Though one might be poor by the world's standards, no one is as wealthy as the person that has placed his trust in Jesus Christ. Free PowerPoint Download at http://BibleGuy.org

1. We Are Wealthy
Ephesians 1:1-3

2. The Story of Ali Hafed
Darya-e-Nur The Hope Diamond
Golcanda

3. Significance or Worth
• Where do we mine for significance, self-
worth, security (diamonds)?
– Friends, popularity, relationships, who you know
– Possessions: money, car, property, etc.
– Accomplishment
– Health, looks
– Power, Authority, control, a title
– Heritage
– Kids

4. God has already Given
us our field of
diamonds.

5. Structure of Ephesians
• Chapters 1-3: What God has given to us.
• Chapters 4-6: What we ought to do because of
what God has given to us.
• 1:3-14 is one sentence.
• Ephesians contains eight lengthy sentences
(1:3–14, 15–23; 2:1–7; 3:2–13, 14–19; 4:1–6,
11–16; 6:14–20).
• Three of these are praises (1:3–14, 15–23;
3:14–19).

6. Ephesians 1:1–14 (ESV) 1 Paul, an apostle of Christ
Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in
Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: 2 Grace to
you and peace from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ. 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with
every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,
4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and blameless
before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption
as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the
purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious
grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

7. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the
forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of
his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and
insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will,
according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as
a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him,
things in heaven and things on earth. 11 In him we have
obtained an inheritance, having been predestined
according to the purpose of him who works all things
according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who
were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of
his glory. 13 In him you also, when you heard the word of
truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him,
were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the
guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession
of it, to the praise of his glory

8. Ephesians 1:1–3 (ESV)
Greeting
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of
God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are
faithful in Christ Jesus: 2 Grace to you and peace
from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with
every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,

9. The Author
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ
Jesus by the will of God,
• Apostle – sent one.
Acts 9:15–16 15 But the
Lord said to him, “Go, for
he is a chosen instrument
of mine to carry my name
before the Gentiles and
kings and the children of
Israel. 16 For I will show
him how much he must
suffer for the sake of my
name.”

10. We are His servants by His Will
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ
Jesus by the will of God,
• “by the will of God” is a
theme that runs through
the first 14 verses.
• Eph. 1:5 he predestined us for
adoption as sons through
Jesus Christ, according to the
purpose of his will,
• Eph. 1:9 making known to us
the mystery of his will,
according to his purpose,
which he set forth in Christ
• Eph. 1:11 In him we have
obtained an inheritance,
having been predestined
according to the purpose of
him who works all things
according to the counsel of his
will,

11. We are His servants by His Will
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ
Jesus by the will of God,
• After telling us what the
will of God is, in the
application portion of the
letter Paul will inform us
to:
• Understand the will of
God:
– Eph. 5:17 Therefore do not
be foolish, but understand
what the will of the Lord is.
• Do the will of God:
– Eph. 6:6 not by the way of
eye-service, as people-
pleasers, but as servants of
Christ, doing the will of
God from the heart,

12. Salvation is of God, not Man
John also taught that Salvation (Inheritance) is from
the will God, not the will of Man.
John 1:12–13 (ESV) 12 But to all who did receive him,
who believed in his name, he gave the right to
become children of God, 13 who were born, not of
blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of
man, but of God.
“Not of blood” – human inheritance
“Nor of the will of the flesh” – act of works
“Nor of the will of man” – Abraham could not choose
Lot or Ishmael, because it was God that chose Isaac.
We become children of God through the will “of God.”

13. The Recipients
To the saints who are in
Ephesus, and are faithful
in Christ Jesus:
• Saints – set apart
• Faithful -believers
• Formula: “In Christ ”, “in
him”, “in whom”, “in
the beloved”
– Used over 40 times in
Ephesians

14. “In Christ”
• To be “In Christ” is contrasted to being “In
Adam”
1 Cor. 15:21–22 21 For as by a man came death, by a man has
come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all
die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
• To be “In Christ” is to be a New Creation:
2 Cor. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The
old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

15. “In Christ”
• To be “In Christ” is to be in Spiritual union with
Christ:
Rom. 8:9–11 9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the
Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone
who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to
him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead
because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead
dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead
will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit
who dwells in you.John 15:5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in
me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me
you can do nothing.

16. “In Christ”
“To be in Christ, which is the portion of all who are
saved, is to partake of all that Christ has done, all
that He is, and all that He will ever be. It is to have
died in His death, to have been buried in His burial,
to have been raised in His resurrection, to have
ascended in His ascension, and to be seated now
with Him (because he is in Him) in glory. Such is the
believers present position in Christ Jesus.”
L. S. Chafer, Systematic Theology, vol. 4, p. 97

17. “In Christ”
“To be in Christ is to be in the sphere of His own
infinite Person, power, and glory. He surrounds,
He protects, He separates from all else, and He
indwells the one in Him. He also supplies in
Himself all that a soul will ever need in time or
eternity. The union which is formed in Christ is
deeper than any relationship the human mind
has ever conceived.”
L. S. Chafer, Systematic Theo. Vol. 4, p. 99

18. “In Christ”
“ The believer is in Christ, and Christ is in the
believer. The believer is in Christ with regard to
positions, possessions, safekeeping and
association; and Christ is in the believer giving
life, character, and dynamic for conduct.”
L. S. Chafer, Systematic Theology, vol. 4, p. 100

19. Greeting
2 Grace to you and peace from God our
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The letter is about grace (used 12 times):
• (Eph 1:6) to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us
in the Beloved.
• (Eph 1:7) In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness
of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
• (Eph 2:5) even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive
together with Christ--by grace you have been saved—
• (Eph 2:7) so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable
riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
• (Eph 2:8) For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not
your own doing; it is the gift of God,

20. Greeting
2 Grace to you and peace from God our
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The letter is about grace:
• (Eph 3:2) assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's
grace that was given to me for you,
• (Eph 3:7) Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of
God's grace, which was given me by the working of his power.
• (Eph 3:8) To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace
was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,
• (Eph 4:7) But grace was given to each one of us according to the
measure of Christ's gift.
Grace: Divine Favor. Receiving something
favorable from God that we do not deserve.

21. Greeting
2 Grace to you and peace from God our
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The letter is about peace (used seven times):
• (Eph 2:14) For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and
has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility
• (Eph 2:15) by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in
ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the
two, so making peace,
• (Eph 2:17) And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and
peace to those who were near.
• (Eph 4:3) eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
• (Eph 6:15) and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given
by the gospel of peace.

22. Praise to God For
what he has done for Us
3 Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who has blessed us
in Christ with every
spiritual blessing in the
heavenly places,
When directed to God
blessing is a statement
of gratitude and
thanksgiving. In this
case for what he has
done for us through his
son Jesus Christ.

23. Praise to God For
what he has done for Us
3 Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who has blessed us
in Christ with every
spiritual blessing in the
heavenly places,
• The blessing is already
complete. Not
something to gain, but
something already
possessed.
• The blessing is “In
Christ”. They are
possessed only by those
who are in the sphere
of Christ.

24. Praise to God For
what he has done for Us
3 Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who has blessed us
in Christ with every
spiritual blessing in the
heavenly places,
• We have received every
spiritual blessing
– Nature of these blessing,
though not conclusive
are outlined in the
following verses.
– They are present
possessions, procured by
Christ and safeguarded
for us in the eternal
sphere.

25. What are these blessings
from the Father?
• Come with anticipation over the next few weeks.
• Come as a child excited to unwrap the gifts on
Christmas morning.
• Come find out what you already have “in Christ”.
• Come learn that what you already have is better
than what you could ever hope to obtain.
• Come learn how much God loves you and has
given for you.
• Come learn how much Christ loves you.
• Come learn what the Spirit has sealed for you.

26. Come and learn that your significance is not in
the things you have in this world, but in what
you’ve already obtained from God “in Christ”.
“He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep
to gain what he cannot loose.”
Jim Elliott
You have something more precious than
diamonds when you have Christ!