October 25, 2025 • 23 mins
What if your life could run on the quiet power of being wanted? In this message, Brian Durfee walks through Ephesians 1 to show how God reframes our identity from the ground up, moving us from an orphan mindset to the settled confidence of sons and daughters who live “before Him”—face to face with the Father—every hour of the day.
We begin by separating the method of sonship from its source. The gospel is the method—Jesus dies and rises so we can receive life. The source is the Father’s heart—He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. Together we unpack the language and the stakes: “every spiritual blessing” is not distant theology but a present-tense reality flowing from union with the exalted Christ. “Holy” means set apart for God—belonging before behaving. “Blameless” means unblemished integrity—purity within that relationship. And “before Him” paints the intimate picture: the Father lifting His child eye to eye, delighting, steadying, and sending with love.
From there, the message turns to ordinary life. Sonship changes Monday morning more than it changes your someday; it resets the first truth about you before email, expectations, and memory of mistakes. When we stumble, we run to the Father, not from Him, trusting the grace that forgives and the presence that restores. We learn to carry the family name into work, parenting, and friendships so others catch a glimpse of the Father’s patience, courage, and mercy through us. And we remember that this isn’t a solo journey—we live as brothers and sisters in His kingdom now, practicing nearness to God in the middle of busy schedules and real struggles.
For anyone weary of earning their place or bracing for rejection, this message is an invitation to live from a deeper center: chosen, loved, holy, blameless, and always before His face.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Brian Durfee (00:04):
Everything in our lives flows for who we believe
we are.
You know, a few weeks, a fewweeks ago, Derek talked out of
uh, he focused primarily onEphesians 1.5, and he uh he
asked the question, think aboutGod, and then think about what
God's face looks like when helooks at you.
(00:26):
And he said, if it's not asmile, then you still probably
have some kind of orphanmindset.
And we, you know, sometimes wewe don't realize that we're
thinking like an orphan when itcomes to God.
We've got this idea of Godthat's based on our earthly
(00:47):
father and what our earthlyfather did well or what he
didn't do well.
Um, and so I want to build onwhat Eric spoke about.
He was speaking primarily inEphesians 1.5, and I want to go
to 1.4.
So, and don't worry, this isn'tlong.
Um, think about good fathershere on earth.
(01:11):
Even if you you don't havechildren, I think most people
here probably do, but even ifyou don't, we all had a
biological father and possiblyan adoptive father.
And so we can at leastunderstand the concept of
whether they were good fathersor not.
And there's no father who doesit all right here on earth.
And even if our father wasscrewed up, we, you know, we now
(01:34):
do our bet the best we canbecause we want our son to grow
up to be a good man and a goodfather, or our daughter to grow
up to be a good woman and a goodmother.
You know, that's what we want.
But we have a lot to do just tolive life.
I mean, you know, how do I havethis time to focus on what I'm
(01:54):
supposed to learn so I can be agood parent and all that?
I mean, think about it.
We take care of our ourselves,our families, and our kids, and
then there's a then there's ourjobs, and then there's the stuff
that we like to do at church,and then there's the stuff that
we feel like we should do atchurch, and then we're supposed
to read our Bible and pray, andif we're lucky, we get a little
bit of free time.
(02:15):
We live very busy lives.
unknown (02:17):
Yes, true.
Brian Durfee (02:19):
Within most of all the tasks and obligations and
busyness, we don't really have awhole lot of time to think
about what it means to be a sonof God.
And yet, God, the Father, isour model for the fathers that
we're to be.
Whether that means we'refathering our own children, or
whether it means that we'rementoring other young men, or if
(02:43):
it just means that we'reunderstanding who our father is.
So we can we can agree that weare a son of God, that we've
been adopted by God, but in themiddle of this busy life, what
big difference does a son meanwhen we've got all this other
stuff to do?
I mean, if you think about it,Ephesians 1.3 says, God has
blessed us in Christ with everyspiritual blessing in the
(03:04):
heavenlies.
So that's all nice andspiritual, and we can be that,
and we can agree that being achild of God is a spiritual
blessing.
That takes care of the future,so we don't go to hell and we go
to heaven, but what in theworld is it gonna do us for
right now, in the here and now?
So I want you to take thatthought and put a pen in it
because we're gonna come back tothat.
(03:25):
Now, what I want to talk aboutthis morning is the source of
our sonship.
And I know that we're, youknow, I know we are sons in
Christ because he died the deaththat we deserve, because our
sin, because of our sin, and herose from the dead, giving
eternal life to all who willrepent and abide in him.
I mean, we hear that all thetime in church.
(03:47):
That's the gospel.
That's not the source of yoursonship, that's the method by
which we become sons.
The way it happens is thatJesus gave us life, and we can
become sons of God if we repentand follow Jesus.
That's the method.
Ephesians 1 said 1:3, it saysthat we have received all
(04:09):
spiritual blessings in Christ inthe heavenlies.
Now, this isn't a literaltranslation, but here is what
those things entail (04:14):
all spiritual blessings.
That's all we can we caninterpret that one way to mean
all the rights and privileges.
In Christ, the method by whichwe become a son, and in the
heavenlies, this is not aboutthe afterlife.
The heavenly refers to aspiritual realm.
It exists right alongside thephysical realm here, right now.
(04:37):
So when Paul says God hasblessed us in the heavenlies in
Christ, he means that all theblessings we receive are rooted
in our union with Christ anddrawn from his exalted position.
Now that's still not where Iwant to focus today, but it's
the backdrop of what we need tounderstand.
Without Christ, we arespiritually dead.
(04:58):
We are dead in the heavenlyrealm.
And in Christ, we're madealive, not only just alive, but
also sons of God.
And as a son, we're blessedwith all spiritual blessings.
In other words, we're grantedall the rights and privileges of
being a son.
A son gets his identity, hissonship, from his father.
(05:21):
When a boy is born, heinstantly becomes a son of his
father.
The identity of the father ispassed to the son.
He's given the last name of thefather, indicating the family
to which he belongs.
As a son grows up from infantto man, the son has all the
rights and privileges that aregiven to him as a member of the
family.
All those rights and privilegescome because of the identity
(05:44):
the father has given him.
Now, on this earth, somefathers don't want sons.
They're completelyself-centered and just want to
have sex.
They don't want to have achild, and they may go as far as
rejecting their responsibilityas a father and therefore reject
their child.
Those are bad fathers.
(06:04):
But it's not that like thatwith God.
And that's what I that's whereI'm getting to today.
You know, the New Testament wasoriginally written mostly in
Greek, and anytime you translateone language into another, it
doesn't always bring over allthe meaning.
And so we're going to look atthe meaning of some words from
the original Greek in Ephesians1.4.
And I want to tell you, everyone of you can do this.
(06:28):
This is not something that itthere's a site called Bible Hub,
and it will give you all thisinformation, okay?
So um, but what I want to do isI just want to walk through
Ephesians 1.4, just that oneverse.
So that verse says, even as hechose us in him before the
foundation of the world, that weshould be holy and blameless
before him.
(06:48):
Now, even as he chose, he isreferring to the Father.
Just keep that in mind.
The very first word, which inEnglish we it's a phrase, just
as or even as, that's one wordGreek, in Greek, and when I it's
uh kathos.
And when I learned that word,it just really kind of flipped
(07:09):
this whole passage on becauseit's called a comparative
conjunction.
And yes, I just learned that.
But a comparative conjuncture,what it does is it connects two
ideas by showing how onereflects the other.
So it connects what's saidbefore with what's said after.
So that little phrase, just as,here's what Paul's Paul's
(07:34):
saying.
You know all those spiritualblessings I just mentioned?
Let's talk about them.
The first one is, and he goeson to talk.
So that's what just as is.
He's saying, here's the firstof all those spiritual blessings
that we've got.
And so then he the firstblessing is Father chose.
He chose.
Okay?
Why is that a blessing?
(07:55):
Well, there's something thatthe English doesn't bring about,
but the Greek does.
And like I said, this is all inBible Hub.
Um, it's a completed, firstoff, the tense means it's a
completed action.
He chose, it's a done deal,it's it's finished.
Second, it's a statement offact.
But third is the big thing.
It's uh it's called middlevoice.
(08:16):
God did it himself.
When it came to choosing, Goddidn't look over and say, hey
Gabriel, take care of this forme.
God chose himself.
He didn't outsource it, he didit himself.
It was intentional, he waspersonally involved.
When you start thinking aboutyou're chosen, you weren't just
(08:38):
chosen by accident or randomly,or God says, okay, flip the flip
the bingo cage and let's pullout a ball and see who gets it
this time.
God chose you specifically.
And then the next word is us.
So he chose us.
And that's not complicated.
In Greek, it means us.
The next the the next the nextphrase is in him.
(09:01):
Paul's talking about in Christ.
It refers to our position, ourunion with Christ.
God didn't choose peoplerandomly or independently, he
chose people who would be unitedwith his son.
That phrase in him or inChrist, and it's all through
Ephesians.
It identifies the realm orcategory of people God chose,
(09:22):
those who are or would be unitedwith Christ.
So now let's put all thistogether so far, and we're gonna
build this as we go.
You know all those spiritualblessings?
Let's talk about them.
The first one is that Godhimself chose us as those who
would be united with Christ.
That's pretty good.
God's intentional about you,Nick.
(09:43):
He's intentional about you,Bruce, and each one of us.
It's not, okay, they screwedup, let's get let's get them
fixed, let's bring.
No, he chose you, Scott.
He chose you, Randy.
It's an individual thing.
He chose you to be united withChrist.
And then the next phrase says,before the foundation of the
world.
Well, the word foundation comesfrom two words, which I found
(10:06):
kind of funny.
It means a throwing down.
And you say, how do you getfoundation from a throwing down?
Well, it also means a layingdown.
And it's the act of laying downa foundation or describes
something at the beginning ofits process.
The word for world actuallymeans this world that we live
in.
So taking that and adding iton, you know those spiritual
(10:29):
blessings?
You all are going to get sotired of hearing this before the
end.
You know those spiritualblessings?
Let's talk about them.
The first one is that before heeven started planning the
creation process of the world,God himself chose us as those
who would be united with Christ.
Are you all starting to see howthis is building?
unknown (10:48):
Yeah.
Brian Durfee (10:49):
So I know, like I said, I know it's a little
redundant, but it's it's reallyimportant that we get this.
So then this is the next phrasein Greek, which is different
than it reads in English.
It's the same words, but itreads different.
To be us holy and blameless,which sounds a little weird in
English.
To be is is an infinitive.
(11:10):
And so Greek infinitives, whenthey come after verbs like
choosing or appointing, theyindicate purpose.
And so the next phrase is apurpose statement.
So the purpose of God choosingus to be united in Christ.
Well, God chose us when Hestarted before the planning of
(11:34):
the planning of the creation ofthe world.
Why?
For us to be holy andblameless.
And whole, you know, those twowords, holy and blameless, they
sound a little redundant, kindof like the same thing.
Um and uh, but let's look atthe meaning of those two.
Holy means to be set apart orconsecrated, devoted to God.
(11:54):
Now, moral pure, we knownormally when we think holy, we
think morally pure, you know,sins done away with.
And that's an aspect of it.
But actually, what holiness isspeaking about, it starts with
belonging.
It is being set apart forrelationship with God and for
and for God's use in relation toit.
(12:17):
So holiness is about being setapart, being dedicated to God.
You know, rem if you rememberin the temple in the Bible, you
know, they had differentimplements in the temple, and
they were considered to be holy.
Well, you know, we don't speakof those implements as being
sinless, but they are set apartfor a specific purpose.
(12:40):
They are set apart for God.
That's what holiness is.
So when we say I want to beholy, what we're really saying
is I want to be set apart forGod.
Now, the word blameless isabout moral purity.
It comes from two words,blemished and not.
Not blemished.
That's what blameless means.
(13:01):
Without fault, spotless.
In the Old Testament, that wasthe word for the sacrificial
sacrificial animals that were asuitable offering for God.
In the New Testament, it takeson the meaning of moral purity
and integrity, being untaintedby sin or accusation.
So blameless is not about beingset apart, it's about being
pure and undefiled within thatrelationship to which we are set
(13:23):
apart.
So now let's look at everythingput together again.
You know all those spiritualblessings?
Let's talk about them.
The first one is that beforeGod even started planning, the
started the planning andcreation process of the world,
he himself chose us as those whowould be united with Christ for
this purpose, for us to becompletely set apart and so
(13:46):
completely pure that we can'teven be accused of doing
anything wrong.
And then here comes the kicker.
This is the big thing.
This next little phrase is abig thing.
And for me, it makes the verse.
It's the phrase before him.
The primary, and this wholeverse, think about this verse,
(14:08):
the primary thought of thisverse begins and ends with God.
It starts with God chose and itends before him.
There's another couple of wordsthat we'll talk about in a
second, but it essentially endswith the words before him.
Everything begins and ends withGod, and we're the
beneficiaries in the middle.
The Greek word for before, youknow, it said before before the
(14:30):
foundation of the world, and nowwe have before him.
Before is two totally Greekwords, two different Greek words
there.
The Greek word before in thisphrase, before him, is is I'm
going to butcher this and opion.
So um, and it's a combinationof three different ideas.
(14:50):
The first word is kata, whichmeans down or according to or or
in relation to.
The second word is in, whichliterally means in.
And the third word is op, whichmeans face or eye.
When you put them all throughwhen you put all three of these
thoughts together in this oneGreek word, it means in the face
(15:14):
or in front of the eyes.
So we were chosen so that wecould literally be in the in
front of the face of God.
Only a good father wants hisson in his face.
That's what he wants.
So picture a father who liftshis baby boy right up in front
(15:35):
of his face so that he can hecan kiss and snuggle his little
his little boy and toss him upinto the air.
Think of a father who, when hisyoung boy has fallen down and
is crying, his eight-year-old,and he gets right down in front
of the eight-year-old and says,Hey, look at me, look at me.
You're okay.
And in that moment, the boyrealizes that a skin knee is not
(15:58):
the end of the world.
Think about the father whograbs the shoulders of his son,
who is now a young man, and hesquares him up and he looks him
right in the right in the eyes,and they're looking at one
another, and he says, I'm proudof you, son.
I love you, son.
That's our father.
That's being in the face ofGod.
(16:19):
He wants us in his presence.
He wants to hang out with usbecause he loves us and he likes
us.
So often we think of ourselvesas not likable, and that's not
true.
God likes us.
And we're not just invited intohis presence.
We were chosen for it.
We were chosen to live ourlives right now in front of God,
(16:41):
completely in his presence.
And that's all the time.
That's not just in ourdevotions at the beginning of
the day.
That's as we go to thebathroom, that's as we take a
shower, that's as as we eat ourbreakfast, that's as we go to
work.
If we're retired, it's as we godo our other stuff.
Um, at every moment of everyday, God says, Hey, I want you
(17:03):
to live in my presence.
So let's look at what we havenow.
You know all those things, allthose spiritual blessings?
Well, let's talk about them.
The first one is that before heeven started planning and
creating the processes of theworld, God himself chose us as
those who would be united withChrist for this purpose, for us
(17:24):
to be completely set apart andso completely pure that we can't
even be accused of anywrongdoing, so that we can be
continually be in his face,always in his presence.
And then comes this these lasttwo little words at the end of
the verse, in love.
Now, theologians sometimeswrestle with this phrase, and
(17:47):
whether it goes with verse 4 orverse 5, because we have we have
it broken down into verses, butin actuality, verses one, uh
what is it, 1 through 14 are allone long run-on sentence that
Paul did.
And so the theologians wrestlewith, okay, does in love go with
the next verse or does it gowith this verse?
Well, you know what?
It doesn't matter, because itbrings the same meaning
(18:08):
regardless of which verse youput it in.
Why did God choose us to be inhis presence?
That's verse 4.
Why did God predestine us to beto be adopted as sons?
That's verse five.
Because he has loved us beforethe foundation of the world.
This message is for everysingle one of us.
This is God calling to us andsaying, I choose you for more
(18:32):
than you can ask, think, orimagine, because I choose you to
be with me.
You're chosen by the Most HighGod.
You're chosen to be united withChrist.
You're chosen to be devoted toGod as set apart for him.
You're chosen to be so morallypure that no one can find
anything to accuse you of, andyou are chosen to be in to live
in God's presence.
And all this happens becausewe're in Christ.
(18:54):
We can't do it.
He already did.
It's not dependent on anythingthat we can or can't do now.
God not only chose us, but hedid all the work to make it
happen.
So the very next verse, verse5, sums up this whole choosing
thing.
Because you were chosen, youare predestined to be adopted as
(19:15):
sons with all the rights andprivileges that come with being
part of the household of God.
That's the Durfee translation.
And it's all according to thepurpose of his will.
He wants it that way.
The source of sonship is GodAlmighty, the maker of universe.
Are you getting this?
The source of sonship, yoursonship, is that the Most High
(19:36):
God, the King of Kings, the Lordof Lords, the Alpha and Omega,
and the beginning of the end,you're completely and utterly a
son in the kingdom of Godbecause God wants you and
chooses you.
He wants you.
So what do we do with all this?
How does being a son help us inthe here and now?
(19:58):
Being son changes everythingabout our perspective in life
and how we live it.
We live like sons who belong.
God didn't choose us so that wecould one day make it make it
to heaven.
He chose us so that he so thathere and now we would live as
his sons in his presence.
(20:19):
If God chose you before thefoundation of the world to live
in his presence, then stopliving like you're on the
outside looking in.
When you wake up tomorrowbefore the noise of the day,
remind yourself the first thingtrue about you today is not your
to-do list, it's not your jobtitle, and it's not your
mistakes.
It's that you're his son chosento stand right in his face.
(20:42):
As you go through your day,live from that place.
Maybe your father didn't showyou what a good father's like,
but you can talk to God as thefather that you've always
needed.
He's patient, he's kind, he'snever too busy, he's never
disappointed.
You don't have to earn hisapproval, you don't, you know,
you don't have to fear hisanger.
(21:03):
You can come to him honestlyand trust that he loves you just
because you're his son.
That means when you've messedup, there's a comedian uh by the
name of Paul Poundstone that Isaw her routine years ago, and
she said, I had problems with mycat climbing up climbing up the
(21:25):
bookshelf.
And so I went and I got a waterbottle and I filled it with
water, and the next time the catran up the shelf, I squirted it
with the water bottle, and thecat ran to me for protection.
Do you realize the irony ofthat?
You know what?
When we sin, it's under theblood, and we run to God for
(21:45):
protection.
We run to God.
When you got, if you if you'vegot a sin that you're dealing
with, run to God.
He's the only one who canremedy it.
You can try to hide it, you canfeel shame, you can feel guilt,
or you can run to God.
That's the kind of father heis.
And he is going to say, okay,you're forgiven.
Go and sin no more.
(22:07):
But hey, let me go with you tohelp you.
That's our that's our father.
You know, every every day youget to walk through your day
carrying your father's name.
When people meet us, theyshould get a glimpse of the
Father, his patience, hiscourage, his mercy, or whatever
the situation calls for.
(22:27):
Everywhere we go, we representthe Father who lifted up his
arms and said, This one's mine.
And when temptation or shamewhispers and says, You don't
belong, because you screwed up,you look up and say, My Father
chose me.
I'm set apart.
I am holy.
I am blameless.
And here's the here's anotherthing.
(22:49):
We don't do this alone.
God's given us each other.
Brothers, fellow sons.
We can walk this thing outtogether.
In Matthew 4:17, Jesus beganministry, but he began his
ministry by preaching repent,for the kingdom of heaven is at
hand.
Being a son means living inthat kingdom.
(23:11):
And we are in that kingdombecause our father chose us.
We can live in that kingdomright here and right now.
So let's start living like sonstogether.
Chosen, loved, and standing,standing face to face with our
Father.
Everything in our lives flows for who we believe
we are.
You know, a few weeks, a fewweeks ago, Derek talked out of
uh, he focused primarily onEphesians 1.5, and he uh he
asked the question, think aboutGod, and then think about what
God's face looks like when helooks at you.
(00:26):
And he said, if it's not asmile, then you still probably
have some kind of orphanmindset.
And we, you know, sometimes wewe don't realize that we're
thinking like an orphan when itcomes to God.
We've got this idea of Godthat's based on our earthly
(00:47):
father and what our earthlyfather did well or what he
didn't do well.
Um, and so I want to build onwhat Eric spoke about.
He was speaking primarily inEphesians 1.5, and I want to go
to 1.4.
So, and don't worry, this isn'tlong.
Um, think about good fathershere on earth.
(01:11):
Even if you you don't havechildren, I think most people
here probably do, but even ifyou don't, we all had a
biological father and possiblyan adoptive father.
And so we can at leastunderstand the concept of
whether they were good fathersor not.
And there's no father who doesit all right here on earth.
And even if our father wasscrewed up, we, you know, we now
(01:34):
do our bet the best we canbecause we want our son to grow
up to be a good man and a goodfather, or our daughter to grow
up to be a good woman and a goodmother.
You know, that's what we want.
But we have a lot to do just tolive life.
I mean, you know, how do I havethis time to focus on what I'm
(01:54):
supposed to learn so I can be agood parent and all that?
I mean, think about it.
We take care of our ourselves,our families, and our kids, and
then there's a then there's ourjobs, and then there's the stuff
that we like to do at church,and then there's the stuff that
we feel like we should do atchurch, and then we're supposed
to read our Bible and pray, andif we're lucky, we get a little
bit of free time.
(02:15):
We live very busy lives.
unknown (02:17):
Yes, true.
Brian Durfee (02:19):
Within most of all the tasks and obligations and
busyness, we don't really have awhole lot of time to think
about what it means to be a sonof God.
And yet, God, the Father, isour model for the fathers that
we're to be.
Whether that means we'refathering our own children, or
whether it means that we'rementoring other young men, or if
(02:43):
it just means that we'reunderstanding who our father is.
So we can we can agree that weare a son of God, that we've
been adopted by God, but in themiddle of this busy life, what
big difference does a son meanwhen we've got all this other
stuff to do?
I mean, if you think about it,Ephesians 1.3 says, God has
blessed us in Christ with everyspiritual blessing in the
(03:04):
heavenlies.
So that's all nice andspiritual, and we can be that,
and we can agree that being achild of God is a spiritual
blessing.
That takes care of the future,so we don't go to hell and we go
to heaven, but what in theworld is it gonna do us for
right now, in the here and now?
So I want you to take thatthought and put a pen in it
because we're gonna come back tothat.
(03:25):
Now, what I want to talk aboutthis morning is the source of
our sonship.
And I know that we're, youknow, I know we are sons in
Christ because he died the deaththat we deserve, because our
sin, because of our sin, and herose from the dead, giving
eternal life to all who willrepent and abide in him.
I mean, we hear that all thetime in church.
(03:47):
That's the gospel.
That's not the source of yoursonship, that's the method by
which we become sons.
The way it happens is thatJesus gave us life, and we can
become sons of God if we repentand follow Jesus.
That's the method.
Ephesians 1 said 1:3, it saysthat we have received all
(04:09):
spiritual blessings in Christ inthe heavenlies.
Now, this isn't a literaltranslation, but here is what
those things entail (04:14):
all spiritual blessings.
That's all we can we caninterpret that one way to mean
all the rights and privileges.
In Christ, the method by whichwe become a son, and in the
heavenlies, this is not aboutthe afterlife.
The heavenly refers to aspiritual realm.
It exists right alongside thephysical realm here, right now.
(04:37):
So when Paul says God hasblessed us in the heavenlies in
Christ, he means that all theblessings we receive are rooted
in our union with Christ anddrawn from his exalted position.
Now that's still not where Iwant to focus today, but it's
the backdrop of what we need tounderstand.
Without Christ, we arespiritually dead.
(04:58):
We are dead in the heavenlyrealm.
And in Christ, we're madealive, not only just alive, but
also sons of God.
And as a son, we're blessedwith all spiritual blessings.
In other words, we're grantedall the rights and privileges of
being a son.
A son gets his identity, hissonship, from his father.
(05:21):
When a boy is born, heinstantly becomes a son of his
father.
The identity of the father ispassed to the son.
He's given the last name of thefather, indicating the family
to which he belongs.
As a son grows up from infantto man, the son has all the
rights and privileges that aregiven to him as a member of the
family.
All those rights and privilegescome because of the identity
(05:44):
the father has given him.
Now, on this earth, somefathers don't want sons.
They're completelyself-centered and just want to
have sex.
They don't want to have achild, and they may go as far as
rejecting their responsibilityas a father and therefore reject
their child.
Those are bad fathers.
(06:04):
But it's not that like thatwith God.
And that's what I that's whereI'm getting to today.
You know, the New Testament wasoriginally written mostly in
Greek, and anytime you translateone language into another, it
doesn't always bring over allthe meaning.
And so we're going to look atthe meaning of some words from
the original Greek in Ephesians1.4.
And I want to tell you, everyone of you can do this.
(06:28):
This is not something that itthere's a site called Bible Hub,
and it will give you all thisinformation, okay?
So um, but what I want to do isI just want to walk through
Ephesians 1.4, just that oneverse.
So that verse says, even as hechose us in him before the
foundation of the world, that weshould be holy and blameless
before him.
(06:48):
Now, even as he chose, he isreferring to the Father.
Just keep that in mind.
The very first word, which inEnglish we it's a phrase, just
as or even as, that's one wordGreek, in Greek, and when I it's
uh kathos.
And when I learned that word,it just really kind of flipped
(07:09):
this whole passage on becauseit's called a comparative
conjunction.
And yes, I just learned that.
But a comparative conjuncture,what it does is it connects two
ideas by showing how onereflects the other.
So it connects what's saidbefore with what's said after.
So that little phrase, just as,here's what Paul's Paul's
(07:34):
saying.
You know all those spiritualblessings I just mentioned?
Let's talk about them.
The first one is, and he goeson to talk.
So that's what just as is.
He's saying, here's the firstof all those spiritual blessings
that we've got.
And so then he the firstblessing is Father chose.
He chose.
Okay?
Why is that a blessing?
(07:55):
Well, there's something thatthe English doesn't bring about,
but the Greek does.
And like I said, this is all inBible Hub.
Um, it's a completed, firstoff, the tense means it's a
completed action.
He chose, it's a done deal,it's it's finished.
Second, it's a statement offact.
But third is the big thing.
It's uh it's called middlevoice.
(08:16):
God did it himself.
When it came to choosing, Goddidn't look over and say, hey
Gabriel, take care of this forme.
God chose himself.
He didn't outsource it, he didit himself.
It was intentional, he waspersonally involved.
When you start thinking aboutyou're chosen, you weren't just
(08:38):
chosen by accident or randomly,or God says, okay, flip the flip
the bingo cage and let's pullout a ball and see who gets it
this time.
God chose you specifically.
And then the next word is us.
So he chose us.
And that's not complicated.
In Greek, it means us.
The next the the next the nextphrase is in him.
(09:01):
Paul's talking about in Christ.
It refers to our position, ourunion with Christ.
God didn't choose peoplerandomly or independently, he
chose people who would be unitedwith his son.
That phrase in him or inChrist, and it's all through
Ephesians.
It identifies the realm orcategory of people God chose,
(09:22):
those who are or would be unitedwith Christ.
So now let's put all thistogether so far, and we're gonna
build this as we go.
You know all those spiritualblessings?
Let's talk about them.
The first one is that Godhimself chose us as those who
would be united with Christ.
That's pretty good.
God's intentional about you,Nick.
(09:43):
He's intentional about you,Bruce, and each one of us.
It's not, okay, they screwedup, let's get let's get them
fixed, let's bring.
No, he chose you, Scott.
He chose you, Randy.
It's an individual thing.
He chose you to be united withChrist.
And then the next phrase says,before the foundation of the
world.
Well, the word foundation comesfrom two words, which I found
(10:06):
kind of funny.
It means a throwing down.
And you say, how do you getfoundation from a throwing down?
Well, it also means a layingdown.
And it's the act of laying downa foundation or describes
something at the beginning ofits process.
The word for world actuallymeans this world that we live
in.
So taking that and adding iton, you know those spiritual
(10:29):
blessings?
You all are going to get sotired of hearing this before the
end.
You know those spiritualblessings?
Let's talk about them.
The first one is that before heeven started planning the
creation process of the world,God himself chose us as those
who would be united with Christ.
Are you all starting to see howthis is building?
unknown (10:48):
Yeah.
Brian Durfee (10:49):
So I know, like I said, I know it's a little
redundant, but it's it's reallyimportant that we get this.
So then this is the next phrasein Greek, which is different
than it reads in English.
It's the same words, but itreads different.
To be us holy and blameless,which sounds a little weird in
English.
To be is is an infinitive.
(11:10):
And so Greek infinitives, whenthey come after verbs like
choosing or appointing, theyindicate purpose.
And so the next phrase is apurpose statement.
So the purpose of God choosingus to be united in Christ.
Well, God chose us when Hestarted before the planning of
(11:34):
the planning of the creation ofthe world.
Why?
For us to be holy andblameless.
And whole, you know, those twowords, holy and blameless, they
sound a little redundant, kindof like the same thing.
Um and uh, but let's look atthe meaning of those two.
Holy means to be set apart orconsecrated, devoted to God.
(11:54):
Now, moral pure, we knownormally when we think holy, we
think morally pure, you know,sins done away with.
And that's an aspect of it.
But actually, what holiness isspeaking about, it starts with
belonging.
It is being set apart forrelationship with God and for
and for God's use in relation toit.
(12:17):
So holiness is about being setapart, being dedicated to God.
You know, rem if you rememberin the temple in the Bible, you
know, they had differentimplements in the temple, and
they were considered to be holy.
Well, you know, we don't speakof those implements as being
sinless, but they are set apartfor a specific purpose.
(12:40):
They are set apart for God.
That's what holiness is.
So when we say I want to beholy, what we're really saying
is I want to be set apart forGod.
Now, the word blameless isabout moral purity.
It comes from two words,blemished and not.
Not blemished.
That's what blameless means.
(13:01):
Without fault, spotless.
In the Old Testament, that wasthe word for the sacrificial
sacrificial animals that were asuitable offering for God.
In the New Testament, it takeson the meaning of moral purity
and integrity, being untaintedby sin or accusation.
So blameless is not about beingset apart, it's about being
pure and undefiled within thatrelationship to which we are set
(13:23):
apart.
So now let's look at everythingput together again.
You know all those spiritualblessings?
Let's talk about them.
The first one is that beforeGod even started planning, the
started the planning andcreation process of the world,
he himself chose us as those whowould be united with Christ for
this purpose, for us to becompletely set apart and so
(13:46):
completely pure that we can'teven be accused of doing
anything wrong.
And then here comes the kicker.
This is the big thing.
This next little phrase is abig thing.
And for me, it makes the verse.
It's the phrase before him.
The primary, and this wholeverse, think about this verse,
(14:08):
the primary thought of thisverse begins and ends with God.
It starts with God chose and itends before him.
There's another couple of wordsthat we'll talk about in a
second, but it essentially endswith the words before him.
Everything begins and ends withGod, and we're the
beneficiaries in the middle.
The Greek word for before, youknow, it said before before the
(14:30):
foundation of the world, and nowwe have before him.
Before is two totally Greekwords, two different Greek words
there.
The Greek word before in thisphrase, before him, is is I'm
going to butcher this and opion.
So um, and it's a combinationof three different ideas.
(14:50):
The first word is kata, whichmeans down or according to or or
in relation to.
The second word is in, whichliterally means in.
And the third word is op, whichmeans face or eye.
When you put them all throughwhen you put all three of these
thoughts together in this oneGreek word, it means in the face
(15:14):
or in front of the eyes.
So we were chosen so that wecould literally be in the in
front of the face of God.
Only a good father wants hisson in his face.
That's what he wants.
So picture a father who liftshis baby boy right up in front
(15:35):
of his face so that he can hecan kiss and snuggle his little
his little boy and toss him upinto the air.
Think of a father who, when hisyoung boy has fallen down and
is crying, his eight-year-old,and he gets right down in front
of the eight-year-old and says,Hey, look at me, look at me.
You're okay.
And in that moment, the boyrealizes that a skin knee is not
(15:58):
the end of the world.
Think about the father whograbs the shoulders of his son,
who is now a young man, and hesquares him up and he looks him
right in the right in the eyes,and they're looking at one
another, and he says, I'm proudof you, son.
I love you, son.
That's our father.
That's being in the face ofGod.
(16:19):
He wants us in his presence.
He wants to hang out with usbecause he loves us and he likes
us.
So often we think of ourselvesas not likable, and that's not
true.
God likes us.
And we're not just invited intohis presence.
We were chosen for it.
We were chosen to live ourlives right now in front of God,
(16:41):
completely in his presence.
And that's all the time.
That's not just in ourdevotions at the beginning of
the day.
That's as we go to thebathroom, that's as we take a
shower, that's as as we eat ourbreakfast, that's as we go to
work.
If we're retired, it's as we godo our other stuff.
Um, at every moment of everyday, God says, Hey, I want you
(17:03):
to live in my presence.
So let's look at what we havenow.
You know all those things, allthose spiritual blessings?
Well, let's talk about them.
The first one is that before heeven started planning and
creating the processes of theworld, God himself chose us as
those who would be united withChrist for this purpose, for us
(17:24):
to be completely set apart andso completely pure that we can't
even be accused of anywrongdoing, so that we can be
continually be in his face,always in his presence.
And then comes this these lasttwo little words at the end of
the verse, in love.
Now, theologians sometimeswrestle with this phrase, and
(17:47):
whether it goes with verse 4 orverse 5, because we have we have
it broken down into verses, butin actuality, verses one, uh
what is it, 1 through 14 are allone long run-on sentence that
Paul did.
And so the theologians wrestlewith, okay, does in love go with
the next verse or does it gowith this verse?
Well, you know what?
It doesn't matter, because itbrings the same meaning
(18:08):
regardless of which verse youput it in.
Why did God choose us to be inhis presence?
That's verse 4.
Why did God predestine us to beto be adopted as sons?
That's verse five.
Because he has loved us beforethe foundation of the world.
This message is for everysingle one of us.
This is God calling to us andsaying, I choose you for more
(18:32):
than you can ask, think, orimagine, because I choose you to
be with me.
You're chosen by the Most HighGod.
You're chosen to be united withChrist.
You're chosen to be devoted toGod as set apart for him.
You're chosen to be so morallypure that no one can find
anything to accuse you of, andyou are chosen to be in to live
in God's presence.
And all this happens becausewe're in Christ.
(18:54):
We can't do it.
He already did.
It's not dependent on anythingthat we can or can't do now.
God not only chose us, but hedid all the work to make it
happen.
So the very next verse, verse5, sums up this whole choosing
thing.
Because you were chosen, youare predestined to be adopted as
(19:15):
sons with all the rights andprivileges that come with being
part of the household of God.
That's the Durfee translation.
And it's all according to thepurpose of his will.
He wants it that way.
The source of sonship is GodAlmighty, the maker of universe.
Are you getting this?
The source of sonship, yoursonship, is that the Most High
(19:36):
God, the King of Kings, the Lordof Lords, the Alpha and Omega,
and the beginning of the end,you're completely and utterly a
son in the kingdom of Godbecause God wants you and
chooses you.
He wants you.
So what do we do with all this?
How does being a son help us inthe here and now?
(19:58):
Being son changes everythingabout our perspective in life
and how we live it.
We live like sons who belong.
God didn't choose us so that wecould one day make it make it
to heaven.
He chose us so that he so thathere and now we would live as
his sons in his presence.
(20:19):
If God chose you before thefoundation of the world to live
in his presence, then stopliving like you're on the
outside looking in.
When you wake up tomorrowbefore the noise of the day,
remind yourself the first thingtrue about you today is not your
to-do list, it's not your jobtitle, and it's not your
mistakes.
It's that you're his son chosento stand right in his face.
(20:42):
As you go through your day,live from that place.
Maybe your father didn't showyou what a good father's like,
but you can talk to God as thefather that you've always
needed.
He's patient, he's kind, he'snever too busy, he's never
disappointed.
You don't have to earn hisapproval, you don't, you know,
you don't have to fear hisanger.
(21:03):
You can come to him honestlyand trust that he loves you just
because you're his son.
That means when you've messedup, there's a comedian uh by the
name of Paul Poundstone that Isaw her routine years ago, and
she said, I had problems with mycat climbing up climbing up the
(21:25):
bookshelf.
And so I went and I got a waterbottle and I filled it with
water, and the next time the catran up the shelf, I squirted it
with the water bottle, and thecat ran to me for protection.
Do you realize the irony ofthat?
You know what?
When we sin, it's under theblood, and we run to God for
(21:45):
protection.
We run to God.
When you got, if you if you'vegot a sin that you're dealing
with, run to God.
He's the only one who canremedy it.
You can try to hide it, you canfeel shame, you can feel guilt,
or you can run to God.
That's the kind of father heis.
And he is going to say, okay,you're forgiven.
Go and sin no more.
(22:07):
But hey, let me go with you tohelp you.
That's our that's our father.
You know, every every day youget to walk through your day
carrying your father's name.
When people meet us, theyshould get a glimpse of the
Father, his patience, hiscourage, his mercy, or whatever
the situation calls for.
(22:27):
Everywhere we go, we representthe Father who lifted up his
arms and said, This one's mine.
And when temptation or shamewhispers and says, You don't
belong, because you screwed up,you look up and say, My Father
chose me.
I'm set apart.
I am holy.
I am blameless.
And here's the here's anotherthing.
(22:49):
We don't do this alone.
God's given us each other.
Brothers, fellow sons.
We can walk this thing outtogether.
In Matthew 4:17, Jesus beganministry, but he began his
ministry by preaching repent,for the kingdom of heaven is at
hand.
Being a son means living inthat kingdom.
(23:11):
And we are in that kingdombecause our father chose us.
We can live in that kingdomright here and right now.
So let's start living like sonstogether.
Chosen, loved, and standing,standing face to face with our
Father.
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