Ephesians chapter 1, and look at our text here, verses 10-12 this morning. The last two words of... well, I'm sorry, let's start with verse 7 and read this whole section together, verses 7-12. In Him, in Christ, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight, He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention, which He purposed in Him, with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth." Here's our text. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose, who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who are the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. Father, thank you for your goodness to us that we can gather together around your word now. And we pray that as we look at this passage that you would open our hearts up and give us joy in Christ and understanding. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Why is God praiseworthy? Well, if you've been with us as we have studied this opening portion of the Ephesians, you know it's because He has blessed us with blessings. Blessed is the Father because He's blessed us with blessings. Verses 3 through 14 is all about blessed is the Father because He's blessed us with these blessings. What is the nature of these blessings? Look at verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ." Now, that's the nature of them. He's blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ. The question is, why has He done so? This passage tells us some of the blessings for sure, but it also argues why He's done so. Look at verse 4. Just as, or you could say because, He what? He chose us, that's the first reason. Because God chose us before time, He has blessed us in time. And because He chose us in time, He has blessed us in time by redeeming us. Look at verse 7, in Him we have redemption through His blood. And because He has chosen us before time and in time redeemed us through Jesus Christ, In time also, verse 13, in Him you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise. So because God chose us before time, in time He redeemed us through Jesus, and He sealed us in Jesus by the Holy Spirit. Now, we're still on the second reason why God has blessed us, if we are in Christ. And again, you've got to be in Christ for this to be true of you. You haven't trusted Christ? This is not true of you, but it could be. You could come to recognize it is true of you, that actually God chose you, because you believed in Christ, and God calls all to believe in Him. So would you believe in Him today if you have not yet? We're on the second point of why God has blessed us, and it has to do with the fact that God has blessed us because He's redeemed us for the praise of His glory. Our text today concludes this second reason for why God has blessed us. So let's walk back through what we've seen so far. It's all about His redemption. What does redemption mean? It means that God has purchased us out of the slave market of what? Of sin. With the ransom price of what? The blood of His own Son. That's the ransom price. Who's the person of redemption? Look at verse 7. In Him. In who? In Christ. What's the means of it? In Him we have redemption through His blood. What's the first outcome of redemption? Look what it says here. In Him we have redemption through His blood. You could say that is the forgiveness of our trespasses. And what's the wealth of redemption? In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace. The wealth of redemption is God's grace to us, which He has lavished on us. Remember, if you were in need and you were talking to a wealthy philanthropist, would you rather him give to you out of his wealth or according to his wealth? According. And that's what God's done. He has graced us according. He has redeemed us according to the wealth of His grace. God has redeemed us and therefore has forgiven us. But notice what verse 8 says that He has lavished us. Notice what verse 8 says regarding His lavish grace. He lavished on us in all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will. In the original, there's not a period there, okay? So the point is He lavished His grace on us. He redeemed us according to His grace and He lavished us with His grace, in all wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of His will." And so what we saw last week is this. God's grace, His redemption grace, is evidenced by the fact that in His wisdom, He made known to us the mystery of His will for how much? For all things. For all things. There are many people in our culture that say that there is no rhyme or reason to human history. They see randomness, purposelessness, or they see themselves creating their own purpose. There is no purpose, but I create my own purpose. We as humanity have to make our own way. We have to make our own destiny. But God has redeemed us and forgiven our transgressions according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished on us by making known to us the mystery of His will for everything. There is rhyme and there is reason to everything. And I just want to point out again that if God has revealed His plan or His will for all things in His Word, and if that is a major evidence that He's lavished us with His grace, then if we want to swim in that grace as it were, we need to study His Word. Right? If He has revealed His will, and that's an evidence of His grace, we need to swim in that by studying His Word and be impacted by this. Folks, in Christ, this is the reality for you. You're on the right side of human history. But you as a believer can live like an impoverished person Even though you have everything you need in Christ, you can live as if you don't have these great blessings. Of course, another aspect of His grace toward us in this revelation is that not only do we have access to His Word, but God has shown us the truthfulness of it. So now we're going to walk back through what we've discovered last week about this mystery, and then we're going to connect it to the next evidence of His lavish grace, alright? So, last week we looked at the first evidence of His lavish grace, that He's made known to us the mystery of His will for how much? for everything in history. Today we're going to look at a second evidence, but let's talk about this biblical mystery again. What is a biblical mystery? It's something that God has now revealed that had been hidden in His mind in eternity. Who has God revealed the mystery of His will for all things to? Look what it says. Verse 9, He made known to us the mystery of His will. He made known to who? Us, believers. He did it in all wisdom and insight. Why did He do it? Look what it says. According to His kind intention, or you could say according to His pleasure. He did it because He wanted to. It pleased Him to reveal to us why everything is and where it's all going. You know, you can... that's the kind of being that you can trust. Don't you like people that it pleases them to share with you things that are helpful to you? Do you like people like that? That's God. It delights Him to share with you where everything's going because you need to know that and it's good for you. And what is specifically the mystery of God's will for all things? Well, we took some time to work through this. In some passages, the mystery is simply the mystery of Christ in general. The purposes that God had not yet fully revealed, but now He revealed in the New Testament. In some passages, the mystery involves individual aspects of God's purpose. For example, Matthew 13, he talks about Christ's present aspect of His kingdom, the kingdom of heaven or kingdom of God that Christ offered when He came. Another specific aspect of the mystery of Christ is God's dealings with the Jewish people corporately during this present phase of His kingdom. In Romans 11 it talked about that. Another aspect would be that actually it was a mystery that there would be Gentiles that came to know the Messiah but did not have to become Jewish in their faith. That they actually trusted the Messiah and did not have to start keeping the Old Covenant but they trusted in the One that came to fulfill the Old Covenant. Another aspect is in Ephesians 3, that there would be God is bringing Jew and Gentile into a new man, the what? The church. That's another part of the mystery. Another aspect of the mystery of Christ is the fact that He will rapture the church to Himself, 1 Corinthians 15. Or Ephesians 6, the announcement of the Gospel itself, the announcement of the mystery. But in this passage, what is the mystery of the will of God? It is this, the mystery is God's plan for all things in connection with who? Look what it says, verse 10, 9, He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention, which He purposed in Him, that's Christ, with a view to administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. So, the mystery here is God's plan for all things in connection with who? With Christ. Here is where everything's going. God is administrating His plan for the consummation of history, and His plan for the consummation of history is to unite all things under the headship of Christ. So what we're told here is that all of human history is moving toward the day when everything is summed up under who? Folks, everything in this life is moving toward all things being summed up under who? Under Christ. And the fact that God has revealed this truth about where everything is going is an evidence that He has lavished His grace on us. Now, if this does not interest you at all, either you're not a believer or you're cold-hearted toward the Lord. If your heart doesn't say, yes, I want to know about everything being united under Christ, something's wrong. This is the great reality of human history. Let me ask you this last week, if you were here this last week, did this truth cross your mind? God is administrating His plan for the consummation of history, Which is the uniting of all things under the headship of Christ. You may not have thought of it that way, but did you think about this? Everything in my life is going toward Christ forever. How does that truth change the way you look at the difficult relationship you're in right now? Or have? How does the truth that God is administrating His plan to bring everything to the culminating point of everything under submission to Christ, how does that change the way your marriage operates? How you work? How you relate to your neighbors? How you spend your discretionary time? What you live for? God has lavished you with grace by not only giving you access to the mystery of His will, but showing you the truth that He's going to unite everything under Christ. So that's the first evidence that Paul presents here, that we have been lavished with God's grace in redemption. But there is a second evidence. And it's helpful to know, isn't it, that all of human history is going somewhere, that it's got a plan, it's not a circle, there's a line, it's started, it's ending, it's going toward Christ being all in all. It's helpful, isn't it? But what does that look like for those who are believers? What does it look like that everything is going to be united under Christ? What part do we have as being included in the all things that are going to be united under Christ? Well, look at verse 10, the last two verses. I'm sorry, the last two words. In Him, verse 11, also, we have obtained an inheritance. That's our part. The reality is all things are going to be summed up under Christ one day. That's where everything's going. What's our part in it? If you're a believer in him also, we have a pain and what? Inheritance. That's our part. When everything's summed up in Christ, we get our inheritance. Nothing and no one is going to be left out of that future reality of everything being summed up under Christ. You understand that? Someone can say they don't want Jesus now, but that doesn't change the fact that one day they're going to be united under the headship of Christ. It's going to happen. But that does not mean that all people are going to be on the right side of that. In the last few years, we've heard politicians and movers and shakers in our culture say things like this. You've got to conform to this new morality so that you're on the right side of human, what? History. If you don't get with the program, you're going to look like an idiot in the future. You're on the wrong side of human history. My brothers and sisters, if human history is all about Christ and everything's going to be in submission to Him, you can go with God's Word and be confident you're not going to be on the wrong side of human history. Right? All things will be summed up in Christ. But a great evidence of God's lavish grace toward us isn't just that He's revealed that truth to us, but that He's given us an inheritance that we will come into one day when all things are summed up in Christ. And folks, all of human history is going to that day. Some will be summed up under Christ like this. They will be under the feet of Jesus. What does that mean? They'll be under His what? Under His judgment. They will be summed up under Christ. But some will be coming into an inheritance. The question is, who are we this morning? Are we the ones that are going to be under His feet? In judgment? Or have we laid down our rebellion against the Lord and trusted in Christ alone, who died for us and rose again, and we are promised a future inheritance? That's the question. So our focus this morning is on the second evidence of God's lavish grace toward us. Yes, God's grace has made known to us the mystery of His will for all things, everything to be summed up in Christ, but also God's grace has made known to us and has given us an inheritance, an inheritance. Now there's a challenging interpretational issue here that I just want to point out and then move on. You might read the reference in the column and wonder what's going on here, or you might hear someone teach it in this way, and I want to explain. I'm aware that it could go this way, but I would agree with the way our translation takes it. Look at verse 10. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance. If you look at the reference note in the NASB, it says, Verse 11, we're made a heritage. In other words, in Him, we were made a heritage. If that was the case, what it's saying is, is that in Christ, we were made God's inheritance. Now, does that sound funny to you, that we would be God's inheritance? Yes or no? Don't be led on by my question. Think about it. Does it sound funny? Well, actually, it's a very biblical truth, okay? It could be, in Him, we were made God's inheritance. And that's, biblically speaking, that's very true. In the Old Testament, God spoke of His people then like this, Deuteronomy 9, 29. Yet, they are your people, even your inheritance. That's a very biblical truth. The question is whether or not that is what Paul is saying here. And just to show you my quandary, I worked through this issue with the 16 commentaries on Ephesians that I look at. And the majority of them said it was, we are God's inheritance, not that we are getting an inheritance. But the majority of the main translations that are really reliable go with the way our translation has it, okay? And I'm going to argue that the right way to go with it is the way our translation has it. Look at Ephesians 1 verse 3. What day is that talking about? When are we going to be holy and blameless in His presence? And when we come into our what? Our inheritance. And everything in this passage is about how God has blessed us for His glory. So I would look at this and say this is another one of His blessings, our inheritance. And we're not going to take the time to do this this morning, but we're going to come across other verses in this chapter as we continue to talk about an inheritance. And I believe every single one of them is talking about our inheritance, not us being God's inheritance. Though that is certainly true. Folks, again and again, the New Testament challenges us and motivates us in our present lives on the basis of our future hope. Do you understand that? As a believer, you're not going to be able to live the Christian life the way God intends unless you are motivated by the future promises of God. That's how God has designed it. I want to show us that before we look at these verses together. Turn to Philippians chapter 3. Philippians chapter 3. Paul is warning the Philippian believers of the danger of false teachers. And in that warning, we find something out. Look at chapter 3, verse 18. For many walk, of whom I often told you, And now tell you, even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose God is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things." So their focus is where? Now, only on this earth, right? You see that? For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself." So he's saying false teachers have their focus where? Only here. But we're believers, our citizenship is in heaven, and he focuses us on the future inheritance. Alright, turn to 1 Peter 1 if you're able to get there pretty quickly. 1 Peter 1. When Peter seeks to help believers stand firm in God's grace during times of suffering and persecution, he does so by reminding us, them and us, that we need to do so on the basis of a foundational truth that we are born again and what those implications mean. Look at verse 3 of 1 Peter 1. Notice the future orientation here toward our inheritance. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. To obtain and what? an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials. so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold, which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. And though you have not seen Him, you love Him. And though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls." You can see how he's saying, you're going through trouble now, but get through that trouble by focusing on what? Your future inheritance, the hope. Later in First Peter, he says this, Therefore, prepare your minds for action. Keep sober in spirit. Fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. So, folks, does the Bible use our future inheritance as a way to... Does the Bible use that truth as a way to motivate us in the present? Yes or no? It does. Turn to Romans 8. Turn to Romans 8. What I'm trying to do is just fill in some applicational truths about this future inheritance and then go back into Ephesians 1 and really rejoice in how sure it is. Romans chapter 8. Look at verse 18. Paul says this, I consider the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. What's that talking about? Our future what? Inheritance, the glory that's to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers and pains the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first feuds of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see with perseverance, we wait eagerly for it. Now, folks, that again is showing that we persevere in this life with hope in the future, right? Okay. Now that we've seen the importance of this fact of focusing on the future inheritance, we need to rejoice in the fact that God's grace has given us a future inheritance in His presence. Look at Ephesians 1 with me. Ephesians 1, look at the end of verse 10 again. It says this, in him also we have obtained an inheritance. Who is the in him? In this passage, again and again, it's Jesus, isn't it? In him. In Christ, we have obtained a future inheritance. So number one, our inheritance is in connection with who? With Christ. This is one of the spiritual blessings that God has blessed us with in Christ. If you are born again, you are in union with Christ, and in Him, you have this future inheritance. Everything's gonna be summed up under Christ. So if you're not in Christ one day, you're gonna be under His feet, as His enemy. But He offers you terms of peace today. Would you believe in Him today? Would you trust in Him alone and be born again? If you are born again, you are in union with Christ, and by virtue of your connection with Christ, God has given you a future inheritance. But how can we be sure, folks, that we will come into this future inheritance? Is there any doubt? Do you wonder, I'm in Christ, but I don't know, am I really going to get there? Am I going to come into this inheritance? If you're in Christ, how sure is it that you are going to come into this inheritance? What does this present life, your present daily life, have to do with coming into your future inheritance one day? Does Monday through Saturday and Sunday have anything to do with your future inheritance? Or is it all just kind of a wait and see and it's all a mess now and it has nothing to do with the future and one day he's just going to take you there and you're going to be there and it's going to be wonderful. Has he saved you and left you to this world on your own and the victim of the struggles in this world? Or is there something going on right now in relationship to your future inheritance? Our inheritance, number one, is in connection with Christ, but secondly, and really the main part of our text this morning is, our inheritance is because of something. Look at verse 11. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been what? In Him we have obtained an inheritance, having been what? Predestined. You could say it this way. In Him, in Christ, you've obtained an inheritance because you were... predestined because you were predestined. So secondly, our inheritance is because of predestination. We've talked about this word before. This word should not be scary to us. It should be wonderful. This word should cause our hearts to rejoice. This word should cause us to be magnifying God's grace toward us and the surety of our future inheritance. Once again, the Holy Spirit does not allow us to think of our salvation only like this, that Christ died and rose again, and that we heard the good news and we believed, therefore we were saved. That's true, and we need to think of it that way, but we can't only think of our salvation that way. If we're gonna praise our praiseworthy God for the blessings He has given us, we are going to have to let Scripture tell us how those blessings came about. It wasn't just that you, out of the millions of people, billions of people on this earth, happened to realize that Jesus is the Savior and you believe, therefore you're saved. You did believe, therefore you are saved, but there's something underneath all of that. These blessings that we have received did not come about haphazardly. We're not blessed because we are smarter than others who have not received these spiritual blessings of salvation. We were not chosen for salvation because we had better qualifications, because of our politics, or because of our economic standing, or because of our race, or because of our giftedness, or because of anything else. That is not why we were chosen for salvation. We were chosen because we were predestined to this. Now, all those who are chosen for salvation have to believe to be justified and accepted, right? Nobody knows they're chosen or predestined unless they what? Believe. But once someone believes in Christ, the Bible comes along and lovingly assures them, you know why you believe? You believe because I had a plan from eternity for you. That's why you believe. I love you that much. Though I owe you nothing, except judgment, I provided a way for you to receive my grace. Paul's point here is that we are blessed with having a future inheritance because it was God's eternal plan. We've obtained this inheritance in Christ because we were predestined to it. Let's talk about this word predestined. We've talked about it before. It's a compound word in the original language. It has pro, which means before, and arizo, which means horizon, often used for the word horizon. Think about the horizon. You look out and you see a boundary. It looks like a boundary marker between maybe the ocean. In the sky, the horizon, a marker. God marked you out beforehand for a future inheritance that you have not yet even come into if you're a believer. Do you get that? He chose you to be saved now and therefore to have a future inheritance. Back in verse 5 we already learned this, God predestined us because He loved us. And He predestined us to be adopted as His children. But now we learn that we can be sure if you are in Christ, if you've called upon Him to be saved, you can be sure that you will come into your future inheritance because everyone who's truly believed in Jesus was marked off an eternity past to come into this inheritance. Does that sound sure to you folks? Look at what verse 11 says. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined. Why? Look what it says. According to His purpose. In other words, we're going to come into our future inheritance because God predestined us to that future inheritance. And notice, His predestining of us to that future inheritance was governed by or according to His purpose. Why did He do it? Because He had a plan. Because He had a purpose. It was His decision, His resolve and eternity past to give you a future inheritance that you have not yet come into. So, God predestined us to this inheritance because of His purpose. Now, folks, do we ever resolve to do things? Do you ever make resolutions? Do you make plans? Yes or no? Right? Doesn't it feel good when you finally get enough energy up? to make a decision you know you should have made a long time ago. Finally, I become resolved in my spirit, I'm going to turn over a new leaf, I'm going to do that starting Monday. And now it's Saturday, and it's gone. Were you sure you were going to do it? Were you resolved? Yeah, but did it happen? No, sometimes because we're lazy, right? Sometimes it's because the circumstances around us eliminate possibility to even do what we resolve to do, right? Our lives are littered with plans and purposes and decisions to do this or that and they never come about... So folks, why should it encourage you when you hear that God, before time, resolved, and therefore predetermined, that you would come into a future inheritance. Why should that encourage you when you make resolutions every day that fall by the wayside? Well, look at verse 11. The problem with our purposing to do things is that we are not guaranteed the ability to do what we purpose, and often, Because we're not in control of our circumstances, our purposes fall by the wayside. But that is not the case with God. We may make a plan, but that plan will rise and fall based on many uncontrollable circumstances around us that influence whether or not we'll be able to carry our plan out. What about God, though? Folks, is God ever unable to carry out His plans and purposes? What do you think? Is there anybody that can stay the hand of God? Is he ever the victim of unforeseen circumstances that totally befuddle his plans? Never. Listen to what Isaiah 46 says, 9-11. Remember the former things long past, for I am God and there is no one other. I am God and there is no one like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying my purpose will be established and I will accomplish all my good pleasure. In other words, if God wants to do something, it's going to get done. calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my purpose from a far country. Truly, I've spoken. Truly, I will bring it to pass. I have planned it. Surely, I will do it." In Him, also, we have obtained an inheritance. Why? Because He predestined us. Why? Because He resolved to do so according to His purpose. I have planned it, surely I will do it. Look at what verse 11 says. We're told that God's purpose has an activity. It's not just that God has made a plan from eternity past and marked you off for inheritance. It's that God's purpose right now has an activity in your life. Look what it says in verse 11. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been protested according to His purpose, who," here's the activity, "...works all things after the counsel of His will." Folks, is that happening now? Is He working all things after the counsel of His will now in your life, right now? Yes, even though this is about your future inheritance. Alright, so what's going on here? Let's read these verses and try to get the connection. In Him also we've obtained an inheritance, having or because He predestined us according to His purpose, His resolve, and the person that He is, He's got a resolve, and the problem with our resolve is that we can't work everything to conform to our resolve, but that's not God. He has a plan and a resolve, and He works all things after the counsel of His will. In other words, God is working all things after the plan of His own will. So God has blessed you in Christ such that you have a future inheritance. Why? Because He predestined you. Because He made a plan. And this is how you know His plan is going to happen. He is working everything in your life and everything in this world right now to carry out that plan. Why should we be confident that when God purposes something it will become about? Because He is working everything according to that plan right now. This word is used later. in Ephesians 1. We're told that God is working all things after the counsel or the plan of His will. He's working. Look what Ephesians 1.18 says. These are in accordance with the working of His strength. That's the same word, of His might, which He brought about in Christ. In other words, there was a working of God when God raised Jesus from the dead. You see that? That same working is working everything in your life right now to bring about God's predetermined plan that you would be in His presence forever and with inheritance. As William Hendrickson put it, his providence in time. is as comprehensive as His decree from eternity. He decreed from eternity, you're going to be in His presence forever, and now He is providentially working every single moment of your life for that future fulfillment. I'm going to ask you a really simple question. What does all things mean? What's it mean? It means all things. It means everything. If you're in Christ, God is blessed or praiseworthy because He has blessed you with a future eternal inheritance in His presence. Why did He bless you? Because He predestined or predetermined that you would come into that future eternal inheritance. And He did that because He had a purpose and He works everything after that purpose. Everything after that purpose. Folks, think of it this way. That means that God is like the great conductor of an orchestra, which is human history. Only this difference. He's the one that created and works in every single instrument through human history. They really do play their own instrument. We really do make real choices that we're accountable for. But He is conducting them sovereignly, and you are one of the instruments in human history who He has redeemed to Himself, and He's conducting everything in human history after the counsel of His will. And what is His will? That you would be in His presence, and you would have that inheritance forever. What does this mean for human history? It means that all things are going to be united under Christ. He's working everything to that point. What does it mean for you as a believer? It means that all things in your life right now are being employed by who? By God to carry out His predetermined plan to bring you into your future inheritance. Every single thing in your life. All things. A few weeks ago, when we put down the carpet squares in the lobby, we were really happy that we could return, I think it was two or three boxes, three boxes, because thankfully it worked out such that we didn't have very many scrap pieces. But sometimes when you're doing a project like that, there is a pile of scraps that are unusable, right? We had some, but sometimes there's a lot more. Maybe you view your life like that. You're in Christ, but you feel as if much of your life, many details of your life are like a scrap pile, unusable, a waste. Really completely separate from God's purpose in your life. You ever feel that way? There's things in your life, you say, that's just, I know God's got a plan, but that's just, that's over there in a pile that doesn't mean anything. It was a waste. In fact, much of your discouragement in life is rooted in that thought. What is the point? How could God use this? I messed everything up. And we do mess things up, don't we? On one level. And we're accountable for it, aren't we? And we displease God. And we disappoint people. And we make trouble in our lives. We make trouble in other people's lives because of our foolishness. And we do waste things. But this verse teaches that if you are in Christ, God has marked you off from eternity past to be in his presence forever, and he's presently working, sovereignly orchestrating everything in your life to that end. Everything. Folks, in eternity, you're gonna see that there is not a scrap pile in the corner of your life. You understand that? Did you make mistakes? Did you sin? Did you displease God? Yes. But God is such a great conductor that he is conducting your life and human history such that when you're in heaven, there's not going to be a scrap pile. You're going to see every single piece was part of his bringing you into your inheritance that he promised. Do you sin? Yes. But is God a God who sovereignly works for His grace and glory? Is there suffering? Yes. In your victories, your defeats, your gains, your losses, the winter and spring times of your life and your soul, He is working all things after the counsel of His will, which is that you would be in His presence forever, completely rid of sin and pain and sorrow and suffering, and having a perfect but ever-growing knowledge and apprehension and enjoyment of His glory. Lord willing, two weeks from today, after we focus in on the resurrection next week, we'll talk about this truth and illustrate it from other parts of Scripture. But today we want to finish up by looking at this truth related, the truth in verse 12 that's related to this. Look at verse 12, alright? Well first let me recap what we've seen so far. God's grace has given us an inheritance, right? He's lavished us with the knowledge that everything is going to be summed up in Christ. And with the knowledge that we have a future inheritance and His grace has given us that inheritance, it comes to us in connection with who? The only reason you're going to be coming into this inheritance is because you're in who? You're in Christ. Number two, our inheritance is because of predestination. He predestined us to it. He did so according to his purpose. And we know it's going to be effective because he's working how much toward that end? Everything. But next, God predestined us to this inheritance for something. Look at verse 12. To the end, that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. So what is it, folks? God predestined us to this inheritance for the praise of His what? Praise of His glory. We learned in verses 4-6 that our salvation is all about the praise of God's glory and His grace. It's His party, not ours, right? But the great thing about his party is that when he has the party, we have the greatest good that could ever be for us. Here we learn specifically in that salvation, our future inheritance is all about the praise of the glory of God. Folks, why did God mark you off beforehand in the eternity past to have this future inheritance? For the praise of His what? Why does God so work so wonderfully in your life when you fail? And when you take credit for things you shouldn't take credit for, when you mess things up, why does He work everything according to His plan for your future inheritance? Not because you deserve it. Because He loves you for His what? His glory. That means that God is sovereignly ruling over the effects of sin in your life, of suffering, of the relationships in your lives, everything to the praise of His glory. Maybe you've met someone, or maybe you are the person who is a believer, but is constantly questioning why. Why this or that is happening in my life? Why is it happening? And no matter what scriptural counsel you receive, you simply have this nagging question that remains. But why God? Why me? Why this? Why now? Someone who is characteristically asking that question and remaining unsatisfied with God's answer may be someone who's never been instructed about this truth. And when they are, They realize that it's for God's glory. Slowly and gradually, they'll come to rejoice in that truth and it'll kill their complaining spirit. It'll kill their grumbling. It'll kill their unjust questioning of God. Or maybe someone being instructed on the truth, but maybe you're someone who's still unsatisfied with God's answer. If that's the case, then either you're not a believer, and fundamentally you are not okay with God being who? God, and you not being God. And so the fact that something's in your life, and you know God's in control, and you don't like that, You fundamentally have a disposition of insubordination to God and you're not willing to submit to His wise ways that you don't understand. You have to be in control. Your heart is an unsubmitted heart. You don't know Christ. You are not saved. Or it could be that you as a believer have simply allowed your desires, your will, your plans to eclipse God's plans and will, and you're left unsatisfied with this answer. Why is that in your life? Because God is doing what he's doing in your life for the praise of his what? His glory. Is that satisfying to you? Are you okay with that? What God is lovingly showing all of us in this passage is that God's pursuit of His glory and the praise of His glory is inseparable from His predetermined plan to bring you into the joy of His presence forever. You see that? He's predetermined you're going to be in His presence in inheritance. Right now He's working everything toward that end. And it's all for His glory. So everything in your life is for His glory. Everything is being used to bring you into your inheritance. So what of it can you complain about? Now we're weak and we struggle, don't we? But we just need to be on God's side on this. None of it is legitimate to be complaining about. None of it. He's working it all after the counsel of His will for the praise of His glory. One final truth we need to see from verse 12 is this. It isn't just that He works all things after the counsel of His will for the praise of His glory. It's that He works all things after the counsel of His will so that we who are the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. Look what it says there. To the end that we who are the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. So it's all for His glory, but it is so that we might be to the praise of His glory. So He's wrapped up His glory in who? Those who hope in Christ. Do you see that? He's wrapped up His glory in those who hope in Christ. Which means the day that God decides to no longer pursue His glory in all things will be the day that He throws you to the scrap pile and says, I give up on that guy or that lady. and that's never gonna happen. Verse 12 says, he's done all this so that we who were the first to hope in Christ. There's a discretion about who the we is here and what first means. Let me briefly talk about it. Some people say that we here refers to the Jewish people, we who were the first to hope in Christ. Were the Jewish people the first people to trust in the Messiah, yes or no? Yes, the remnant of them, or the smaller portion of them did, yes. And there's some good arguments, especially because later in the book it talks about God bringing Jews and Gentiles together. Alright? But in this sentence, so far, what believers has God been talking about? How many of the believers do you think? In Him, He's blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. Who's that talking about? Everybody. So I think when we get to here, it would be strange that we'd start talking about one section of God's people. It is true that in the next verse, we're going to get into it, it says, in Him you also. So people say, alright, Jews first, then Gentiles. But that seems to be foreign to the context here. I think what he's simply saying is this. In Him we, meaning who? All of us. Sometimes when I preach, do I say we? And then do I slip over and say you? Same people, right? And that's what he's doing here. But then he says, first. Now that throws us off a little bit, right? Well, the word does not have to be translated first hope. It's one word. It's the word hope with a pro prefix on the front. And there are other places it can be just translated before or already. So I think what he's saying is, we who have already trusted in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. He's saying, if you've trusted in Christ, you'll be to the praise of His glory. We're going to conclude with this and we're going to balloon on this again in a couple weeks, but what's the disposition of us right now as we wait for our future inheritance? What does it say in verse 12? To the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ. So in between our initial trusting in Christ and hope in Christ until we come into that inheritance when God's working everything according to His plan, what are we doing? We're hoping, we're hoping, we're trusting, we're believing, we're submitting our life to the truth that God's working everything after the council as well. What should be our disposition right now as we work through the very specific details of our life? Hope, hope in Christ, every single thing, hope in Christ. It's all being worked together for our future inheritance. Folks, when we get into a downward spiral, it's because we've lost what? Hope. Biblical hope isn't just a good luck charm. It's not that. It's a confident expectation based on who God is. Hope is faith expressed in confident expectation about our future based on the certainty of who God is, that He's sovereign, and what He's promised is guaranteed by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So folks, God has lavished us with this future inheritance. Our inheritance is in connection with Christ. It's because He predestined us to it. He did that because He had a purpose, and He's working everything in our lives according to that purpose, and it's all for the praise of His what? For His glory. Are you in Christ? Then this is you. If you're not, trust Christ today. Trust Christ today. Don't live another day of your life Feeling as if there's no purpose. Don't do that. Don't come to the day when everything's summed up in Christ and you're under His feet. Don't do that. He's offering you salvation. He's offering you terms of peace. Will you trust in Him alone? Why is God praiseworthy? Well, our text today says because in his grace, he's blessed us with a future inheritance and he's working everything in our lives right now to bring us into that inheritance. May the Lord enable us to live the very small details of our life in light of that great truth. Father, we thank you that you have revealed this to us in your grace. You have lavished us with grace. Help us not to live like impoverished Believers, we are not that. We have an inheritance. We have present blessings. Help us to live in light of those now. Invade every quarter of our lives right now where there is little hope with this great biblical hope that you are working all things together to bring us into that future inheritance for your glory. And we pray that you would bring about faith in the hearts of one here today who does not know you. We pray all these things in Jesus' name. Amen.