I. God Abounding Toward Us
In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself.
Picture God being loaded down with every gift you could imagine and He’s waiting on one thing. He’s waiting on a sinner to say “yes” to Jesus. Then picture God running as fast as He can toward that sinner. That is what the word “abounding” means. God is running as hard as He can, loaded down with every good and perfect gift, toward the person who says “yes” to accepting Jesus as their Lord and Savior. God has so many gifts for you that you could never count them throughout your lifetime.
II. Gifts Received at the New Birth
Ephesians says God gives you wonderful gifts when you are born again that you cannot see or feel. If you confess with your mouth Jesus Christ is Lord, and believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead, you are saved whether you feel like it or not. You are saved because the Word of God declares you have been born again.
The very moment you were born again, you received an eternal inheritance, a sonship, and priesthood. These were given to you unconditionally. It doesn’t matter how bad of a sinner you were. You did not earn them or deserve them. You cannot work for them for they are free gifts of the grace of God. You are sons and daughters of the Most High God. You can be an obedient son or daughter or a disobedient son or daughter, but you’re still a son or a daughter.
III. Past Tense Gifts
Ephesians 1:3 says, “hath blessed us.” Verse four says, “hath chosen us.” Verse five says, “predestined us.” Verse six says, “hath made us accepted.” Verse seven says, “we have redemption,” (it has already been given). Verse eight says, “hath abounded toward us.” Verse nine says, “made known unto us.” Verse 11 says, “obtained an inheritance.” Verse 13 says, “were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.” These are all past tense.
According to verse four, He chose you before the foundation of the world. These blessings were actually given to you before the world was created and before you were born. That’s part of His foreknowledge. Predestination is not the foundation; His foreknowledge is the foundation as it says in Romans 8:29, “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son...” God foreknew the day you would accept Jesus and therefore, He predestined you.
Why did He do all of this before the foundations of the earth and before you came along? He did it so you couldn’t help in any way. It is totally by the grace of God.
How could God bless you, call you, and predestinate you before you existed? He did it through His representative, Jesus Christ. God poured all His blessings on Jesus and Jesus held them intact until the day you came along so He could pour them out on you. You were not blessed in yourself; you were blessed in Jesus. The moment you entered into relationship with the Son, you possessed everything that is in Him from the foundation of the world.
IV. In Him
Ephesians 1:11-14
In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh 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, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
Your inheritance is because you are in Him. Outside of Him you have no inheritance for God didn’t pour these things out on you from the foundation of the world. He poured them out on Christ and the moment you are in Christ is the moment all these blessings belong to you.
The word “trusted” in verse 12 actually means “to hope” in Greek. You first hoped in Christ.
You didn’t gain faith immediately upon hearing the Gospel message. The first thing God gave you was hope. When you heard the Gospel, you suddenly had hope for your life. The world offers you no hope, but God is not moved by man’s lack of hope. Man is always trying to tell God why things can’t be done, even by faith people. But God doesn’t work that way. God operates according to His riches in glory and according to His promises. He wants you to get your eyes off the checkbook and on His promises.
V. Sealed by the Holy Spirit
Proverbs 29:18
Where there is no vision, the people perish.
Hope is like a vision. Without a vision, the people perish — not just people as a group, but you individually. Without a vision for your life, you are going to perish. But when you heard the Gospel, hope rose up within you. God showed you what He could do for you. The Gospel painted a picture of eternal life, of heaven, of blessings in this life, freedom from fear, and of all the things you’ve ever desired in life, and God says, “I can give that to you. Believe in Me. Put your faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.” When you reached out in faith, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. Once you believed eternal life was given to you, you were sealed by the Holy Spirit.
This sealing refers to a custom that existed from the time of the Old Testament. When a letter was sealed, the king would drop hot wax on the letter and press his specially-designed signet ring into the wax. That seal was an indication of royal property.
The moment you were born again, the Holy Spirit placed a royal seal, a divine insignia, on your life in the spirit realm. This indicates that you are royalty and anyone in the spirit realm who sees the Holy Spirit seal on you knows you belong to royalty.
The seal is also an indicator no one else can tamper with you. Satan may harass you, but he cannot tamper with your salvation; it is royal property. Only the designated person can break the seal. Since Satan is not even part of God’s family, he has no right to break the seal.
The seal also represents authenticity. For someone to forge the seal, they would have to steal the king’s ring off his hand! Therefore, the seal represents the fact that God Himself personally claims us as His property.
The seal also ratifies the covenant. The covenant is unchangeable. The moment you are born again, you are complete. Nothing can be added because you are signed, sealed, and delivered, and on your way to heaven.
The seal also guarantees ownership. The seal of the Holy Spirit is your guarantee that God backs every promise He has given to you. It is your guarantee of eternal life.
VI. The Impression of God’s Substance
Hebrews 1:1, 3
God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the father by the prophets.
Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person…
The words “who being” in the Greek is “amee,” which means always being, never was a time He was not, never will be a time when He will not be. Jesus is constantly being the brightness of the glory of God and the express image of God’s character.
The Greek word for “express image” is “charakter.” This is where we get the English word “character,” but it actually means “impression.” The word “person” is the Greek word “hupostasis,” which means “substance.” Jesus Christ always has been and always will be the bright shining forth of the glory of God and the impression of God’s substance.
You have to understand Jesus Christ is both God and man. As God, He has always existed. Never was there a time He did not exist and never will there be a time He will not exist. One day, His humanity came into being and from that day forward, He will always exist as a human being. In other words, humanity had a beginning but has no end. Deity never had a beginning and it will never have an end.
Before the ages began, before the earth existed, Jesus Christ in His deity has always been the shining forth of the glory of God. God has always been the light source, but the light was Jesus Christ. You cannot separate the light from the light source. Christ cannot be separated from God the Father.
Jesus Christ is also the impression of God’s substance. There came a day when God wanted man to see what He looked like so God took His insignia ring and stamped it into the earth. When He pulled it away there was Jesus Christ born in the manger.
On the day you were saved, God put His image into you and that image is the Lord Jesus Christ. An impression of Jesus Christ is stamped on you. You look like Jesus Christ now. To see you is to see Jesus. The devil looks at you, but sees Jesus Christ. Angels in heaven see Jesus in you. Best of all, God the Father looks at you and sees Jesus Christ. He sees all your past faults and failures washed away by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and that seal and impression of Jesus in you. You don’t stand in your name, your power, your promise, or your strength. You stand with His strength, in the blood of Jesus Christ. To have Him is to have the power God wants you to have in this earth.
VII. The Earnest of Our Inheritance
Ephesians 1:14
Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
An earnest is a down payment. The Holy Spirit is literally the down payment of your inheritance.
Do you enjoy walking in the blessings of life?
Do you enjoy prosperity?
Have you ever been healed by God?
Have you had family problems worked out by God?
Has God ever supplied a job for you?
These are all part of your inheritance. You don’t have to wait until you get to heaven to receive your inheritance — part of your inheritance is for you today.
However, as good as all of these things are in this world, they are merely a drop in the bucket compared to the inheritance God has waiting for you in heaven. Whatever you have on Earth is only temporary. The inheritance you have in heaven is eternal.
Part of your inheritance in heaven is living with God the Father forever. God is preparing a mansion for you right now. No matter how wonderful your home is on this earth, it can’t begin to compare to what God has waiting for you in heaven. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking you would be happier if you had a bigger house or a finer car. Get happy with Jesus. If you were to lose all your material possessions, you know you would still have one thing — an eternal inheritance. Your car is not under the seal; your home is not under the seal. Those things can be taken away. But the Holy Spirit that has been given to you cannot be taken away and it is part of a down payment on an eternal inheritance which also cannot be taken away.
VIII. Just a Down Payment
A down payment is only a small amount compared to the full purchase price. If you bought a car and were required to pay a down payment, most likely you would think in terms of ten or 15 percent. Not many people would think of making a 75 percent down payment.
The down payment secures the purchase. A “sold” sign is placed on the item even though it hasn’t been completely paid for. The down payment is a guarantee that the rest is on the way. When the Holy Spirit came into your life, that was the down payment on the inheritance yet to come.
The very fact that the Holy Spirit lives in me is my eternal guarantee that there is an inheritance waiting for me in heaven. If the Holy Spirit is only the down payment, just imagine what eternity is going to be like!
IX. Our Inheritance Is Permanently Guarded
1 Peter 1:3-5
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you.
Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
In the Greek, the word “reserved” means “permanently guarded.” Our inheritance is incorruptible — it cannot be destroyed. It is permanently guarded in heaven for you.
Matthew 6:19 says we are not to lay up for ourselves treasure on earth, where moth and rust can corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal. We are to lay up treasure in heaven where moth and rust cannot corrupt and thieves do not break through and steal. If you give to the right things in this earth, you are setting aside treasure in heaven. Anything that is in heaven for you is incorruptible, and Satan, moth, and rust cannot destroy it. Nothing in heaven can be defiled or destroyed.
The last time is the day of the rapture. One of these days, at the rapture of the Church, you are going to receive the treasure laid up for you in heaven. He is watching over your treasure in heaven, but He is also watching over you.
X. Seeing into the Spirit Realm
2 Corinthians 1:20-22
For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.
Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God;
Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.
God the Father has sealed you with the Holy Spirit, which is the down payment on your inheritance. If you could see in the spirit realm, you would see that the first thing that happened at the new birth was the sealing of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit made an impression on your life and Satan and his demons backed up and realized they could no longer get to your spirit. They can get to your body and your mind, but your spirit has been sealed by the Holy Spirit. It is God’s property.
Satan may try to tell you that you don’t have an inheritance in heaven, but if you could see in the spirit realm, you would see that it is there, undefiled and holy. It is being guarded by the power of God. God is also watching over you so one day you can receive your inheritance.
