Sermon notes “Unity in Christ”

Text: Ephesians 1:3-14

​ Sermon: As a child I did not attend church. I didn’t understand the traditions and the format of the services. I didn’t understand the community that exists in the church building. And at first sight, I looked nothing like the common churchgoer. I did not dress in button shirts and slacks, instead I wore baggy clothes and loved Hip Hop music, which I was told by a youth pastor that Hip Hop was not Godly music.
I fully felt that I would not be able to enter the church or even be accepted into the church community. Based on my history in the church, I even remember wondering if God would accept me as I was. I really felt rejected before I had the chance to grow into the community.
So, what changed?
In college, I met a fantastic group of friends that accepted me and loved me as I was. It was through these friendships; I was opened to the gospel and who Jesus was. My friends did not expect me to change to fit in. They did not force me to fit in with them. They even encouraged me to use my talents in church service to build the community. They allowed me to be myself while I learned about who I already was in Jesus.
In this scripture we see Paul write, “he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ.” Paul later writes, “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins.” Paul also discusses our Salvation in Jesus. I believe these phrases and words are important to better understand the scripture that we are studying.
First, we are going to investigate a few of these words.
The first word that we are going to review is adoption. In today’s scripture when Paul writes, “He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ.” The original word for adoption here means, “to place one as a son”. This means that those being adopted are being placed in the position of a son or daughter who now possesses the same rights as the parent's natural children.
According to Paul’s letter to the Ephesian church, God predestined us for adoption. While many churches will use the word predestination to create supremacy amongst people. As I investigated this word, simply means “to plan in advance.” Note that the Scripture never uses predestination to mean that God has predestined certain people to eternal condemnation.
The next word that we are going to investigate is “Redemption.” The original word means, “to buy back or to deliver one from a situation from in which one is powerless.” Now this does not mean that humans are entirely useless or powerless, but it indicates that it takes God’s grace to restore our sonship and relationship with God.
Another word that I want to investigate was the word “Salvation.” “Salvation” often describes the rescue or deliverance from danger, destruction and peril. Yet, in this context it seems that Paul is using it to discuss our restoration to a state of safety, soundness, health and well-being.
In the example that I gave about how the relationship between my college friends, and I brought me to open to restored relationship with Jesus, I believe that Paul demonstrates this level of love and acceptance.
This implies that the person being brought in or adopted into where not expected to change to be fully accepted into the community, they were simply loved and accepted into the community. It seems that God was planning to restore our relationship with God and restore our relationships with the communities around us. As Paul writes, God chose us, therefore, God loves us.
It is from this restoration that humans are adopted into their sonship with God, which we were meant to have from the start. “The adoption is both a future reality, and in some sense, already true.” God restores us in our current situation and God will restore us later in life and thereafter.
This is extremely important for us today. We are fully united in Christ. We are restored as a people. We are restored in our relationship with the universe’s creator. Now we can use are various talents and skills to express our appreciation to God for the restoration that we have experienced.
When we celebrate our differences, our church displays a diversity that would represent the world that we live in. We can finally live in harmony with the various cultures around us.

Conclusion: Let us be a community that restores relationships by being loving and accepting to all people.