0:00:01.144,0:00:02.887 Well, if you would, turn with me 0:00:02.887,0:00:10.193 in your Bibles to Ephesians 1. 0:00:10.193,0:00:17.848 I want to complete verse 6. 0:00:17.848,0:00:19.916 We began to look at it last week 0:00:19.916,0:00:23.972 as we thought about 0:00:23.972,0:00:28.623 "to the praise of the glory of God's grace." 0:00:28.623,0:00:30.066 We talked about praising, 0:00:30.066,0:00:37.825 we talked about God seeking worshippers. 0:00:37.825,0:00:45.805 Let's read Ephesians 1:5-6. 0:00:45.805,0:00:48.504 Picking up the last two words of verse 4. 0:00:48.504,0:00:52.378 "In love, He predestined us for adoption 0:00:52.378,0:00:56.680 as sons through Jesus Christ. 0:00:56.680,0:01:00.552 According to the purpose of His will, 0:01:00.552,0:01:04.461 to the praise of the glory of His grace." 0:01:04.461,0:01:06.507 We looked at that, that's not an adjective, 0:01:06.507,0:01:08.085 that's a noun. 0:01:08.085,0:01:10.899 The glory of His grace. 0:01:10.899,0:01:14.588 These are the words I want to deal with today. 0:01:14.588,0:01:22.010 "With which He has blessed us in the Beloved." 0:01:22.010,0:01:23.569 With which. 0:01:23.569,0:01:25.604 What is the "which" referring to? 0:01:25.604,0:01:32.484 His grace is that with which He has blessed us 0:01:32.484,0:01:36.590 in the Beloved. 0:01:36.590,0:01:41.399 And what I want us to think about right here 0:01:41.399,0:01:50.582 in the first few minutes is the word "blessed." 0:01:50.582,0:01:54.606 He has blessed us. 0:01:54.606,0:01:56.213 And I want us to think. 0:01:56.213,0:01:58.938 I want us to do a bit of a word study here. 0:01:58.938,0:02:02.308 Blessed. 0:02:02.308,0:02:03.825 Now listen to this, 0:02:03.825,0:02:07.180 and I know not all of you have the ESV, 0:02:07.180,0:02:10.620 the English Standard Version. 0:02:10.620,0:02:16.216 The New American Standard says this, 0:02:16.216,0:02:18.743 speaking about His grace, 0:02:18.743,0:02:21.570 the glory of His grace, 0:02:21.570,0:02:27.104 "which He freely bestowed." 0:02:27.104,0:02:30.718 The ESV says, "blessed us." 0:02:30.718,0:02:33.891 The New American Standard says, 0:02:33.891,0:02:42.556 "He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved." 0:02:42.556,0:02:46.517 Now, it's interesting. 0:02:46.517,0:02:49.143 I cut my teeth on the King James Bible. 0:02:49.143,0:02:52.407 Listen, the King James reads this way: 0:02:52.407,0:03:00.168 "Wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved." 0:03:00.168,0:03:04.260 Now, accepted. 0:03:04.260,0:03:06.720 That sounds a little bit different than blessed. 0:03:06.720,0:03:08.856 Or freely bestowed. 0:03:08.856,0:03:11.987 The translators of the King James Version 0:03:11.987,0:03:17.797 basically followed Tyndale right here. 0:03:17.797,0:03:20.651 But you know what's interesting? 0:03:20.651,0:03:24.532 They also followed Tyndale in his translation 0:03:24.532,0:03:28.688 of Luke 1:28. 0:03:28.688,0:03:36.453 This word is only used twice in all of our Bibles. 0:03:36.453,0:03:38.544 It's used here in Ephesians 1:6, 0:03:38.544,0:03:44.835 and it's used in Luke 1:28. 0:03:44.835,0:03:47.146 The translators of the King James Bible 0:03:47.146,0:03:50.225 followed Tyndale there, 0:03:50.225,0:03:56.877 where the King James Version reads this way: 0:03:56.877,0:04:04.666 "Hail, thou that art highly favored." 0:04:04.666,0:04:08.748 Why they departed - "highly favored" in one place, 0:04:08.748,0:04:11.121 "accepted" in the other - 0:04:11.121,0:04:13.854 it's interesting. 0:04:13.854,0:04:17.877 I think the KJV should have stayed consistent. 0:04:17.877,0:04:21.808 Highly favored - you know what's very interesting 0:04:21.808,0:04:29.093 is I could not personally find a single lexicon 0:04:29.093,0:04:32.378 that gave a meaning to the word here as "accepted." 0:04:32.378,0:04:35.856 And what "accepted" does is it makes it sound 0:04:35.856,0:04:37.843 like we're perhaps dealing with 0:04:37.843,0:04:39.769 the doctrine of justification. 0:04:39.769,0:04:43.224 We're accepted in Christ. 0:04:43.224,0:04:44.745 On the basis of Christ's merits. 0:04:44.745,0:04:50.575 But this is not speaking about 0:04:50.575,0:04:54.833 necessarily our acceptance. 0:04:54.833,0:04:59.680 There's a fuller meaning here. 0:04:59.680,0:05:02.144 Listen to how the Holman Christian Standard 0:05:02.144,0:05:06.786 Bible renders Ephesians 1:6. 0:05:06.786,0:05:09.800 "To the glory of His grace, 0:05:09.800,0:05:15.428 that He favored us with in the Beloved." 0:05:15.428,0:05:17.848 It's the word "karitoo." 0:05:17.848,0:05:21.341 Now, what's interesting about that is 0:05:21.341,0:05:26.336 grace is "karis." 0:05:26.336,0:05:28.635 It's a word that is in the same 0:05:28.635,0:05:32.602 word group as "grace." 0:05:32.602,0:05:35.734 I mean, you could almost literally read it, 0:05:35.734,0:05:39.252 to the glory of His grace with which 0:05:39.252,0:05:45.468 He graced us in the Beloved. 0:05:45.468,0:05:49.866 Listen to Thayer's lexicon: 0:05:49.866,0:05:55.843 It means to pursue with grace. 0:05:55.843,0:05:58.899 It's the idea of somebody's over there, 0:05:58.899,0:06:03.225 and God sets His sights on them and says, 0:06:03.225,0:06:08.053 "I am going to go after them with My grace." 0:06:08.053,0:06:10.732 "I'm going to track them down." 0:06:10.732,0:06:15.600 You see that's really what happened with Mary, right? 0:06:15.600,0:06:18.534 Brethren, isn't this what Christianity is? 0:06:18.534,0:06:20.734 It's God coming to us. 0:06:20.734,0:06:23.492 Scripture says there's none that seeks God. 0:06:23.492,0:06:25.854 We need to get this idea out of our head 0:06:25.854,0:06:28.313 of Christianity being, people just woke up one day 0:06:28.313,0:06:31.143 and said well, I think I'm going to go after God, 0:06:31.143,0:06:32.530 as though they're initiating 0:06:32.530,0:06:33.713 this whole thing. 0:06:33.713,0:06:35.677 They're going to pull themselves up by their book straps. 0:06:35.677,0:06:36.951 They're going to reach out to Him. 0:06:36.951,0:06:38.282 They're going to search Him. 0:06:38.282,0:06:40.201 This isn't how Christianity is. 0:06:40.201,0:06:43.575 Christianity is us - we heard it from Hector. 0:06:43.575,0:06:46.565 Dead, Ephesians 2:1, Dead in trespasses 0:06:46.565,0:06:47.503 and sins. 0:06:47.503,0:06:49.120 We're out there in our deadness. 0:06:49.120,0:06:50.325 And you know what the truth is? 0:06:50.325,0:06:52.822 He loved his sin. I loved my sin. 0:06:52.822,0:06:54.101 Pete loved his sin. 0:06:54.101,0:06:56.383 We loved it. 0:06:56.383,0:06:58.902 Until He came and made us not love it. 0:06:58.902,0:07:00.817 We loved it. And we despised Christ 0:07:00.817,0:07:04.299 until He came, and by His grace, 0:07:04.299,0:07:08.578 He caused us to behold loveliness in the Beloved. 0:07:08.578,0:07:10.583 Because we didn't care for Him at all. 0:07:10.583,0:07:12.120 We liked our sin much better. 0:07:12.120,0:07:17.849 Brethren, the picture is Mary going along in life. 0:07:17.849,0:07:20.221 Mary did not have... 0:07:20.221,0:07:23.403 somebody's even got some herbal stuff up here... 0:07:23.403,0:07:26.108 She wasn't going along and saying, 0:07:26.108,0:07:27.760 you know, I think I'm going to take the herb 0:07:27.760,0:07:31.177 that might make a virgin pregnant, 0:07:31.177,0:07:34.642 make a virgin pregnant with the Messiah. 0:07:34.642,0:07:36.128 You know what was happening? 0:07:36.128,0:07:37.908 She was going along in life, 0:07:37.908,0:07:39.845 and suddenly there is Gabriel, 0:07:39.845,0:07:41.521 she's terrified, 0:07:41.521,0:07:44.672 and he says, "Hail, highly favored." 0:07:44.672,0:07:46.198 That's how it happens. 0:07:46.198,0:07:48.050 God comes to us. 0:07:48.050,0:07:49.416 He surprises us. 0:07:49.416,0:07:51.056 I mean, isn't that what happened? 0:07:51.056,0:07:53.187 I was going through life in 1990, 0:07:53.187,0:07:55.817 and I was loving my sin and loving that life, 0:07:55.817,0:07:58.421 and the truth is when God first came 0:07:58.421,0:07:59.879 and began to convict me, 0:07:59.879,0:08:01.500 I wanted Him to leave me alone. 0:08:01.500,0:08:03.092 In fact, I think I said as much. 0:08:03.092,0:08:06.319 Just leave me alone! 0:08:06.319,0:08:08.025 But see how it is? 0:08:08.025,0:08:10.976 He pursues us with His grace. 0:08:10.976,0:08:14.429 Even though I was saying, back off! 0:08:14.429,0:08:15.670 I don't want that. 0:08:15.670,0:08:18.871 Just let me be happy with my old life again. 0:08:18.871,0:08:23.367 He says, "No, I'm pursuing you with My grace." 0:08:23.367,0:08:27.450 It means to pursue with grace, 0:08:27.450,0:08:32.090 to compass with favor, 0:08:32.090,0:08:34.735 to honor with blessings. 0:08:34.735,0:08:41.054 The commentators Jameson Fawcett Brown 0:08:41.054,0:08:45.474 say that this word means 0:08:45.474,0:08:47.908 that God has embraced us 0:08:47.908,0:08:51.540 in the arms of His grace. 0:08:51.540,0:08:53.763 One other commentator says 0:08:53.763,0:08:59.129 He freely engraced us. 0:08:59.129,0:09:02.215 This verb only appears twice. 0:09:02.215,0:09:06.409 With Mary, "Hail, highly favored one." 0:09:06.409,0:09:08.168 That's the King James. 0:09:08.168,0:09:10.105 But they really should have brought that over 0:09:10.105,0:09:13.555 because that is exactly the meaning here. 0:09:13.555,0:09:19.543 Hail, highly favored ones, in the Beloved. 0:09:19.543,0:09:21.322 The Lord is with you. 0:09:21.322,0:09:23.683 That's what was said to her. 0:09:23.683,0:09:27.828 Paul is using the same exact word 0:09:27.828,0:09:31.117 that was used with Mary to describe 0:09:31.117,0:09:34.796 those of us who are predestined for adoption. 0:09:34.796,0:09:37.996 Same word that the angel used there. 0:09:37.996,0:09:39.902 What does that mean? 0:09:39.902,0:09:41.998 What does it mean when it's used of Mary? 0:09:41.998,0:09:46.882 It means, Mary, highly favored. 0:09:46.882,0:09:50.005 God has singled you out.[br] 0:09:50.005,0:09:54.933 Singled you out of all the women in the world. 0:09:54.933,0:09:58.355 To carry and give birth to the Messiah. 0:09:58.355,0:09:59.877 You see, it's the same thing. 0:09:59.877,0:10:01.438 Highly favored. 0:10:01.438,0:10:06.104 Because brethren, I'll tell you this. 0:10:06.104,0:10:11.290 To be saved by Christ is a greater favor 0:10:11.290,0:10:15.402 than to give birth to the Christ. 0:10:15.402,0:10:20.998 Highly favored. 0:10:20.998,0:10:22.650 One of the commentators actually 0:10:22.650,0:10:24.033 would translate that 0:10:24.033,0:10:27.565 "to the glory of His grace, with which 0:10:27.565,0:10:36.982 He graciously favored us in the Beloved." 0:10:36.982,0:10:38.123 He favored us. 0:10:38.123,0:10:40.562 He did it. 0:10:40.562,0:10:42.971 This is what makes the salvation 0:10:42.971,0:10:44.543 offered in our Bibles 0:10:44.543,0:10:47.092 so absolutely unique and separate 0:10:47.092,0:10:51.784 and different from everything else. 0:10:51.784,0:10:55.593 So I just want you to get a feel for that word 0:10:55.593,0:10:58.679 as we take off here, 0:10:58.679,0:11:00.512 and we're going to look at 0:11:00.512,0:11:03.702 another very important word. 0:11:03.702,0:11:11.435 Brethren, it's interesting. Online, I have 0:11:11.435,0:11:17.555 all these commentaries available to me. 0:11:17.555,0:11:23.065 I love studylight.org if you have never checked that out. 0:11:23.065,0:11:24.912 It is a list of all these commentaries. 0:11:24.912,0:11:26.449 Now, for whatever reason, the guy who 0:11:26.449,0:11:28.834 puts this together, he actually throws in 0:11:28.834,0:11:32.894 like one Catholic commentator 0:11:32.894,0:11:37.888 and he throws in one Church of Christ commentator. 0:11:37.888,0:11:44.392 And I read the Church of Christ guy 0:11:44.392,0:11:47.862 and he's talking about being 0:11:47.862,0:11:51.516 highly favored in the Beloved, 0:11:51.516,0:11:54.472 and he's got to talk baptism. 0:11:54.472,0:11:57.334 And I thought he totally missed this. 0:11:57.334,0:12:00.091 He's talking about faith in baptism. 0:12:00.091,0:12:01.770 Brethren, we are saved by faith 0:12:01.770,0:12:03.479 and we should be baptized, 0:12:03.479,0:12:06.380 and Peter even says we're saved by baptism, 0:12:06.380,0:12:11.444 it's an appeal to God with this conscience 0:12:11.444,0:12:15.117 that is right before God and it's calling out, 0:12:15.117,0:12:17.523 but brethren, I'll tell you, 0:12:17.523,0:12:19.120 that's missing it even to go 0:12:19.120,0:12:21.281 to faith and repentance right here. 0:12:21.281,0:12:24.673 The idea is that what he is showing us 0:12:24.673,0:12:28.055 is our highly being favored doesn't 0:12:28.055,0:12:29.518 have to do with us, 0:12:29.518,0:12:31.988 it has to do with being in the Beloved. 0:12:31.988,0:12:33.265 That is the issue. 0:12:33.265,0:12:35.724 If you lose sight of Christ in all this, 0:12:35.724,0:12:37.165 you're really losing sight of 0:12:37.165,0:12:39.261 what the emphasis is. 0:12:39.261,0:12:42.480 Brethren, my focus right now 0:12:42.480,0:12:46.905 wants to go off this word favored, accepted, 0:12:46.905,0:12:49.779 in your Bible, however it comes out, 0:12:49.779,0:12:55.984 highly favored, freely bestowed, 0:12:55.984,0:12:58.766 blessed us with... 0:12:58.766,0:13:05.271 I want to move to the word "Beloved." 0:13:05.271,0:13:10.564 I come to Scripture and I constantly 0:13:10.564,0:13:12.892 before I prepare to preach, 0:13:12.892,0:13:16.691 I'm asking questions of the text: 0:13:16.691,0:13:18.092 Why? 0:13:18.092,0:13:19.983 I'm asking questions why. 0:13:19.983,0:13:24.018 Like, verse 6, "in the Beloved." 0:13:24.018,0:13:29.740 Well, brethren, if you look back at verse 1, 0:13:29.740,0:13:33.286 Paul doesn't address Christ as the Beloved, 0:13:33.286,0:13:39.334 but as Christ Jesus. 0:13:39.334,0:13:41.924 And you see "Christ Jesus," 0:13:41.924,0:13:45.336 you see "Christ Jesus" again in that verse. 0:13:45.336,0:13:50.026 In verse 2, "the Lord Jesus Christ." 0:13:50.026,0:13:53.276 In verse 3, you see "the Father of 0:13:53.276,0:13:56.015 our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us 0:13:56.015,0:13:59.185 in Christ." 0:13:59.185,0:14:03.385 In 4, there's a pronoun: "in Him." 0:14:03.385,0:14:07.828 In 5, "He predestined us for adoptions as sons 0:14:07.828,0:14:11.442 through Jesus Christ." 0:14:11.442,0:14:14.665 In 6, why doesn't he just say the same? 0:14:14.665,0:14:19.077 Why doesn't he say that He has blessed us 0:14:19.077,0:14:25.382 or highly favored us in Christ? 0:14:25.382,0:14:26.865 I mean, I wonder that. 0:14:26.865,0:14:28.505 He's been using it so frequently. 0:14:28.505,0:14:30.960 And let's just talk about that a second. 0:14:30.960,0:14:33.623 Do you notice how much he keeps going back? 0:14:33.623,0:14:35.618 Do you know what's interesting to me? 0:14:35.618,0:14:37.112 Is in the first part of this, 0:14:37.112,0:14:38.835 and we dealt with this in the past. 0:14:38.835,0:14:42.333 How important it is that we start 0:14:42.333,0:14:44.070 with God the Father, 0:14:44.070,0:14:47.027 because that's what Paul does here. 0:14:47.027,0:14:49.203 He shows us the Father. 0:14:49.203,0:14:51.409 He shows us God the Father 0:14:51.409,0:14:53.013 and God the Father has a purpose 0:14:53.013,0:14:54.784 and He has a will 0:14:54.784,0:14:57.028 and in the beginning, He is choosing 0:14:57.028,0:15:00.007 and He is predestinating who will stand before Him 0:15:00.007,0:15:02.685 in love and purity, 0:15:02.685,0:15:04.777 and who's going to be adopted into this 0:15:04.777,0:15:06.974 holy, divine family. 0:15:06.974,0:15:08.116 And we see this. 0:15:08.116,0:15:11.269 We see God the Father as behind this. 0:15:11.269,0:15:12.962 And He is the one that is coordinating 0:15:12.962,0:15:14.363 this whole plan. 0:15:14.363,0:15:17.132 But even when the focus goes to the Father, 0:15:17.132,0:15:18.739 and what the Father's doing and the part 0:15:18.739,0:15:23.588 He's playing in our salvation, 0:15:23.588,0:15:29.141 Paul is hitting us with Christ 0:15:29.141,0:15:34.968 over and over and over and over again. 0:15:34.968,0:15:36.931 Has that jumped out at you? 0:15:36.931,0:15:41.135 I think sometimes, there's so much of it, 0:15:41.135,0:15:45.042 that you almost can read and begin to miss it. 0:15:45.042,0:15:51.227 But it's as though Paul is saying to us here, 0:15:51.227,0:15:52.997 you don't want to forget Christ 0:15:52.997,0:15:54.259 in your salvation. 0:15:54.259,0:15:55.690 He's not letting us do that. 0:15:55.690,0:15:57.570 He just keeps striking the same note 0:15:57.570,0:15:59.083 over and over and over. 0:15:59.083,0:15:59.801 Why? 0:15:59.801,0:16:01.859 Brethren, there is a text in Acts 4 0:16:01.859,0:16:04.631 that says that there is salvation in none other, 0:16:04.631,0:16:06.441 there's no other name under heaven 0:16:06.441,0:16:08.477 given among men whereby we must be saved. 0:16:08.477,0:16:10.392 Brethren, this is the issue. 0:16:10.392,0:16:11.780 He keeps bringing us back. 0:16:11.780,0:16:13.399 Again and again. 0:16:13.399,0:16:15.329 He's setting an example for us. 0:16:15.329,0:16:16.695 You know what it tells us? 0:16:16.695,0:16:18.711 We must never speak of salvation 0:16:18.711,0:16:22.318 except we speak much of Christ. 0:16:22.318,0:16:25.374 Don't talk about coming to God 0:16:25.374,0:16:27.804 without speaking much about Christ. 0:16:27.804,0:16:29.661 Don't talk about making it to heaven. 0:16:29.661,0:16:31.300 Don't talk about these things 0:16:31.300,0:16:35.958 except you bury it in all manner of 0:16:35.958,0:16:38.117 reference to Christ. 0:16:38.117,0:16:40.522 We've got to go there. 0:16:40.522,0:16:43.999 Brethren, there is no standing before God 0:16:43.999,0:16:45.940 without being in Christ. 0:16:45.940,0:16:47.033 There is no blessing. 0:16:47.033,0:16:48.862 Every blessing in the heavenly places. 0:16:48.862,0:16:50.143 Unless we are in Christ. 0:16:50.143,0:16:52.654 There is no holiness and blamelessness 0:16:52.654,0:16:54.559 before Him unless we're in Christ. 0:16:54.559,0:16:55.749 There's no adoption, 0:16:55.749,0:16:57.627 except it's through Jesus Christ. 0:16:57.627,0:16:59.436 There is no - call it acceptance, 0:16:59.436,0:17:01.029 call it being highly favored, 0:17:01.029,0:17:02.982 unless we are in the Beloved. 0:17:02.982,0:17:06.233 And brethren, what it makes me 0:17:06.233,0:17:09.157 recognize is this: 0:17:09.157,0:17:15.254 Don't talk to people about faith 0:17:15.254,0:17:17.979 and leave Christ out. 0:17:17.979,0:17:21.269 Don't talk to people about Christianity 0:17:21.269,0:17:22.813 and leave Christ out. 0:17:22.813,0:17:24.698 Don't talk to people about the church 0:17:24.698,0:17:25.732 and leave Christ out. 0:17:25.732,0:17:27.865 Don't talk to people about repentance 0:17:27.865,0:17:31.569 and leave Christ out. 0:17:31.569,0:17:33.076 You know what Paul shows us? 0:17:33.076,0:17:34.885 You know what he will not allow? 0:17:34.885,0:17:37.677 Is a Christ-less Christianity. 0:17:37.677,0:17:39.401 Not at all. 0:17:39.401,0:17:41.590 It's in the Beloved. 0:17:41.590,0:17:43.589 But here's the thing, 0:17:43.589,0:17:50.648 what makes verse 6 so unique 0:17:50.648,0:17:53.358 is that instead of speaking of Christ 0:17:53.358,0:17:56.545 or Jesus Christ or the Lord Jesus Christ, 0:17:56.545,0:17:59.435 or using a pronoun, like in Him, 0:17:59.435,0:18:03.520 here at the end of verse 6, we have this, 0:18:03.520,0:18:07.780 that He has favored us or He has blessed us 0:18:07.780,0:18:11.574 in the Beloved. 0:18:11.574,0:18:15.508 Now, I already told you, this term 0:18:15.508,0:18:17.313 is found nowhere else in our Bibles 0:18:17.313,0:18:22.665 except Luke 1. 0:18:22.665,0:18:27.130 Paul doesn't use this term anywhere else 0:18:27.130,0:18:33.523 in Ephesians or in any of his writings. 0:18:33.523,0:18:35.313 See, that strikes me. 0:18:35.313,0:18:37.299 As I'm studying and preparing, 0:18:37.299,0:18:41.226 here's a name of Christ, 0:18:41.226,0:18:44.396 a title, 0:18:44.396,0:18:46.931 that Paul in all of his writings 0:18:46.931,0:18:49.362 only chooses to use right here, 0:18:49.362,0:18:50.530 and I recognize this. 0:18:50.530,0:18:52.102 This is like you and me writing 0:18:52.102,0:18:53.722 where sometimes we're just, 0:18:53.722,0:18:55.438 we're kind of reaching for something 0:18:55.438,0:18:57.110 that might seem nice. 0:18:57.110,0:18:58.521 This is a man under inspiration. 0:18:58.521,0:18:59.725 This is a guy sharing the 0:18:59.725,0:19:01.327 very truth of God with us. 0:19:01.327,0:19:07.367 His use of terminology is not random. 0:19:07.367,0:19:09.540 And so I'm asking the question, 0:19:09.540,0:19:11.280 why, Paul? 0:19:11.280,0:19:14.371 Why here? 0:19:14.371,0:19:19.506 Why would you do this? 0:19:19.506,0:19:23.689 Why only once? 0:19:23.689,0:19:28.292 Now, I don't know brethren. 0:19:28.292,0:19:37.266 I'm kind of surmising that it's almost like 0:19:37.266,0:19:40.067 this title is too sacred 0:19:40.067,0:19:42.486 even for an inspired apostle to use 0:19:42.486,0:19:44.528 in a common fashion. 0:19:44.528,0:19:47.625 And let's think about this word. 0:19:47.625,0:19:53.403 God speaks from heaven 0:19:53.403,0:19:57.611 only three times in our New Testament. 0:19:57.611,0:19:59.762 And I'm not counting 0:19:59.762,0:20:02.026 the stuff that you find in Revelation. 0:20:02.026,0:20:03.732 But I'm just saying when Jesus 0:20:03.732,0:20:08.146 walked this earth. 0:20:08.146,0:20:14.785 God audibly spoke three times. 0:20:14.785,0:20:17.320 Once He spoke in John 12, 0:20:17.320,0:20:18.516 you remember? 0:20:18.516,0:20:20.534 That's where Jesus said, 0:20:20.534,0:20:22.325 "Father, glorify Your name." 0:20:22.325,0:20:26.372 And how did the Father respond? 0:20:26.372,0:20:30.684 Anybody remember? 0:20:30.684,0:20:33.345 "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again." 0:20:33.345,0:20:35.221 Now what's interesting about that 0:20:35.221,0:20:41.108 is that He doesn't address His Son specifically. 0:20:41.108,0:20:43.036 I mean, He's speaking to Him, 0:20:43.036,0:20:44.953 but He doesn't use a title or a name 0:20:44.953,0:20:46.427 in addressing Him. 0:20:46.427,0:20:50.528 On the other two occasions, He does. 0:20:50.528,0:20:54.140 Do you know what those other two occasions are? 0:20:54.140,0:20:56.850 At His baptism 0:20:56.850,0:21:00.318 and on the Mount of Transfiguration. 0:21:00.318,0:21:01.424 And I'll tell you this, 0:21:01.424,0:21:02.828 those early Christians knew. 0:21:02.828,0:21:04.928 The Apostle Paul knew. 0:21:04.928,0:21:07.097 Those early disciples who had walked with Christ, 0:21:07.097,0:21:09.083 they told the story over and over again. 0:21:09.083,0:21:12.339 You see there when Peter's writing His epistles, 0:21:12.339,0:21:14.026 he's talking about the glory they saw 0:21:14.026,0:21:15.266 up there on that mountain. 0:21:15.266,0:21:16.378 He never forgot that. 0:21:16.378,0:21:21.013 Those disciples told the story everywhere. 0:21:21.013,0:21:22.558 Then when they wrote the Gospels, 0:21:22.558,0:21:24.127 and when they wrote their epistles, 0:21:24.127,0:21:25.873 and when they were talking to 0:21:25.873,0:21:27.986 Christians around this world, 0:21:27.986,0:21:29.472 when they were telling what happened, 0:21:29.472,0:21:31.622 when they were telling what they observed 0:21:31.622,0:21:33.119 when they walked with Christ, 0:21:33.119,0:21:34.736 they never forgot. 0:21:34.736,0:21:37.380 Because you see there were certain seasons 0:21:37.380,0:21:42.261 when suddenly the veil would be pulled back 0:21:42.261,0:21:44.214 and some glory... could you imagine? 0:21:44.214,0:21:45.729 The Father speaking? 0:21:45.729,0:21:47.153 They're there with Christ, 0:21:47.153,0:21:49.501 and suddenly a voice comes from heaven? 0:21:49.501,0:21:53.408 And on those two accounts, 0:21:53.408,0:21:59.248 God used this term in addressing His Son. 0:21:59.248,0:22:01.887 Either in speaking directly to Him, 0:22:01.887,0:22:06.044 "You are My Beloved Son, 0:22:06.044,0:22:08.599 in Whom I am well pleased." 0:22:08.599,0:22:13.168 Or, speaking to His disciples, 0:22:13.168,0:22:15.369 "He is My Beloved Son, 0:22:15.369,0:22:17.263 in Whom I am well pleased. 0:22:17.263,0:22:19.673 Hear Him." 0:22:19.673,0:22:21.272 The Father uses this. 0:22:21.272,0:22:23.732 And you know what's interesting to me? 0:22:23.732,0:22:28.542 The Father has at His disposal, 0:22:28.542,0:22:31.266 God the Father has a perfect command 0:22:31.266,0:22:33.905 of every language. 0:22:33.905,0:22:39.171 And out of all the terminology at His disposal, 0:22:39.171,0:22:45.564 He uses this term to describe His Son. 0:22:45.564,0:22:51.189 Beloved. 0:22:51.189,0:22:56.088 Just think about this, 0:22:56.088,0:23:00.357 have you ever seen a situation 0:23:00.357,0:23:04.135 where two people are really fond of each other, 0:23:04.135,0:23:06.695 they love each other, 0:23:06.695,0:23:09.729 intensely love each other, 0:23:09.729,0:23:12.452 and they have a pet name for one another, 0:23:12.452,0:23:17.542 or we call them terms of endearment. 0:23:17.542,0:23:20.134 And one uses it to address the other. 0:23:20.134,0:23:22.622 If you as an outsider come along 0:23:22.622,0:23:24.938 and use that term, 0:23:24.938,0:23:28.097 you better be very careful. 0:23:28.097,0:23:30.315 In fact, often it might not be 0:23:30.315,0:23:33.982 appropriate at all. 0:23:33.982,0:23:35.278 Have you ever seen that? 0:23:35.278,0:23:37.893 Where somebody from outside comes along 0:23:37.893,0:23:40.042 and uses one of the terms 0:23:40.042,0:23:42.878 that is a term of endearment among these two 0:23:42.878,0:23:44.728 and somebody comes from the outside 0:23:44.728,0:23:47.675 and addresses one of them with such terminology? 0:23:47.675,0:23:50.412 It's almost like you get the feeling it's like that here. 0:23:50.412,0:23:54.117 Where Paul in all of his writings, 0:23:54.117,0:24:00.668 will only reach out and pull in this term once. 0:24:00.668,0:24:07.622 And I think it is, brethren, 0:24:07.622,0:24:11.910 it is so significant 0:24:11.910,0:24:14.131 as to why he did it. 0:24:14.131,0:24:20.257 At first, I was kind of grappling 0:24:20.257,0:24:24.090 for why. Why? Why here? 0:24:24.090,0:24:26.237 He could have done it anywhere. 0:24:26.237,0:24:28.792 Couldn't he? 0:24:28.792,0:24:31.143 But then I saw it. 0:24:31.143,0:24:34.166 I saw it as I was searching Colossians. 0:24:34.166,0:24:37.630 Colossians is a very similar, 0:24:37.630,0:24:39.619 in many ways, it's a similar 0:24:39.619,0:24:42.179 letter to Ephesians. 0:24:42.179,0:24:46.072 You find some of the same ideas over there. 0:24:46.072,0:24:50.003 And it was in cross-referincing them 0:24:50.003,0:24:53.727 that it really came to light. 0:24:53.727,0:24:55.939 Jumped out at me. 0:24:55.939,0:25:02.204 Brethren, I view this 0:25:02.204,0:25:05.107 as like a picture of treasure. 0:25:05.107,0:25:09.479 I imagine all these precious stones. 0:25:09.479,0:25:11.232 A great treasure. 0:25:11.232,0:25:13.771 But in the midst of that treasure, 0:25:13.771,0:25:18.882 is one stone more rare than all the others. 0:25:18.882,0:25:20.952 That's what this word "Beloved" is like. 0:25:20.952,0:25:24.338 And Paul reaches out and grabs that 0:25:24.338,0:25:25.560 stone of rarity, 0:25:25.560,0:25:30.011 because he only uses it this one time. 0:25:30.011,0:25:33.999 The thing that I want you to understand here is, 0:25:33.999,0:25:41.583 the term "Beloved" is not a noun. 0:25:41.583,0:25:47.358 It's actually a verb participle. 0:25:47.358,0:25:53.260 And it implies a noun that isn't there. 0:25:53.260,0:25:57.566 It's like saying that, 0:25:57.566,0:26:01.115 you could take the -be off of this. 0:26:01.115,0:26:02.663 Instead of saying beloved, 0:26:02.663,0:26:05.965 you could say loved. 0:26:05.965,0:26:11.125 It's like saying that we have been blessed 0:26:11.125,0:26:14.149 in the loved. 0:26:14.149,0:26:15.377 Beloved what? 0:26:15.377,0:26:19.299 There's a noun that's implied. 0:26:19.299,0:26:23.172 It's just not there. 0:26:23.172,0:26:30.084 Beloved is loved with a -be on the front. 0:26:30.084,0:26:34.743 The -be is an intensification. 0:26:34.743,0:26:36.746 It's old English. 0:26:36.746,0:26:39.478 It intensifies a word. 0:26:39.478,0:26:41.413 Maybe you're familiar with other words 0:26:41.413,0:26:43.221 that have the -be on the front. 0:26:43.221,0:26:50.467 Like beware, or bewail, or bestir, 0:26:50.467,0:26:52.557 or bemoan, or bedazzle. 0:26:52.557,0:26:54.026 When you add that, 0:26:54.026,0:26:55.767 it instensifies it. 0:26:55.767,0:26:59.161 It's meaning is to eminently love. 0:26:59.161,0:27:01.100 It's an intensification of love. 0:27:01.100,0:27:03.461 But a noun is assumed. 0:27:03.461,0:27:11.162 We're highly favored in the loved, 0:27:11.162,0:27:13.427 or the beloved. 0:27:13.427,0:27:15.939 The beloved what? 0:27:15.939,0:27:18.404 I mean, certainly the term 0:27:18.404,0:27:23.356 that is implied is "Son." 0:27:23.356,0:27:24.470 Because like I say, 0:27:24.470,0:27:27.959 Paul well knew what the voice 0:27:27.959,0:27:30.893 from heaven spoke. 0:27:30.893,0:27:33.794 He well knew that when the term 0:27:33.794,0:27:35.574 Beloved was used, 0:27:35.574,0:27:40.165 it went hand in hand with this. 0:27:40.165,0:27:42.795 In fact, there's a similar usage. 0:27:42.795,0:27:45.057 Paul doesn't use the same term, but he uses 0:27:45.057,0:27:47.693 a similar terminology over in Colossians. 0:27:47.693,0:27:51.005 We're going to look at it in just a few minutes. 0:27:51.005,0:27:53.526 But where that idea comes out, 0:27:53.526,0:27:58.611 God speaking - this is My Beloved Son. 0:27:58.611,0:28:02.003 Paul is undoubtedly taking his cue 0:28:02.003,0:28:04.145 from what he knows is there 0:28:04.145,0:28:05.066 in the Gospels; 0:28:05.066,0:28:07.674 from what he knows those disciples 0:28:07.674,0:28:10.490 that were in the Lord before Him - 0:28:10.490,0:28:12.432 the stories they would have told 0:28:12.432,0:28:13.526 about what they heard 0:28:13.526,0:28:17.367 and how God addressed the Son. 0:28:17.367,0:28:19.774 Paul well knew those accounts. 0:28:19.774,0:28:21.265 He well knew of the baptism, 0:28:21.265,0:28:22.400 and the Spirit descending, 0:28:22.400,0:28:23.646 and the voice that came, 0:28:23.646,0:28:24.909 and Peter, James and John 0:28:24.909,0:28:27.910 and how they were just amazed. 0:28:27.910,0:28:31.227 Brethren, each time the veil 0:28:31.227,0:28:33.597 was drawn back, 0:28:33.597,0:28:34.925 and the voice of God 0:28:34.925,0:28:39.761 audibly echoed across this landscape, 0:28:39.761,0:28:42.521 they were given a glimpse into glory. 0:28:42.521,0:28:47.838 And you have to recognize, 0:28:47.838,0:28:50.638 when God speaks about the Son 0:28:50.638,0:28:52.943 it's like there's an intensity of love, 0:28:52.943,0:28:55.018 it's like you get this feeling 0:28:55.018,0:28:58.113 of the Father looking with such delight, 0:28:58.113,0:29:00.148 with Him I am well pleased, 0:29:00.148,0:29:01.903 My Beloved, 0:29:01.903,0:29:05.808 this is the object of My love. 0:29:05.808,0:29:10.808 My Son. My Beloved Son. 0:29:10.808,0:29:12.656 You are My Beloved Son. 0:29:12.656,0:29:16.441 Or, My Son the Beloved, it can be. 0:29:16.441,0:29:18.766 Well pleased. 0:29:18.766,0:29:21.197 Paul knew God had chosen this terminology 0:29:21.197,0:29:23.736 out of all the language that could have 0:29:23.736,0:29:26.914 possibly been chosen. 0:29:26.914,0:29:29.511 And you think about the Beloved Son. 0:29:29.511,0:29:33.414 Think with me about the terminology that we find. 0:29:33.414,0:29:36.119 In John 1:14, you don't need to turn there, 0:29:36.119,0:29:42.944 but at times, Scripture uses a term, 0:29:42.944,0:29:44.489 monogenes 0:29:44.489,0:29:48.903 sometimes we translate that "begotten." 0:29:48.903,0:29:50.984 The new KJV translates that 0:29:50.984,0:29:56.481 the only begotten Son. 0:29:56.481,0:29:58.940 It's extremely contested whether 0:29:58.940,0:30:00.581 the "begotten" should be there. 0:30:00.581,0:30:02.724 But that's not the issue. 0:30:02.724,0:30:06.164 Some places, some translations, say 0:30:06.164,0:30:09.982 "the only Son." 0:30:09.982,0:30:11.632 But I'll tell you this, 0:30:11.632,0:30:14.516 what this draws us to 0:30:14.516,0:30:19.212 is that Christ is the only one of His kind. 0:30:19.212,0:30:21.386 He's in a class by Himself. 0:30:21.386,0:30:22.726 Utterly unique. 0:30:22.726,0:30:24.566 There is none other like Him. 0:30:24.566,0:30:28.390 When you drop down to 1:18, 0:30:28.390,0:30:33.348 the ESV says He's the only God, 0:30:33.348,0:30:38.240 in the bosom, or at the side of, His Father. 0:30:38.240,0:30:40.086 He makes Him known. 0:30:40.086,0:30:43.000 The KJV calls Him the only begotten Son 0:30:43.000,0:30:46.393 who is in the bosom of the Father. 0:30:46.393,0:30:48.523 He declares the Father. 0:30:48.523,0:30:54.183 Brethren, if you just think about that term, 0:30:54.183,0:30:57.187 "bosom." 0:30:57.187,0:30:59.383 Maybe, if you're not familiar with it, 0:30:59.383,0:31:01.377 maybe you almost want to smile or laugh 0:31:01.377,0:31:02.707 when you hear it. 0:31:02.707,0:31:07.309 It is a precious term. 0:31:07.309,0:31:13.063 The bosom, you just look at that term. 0:31:13.063,0:31:18.759 It calls it the area between the arms. 0:31:18.759,0:31:20.817 And I don't imagine the arms like this, 0:31:20.817,0:31:22.881 I just imagine the arms out like this. 0:31:22.881,0:31:25.032 It's the area between the arms. 0:31:25.032,0:31:27.297 That's where the Son has 0:31:27.297,0:31:29.757 eternally dwelled. 0:31:29.757,0:31:31.762 And He comes into this world, 0:31:31.762,0:31:33.629 He leaves that, 0:31:33.629,0:31:36.042 He leaves the glory that He had 0:31:36.042,0:31:39.827 with His Father before the world began; 0:31:39.827,0:31:41.900 there was a glory. 0:31:41.900,0:31:43.773 You think of what Scripture says, 0:31:43.773,0:31:47.096 He is the radiance of the glory of God. 0:31:47.096,0:31:50.338 He declares the Father. 0:31:50.338,0:31:52.786 When you see Christ, 0:31:52.786,0:31:57.388 what you see is God declaring Himself. 0:31:57.388,0:31:58.267 Behold Him. 0:31:58.267,0:31:59.636 I'm well pleased with Him. 0:31:59.636,0:32:00.809 Look at Him. 0:32:00.809,0:32:02.129 When you look at Him, 0:32:02.129,0:32:05.422 what you're beholding is Him in whom 0:32:05.422,0:32:07.748 the whole fullness of the Godhead 0:32:07.748,0:32:10.421 was pleased to dwell bodily. 0:32:10.421,0:32:17.310 This is the very image of God. 0:32:17.310,0:32:18.506 Loved. 0:32:18.506,0:32:23.745 My Beloved. 0:32:23.745,0:32:30.788 Well, brethren, you find terminology 0:32:30.788,0:32:36.422 about Him that describes Him as 0:32:36.422,0:32:41.217 the eternally generated one. 0:32:41.217,0:32:42.611 Origen was the first to use 0:32:42.611,0:32:45.953 that kind of terminology in describing Christ. 0:32:45.953,0:32:52.506 As though He was eternally generated 0:32:52.506,0:32:54.811 by God from eternity past. 0:32:54.811,0:32:58.352 Eternal generation. 0:32:58.352,0:33:00.137 Eternally begotten. 0:33:00.137,0:33:01.805 How do we even describe that? 0:33:01.805,0:33:03.406 We think about a man and a woman 0:33:03.406,0:33:05.566 coming together and a child is conceived, 0:33:05.566,0:33:07.592 and there's a begetting of a child. 0:33:07.592,0:33:09.408 Obviously, we don't want to bring in 0:33:09.408,0:33:11.795 some human construction behind this. 0:33:11.795,0:33:13.925 But what you do want to imagine is this: 0:33:13.925,0:33:16.821 What it intends to imply, 0:33:16.821,0:33:20.012 Listen, those early church fathers were grappling.[br] 0:33:20.012,0:33:22.309 We've got Robert Raymond on our shelf, 0:33:22.309,0:33:25.386 and we've got this systematic theology over here. 0:33:25.386,0:33:28.678 We can go look at Hodge and what he said. 0:33:28.678,0:33:32.084 Brethren, we've got resources from 2000 years. 0:33:32.084,0:33:33.807 But imagine in the beginning, 0:33:33.807,0:33:38.405 they're going into Scripture and they're saying, 0:33:38.405,0:33:44.751 in the beginning, He was with God, 0:33:44.751,0:33:46.475 and He was God. 0:33:46.475,0:33:50.508 He's with God. He was God. 0:33:50.508,0:33:55.459 Ok. What do we do with that? 0:33:55.459,0:34:00.096 He was in the bosom of the Father. 0:34:00.096,0:34:03.040 He declares Him. 0:34:03.040,0:34:05.886 He came into the world. 0:34:05.886,0:34:10.244 He took upon Himself flesh. 0:34:10.244,0:34:12.036 He's God. 0:34:12.036,0:34:14.938 He's the Son. 0:34:14.938,0:34:17.417 The Father delights in Him. 0:34:17.417,0:34:19.934 Did He have a beginning? 0:34:19.934,0:34:22.509 He had a beginning as a man, 0:34:22.509,0:34:27.113 but before that He was with the Father. 0:34:27.113,0:34:29.197 And they're looking at this and they're trying... 0:34:29.197,0:34:32.175 Father. Son. 0:34:32.175,0:34:34.903 But He's God. 0:34:34.903,0:34:37.711 God can't change. 0:34:37.711,0:34:39.504 They're trying to find definition. 0:34:39.504,0:34:41.369 And somebody like Origen says 0:34:41.369,0:34:46.167 eternal generation - that's how we'll describe it. 0:34:46.167,0:34:49.557 But it's this: 0:34:49.557,0:34:52.543 My son, not too long ago, 0:34:52.543,0:34:54.892 we went to the restaurant where he works. 0:34:54.892,0:34:56.920 And the girl working behind the counter said, 0:34:56.920,0:35:00.034 "Oh yeah, I can see it. He looks like you." 0:35:00.034,0:35:05.348 You see, I beget a son, 0:35:05.348,0:35:07.935 and I beget to him my humanity. 0:35:07.935,0:35:09.885 Many of my characteristics. 0:35:09.885,0:35:12.720 In the same way, 0:35:12.720,0:35:14.696 God the Father begets a Son, 0:35:14.696,0:35:15.796 though it be eternal, 0:35:15.796,0:35:18.186 because you can't go to a date 0:35:18.186,0:35:20.422 when He came forth. 0:35:20.422,0:35:22.770 But He's begotten by the Father 0:35:22.770,0:35:25.764 in such a way that in the same way I communicate 0:35:25.764,0:35:28.398 to my son my humanity 0:35:28.398,0:35:31.625 and characteristics and attributes about myself. 0:35:31.625,0:35:35.124 So in the same way, the Son is begotten 0:35:35.124,0:35:37.807 or eternally generated by the Father. 0:35:37.807,0:35:39.923 So that God the Father 0:35:39.923,0:35:45.420 communicates His deity to His Son. 0:35:45.420,0:35:47.384 The Nicene Creed says 0:35:47.384,0:35:50.679 God of God, light of light, 0:35:50.679,0:35:54.244 very God of very God. 0:35:54.244,0:35:57.183 This is the Beloved. 0:35:57.183,0:35:58.929 He's none other than the substance, 0:35:58.929,0:36:03.843 the very substance of eternal substance of God. 0:36:03.843,0:36:06.734 The only Son, the only Begotten of the Father. 0:36:06.734,0:36:09.618 The eternal Son. 0:36:09.618,0:36:12.910 And it's like when God would express 0:36:12.910,0:36:16.175 what He feels, 0:36:16.175,0:36:17.771 because the terminology you use 0:36:17.771,0:36:19.744 when you talk to one another 0:36:19.744,0:36:21.778 it's expressive. 0:36:21.778,0:36:27.572 And when God expresses as completely 0:36:27.572,0:36:31.318 and as perfectly as human language allows, 0:36:31.318,0:36:35.130 just what this One is to Him. 0:36:35.130,0:36:39.267 The One who is a reflection of His own glory. 0:36:39.267,0:36:41.169 No other terminology does God the Father 0:36:41.169,0:36:46.115 find more fitting in the divine mind than this: 0:36:46.115,0:36:49.022 My Beloved Son. 0:36:49.022,0:36:51.213 Brethren, what we need to remember is 0:36:51.213,0:36:57.293 who it is that came to rescue us from our sin. 0:36:57.293,0:36:58.928 Because, I'll tell you this, 0:36:58.928,0:37:01.018 I'm asking the question, 0:37:01.018,0:37:04.450 why at the end of verse 6? 0:37:04.450,0:37:07.085 Why there? 0:37:07.085,0:37:11.706 And of course, we have a tendency, 0:37:11.706,0:37:14.534 especially because I'm preaching 0:37:14.534,0:37:18.651 this in order, there's a real tendency 0:37:18.651,0:37:22.425 to think most about what's gone on before. 0:37:22.425,0:37:26.392 But you know what happened, 0:37:26.392,0:37:30.830 I got to looking over at Colossians 0:37:30.830,0:37:34.510 where the next closest expression to this 0:37:34.510,0:37:37.546 is found in Paul's writing. 0:37:37.546,0:37:40.182 Anything close to this in these two times 0:37:40.182,0:37:41.713 in all of his writing. 0:37:41.713,0:37:42.845 Look over in Colossians. 0:37:42.845,0:37:45.618 I want you to see this. 0:37:45.618,0:37:47.678 Hold your finger there in Ephesians 1, 0:37:47.678,0:37:51.172 because I want you to compare this. 0:37:51.172,0:37:53.518 Keep a finger in Ephesians 1 0:37:53.518,0:37:58.566 and with your other go over to Colossians 1. 0:37:58.566,0:38:01.849 You see the significance isn't so much 0:38:01.849,0:38:06.554 what's already been said, 0:38:06.554,0:38:09.223 it's that Paul is coming to a transition 0:38:09.223,0:38:15.543 in Ephesians where he's going to turn the focus now. 0:38:15.543,0:38:19.124 Up to this point, he has primarily been focusing 0:38:19.124,0:38:22.180 on what the Father does. 0:38:22.180,0:38:26.789 At the end of verse 6, the transition is taking place 0:38:26.789,0:38:30.563 to begin to talk about 0:38:30.563,0:38:36.363 the Son's primary place in our salvation. 0:38:36.363,0:38:39.881 It's got to do more with what's to follow, 0:38:39.881,0:38:41.713 than what has preceded, 0:38:41.713,0:38:44.882 in the fact that this terminology comes. 0:38:44.882,0:38:47.847 Why here? 0:38:47.847,0:38:49.171 Why "Beloved" here? 0:38:49.171,0:38:55.490 Well, notice Colossians 1:13-14. 0:38:55.490,0:39:02.545 Because you have almost the same thing 0:39:02.545,0:39:08.072 that's happening in Ephesians. 0:39:08.072,0:39:11.420 "God has delivered us from the domain of darkness..." 0:39:11.420,0:39:13.971 Colossians 1:13-14 0:39:13.971,0:39:19.859 "and transferred us to the Kingdom of His Beloved Son." 0:39:19.859,0:39:27.353 Now this is literally "the Son of His love." 0:39:27.353,0:39:29.696 The ESV has "Beloved," 0:39:29.696,0:39:32.709 but it's not an adjective, it's a noun. 0:39:32.709,0:39:35.090 It's the Son of His love. 0:39:35.090,0:39:38.148 It's the closest terminology in Paul's writing 0:39:38.148,0:39:40.330 to the Beloved 0:39:40.330,0:39:44.268 that we find over in Ephesians 1:6. 0:39:44.268,0:39:46.353 But now, notice this, 0:39:46.353,0:39:50.381 as soon as he uses this terminology, 0:39:50.381,0:39:57.554 he says almost precisely what he says 0:39:57.554,0:40:01.614 after he uses it in Ephesians 1:6. 0:40:01.614,0:40:04.082 Notice this: 0:40:04.082,0:40:06.338 The Son of His love, 0:40:06.338,0:40:09.486 in whom we have redemption, 0:40:09.486,0:40:11.078 the forgivenes of sins. 0:40:11.078,0:40:14.027 Now notice that. 0:40:14.027,0:40:16.771 Redemption and forgiveness. 0:40:16.771,0:40:19.398 Now go back to Ephesians. 0:40:19.398,0:40:21.620 And notice this. 0:40:21.620,0:40:23.977 Verse 6 0:40:23.977,0:40:25.778 "With which He has blessed us 0:40:25.778,0:40:29.950 or highly favored us in the Beloved." 0:40:29.950,0:40:31.111 Verse 7 0:40:31.111,0:40:35.990 "In Him we have redemption through His blood, 0:40:35.990,0:40:38.523 the forgiveness of our trespasses." 0:40:38.523,0:40:43.690 It's almost identical. 0:40:43.690,0:40:49.864 Brethren, you know what it's telling me? 0:40:49.864,0:40:54.423 I recognized in all of Paul's writings, 0:40:54.423,0:41:01.257 he uses this terminology to introduce 0:41:01.257,0:41:08.251 redemption and forgiveness. 0:41:08.251,0:41:11.672 And brethren, what he's doing undoubtedly, 0:41:11.672,0:41:14.640 is he means to show us 0:41:14.640,0:41:19.121 the measure of God's love for us. 0:41:19.121,0:41:26.358 He takes the choice gem, 0:41:26.358,0:41:30.762 I mean the rarest of all the gems, 0:41:30.762,0:41:34.823 in the terminology by which he may call Christ. 0:41:34.823,0:41:37.882 And he sets it forth, 0:41:37.882,0:41:40.127 and see you look at it, 0:41:40.127,0:41:41.675 and the first thing you do is 0:41:41.675,0:41:44.204 you look at it and you recognize, 0:41:44.204,0:41:48.953 Wow, that is a valuable gem. 0:41:48.953,0:41:50.940 And then the next thing he says is 0:41:50.940,0:41:53.589 He gave it for you, for your redemption, 0:41:53.589,0:41:56.741 and for your forgiveness of sins. 0:41:56.741,0:42:00.814 You've got to be kidding me. 0:42:00.814,0:42:03.358 In all of his writings, 0:42:03.358,0:42:06.158 he uses this term Beloved once. 0:42:06.158,0:42:08.090 He uses the Son of His love, 0:42:08.090,0:42:10.634 which is almost the same thing. 0:42:10.634,0:42:12.155 And in both cases, 0:42:12.155,0:42:15.673 immediately after the rarity 0:42:15.673,0:42:17.304 of such a name, 0:42:17.304,0:42:21.236 the preciousness of the very terminology, 0:42:21.236,0:42:24.502 the term of holy endearment 0:42:24.502,0:42:26.048 and divine tenderness 0:42:26.048,0:42:30.995 used by the Father for the Son. 0:42:30.995,0:42:33.136 It's like communicating, 0:42:33.136,0:42:35.713 look at the preciousness between, 0:42:35.713,0:42:38.101 look at the intensity 0:42:38.101,0:42:42.506 of the divine love for the Son. 0:42:42.506,0:42:45.587 You were redeemed and forgiven 0:42:45.587,0:42:48.152 because God didn't spare Him. 0:42:48.152,0:42:49.745 This is meant to throw you 0:42:49.745,0:42:52.490 in the back of your seat. 0:42:52.490,0:42:53.876 This is meant to floor you, 0:42:53.876,0:42:55.517 right at this point. 0:42:55.517,0:43:00.912 Beloved, what this does is shows constrast. 0:43:00.912,0:43:08.333 There's glory, and you, the leper. 0:43:08.333,0:43:12.800 Ransomed, redeemed, pardoned. 0:43:12.800,0:43:15.646 Your iniquities washed away. 0:43:15.646,0:43:17.012 Paul would have us to think 0:43:17.012,0:43:18.443 of the sweet intimacy between 0:43:18.443,0:43:20.093 Father and Son, 0:43:20.093,0:43:23.428 the intensity of which God loves the Son, 0:43:23.428,0:43:25.455 with all of His divine being, 0:43:25.455,0:43:27.449 and then this: 0:43:27.449,0:43:29.745 God has a Son of His love. 0:43:29.745,0:43:32.665 God has a Beloved. 0:43:32.665,0:43:40.295 In the bosom. 0:43:40.295,0:43:43.483 And He let Him go. 0:43:43.483,0:43:45.938 He didn't spare Him. 0:43:45.938,0:43:53.316 God didn't spare the Beloved. 0:43:53.316,0:43:57.487 For a leper. 0:43:57.487,0:44:02.851 Between His arms. 0:44:02.851,0:44:08.863 And the Beloved. He didn't hold Him back. 0:44:08.863,0:44:12.969 When John comes along and he says, 0:44:12.969,0:44:16.516 "In this the love of God was made manifest, 0:44:16.516,0:44:18.466 that God sent His only Son into the world 0:44:18.466,0:44:20.019 so that we might live through Him." 0:44:20.019,0:44:26.818 Or he says, "God so loved the world, 0:44:26.818,0:44:30.642 that He gave His only begotten Son." 0:44:30.642,0:44:33.986 Brethren, we have redemption and forgiveness. 0:44:33.986,0:44:38.938 Not from some cheap gesture by God. 0:44:38.938,0:44:39.949 I'll tell you this, 0:44:39.949,0:44:41.868 the people that just think 0:44:41.868,0:44:45.080 God just sweeps sin under the rug. 0:44:45.080,0:44:49.617 They have no idea what God did. 0:44:49.617,0:44:53.434 None. 0:44:53.434,0:44:55.687 Because the Beloved Son 0:44:55.687,0:44:58.002 came from heaven 0:44:58.002,0:45:02.734 a lamb for the sacrificial slaughter. 0:45:02.734,0:45:04.103 If you want to know how to 0:45:04.103,0:45:08.815 properly estimate God's love for us, 0:45:08.815,0:45:13.280 behold the Beloved. 0:45:13.280,0:45:17.507 Bosom. 0:45:17.507,0:45:21.714 God held Him tight. 0:45:21.714,0:45:24.221 The Beloved. 0:45:24.221,0:45:26.992 Eternally in the bosom of the Father. 0:45:26.992,0:45:33.999 Enjoying the love, the glory, 0:45:33.999,0:45:36.934 the joy, 0:45:36.934,0:45:42.576 the smile. 0:45:42.576,0:45:45.051 There was such delight. 0:45:45.051,0:45:49.423 Brethren, if anything, this tells us, 0:45:49.423,0:45:53.006 God didn't save us because there was 0:45:53.006,0:45:55.687 some void in His bosom, 0:45:55.687,0:45:58.809 that He needed to fill. 0:45:58.809,0:46:01.907 It was full. 0:46:01.907,0:46:05.466 The Son of His love. 0:46:05.466,0:46:10.982 That eternal Trinity was quite happy 0:46:10.982,0:46:20.685 and content and full without us. 0:46:20.685,0:46:25.550 He was in the embrace of the Father. 0:46:25.550,0:46:29.204 When Scripture says, 0:46:29.204,0:46:34.541 "If He didn't spare His only Son." 0:46:34.541,0:46:37.595 He didn't spare Him. 0:46:37.595,0:46:42.025 Brethren, how can that even be? 0:46:42.025,0:46:44.459 He didn't spare Him. 0:46:44.459,0:46:45.891 In the fullness of time, 0:46:45.891,0:46:48.616 the Beloved is sent forth, 0:46:48.616,0:46:52.365 to be born of a woman, of a virgin, 0:46:52.365,0:46:54.462 to be born under the law. 0:46:54.462,0:46:56.829 We could just hasten right past the manger, 0:46:56.829,0:46:58.670 we could hasten right past him 0:46:58.670,0:47:01.327 stooping, becoming weak, 0:47:01.327,0:47:05.077 taking upon Him the likeness of sinful flesh. 0:47:05.077,0:47:07.686 Brethren, can you see Him? 0:47:07.686,0:47:10.875 Brethren, you have to think, brethren, think! 0:47:10.875,0:47:14.623 This God from heaven who spoke to Christ, 0:47:14.623,0:47:16.857 and called Him His Beloved Son, 0:47:16.857,0:47:23.858 or the Son the Beloved One. 0:47:23.858,0:47:25.766 He's watching. 0:47:25.766,0:47:29.080 He let Him go. 0:47:29.080,0:47:30.591 He sent Him. 0:47:30.591,0:47:32.233 He didn't spare Him. 0:47:32.233,0:47:34.608 He's watching. 0:47:34.608,0:47:38.781 Do you see Him there in the garden? 0:47:38.781,0:47:44.513 Here is one distressed... 0:47:44.513,0:47:47.333 bloody sweat? 0:47:47.333,0:47:50.012 This is the Beloved. 0:47:50.012,0:47:51.438 You need to see Him. 0:47:51.438,0:47:52.708 The Beloved. 0:47:52.708,0:47:57.235 He's contemplating the horrors of Golgotha. 0:47:57.235,0:48:02.880 And His body can't keep it's own blood inside 0:48:02.880,0:48:06.310 because of the strain. 0:48:06.310,0:48:11.245 And the Father lets Him endure that. 0:48:11.245,0:48:13.932 And that's not even the cross yet. 0:48:13.932,0:48:15.656 That's just anticipation. 0:48:15.656,0:48:17.789 This is the Beloved. 0:48:17.789,0:48:19.880 And why is He doing this? 0:48:19.880,0:48:21.327 He's doing this for the joy 0:48:21.327,0:48:22.521 that's set before Him. 0:48:22.521,0:48:26.036 He's doing this to redeem a people 0:48:26.036,0:48:28.595 that they might be adopted sons of God, 0:48:28.595,0:48:31.278 that they might be brought to stand holy 0:48:31.278,0:48:33.673 before God. 0:48:33.673,0:48:37.047 It's the Beloved. 0:48:37.047,0:48:40.927 And God the Father is watching, 0:48:40.927,0:48:43.598 He's tracking, He's well pleased with Him, 0:48:43.598,0:48:47.950 He's watching every motion of this. 0:48:47.950,0:48:50.532 He goes out of the garden, 0:48:50.532,0:48:53.347 He's captured, He's taken away. 0:48:53.347,0:48:56.022 He's accused. 0:48:56.022,0:48:58.517 Brethren, they spit on Him. 0:48:58.517,0:48:59.697 They spit on Him. 0:48:59.697,0:49:01.418 The Father is looking. 0:49:01.418,0:49:03.153 This One whom He held in His arms, 0:49:03.153,0:49:04.666 in His bosom. 0:49:04.666,0:49:06.042 The Beloved. 0:49:06.042,0:49:07.403 They're spitting on Him. 0:49:07.403,0:49:11.025 This is the only begotten Son of God. 0:49:11.025,0:49:13.372 Glory. 0:49:13.372,0:49:16.570 All it took was slightly pulling back the veil. 0:49:16.570,0:49:18.723 That glory bursts forth there on 0:49:18.723,0:49:22.417 the Mount of Transfiguration. 0:49:22.417,0:49:24.429 They spit on Him. They hit Him. 0:49:24.429,0:49:25.772 They put a bag on His head. 0:49:25.772,0:49:28.891 They accuse Him. They condemn Him. 0:49:28.891,0:49:31.188 They ship Him off to Pilate. 0:49:31.188,0:49:32.523 Pilate sends Him to Herod. 0:49:32.523,0:49:35.933 Herod just berates Him. 0:49:35.933,0:49:38.706 It's the Beloved. 0:49:38.706,0:49:42.208 You have kings and governers; 0:49:42.208,0:49:45.002 Jews and Gentiles; 0:49:45.002,0:49:48.560 men and women, 0:49:48.560,0:49:53.309 the crowd, "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!" 0:49:53.309,0:49:56.864 Brethren, you think, 0:49:56.864,0:49:58.149 those Roman soldiers, 0:49:58.149,0:50:00.131 they nail Him to the cross. 0:50:00.131,0:50:03.126 They mocked Him. 0:50:03.126,0:50:05.566 They put a crown of thorns on His head. 0:50:05.566,0:50:07.821 This is the Beloved. 0:50:07.821,0:50:12.237 And He goes to that cross. 0:50:12.237,0:50:14.304 He goes there. 0:50:14.304,0:50:16.787 The Beloved. 0:50:16.787,0:50:18.577 The Father looks down upon Him. 0:50:18.577,0:50:20.625 He sees all this. 0:50:20.625,0:50:22.956 The crowds are coming by. 0:50:22.956,0:50:24.653 They make fun of Him. 0:50:24.653,0:50:26.223 Even the thieves. 0:50:26.223,0:50:27.926 The thieves have spikes through 0:50:27.926,0:50:29.413 their hands and their feet, 0:50:29.413,0:50:31.165 and even in their agonies 0:50:31.165,0:50:32.616 - it was no fun deal - 0:50:32.616,0:50:35.086 can you imagine? 0:50:35.086,0:50:36.976 It's one of the most horrendous, 0:50:36.976,0:50:40.487 torturous deaths you can imagine. 0:50:40.487,0:50:42.985 And while both theives on either side of Him 0:50:42.985,0:50:48.690 are in the throngs of their own sufferings, 0:50:48.690,0:50:52.693 they've got enough detestation for the Beloved 0:50:52.693,0:50:55.096 to mock Him. 0:50:55.096,0:50:58.028 One turns, but in the beginning, 0:50:58.028,0:50:59.842 the other gospel accounts tell us 0:50:59.842,0:51:04.831 he was just as vile a mouth as the other one. 0:51:04.831,0:51:08.020 Everybody's forsaken Him. 0:51:08.020,0:51:14.146 Everybody's against Him. 0:51:14.146,0:51:18.088 And then God Himself lets loose. 0:51:18.088,0:51:23.752 He stretches forth His hand. 0:51:23.752,0:51:26.709 Christ, He says, in Psalm 22, 0:51:26.709,0:51:28.687 I'm poured out like water. 0:51:28.687,0:51:30.396 My bones are out of joint. 0:51:30.396,0:51:31.892 My heart is like wax. 0:51:31.892,0:51:33.496 It's melted within my breast. 0:51:33.496,0:51:35.699 My strength is dried up like a potsherd. 0:51:35.699,0:51:38.535 My tongue sticks to my jaws. 0:51:38.535,0:51:47.845 You - get this - You lay Me in the dust. 0:51:47.845,0:51:51.259 It's like the Father takes the head 0:51:51.259,0:51:53.860 of the Beloved by the hair, 0:51:53.860,0:52:00.137 and drives His face into the dirt. 0:52:00.137,0:52:03.517 You, this is Christ, this is the Beloved. 0:52:03.517,0:52:06.358 You. 0:52:06.358,0:52:09.539 This is the same one who said, 0:52:09.539,0:52:14.632 "My Beloved Son, in whom I'm well pleased." 0:52:14.632,0:52:19.822 Christ is saying, "You." 0:52:19.822,0:52:23.882 You lay Me in the dust of death. 0:52:23.882,0:52:25.456 The dogs encompassed Me, 0:52:25.456,0:52:28.207 a company of evildoers encircles Me, 0:52:28.207,0:52:30.828 they pierce My hands and feet. 0:52:30.828,0:52:32.723 I can count all My bones. 0:52:32.723,0:52:34.269 They stare and gloat over Me. 0:52:34.269,0:52:36.074 They divide my garments among them, 0:52:36.074,0:52:38.940 and for My clothing, they cast lots. 0:52:38.940,0:52:42.843 God pours Him out like water. 0:52:42.843,0:52:48.854 Just melts Him. 0:52:48.854,0:52:50.694 We know Isaiah 53. 0:52:50.694,0:52:51.451 We sing it. 0:52:51.451,0:52:57.017 Stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 0:52:57.017,0:53:03.288 God does not spare His Beloved. 0:53:03.288,0:53:07.824 Though He's loved Him. 0:53:07.824,0:53:09.161 He's loved Him. 0:53:09.161,0:53:14.397 He's be-loved Him from all eternity. 0:53:14.397,0:53:18.915 But He's pierced for our transgressions. 0:53:18.915,0:53:23.031 Crushed for our iniquities. 0:53:23.031,0:53:24.751 There's the Father with all of His 0:53:24.751,0:53:31.183 intensity of love that He has for His Beloved. 0:53:31.183,0:53:35.953 But though He is the Beloved, 0:53:35.953,0:53:38.871 His own Father will not spare Him. 0:53:38.871,0:53:40.218 Because I'll tell you this, 0:53:40.218,0:53:44.979 if He spared Him, you and I wouldn't be saved. 0:53:44.979,0:53:46.201 He didn't spare Him. 0:53:46.201,0:53:47.803 He crushes Him. 0:53:47.803,0:53:50.435 For our iniquities. 0:53:50.435,0:53:55.601 If the Father's hand had been in any way held back, 0:53:55.601,0:53:57.554 there's no hope for us. 0:53:57.554,0:53:58.875 He cried out on that cross, 0:53:58.875,0:54:02.145 "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" 0:54:02.145,0:54:04.055 And what is this? 0:54:04.055,0:54:08.229 Is this the cry of a forsaken man? 0:54:08.229,0:54:09.941 Who could that be 0:54:09.941,0:54:12.509 that would say something like that? 0:54:12.509,0:54:16.925 And see, this is what Paul wants us to come back to. 0:54:16.925,0:54:19.600 Don't you know who that is on that cross? 0:54:19.600,0:54:21.393 Don't you know who it is that's crying out 0:54:21.393,0:54:25.196 "My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?" 0:54:25.196,0:54:30.107 It's God's Beloved. 0:54:30.107,0:54:33.419 If I'm going to talk to you 0:54:33.419,0:54:35.920 about redemption, 0:54:35.920,0:54:37.579 if I'm going to talk to you 0:54:37.579,0:54:39.440 about a price being paid, 0:54:39.440,0:54:40.738 if I'm going to talk to you 0:54:40.738,0:54:43.819 about your forgiven sins and iniquities 0:54:43.819,0:54:48.156 and transgressions; 0:54:48.156,0:54:49.519 then I'm going to have you 0:54:49.519,0:54:52.790 behold the Beloved before we go there. 0:54:52.790,0:54:55.500 So that you can recognize, 0:54:55.500,0:54:58.540 brethren, you've got to recognize what 0:54:58.540,0:55:01.753 this salvation cost. 0:55:01.753,0:55:03.209 As I said before, 0:55:03.209,0:55:06.694 this is no cheap gesture on God's part. 0:55:06.694,0:55:09.283 None. 0:55:09.283,0:55:11.804 It's the Beloved. 0:55:11.804,0:55:13.181 Get the tape measure out. 0:55:13.181,0:55:18.455 Let's measure His love correctly in all of this. 0:55:18.455,0:55:21.190 To the lost, 0:55:21.190,0:55:23.268 if you don't know Him, 0:55:23.268,0:55:25.013 I would just admonish you in this. 0:55:25.013,0:55:29.380 If all of this is true, 0:55:29.380,0:55:31.672 I would say this, 0:55:31.672,0:55:36.018 open your own heart to the Beloved. 0:55:36.018,0:55:37.736 Let Him be your Beloved. 0:55:37.736,0:55:38.902 Fall down. 0:55:38.902,0:55:41.385 He is worth trusting. 0:55:41.385,0:55:44.814 He is worth loving. 0:55:44.814,0:55:48.473 None. None. You will find none 0:55:48.473,0:55:51.431 who has done so much for sinners 0:55:51.431,0:55:54.892 as the Beloved has done for sinners. 0:55:54.892,0:55:57.214 Redeeming sinners with His own blood. 0:55:57.214,0:55:59.525 We sang the song. 0:55:59.525,0:56:02.028 My hope is built on nothing less. 0:56:02.028,0:56:03.624 And it's the Beloved. 0:56:03.624,0:56:04.831 It's His blood. 0:56:04.831,0:56:06.480 It's His righteousness. 0:56:06.480,0:56:08.674 He poured out His blood to redeem sinners. 0:56:08.674,0:56:09.862 He did that. 0:56:09.862,0:56:11.275 He made a way for sinners 0:56:11.275,0:56:12.533 to be forgiven, 0:56:12.533,0:56:13.859 that they might stand before God 0:56:13.859,0:56:17.822 holy and blameless before Him as children. 0:56:17.822,0:56:20.191 In the Beloved. 0:56:20.191,0:56:23.390 Highly favored. 0:56:23.390,0:56:27.234 In the Beloved. 0:56:27.234,0:56:29.189 Father, I pray 0:56:29.189,0:56:36.891 that we might just be impressed, 0:56:36.891,0:56:38.163 may we feel this, 0:56:38.163,0:56:41.905 Lord, may You cause the glory... 0:56:41.905,0:56:44.823 I know there's so much about this 0:56:44.823,0:56:46.814 that we have to have our eyes opened, 0:56:46.814,0:56:48.082 the scales removed, 0:56:48.082,0:56:52.862 we have to feel the weight in our own souls. 0:56:52.862,0:56:54.640 Bring this reality home to us, 0:56:54.640,0:56:57.693 I pray, Lord, 0:56:57.693,0:57:03.810 I pray that You would help us, 0:57:03.810,0:57:08.102 help us, Lord, to do what You tell 0:57:08.102,0:57:10.930 those early disciples: 0:57:10.930,0:57:13.944 My Son, in whom I am well pleased, 0:57:13.944,0:57:17.462 My Beloved Son; 0:57:17.462,0:57:21.348 Hear ye Him. 0:57:21.348,0:57:24.996 Oh Lord, give us ears to hear. 0:57:24.996,0:57:27.117 Give us eyes to see 0:57:27.117,0:57:29.643 the altogether loveliness. 0:57:29.643,0:57:33.794 Touch us, Lord, with a touch of Your hand, 0:57:33.794,0:57:35.626 that we might all the more embrace 0:57:35.626,0:57:38.451 these realities. 0:57:38.451,0:57:41.275 Lord, I know we could even cry out 0:57:41.275,0:57:42.574 as the song writer, 0:57:42.574,0:57:44.388 what language shall we borrow, 0:57:44.388,0:57:47.241 to thank Thee, dearest Friend? 0:57:47.241,0:57:51.251 We thank You. 0:57:51.251,0:57:54.313 Father, what have You done? 0:57:54.313,0:57:56.556 What have You done in giving the Beloved 0:57:56.556,0:57:58.980 for wretches like us? 0:57:58.980,0:58:00.738 What have You done? 0:58:00.738,0:58:03.151 Thank you, Lord. 0:58:03.151,0:58:05.443 We thank You. 0:58:05.443,0:58:07.873 Father, we thank You. 0:58:07.873,0:58:09.914 Lord Jesus Christ, we thank You. 0:58:09.914,0:58:11.259 Spirit of God, we thank You 0:58:11.259,0:58:14.105 for any enlightenment You give us. 0:58:14.105,0:58:18.925 For any eyes that are open to behold the glory. 0:58:18.925,0:58:21.764 We thank You, Triune God, 0:58:21.764,0:58:23.834 in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 0:58:23.834,0:58:25.886 Amen.