Pastor Skip explores one of the most breathtaking spiritual blessings in Scripture—that God chose you before the foundation of the world—and what that stunning truth reveals about His love.
00:00:01 Introduction to Connect with Skip Heitzig
This is Connect with Skip Heitzig. Thanks for joining us today. Here at Connect with Skip, we love to help you know God’s Word better and apply it to your life through clear, practical Bible teaching and real encouragement. And if you’d like to keep growing in your walk with Jesus, sign up for Pastor Skip’s free weekly devotional. You’ll receive biblical insight, teaching highlights, and exclusive resource offers designed to help you stay strong in your faith, all delivered right to your inbox. Signing up is quick and easy, and you’ll be glad you did. Go to connectwithskip.com and join the list today. That’s connectwithskip.com. Now let’s dive into today’s teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig.
SPEAKER 01 :
Ephesians is God’s new society as demonstrated by new life, new standards, with new values that bring new relationships. So when you look at a husband and wife relationship, a parent and child relationship, an employer-employee relationship, you see newness because of the salvation brought on by Jesus Christ. So that is his theme. To divide up that theme by chapter, I would call it the wealth, the walk, and the warfare of that new society. The wealth, who we are and what we have in Christ. The walk, what we do with what we have and who we are in Christ. And then The warfare, how we fight battles because of the spiritual warfare we encounter because we belong to Christ. So the wealth, the walk, and the warfare of the believer. Now, the book of Ephesians has six chapters. It’s a short book when you compare that to like Romans or 1 Corinthians. So it’s not a long book, but… It is typical Paul the Apostle style writing. Typical Pauline authorship. Meaning, the way Paul writes after he gives greetings, salutations, prayer, etc. He begins setting the pace, laying the foundation with doctrine. So chapter 1, 2, and 3 are doctrinal. The second half of the book, 4, 5, and 6 are applicational. You’ve got to know certain things before you do certain things. This is what you need to know. Here are certain doctrines you need to know about your wealth and who you are and what God has done, etc. Now, this is what you are to do with it. So, that’s pretty typical of Paul. He begins, he front loads his letters with doctrine. He back loads them with application. So, you can divide the letter in two. The first three chapters are the doctrinal chapters. And then the last three are the applicational ones. Now, I’m going to just, I know we haven’t even got into verse 1 yet, but go to chapter 6, verse 21, because you get an idea of how this letter was delivered. Verse 21, But that you may also know my affairs and how I am doing, Tychicus… A beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord will make all things known to you. So remember I said Paul was under house arrest? People could come and visit him. A guy named Tychicus came and visited him from Laodicea. Laodicea wasn’t too far away. It’s in the area of Asia, province of Asia. So Tychicus was there. The letter to the Colossians and Philemon and Ephesians were going to be delivered by Tychicus. So that’s how the letter got from Rome to Ephesus. Okay, chapter 1, verse 1. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God. At one time, Paul was not an apostle of Jesus. Paul was an opponent of of Jesus. Paul was an apostle of Judaism at one time. He had been raised in the school of Gamaliel in Jerusalem. He was a Pharisee. He had been trained in the Scripture. He was very intelligent, very advanced, knew several languages, knew rabbinic literature, etc. He was an apostle of Judaism and saw Christianity and especially the ideology of Jesus Christ risen from the dead as something lethal and should be stopped at all costs. So he got special permission from the high priest in Jerusalem to run up to Damascus and find believers and imprison them. And he was even egging on the crowd when they stoned Stephen to death. So he was hostile to Christianity. He was the chief opponent to Christ. Now he’s an apostle of Jesus Christ. How did it change? How did he go from opponent to apostle? Damascus Road. We all know the story. He’s on his way to arrest Christians, gets a vision, knocks off his horse, he’s on the ground, and here’s how he got his commission. He asked a question. Two questions. Who are you, Lord? That’s always a good question to ask when You get knocked off your horse and you don’t know who it is talking to you from the sky. Who are you, Lord? And the answer is, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. I’m sure there was a lump in his throat. He realized suddenly, if Jesus is speaking to me, then he indeed has risen from the dead. I’m experiencing the voice of the risen Christ. So he asked a follow-up question. And it’s the follow-up question that led to his apostleship. The question is, Lord, what do you want me to do? Now, some Christians, every Christian gets an answer to the first question, who are you, Lord? They answer it, they believe in Jesus, they come to faith in him. But not every Christian gets around to asking the second one, what do you want me to do? And one of the reasons we don’t live fruitful lives is because we don’t get around to asking the second question. So Paul asked the question, Ananias said, who was in Damascus was the one who gave Paul the real answer to that, because the Lord said to him, there’s a guy named Saul of Tarsus coming. I want you to lay your hands on him and pray for him. I am sending him to kings, Gentiles, and the children of Israel. His commission to be an apostle came after the Damascus Road when he met Ananias in Damascus. So now when he writes, it’s not Paul the opponent of Christianity, it’s Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God. Now take out the name Paul and put in your name. Your name, whatever it is God has called you to, by the will of God. It’s important that you discover what the will of God is for your life, that you don’t wander, that you don’t meander through life, but that you say, this is what God has called me to do, to be involved in, to minister with. I’ve identified my gifts. I want to plug in and use those gifts. I want to build up the kingdom, build up the body of Christ, and evangelize the lost. Now, if I’m going to do that, I would say skip a pastor-teacher of Jesus Christ by the will of God. And until you discover what it is God has called you to do, whatever you try to do for God will not only be frustrating and fruitless, but it’ll be a grind. When you’re following the calling God has placed on your life, now you’re operating in the gifting that comes with the calling, and it’s easy. My yoke is easy. My burden is light. It’s a joy. It’s a joy. It just comes naturally. It’s supernaturally natural. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus, and the faithful in Christ Jesus. Now you might read that and think, well, I read this, so therefore this letter doesn’t have much to do with me, because he’s writing to saints. And most people, when they hear the word saint, they think of somebody who’s dead. and somebody who was perfect. If you were to look up the word saint in the dictionary, you would say somebody who’s been officially canonized by the Roman Catholic Church, who because of miracles or people have prayed to them and they have seen certain things, they get that honorific title of being a saint. And it’s people who have died. So it’s somebody who lived a perfect life or a near-perfect life now dead. That’s how most people define saints. So, that’s why you’ll hear people say things like, well, you know, I try the best I can, but I’m no saint. Actually, you are a saint. You don’t have to wait for you to get canonized by Calvary. We’re not going to do it, by the way. And there’s no need to do it, because if you are a believer in Christ… You are a saint. The word saint doesn’t mean perfect dead guy. It means imperfect, saved, living guy or gal. So really, there’s only two categories, the saints and the ain’ts. You’re either a saint or you ain’t. And if you’re saved, you’re a saint. You say, well, I don’t feel like a saint. I feel more like a sinner. I struggle. Do you know that you can be a saint and a sinner at the same time? I’m a saint and a sinner. I have a flesh. I struggle with certain things in my life. But I’m a saint. Hagios, the Greek word, set apart by God for a purpose. You and I, we have been set aside by God. So I’m looking at a whole bunch of saints. I’ve just canonized you. And I would like it if you’d refer to me as Saint Skip from now on. Has a ring to it. To the saints who are in Ephesus and faithful in Christ Jesus. So now, we’re not just talking to people in Ephesus. He’s broadening this out to a wider audience. You who are the faithful in Christ Jesus, this letter is for you.
SPEAKER 02 :
You’re listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Every day, the generosity of friends like you helps make clear, practical Bible teaching available to families who are searching for hope, healing, and God’s truth. And this month, we wanna thank you with a powerful resource focused on restoring God’s design for family. When you give, you’ll receive Reconnecting with Family, Pastor Skip’s new book drawn from more than 30 years of biblical teaching and pastoral wisdom. It speaks honestly to the real challenges families face, financial stress, emotional distance, discouragement, and temptation, while pointing you back to God’s timeless plan for healthy, God-honoring relationships. We’ll send Reconnecting with Family as our thanks when you give $50 or more to support the ministry of Connect with Skip Heitzig. Call 800-922-1888 or visit connectwithskip.com slash offer. Now, let’s return to today’s teaching.
SPEAKER 01 :
By the way, do you notice the two addresses in that verse? In Christ Jesus, in Ephesus. You and I have two addresses. We have a heavenly address. We have an earthly address. You live here on the earth. You have a street address or an apartment. But you also have a heavenly address. And that’s what a saint is. It’s somebody who’s living on the earth, but this world is not our home. We’re passing through. We’re on the way to our eternal home. So we are in Christ because we are in Christ one day when we die. In Christ, we will be with him in heaven. So we made it through one verse. Verse 2. Grace to you and peace… from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Now this is typical of Paul, if you know his letters, and most of you do. You were with us in Galatians. Paul begins letters, grace and peace. It’s a typical ancient greeting. If you were to read a papyrus or many of the thousands of papyri from that era, you would find a similar greeting in almost all of them, no matter who wrote it. However, Paul tweaks it a little bit. The typical Greek greeting was kairai, which is the word rejoice. Paul uses… the root word, but says charis, which means grace. Charis. So he takes the rejoice greeting, tweaks it a little bit, and makes it a spiritual meaning, grace to you and peace. And I do find it important to recognize this point. They’re never reversed. Paul never says peace and grace. Always grace and peace. And I think for a very important reason. You will never experience the peace of God until you understand the grace of God. Some people just are in turmoil all the time in their Christian walk. They’re never satisfied. They’re never settled. You know, they’re always in anxiety, and it’s because they don’t grasp God’s unmerited, undeserved favor toward them. When you do, you will experience the peace of God. So grace first, followed by peace. And they always go together. Grace and peace go together like love and marriage, horse and carriage, marriage. Bacon and eggs. Batman and Robin. Grace and peace. Much more so. They go together. Pardon those illustrations. Now he really begins the heart of the letter. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing, here it is, here it is, in the heavenlies. or heavenly places in Christ. Now look at the word place or places in your Bible. Is it italicized? That’s because it’s not there. It was added by the translators to help us make more sense of it, but literally it’s just in heavenly or in the heavenlies. And so it says places, and so you might immediately think, oh, he’s speaking of heaven itself as a location. Not necessarily, right? instead of looking at it as a location, think of the heavenlies as a dimension. You can be on this earth living in the mundane of your day-to-day life, and at any given moment, in any given place, you can enter into the heavenlies. You can enter into the spiritual realm. You can, like Paul said, if you then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Yes, it is an ultimate location for all of us, but until then, positionally, positionally, you are in Christ in the heavenly places. You died when Christ died. You rose when Christ rose. You are in the heavenly places because he ascended there. That’s how the Bible sees you, positionally. And at any given time, you can get out of the mundane stuff you’re in and enter into an experience in the heavenly realms, in the heavenlies. But back to the blessings. Blessed be or praise God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who’s blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ. You know God is in the blessing business, right? He blesses us with so many blessings. Here’s the problem with blessings in general. When you talk about a person being blessed or a person says, I’ve experienced a blessing, typically, typically, they confine it to the physical realm. I’ve been so blessed I got a new car. I’ve been so blessed I’ve got the house of my dreams. I’ve been so blessed I have health or I have wealth. Those are blessings. But they’re not the most important blessings. The most important blessings are blessings of the soul. They’re spiritual blessings in Christ. In Psalm 103, David says, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. Bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. Then he starts listing them. First on the list, who forgives all your iniquities. Second, who heals all your diseases. Now, we usually start with the second category, not the first. It’s the physical blessings, but the most important and profound blessings are the blessings in the heavenly realms. Spiritual blessings in Christ. Just, and now he lists the first blessing, verse 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. Now let’s pick that apart. Praise God for his spiritual blessings. Blessing number one, God chose us. God picked us. He made a sovereign choice to save us. For some reason, some people just have problem with that. What do you mean God chose us? How dare he? I get the freedom to choose God. What do you mean God chose us before the foundation of the world? Well, you have the right to choose things, do you not? God has given you the freedom to choose what you want to eat, where you want to go, whom you want to marry. Aren’t you glad for that? Instead of God saying, listen, you’re going to marry that person whether you like it or not. Well, I don’t like it. Tough. So if God has given you the capacity to choose, why should we look at God who has the capacity to choose and say that’s not fair that God can choose? And while people try to wrangle with this and argue with it and foment over it, why not just rejoice in the fact that God chose you? It doesn’t bother me that God chooses people for salvation. Because, you know, if you were to bet on the horses, not that you would, but if you were to go to a horse race, would you bet on the winners or the losers? Well, you would hope that you would bet on the winners. You wouldn’t cognizantly on purpose say, I’m going to choose that horse because I know it’s going to lose. No, you will want to pick and bet on the horse that is going to win. So God makes a choice and God chooses winners. And here you are in the winner’s circle. You are chosen in Christ, that’s the first blessing, and notice you were chosen before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. How can God choose people to be saved before these people or even on planet earth? How can God choose people before people are people? Well, God has one of his characteristics is he is omniscient. which means he’s all-knowing. Now, if God is all-knowing, can God learn anything? Can’t learn anything. He knows all things, so he can’t learn anything. He knows all things in advance. Because he is all-knowing, not only is he omniscient, but God has a special feature of that omniscience called precognizance. He knows things that will happen in advance. That’s why prophecy is so powerful. In the book of Isaiah, God says, look, I know things in advance, and I’ll prove it. I’ll announce what’s going to happen so that when it happens, you’ll know that I’ve spoken. Jesus said the same thing. I’m going to tell you in advance so that when it comes to pass, you might believe. So God has the capacity of foreknowledge, and 1 Peter 1, verse 2 tells us this. We are elect according to the foreknowledge of God. God knew your life in advance. In fact, Psalm 90 in the Old King James says we live our lives as a tale that has been told. He sees your life all in advance. He knew that day that you would be filled with anxiety and call on the name of the Lord. And he chose you before you chose him. Jesus went to his disciples one day who had chosen to follow Jesus and said, Hey, word up here, boys. You didn’t choose me. But I chose you. And I’ve ordained you that you should bring forth fruit and that your fruit should remain. Amen. And I’m sure they were puzzled when Jesus said, you didn’t choose me, because they did make a choice one day to choose him, but only because Jesus had chosen them before they could choose him. So, which is it? Does God choose, or do we choose? Answer, yes. Yes. God chooses you, you choose him, and both cooperate together, as Paul will show us in the verses ahead.
SPEAKER 02 :
Thanks for joining us today on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we go, remember your generosity helps share God’s word with families around the world, offering truth, hope, and encouragement where it’s needed most. And this month, we’d love to thank you for your gift of $50 or more by sending you Reconnecting with Family, Pastor Skip’s new book focused on restoring God’s design for family and relationships. It’s filled with biblical insight and practical encouragement to help families grow stronger, even in challenging seasons. Give today at connectwithskiff.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888. See you next time on Connect with Skip. Make a connection.
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Make a connection at the foot of the crossing.
SPEAKER 02 :
Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God’s never-changing truth in ever-changing times.
