Ephesians 1:11-14 | “An Inheritance from God and For God”

God Loves His Glory Most

What does God most care about?  What does God love the most?  World peace?  The poor and marginalized?  Social justice?  The U. S. A.?  Evangelism and missions?  What is in the center of God’s affections?  Many of us might say, “God loves us the most.”  We’re prone to think that God’s greatest love is for us.  That we’re the thing in the center of his heart.

God of course loves us.  “For God so loved the world” (Jn. 3:16).  But does the Bible teach that God loves us more than anything else?  No, in fact, it doesn’t.  The overwhelming testimony of the Bible is that God loves his glory more than anything else.  The Bible tells us in many ways and in many places that God’s glory is what God cares about more than anything else.

There are dozens of verses that show us God’s love of his own glory.  Isaiah 48:11, “How should my name be profaned?  My glory I will not give to another.”  Isaiah 43:6-7, “Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory.”  Jesus told us to do good works so that God gets glory.  “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 5:16).  Jesus said that he answers prayer so that God would be glorified.  “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (Jn. 14:13).  God forgives our sins for his own sake.  “For your name’s sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great” (Ps. 25:11).  Everything we do is supposed to be done for God’s glory.  “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31).  God’s plan is to fill the earth with the knowledge of his glory.  “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (Hab. 2:14).  God’s passion for God’s glory is all over the Bible.  God’s ultimate goal in all things is his glory because the thing he cares about most is his glory.

How Is It Loving for God to Love His Own Glory?

This begs an important question: How is it loving for God to love his glory more than anything else?  First of all, it’s right for God to do some things that we shouldn’t do.  God is free to do some things that we’re not free to do, like love himself above all else.  God cannot sin so he cannot commit idolatry.  He cannot love anything above himself. 

And secondly, if God’s glory is the most precious thing in the universe, then God asking us to live for it is the most loving thing he could do.  If God created us for his glory, then when we live for his glory, we’ll find true and lasting joy.  Psalm 16:11, “In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”  If God is the most satisfying Person in the universe, then him asking us to live for him is a loving thing to do.  It is therefore loving for God to love his glory.

God’s Glory His Goal in Salvation

If God does everything for his glory, then our salvation is for his glory.  This is one of the primary themes of the section of Ephesians we’ve been studying.  Remember that 1:3-14 is a song of praise to God for what he’s done for us.  Paul is blessing God, glorifying God, exalting God throughout this passage (vv. 3, 6, 12, 14).  God is worthy of glory for all of his gifts to us in salvation.  In other words, God saved us for his glory.  The glory of God is the goal of our salvation.  This is the theme of Ephesians 1:3-14.

Heirs of an Inheritance

Our text this morning, verses 11-14, is going to show us two more reasons why God should be glorified in our salvation.  He should be praised for the blessing of an inheritance (vv. 11-12) and he should be praised for the blessing of the Holy Spirit (vv. 13-14).

First, in verses 11-12, God is praised for the blessing of an inheritance.  In these verses, we see that the reason God gave an inheritance to those he predestined was so that his people would praise his glory.  At the beginning of verse 11, Paul says that believers have “obtained an inheritance.”  He’s taking the thought of verse 4 a step further, saying that God’s children are also God’s heirs.  The sons and daughters of God are also the heirs of God’s estate.  Paul says this more explicitly in Romans 8:17, where he says that, if we’re children of God, then we’re “heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.”

What is an heir?  It’s someone who inherits the wealth or estate or property of someone who has died.  Paul is saying that those who’re united to Christ (notice the “in him” at the beginning of verse 11) have become the beneficiaries of God.  God, of course, hasn’t died and left all his possessions to us.  The point is that, because of Jesus’ death (v. 7), all those united to Jesus become heirs with Jesus of all that is God’s. 

What Do Heirs Get?

What exactly does an heir of God get?  This text doesn’t tell us.  But we know from other texts that God’s children get God’s kingdom.  Luke 12:32, “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”  We also get freedom from bondage to death and decay.  Romans 8:21, “The creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.”  We get brand new bodies (Rom. 8:23; 1 Cor. 15:50-57).  And most importantly, the heirs of God inherit perfect fellowship with God.  Revelation 21:3, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man.  He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.”  And 22:4, “They will see his face.”  This is the wealth that the heirs of God inherit. 

A Wealth for the Poor

This wealth isn’t for everyone.  It’s only for those who admit their poverty.  Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:3).  Only those who admit that they’re spiritually poor inherit the wealth of God’s kingdom.  Those who admit that they’ve sinned against the holy God who made them, breaking his law and ignoring his goodness.  Those who admit that they can’t do anything to save themselves and who look to Someone else to give them what they don’t have. 

Inheritors of God’s wealth are the ones who’ve put their trust in the death of Jesus for their sins.  “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich” (2 Cor. 8:9).  We can only be rich in God if we admit our poverty and come to the One who made himself poor, Jesus Christ. 

An Inheritance for Those Predestined

Notice how God made believers in Christ his heirs at the end of verse 11.  The inheritance is a result of predestination.  This is the same thought of verse 5.  God made his people his heirs because he predestined them to be his people.  He chose beforehand who his sons and daughters would be, and therefore, he chose who would get his wealth.

This verse also says that God’s predestinating work was according to God’s purpose.  It wasn’t haphazard or willy-nilly, but measured, thought out, and carefully planned.  In verse 5 the emphasis is on the pleasure God took in making his plan.  But here in verse 11 the emphasis is on the thought-out nature of the plan.  Words about God’s meticulous planning pile up here: purpose, work, counsel, will. 

Paul’s point is to get believers to think about how much care God took in saving them.  The God who plans all things is the God who planned to save them.  The God who designed stars and planets and galaxies and rain forests and coral reefs and seasons and the laws of physics and the human body is the God who carefully planned the salvation of his people. 

Paul doesn’t want us to lose sight of the privileged place the children of God have in God’s universe.  The God who holds planets in motion and who knows how many hairs are on our heads decided that I should be his child, that I should be a recipient of his wealth.  He doesn’t do this because of their accomplishments or their righteousness, but out of sheer grace (vv. 7-8).  If you’re in Christ, God carefully planned to make you his heir before the world existed.  He thoughtfully drew up a will that detailed all he would do for, and all he would give, his children. 

If you’re a Christian, do you see yourself as a privileged recipient of God’s love?  Do you see yourself as special in God’s sight?  This isn’t about helping your self-esteem.  It’s actually meant to kill your self-esteem and create in you a “God-esteem.”  The God who created all, knows all, sees all, and plans all decided that you should be in his family.  And this despite the fact that he knew that you’d rebel against him and live for yourself.  Our status as God’s children isn’t an accident or something that we accomplished through our great planning.  It isn’t based on anything we did.  It’s the result of God carefully planning in advance to give us an inheritance. 

Inheritance for God’s Glory

Verse 12 tells us why God did all this.  Believers in Christ are made heirs of God for God’s glory.  Because God loves his glory more than anything else, everything that he did to save us, and all that he gives us in salvation, is meant to point away from us and to him.  He carefully chose his children in order to reveal his glory.  He gives his children his wealth so that his glory might be seen and praised.  If you’re a Christian, God saved you in order to display his worth, not yours.  This sets us free to live for him, serve him, worship him, and enjoy him.

Sealed with the Spirit

The second reason God should be glorified is for the blessing of the Holy Spirit (vv. 13-14).  In these verses, we see that those who hear and believe the gospel are sealed with the Holy Spirit, who serves as a guarantee of what is to come, all for the glory of God.

At the beginning of verse 13, Paul says yet again that the blessing of God is only for those who’re “in Christ.”  Only believers in Christ are sealed with the Spirit.  Only those who hear and believe the gospel that redemption from sin comes through the death of Jesus receive the gift of God’s Spirit.

Notice that these three events, hearing the gospel, believing it, and receiving the seal of the Holy Spirit, all happened at the same time.  The Spirit is immediately gifted to those who place their faith in Christ.  The Spirit isn’t given later, but immediately when we trust in Jesus. 

Believers are “sealed” with the Spirit at the moment of conversion.  In antiquity, seals were often used to guarantee the authenticity and ownership of a piece of property or legal document.  Paul’s other use of the word “sealed” in Ephesians helps us understand what he means (4:30).  The Spirit marks off certain people for salvation from the wrath of God.  God saves his people and sets the seal of his protection on them to protect them from the wrath that is coming (5:6).

The Spirit is a Down Payment

Verse 14 gives us more information about why we’re given the Spirit.  The Spirit is not only a seal on believers, but also a “guarantee,” or “down payment,” “deposit,” “pledge,” or “first installment,” of the “inheritance” that God gives his children.

The word for “guarantee” was used to describe a Greek legal custom “for an amount of money that someone who wanted a service performed paid to the person who would provide the services.  It was an amount smaller than the total cost of the service and functioned as a guarantee that the full amount would be paid once the service was rendered.  Accepting the down payment also served as commitment from the service provider that he or she would follow through on the contract.”  A down payment was an expression of intent to pay the full amount.

This means that God has given believers his Spirit as his “expression of intent” that he’ll fulfill his commitment to them in the future and give them their full inheritance.  The Spirit is tangible assurance that God will give his children what he’s promised them. 

Longing for Heaven

These verses are eschatological in nature, or future-looking.  They have to do with what will happen to believers when Jesus returns.  This is confirmed by the phrase “until we acquire possession of it” (NIV, “until the redemption of those who are God’s possession”).  God has redeemed his chosen ones (v. 7) in the past through Jesus’ blood, and he will redeem them in the future through Jesus’ return (4:30).  Redemption has been accomplished and will be accomplished.  The future redemption of believers is the full amount of which the Spirit is the down payment.  The inheritance that we’ll receive is ours, but it isn’t in our possession yet.

My grandfather gave his land to my mom and uncle.  My mom has already told me and my four siblings what portion of the land we’ll receive.  So I know what will be mine in the future, though it’s not yet fully in my possession. 

Sometimes when Suzy and I go home to where I grew up, we’ll drive out to the land that’ll be ours one day.  We dream about what we could do out there, about building a house for missionaries to stay in when they’re Stateside, for pastors to retreat to, for our family to gather at.  There’s a longing for what could be.

In the same way, in another passage, Paul says that the believer’s longing for heaven is because the Spirit has been given to us (2 Cor. 5:1-5).  Our longing for heaven is because we’ve been given a foretaste of heaven by being sealed with the Holy Spirit (cf. Rom. 8:23).

Those who have the Spirit long for heaven because they long for the fullness of what they’ve already been given in part, which is fellowship with God.  An evidence that we have the Spirit is that we long for heaven, long for the fulfillment of what’s already been started in us.  That we long for the redemption of our bodies.  That we long for the perfection of our world.  That we long for the uniting of all things under the supremacy of Jesus.  That we long for that moment when we’ll see Jesus’ glory and be in the very presence of God.  That we long for that moment when our faith becomes sight. 

Billy Graham, who died on Wednesday, said, “Someday you will read or hear that Billy Graham is dead.  Don’t you believe a word of it.  I shall be more alive than I am now.  I will just have changed my address.  I will have gone into the presence of God.’”  This is the great hope of the gospel: being with God.  Not being reunited with our spouse or loved ones or mansions or golden streets or toys or whatever thing other than Jesus you most want to experience in heaven.  And the Spirit is a foretaste, an advance installment, of what is to come for believers.

To summarize: God sealed believers with the Holy Spirit in order to give them a down payment of their future inheritance, tangible assurance that they’re part of the people that will be saved from his wrath on the final day.

The Gift of the Spirit is for God’s Glory

Notice finally the ultimate reason why God does all this (v. 14b).  The glory of God is the ultimate reason why God sealed Christians with the Holy Spirit and why he intends to redeem them in the future from his judgment.  God did all that he has done for believers for the praise of his glory.  This is the theme of these four verses and this entire section (vv. 3-14).

God has blessed his people with every spiritual blessing (v. 3), chose them before time (v. 4), adopted them into his family (v. 5), redeemed them through his blood (v. 7), forgiven their trespasses (v. 7), showered them with his grace (v. 8), revealed to them the mystery of his will to reunite and remake the universe in Christ (vv. 9-10), given them an inheritance (v. 11), and sealed them with his Spirit (v. 13) “for the praise of his glory.”

Why did God choose you?  “For the praise of God’s glory.”  Why did Jesus die for you?  “For the praise of God’s glory.”  Why did the Spirit seal you?  “For the praise of God’s glory.”  Because God has saved us for his glory, we should live for his glory.  The generosity of God in giving us what we don’t deserve sets us free from the bondage of living for small things like ourselves and money and comfort and pleasure.  We’re freed to live how we were created to live: for the glory of God.