevision of the end that they were achieving.

That is, that his origin, his growth, his hopes and fears, his loves and his beliefs,

are but the outcome of accidental collocation of atoms.

That no fire, no heroism, no intensity of thought and feeling,

can preserve an individual life beyond the grave.

In other words, Russell was absolutely convinced, as our secular age is,

that everything is an accident.

There's no plan, there's no creator, there's no purpose, there's no meaning.

And he goes on to say,

Therefore, there's no heroism, no sacrifice, no human achievement,

no human advancement at all, will ultimately make any difference in the long run.

It might in the short term, but in the long run,

it'll make absolutely no difference whatsoever.

And so Russell concluded that the best way to live life,

to embrace life, the only safe way to live life,

is to embrace despair.

Now, to be honest with you,

Bertrand Russell was more courageous than the average secular person.

Ephesians here says,

There is a plan.

Verse 11,

And absolutely everything in history is in that plan.

Everything is in that plan.

And because that raised a big question for us.

Is everything therefore determined or do humans have free will?

You know, that's a question that's been in history since,

well, as far back as you can record in history.

Are we free or is there a plan that we can't escape in any kind of way?

And the Bible's answer to that question is very simple.

Yes.

Yes.

That's because the Bible is way more nuanced than any philosophy in life.

You see, one view says that everything is absolutely fixed,

our choices don't matter,

and whatever you choose in life is ultimately going to be overridden by the fixed plan.

And what that does,

if it's just that,

what that does is it entirely saps a person of any hope at all.

The other view says that your future,

which is more common nowadays,

that your future is whatever you make it.

All of your choices determine your destiny,

so make sure that you make the right choices in life.

And if that's the case,

if absolutely everything in your life is determined by the choices you make,

the best choice you can make is don't get out of bed in the morning.

Much safer.

You can see because that view of history just loads people up with fear.

And you can see it worked out in the younger generation nowadays,

sucked into a culture of expressive individualism,

and you make all the right choices,

you be who you are.

The Bible says that both of those views are wrong and right.

The Bible says our choices matter,

and God will hold us accountable to them.

But ultimately,

God is in charge,

and his plan will advance,

and his plan is to bless.

It means that we can be absolutely alert,

and at peace at the same time.

It means that.

God is sovereign,

and we get to choose.

Think about this.

How many of your decisions,

for you older people,

how many of your decisions in your 20s

that you desperately felt you needed in order to live life,

that never came to fruition,

that you look back now and go,

geez, I'm glad that never happened?

When I was in my mid-20s,

I was desperately trying to get a young lady to marry me,

praying God would sovereignly overrule,

blah, blah, blah.

And it never happened.

And instead,

this week,

Nat and I celebrate 27 years of marriage.

Yeah,

I mean,

that's goodwill there.

So,

you know,

like,

after 27 years,

I'm glad that my plans never came to fruition.

Back in those days.

Ephesians 1 tells us that God has a plan for all things.

Jesus is the center of God's plan,

and it's a plan to bless.

Verses 1 to 3 is the summary verse of this chapter,

and it's an astonishing claim.

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.

Has blessed us.

It's already happened.

With every spiritual blessing,

which is absolute language.

Nothing is lacking here.

Nothing is overlooked.

Nothing is held back from God.

I sign off my emails on most cases

with,

you know,

with things like,

you know,

regards,

kind regards.

But most often,

I think,

particularly when I'm

communicating

to Christians,

excuse me,

with Christians,

I often use

blessings,

or many blessings from Steve.

You know,

it means,

in our culture,

to wish someone well.

But that's not what it means here.

God's not wishing us well.

In the New Testament,

the word blessed

is closer to the Hebrew word shalom.

It means to have every joy

and benefit of your heart

and soul

and every longing

for your being fulfilled.

That's what the word blessed means here.

A Christian is someone

who has already

been blessed.

How's that possible?

Well,

the key to it

is right at the end of verse 3,

in Christ.

Verse 4,

God chose us in him.

Verse 5,

we are adopted

through Christ Jesus.

Verse 6,

in the one he loves.

Verse 7,

in him we have redemption.

Verse 9,

God purposed those things

in Christ.

Verse 11,

in him

we were chosen.

You see,

to become a Christian

is not simply

to get Jesus

as your Lord

to obey,

although he is that,

or

a model

to follow in life,

although he is that,

or as a saviour

to be grateful for,

although

you should do that.

A Christian

is someone

who has been put

in Christ,

the theological language of it,

you have union

with Christ.

It's a marriage union.

In such a way

that everything

that belongs to Christ

is now yours.

You are united

to Jesus Christ,

and we are united

to Jesus legally.

Imagine the scenario

of a very poor person

marrying

an extremely

wealthy person

without any

prenuptial agreements.

In that moment,

when you are legally married,

everything

that is owned

by the wealthy person

is shared

with you legally.

You share it

legally.

You have a right

to it

through

legal union.

And so

what it says here,

everything

that belongs

to Jesus,

every single thing

that he has accomplished

belongs

to the Christian.

but we're also

united to him

vitally.

The Holy Spirit

comes into the life

of the Christian

and the life

of the church,

and it brings

character change.

The Spirit brings

character change

into the likeness

!

of the bridegroom.

So the bride

reflects the bridegroom

until eventually

on the final day

at the wedding feast,

we are glorified.

we will be

who we are now

in every sense,

perfected,

flawless,

sin-free,

suffering-free,

existence forever

on that final day.

A Christian

is in Christ

with all

his benefits,

even though

it may take

a lifetime

to work those benefits

out into our lives

until we are

finally glorified.

All Christians,

all Christians

have every

spiritual blessing

in Christ.

They're not two

categories of Christian,

the more spiritual

and the less spiritual.

Either you are a Christian

or you're not a Christian.

and every Christian

has every

spiritual blessing.

If you're not a Christian,

you have

no

spiritual

blessings

and all

those blessings

come from

union with Christ,

connected to Christ.

Now,

there's an interesting

incident

that happened

during the

Paris

Peace Conference

at the end

of World War I.

It went from

1919

to 1920

as they divided

up the world,

basically.

The delegates

which came

from Arabia

were astonished

when they were

staying in the

hotel rooms

in Paris.

They were astonished

by the instant

and endless

supply

of water

that came

from these

taps

in the hotel

rooms.

They'd never

experienced

anything like

that

in the desert

of Arabia.

And so,

as they prepared

to leave

the peace

conference,

some members

of the delegation

from Arabia

were found

trying to

remove the

taps

from their

hotel rooms

to take them

back and

attach them

to their

tents

in Arabia.

and they

thought

that the

magic of

instant and

endless water

came from

these taps.

And T.E.

Lawrence,

Lawrence of

Arabia,

for those who

don't know,

he was acting

as advisor

and translator

for the

delegation.

He had to

explain to

them that

the taps

themselves

have no,

there's no

water that

comes instantly

from the

taps.

They are

connected

through pipes

and reservoirs

in order to

get to the

water.

And friends,

we have no

spiritual blessing

unless we are

connected to

Jesus by

faith.

United to

Christ,

union with

Christ,

in Christ,

is who the

Christian is.

And every

spiritual blessing

flows from

that and

continues to

flow from

that.

The word

every means

it would in

fact to be

impossible

to list

all of

those blessings.

Although Paul

does mention

some in

this sentence,

even this

list is

overwhelming

in its

implications.

Verse 5,

verse 7,

verse 8,

adopted,

forgiveness,

lavish with

wisdom and

understanding,

the mystery of

the Holy

Spirit,

guaranteed,

every one of

those blessings

is staggering,

staggering enough

in its

richness by

itself.

And they

have many

arms to

them,

each one.

For instance,

verse 5,

let me just

have a couple

here,

adoption to

sonship.

In Jesus

Christ,

God becomes

our father

as we are

included into

his family.

family.

And one

implication of

that fatherhood

is that we

have access to

him as his

much-loved

children.

There's one

very famous

photo of

John F.

Kennedy when

he was

president of

the United

States.

His young

son,

John Junior,

was playing

under his

desk, the

resolute desk,

in the Oval

Office while he

was meeting

with officials

in the Oval

Office.

I'm not

allowed to

do that

with Donald

Trump.

Not that

necessarily I

want to,

but no one's

allowed to do

that.

Of course,

Donald Trump

went and

redid that

photo with

his grandson

under the

desk, just

so that he

can go down

to history

as well.

But if I

just decide

to do

that, I'd

be stopped.

If I ran

towards the

president, I'd

be shut if

the Secret

Service is

working.

As a

child of

God, we

have access

to God

without

appointments,

free access

to the

creator of

the universe,

and we

can boldly

run into

his arms.

He is our

father.

Adoption

also means

inheritance,

which is

why here

in this

verse,

it's

why the

emphasis

is

specific

that we

are being

adopted

as

sons of

God.

Not sons

and daughters,

sons.

You know,

Paul,

a bit more

inclusive

language.

The word

sons is

inclusive

language.

In the

culture that

Paul is

writing into

here,

only sons

could be

heirs and

inherit the

estate of

the

father.

And what

it's saying

here is

that as

adopted,

all people,

male,

female,

know who

you are,

whatever

culture you

are,

as you

adopted

into the

family,

as you

inherit the

family,

you are

co-heirs of

the future

with Christ.

Whoever you

are,

co-heirs.

We don't know

completely what

that means,

but Jesus

says the

meek will

inherit the

earth.

Adoption also

means security.

If you're an

employee,

how long does

an employer

put up with

your bad

behaviour and

your failures?

Everyone has

their limit,

I suppose.

But how long

does a parent

put up with

the waywardness

of a child?

Kind of

forever in

one way or

another.

Carried in

their heart

all of their

life.

God is

our father

and we

are secure

in his

love.

That's

adoption to

sons and

you could

just unpack

that more

and more.

But the

pride of

place here

is redemption.

In verse

seven we are

told,

in him we

have

redemption.

Now

redemption

is a

loaded

word.

It's

interchangeable

with the

word

ransom,

which is

a little

bit more

than

paying a

debt.

Redemption

is a

little bit

more than

paying a

debt.

For

instance,

in New

South

Wales,

there are

certain

violations

that you

could do

which would

mean that

your car

would be

impounded.

Certain

violations.

Your car

would be

towed and

locked away

and it

would be

locked away

until you

paid the

fines.

And when

you pay

the fine,

whatever is

owed,

when you

pay the

fine,

your car

gets released

from

captivity.

It's not

just paying

a debt,

it's paying

the debt

so that you

might be

released from

captivity.

You

liberate it.

Now,

Indian

lawyer and

activist

Mahatma Gandhi

said that,

quite interestingly,

and I would

agree with him

on this,

that both

Eastern and

Western

religions

agree that

every human

being is

not free.

All

humanity

is

enslaved.

And Gandhi

said,

we are

slaves to

selfishness

and the

ego,

which is a

great description

of what the

Bible calls

sin.

We are

always

grasping at

things because

our egos

are so

needy.

We're

grasping at

power and

money and

beauty and

status and

popularity and

recognition because

our egos are

so needy.

And Gandhi

went on to

say that

Christianity

helps because

in Jesus,

and Gandhi was

not a

Christian at

all,

Christianity

helps because

he says,

in Jesus,

we have a

way to be

free from

the selfishness

and egocentricity

that enslaves

us purely

by the

example of

Jesus.

And so

for him,

the Sermon

of the

Mount was

the pinnacle

of Christian

teaching.

And so

for him,

Jesus was

the ultimate

example of

nonviolence to

which he

modelled his

life on.

He's the

ultimate

example of

giving up a

power and

wealth and

influence and

the ultimate

example of

sacrificial service

of others.

And he

suggested that

when we see

Jesus

forgiving,

loving,

serving,

dying for

others,

it will move

us and

liberate us

from our

selfishness and

our ego.

Now,

with all due

respect to

Gandhi for

his accomplishments

in life and

I respect

them,

he missed

Christianity.

He missed

the point of

it all.

You see,

seeing the

amazing life

of Jesus

and trying

to live up

to that,

it will crush

you,

make you feel

worse than you

already feel about

yourself.

Trying to

be him

would end up

crushing us

under the

weight of

expectations that

we can never

meet.

We would be

cursed,

not blessed.

We don't

need someone to

live up to,

we need someone

to liberate us,

to redeem us,

to set us

free.

and that

is at the

centre of

God's plan

to bless.

And the

key that

unlocks

every

spiritual

blessing

is verse

seven.

In him

we have

redemption

through his

blood,

the forgiveness

of sins.

You see,

if I see

Jesus Christ

loving,

forgiving,

serving,

dying,

not for

others,

but for

me,

doing all

of that

in my

place,

that's

entirely

different.

Jesus

Christ,

God the

Son,

came to

earth and

took on

human flesh.

He sided

with us

so that

he could

represent us

to God.

not only

took on

our

identity,

he took

on our

sin.

He died

on a

Roman cross

to pay

the debt

that we

owe to

God for

our

egocentricity.

The debt

that keeps

us enslaved

to ourselves,

captive to

ourselves.

And in

paying that

debt he

has set us

free,

he's

redeemed

us,

he has

ransomed

us back

into

relationship

with God,

part of

his bride

for his

son,

his church,

his plan.

The

limitless

God

became

limited

to human

flesh,

nailed

fast

to a

Roman

cross,

enclosed

in a

tomb

to set

us

free.

to pay

our

debt

he

was

cursed

so that

we might

be blessed.

And why

would he

bother to

do that?

Why?

Because we

were the

best option

as a bride

for his

son when

he looked

at all

of humanity?

No.

Verse 4,

in love

he

predestines

us.

Verse 7,

we have

redemption

in accordance

with the

riches of

his grace.

Verse 9,

he may

know to

us the

mystery of

his will

according

to his

good

pleasure.

All

because of

his love,

his grace,

his pleasure.

which brings

me to

us and

where we

are and

as we

think about

our future

together.

Receiving

every

spiritual

blessing in

God's

grace to

us in

the Lord

Jesus has

a profound

impact on

your life.

You spend

the rest of

your life

realizing

this blessing

by working

it into

your heart

until it

shapes

who you

are by

conforming

you to

the image

of the

bridegroom.

And these

verses give

us one

important way

that it

changes us.

One important

way.

We're going

to see more

changes as we

go through

the rest of

Ephesians.

But

verse 6,

to the

praise of

his glorious

grace.

Verse 12,

for the

praise of

his glory.

Verse 14,

for the

praise of

his glory.

When

you have

every

spiritual

blessing

through

Jesus

in

Christ,

you don't

just

assent to

believe that

in your

mind.

It

becomes

glorious

to you.

It

becomes

praiseworthy

to you.

In other

words,

you move

from

praising

and seeking

the glory

of self

and your

egocentricity,

working for

that,

and you

turn beyond

yourself to

praise his

glorious grace.

God

in other

words,

what it

means is

as

God

looks at

his

church,

the bride

for his

son,

and says,

it is

beautiful

to me,

you

look to

God

and his

son and

you say,

he is

beautiful

to me.

He

has

captured

my

heart.

He

captures

my

imagination.

You

praise

his

grace,

you

lift

your

voice

and

you

sing.

You

see,

this is

not just

evidence

of having

received

every

spiritual

blessing,

but it's

also the

way that

every

spiritual

blessing

works its

way into

your

life.

Praising

the glory

of his

grace

in every

aspect of

life.

Is there

nothing more

beautiful?

Is there

nothing more

captivating for

the human

heart?

Nothing

more glorious?

Nothing

more powerful?

Nothing

more moving?

than someone

giving their

life for

others.

It's

in whatever

culture you

come from,

that is the

most powerful

narrative of

life.

We're

amazed by

the acts

of those

who intervened

at grace

risk to

their own

life to

save others

in the

recent

Bondi

massacre.

I'm amazed

by those who

jumped in the

water,

bloody water

to rescue

a shark,

attack

victim.

Amazed

by those

people who

do those

things.

And what

Jesus done

for us

to bless

us,

it was

not a

rush of

adrenaline.

It wasn't

a thoughtless

act.

It was

planned

before the

creation of

the world.

There is

no more

powerful

narrative

structure,

there is

no more

powerful

moral

beauty

than

sacrificial

love.

Especially

a patient

plan flowing

from the

heart of

God in

what Jesus

done for

us before

he even

created

anything.

Jesus

did all

of it

to secure

us for

the

eternal

blessing,

glory,

and love

that is

his,

that we

might share

in it.

And those

blessings

change the

driving center

of your

life.

It will

move you

so that the

things you

used to find

captivating no

longer drive

you,

no longer

captivate

you.

His

glorious

grace will

captivate

you,

capture

you,

it will

lift your

heart to

praise.

And you

will start

to see that

his plan to

work all

things through

his church

is beautiful.

And you'll

start to see

his church,

his bride,

in a

different way.

It will

become beautiful

to you in

such a way

that you'll

give yourself

to it.

Now one

gift the

Lord Jesus

has given

to his

body,

his bride,

his church,

was what we

call the

Lord's

Supper.

And in

the Lord's

Supper,

what it

does is it

reminds us

of the

cross of

Christ as

the place

of deliverance

for us,

the place

of redemption

for our

sin,

our death,

and from

hell.

It reminds

us of

God's

loving

plan

for us.

I'm going

to invite

those who

are serving

to distribute

that now

as I

continue.

You see,

when Jesus

celebrated his

last supper

with his

disciples,

what they

were celebrating

was the

Passover,

which God

had instituted

in the Old

Testament for

his people

to continue

celebrating.

and the

Passover

meal was

about

temporal

redemption,

temporal

deliverance

from captivity.

The

Lord's

Supper

in Jesus

points to

eternal

deliverance.

The

Passover

lamb had

to be

slaughtered

every year.

The

Lord's

Supper

points us

to the

Lord Jesus

who died

a sufficient

death for

all people

for all

time to

set us

free.

And so

what the

Lord's

Supper

does is

it radiates

with the

glory of

Christ

in his

flesh and

his blood.

And what it

does is it

causes us,

his bride,

to reflect

back to

when our

sins were

atoned

for

by our

bridegroom,

God's

spotless

lamb,

while also

looking forward,

causing us to

look forward

to the

great

marriage

supper of

the lamb

when we

shall

bask

together

in the

resplendent

glory of

the Father.

And these

simple elements

of these

wafers and

the juice

that we're

having this

morning,

as we

participate in

this and

as we

remember

Christ,

they become

a beautifying

influence on

us as it

demonstrates the

importance of

our remembering,

the importance

of our loving,

and the

importance of

our examining.

The Apostle

Paul repeated

the words of

Jesus when he

instructed the

Corinthian church

in the

Lord's

Supper,

do this

as often

as you

drink it

in remembrance

of me.

In other

words,

the supper

becomes a

path to

congregational

beauty as

we come

together and

remember our

bridegroom.

people.

And he

reminds the

Corinthians

again,

because there

is one

bread,

we who

are many

are one

body,

for we

all partake

in the

one bread.

What the

early church

did,

which we've

sort of

shut down

since COVID

unfortunately,

but what the

early church

did was they

passed around

one loaf of

bread amongst

the church,

and each

would pinch

off a small

piece of

bread to

celebrate the

Lord's

supper.

And through

that physical

representation,

the Apostle

Paul was

reminding you,

you are one

body, and

your body is

connected to

the bread of

life, Jesus,

your bridegroom.

And for this

type of mutual

love and

reconciliation to

be present in

the life of

the church,

that's what

we're doing as

we participate

in Christ.

And also,

it's also

calling us to

examine ourselves.

When he said

to the church

of Corinth,

whoever

therefore eats

the bread or

drinks the

cup of the

Lord in an

unmerthy manner

will be guilty

concerning the

body and blood

of the Lord.

So let's just

spend a moment

to examine

our hearts.

And I wonder

whether the

quote of Spurgeon

might be helpful

here once again.

Nothing in the

world is dearer

to God's heart

than his

church.

Therefore,

being his,

let us belong

to it,

that by our

prayers, our

gifts, and our

labours, we may

support and

strengthen it.

Is God's

plan in his

church beautiful

to you?

And is that

reflected in

your life?

Is his

church beautiful?

Thank you.