The Body Formed in Eternity Past, Part 1

We constantly ask God for what we already have.

Have you noticed that? Welcome to Grace To You with John MacArthur. I'm your host, Phil Johnson. Imagine you're stranded on a desert island, battling hunger, the elements and loneliness, and then one day someone finds you and offers you rescue as well as everything you need for the rest of your life. Would you say no to that and instead continue to struggle for survival, turning your back on profound blessing?

Of course you wouldn't. But is it possible you're doing something even worse, rejecting the unique, abundant treasure that's yours if you're a Christian? How do you embrace that treasure and make the most of it?

Find out with John MacArthur here on Grace To You as he continues his series titled, Richer Than You Think. Follow along now as John begins the lesson. In most of Paul's discussions of the church as the body of Christ, in most of his discussing that, he is referring to the present here and now operation of the church. But in the first chapter of Ephesians, he goes way back into eternity past and shows how God master planned the church as the body of Christ before the world began.

So this is really a look way back before history. Look with me at verse 3 through verse 6a. There are six aspects of blessing in verse 3.

Let's see what they are. First of all, the blessed one is God. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Second element I see here in blessing is that God is also the blesser. He's not only the blessed, but the blesser who hath blessed, who hath blessed. So we see that God is the blessed one and the blesser also, who are the blessed. Right after the word blessed, it says us.

That's us, folks. We're the blessed. How much blessing does He give us? Look at the fourth element, the blessings themselves. It says, blessed us with all spiritual blessings.

He blesses us with all that is possible to be dispensed to us through the agency of the Spirit of God. And you know, it's so ridiculous for Christians not to think they have any resources. They say, well, I don't know if I can really do that. Oh yeah. Have you ever...I was studying Romans 8 one time and reading that text where he says, we know not what to pray for as we ought.

You remember that one? So the Spirit makes intercession for us. You know, one of the things we do is we constantly ask God for what we already have.

Have you noticed that? Because we don't know our resources. We go to God and we say, oh God, I need more love. I just want You to give me more love.

And the Bible already says that the love of God is shed abroad in your heart. You say, oh, don't need that. Lord, what I need is peace. I'm so distressed. And Jesus said, when He left My peace, I leave with you, not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Never let your heart be troubled. Oh, I got that too?

Right. Well, what I need is, I need joy. I'm unhappy. No, read John 15.

He said that He was going to leave His joy in us that our joy might be what? Full. Oh, I don't need that either? No. Well, I know what I need. I need strength.

No, you can already do all things through Christ who already what? Strengthens you. You see, we spend a lot of time asking for what we got. You say, well, what am I supposed to ask for? James said, ask for wisdom. And wisdom is the sense not to ask for what you got. You see, God has already dispensed to us all spiritual blessing, all blessing connected to the Spirit. And people say, well, have you received the second blessing?

I always say, yes. And the five-thousandth, too. All when I received Christ, I received how many? All spiritual blessings. Look at 2 Peter chapter 1 for a minute. It says this in verse 3, according as His divine power...now there's the source, people. His divine power hath...past tense...given us all things that pertain unto life and godliness. You see, He's already given us all things that pertain to life and godliness.

There is no missing ingredient. The Blessed One is the blesser who has blessed us with everything we need. All the resources are there.

They're all there. And in Philippians 1 19, Paul calls it the supply of the Spirit...the supply of the Spirit. Sadly though, we don't always appropriate our possessions. But I want you to know, people, you're rich. Bless God, He couldn't give you more than He gave you in Christ. There's nothing else to get. I mean, there's nothing else to get. It's all there.

All the pneumaticus, blessings, all the good things that the Spirit can dispense have been dispensed to you in the presence of the indwelling Christ. They're yours. It's not a question of finding something else. It's a question of using what you've got. So don't go stumbling around saying, Well, I don't know if I can do it.

Oh yeah, you can do it. The resources are there. You're rich.

You are rich, incredibly rich. So the blessing...you say, But where are these blessings? Well, He tells us the blessing location in the heavenlies...in the heavenlies.

Now where is the heavenlies? Some people say, Well, that's heaven. Well, not strictly speaking, I think it includes heaven. But I think the heavenly simply means the supernatural world of God, the domain of God, the divine realm. It isn't just heaven.

It says, for example, in the sixth chapter we wrestle against...not against flesh and blood but against spiritual wickedness in the heavenlies. So it's the domain of the supernatural. So we're not just citizens of the earth, but we're citizens up there.

We really aren't even citizens here anymore, although we're roaming around here. We start out being citizens of this world, we're saved, we become citizens of heaven, according to Philippians 3.20, our citizenship is in heaven from which we look for our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. So we're citizens of heaven, we live in the heavenlies. It is the dominion of God. It is that dominion by which we are able to understand the supernatural. The natural man understandeth not the things of God because he is of the earth earthy. Jesus said in Luke 16 8, They are the children of this world, but we have been transformed into God's kingdom, the kingdom of His dear Son. Our minds have been elevated, Colossians 3 says, we are ascended into the heavenlies, our citizenship is there and so we live in a paradoxical kind of two-level existence here on the earth and yet citizens of heaven.

Let me illustrate it. I'm an American citizen. No matter where I go in the world, I'm an American citizen. If I'm in an Arab country or if I'm in a European country or a Latin American or Central American country or an African country or wherever I might be, whatever country I'm in, I am an American citizen and have all the rights and privileges pertaining thereto. And you are the same. You are a citizen of heaven.

Just because you happen to be traveling in a foreign land doesn't alter your citizenship one bit. You have all the rights and privileges belonging to a citizen of heaven. Our life is in the supernatural, in the heavenlies. We commune with God. Our Father is there. Our home is there. Our Savior is there. Our friends are there. Our loved ones are there. Our name is there. Our throne is there.

Our room is there. It's in the heavenlies that we live and we're trapped in the tension of being heavenly citizens with an earthly sojourn. It's like the king, you know, the king who by virtue of the right to rule is the king, is still the king when he's not sitting on his seat, right?

I mean, the fact that he walks in the world and mingles with the common people and comes out of the palace and comes down and trips around with the folks on the street, the peasants, doesn't mean he's not the king because someday he'll go back and sit on the throne because he has a right to do so. And you and I are kings, the Bible says. And we're right now walking among the commoners of the earth, but one of these days we're going to be going back to the home where our throne is and we're going to be seated with Christ in His throne. In fact, in Ephesians 2, 6 it says we're already seated in the heavenly places.

It's as good as done. As you see, we are citizens of an eternal kingdom. We belong there.

Everything we love is there. And we're trapped in a tension of the earthly and the heavenly. That's why Paul could say in the midst of that paradox, I am sorrowful yet always rejoicing.

I am poor yet I make many rich. I have nothing yet I have everything. I am troubled on all sides but I'm not distressed. I am perplexed but I'm not in despair. I'm cast down but I'm not destroyed. You see, it was the tension of being in two worlds. And you may have nothing and you may be poor in this world, but let me tell you, you're so rich in the heavenlies that it's uncountable.

You say, my problem is pulling it down to get it here where I need it. That's the work of the Holy Spirit. And listen to me. Galatians 5 says, if you walk in the Spirit, now watch, you walk in the Spirit, the Spirit will produce everything you need.

Watch. Love, what are they? Joy, peace, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control.

All the virtues. You can pull all the riches right down by walking in the power of the Spirit of God. You're rich. You've been blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies. You say, how come? Why is God who is to be blessed becoming the blesser to bless me with all these things in the heavenlies and allow me to be a citizen of His world?

Why? The answer comes at the very end of verse 3, because you are...what are the last two words? In Christ. You see, when you became a Christian, you were placed in a marvelous union with Christ. First Corinthians 6, 17 says, He that is joined to the Lord is one Spirit. And you became one Spirit with Jesus Christ. And as such, all that is His is yours.

Is that incredible? In case that boggles your mind, you maybe need to affirm Romans chapter 8 where the Apostle Paul reiterates for us a truth that never ceases to thrill me. Verse 17, 16 says, We are the children of God. And 17 says, If children, then heirs, heirs of God and what? Joint heirs with Jesus Christ. All that is His is ours. We are in Christ. We are as rich as He is.

All the resources He had, we have. Listen, beloved, you are a part of the church of Jesus Christ because you were planned into it before the world began. And in so being planned into it, when you came to know Jesus Christ, you became a joint heir with God, a joint heir with Christ and God dispensed at your disposal all the riches of everything the Spirit of God could transmit.

And by walking in the Spirit, it all becomes yours. That's rich. No wonder He blessed God, huh? No wonder. We are in Christ.

I don't understand that. It's a fabulous thought. I am one with Jesus Christ so that His righteousness is imputed to me, so that His inheritance is my inheritance. Let me sum it up by saying it four ways. I'm in Christ so His position is my position. His privilege is my privilege. His possession is my possession and His practice is my practice.

I'll say it another way. Where He is, I am. What He has, I have. And what He does, I do. And I'll tell you something. If I'm in union with Jesus Christ and to be so planned before the foundation of the world, then I am significant.

So are you. But only because I'm in Christ, not because of myself, right? Remember what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15, 10, I am what I am by what?

The grace of God, not because I'm worthy. Well, having blessed God in that third verse, he moves on to discuss how this blessed God formed His body in eternity past. Let's go to verse 4. "'According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him, in love having predestinated us under the adoption of sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace.'"

Now stop there. That little section from 4 to 6a is the first part of this longer section through verse 14. And the whole section through verse 14 discusses the eternal forming of the body, but that little section discusses the past aspect of it. The next section, the present aspect, the third, the future. The past aspect can be summed up in one word, election. The present aspect, verses 6b through 11 or so, can be summed up in one word, redemption. That's the present aspect. The future aspect, the rest of it, inheritance. Election, redemption, inheritance, three key words that show the three different aspects of God's eternal plan.

Let's look at the first one and we're not going to get through it, just going to get through the first point and the first part. What is the past aspect of God's eternal plan? Well, we see in verses 4 through 6a, seven aspects of God's past plan, seven aspects. First one is the method which is election, verse 4, according as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world.

Stop there. You know why He blesses God in verse 3? He blesses God in verse 3 because He's absolutely just overwhelmed that God has chosen Him before the foundation of the world. That it isn't a question of saying, hey, you're a good guy, you deserve to be in my kingdom. Hey, you're a nice lady, you deserve to be in my kingdom.

It isn't that at all. It's God before the world began setting His love on me. You see, the method...the method by which God formed the body was election. You see, it says, according as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world.

People say to me all the time, do you believe in election? I say, yeah, I believe in the Bible and the Bible teaches election. You mean you believe that God chooses people to be saved before they were ever born? The Bible teaches that. You believe that before the world even began, Jesus and the Father and the Spirit wrote down in the book of life who would be saved already down there and they planned that whole thing out?

Absolutely believe that. You say, well what about free will? In the first place, free will is no biblical term. It's never used in the Bible because man may have a will but it isn't free, it's bound to sin.

But aside from that, what about will? You believe that man has a choice? Absolutely. You believe that anybody who wants to can come to Christ?

Absolutely. I believe the Bible teaches absolute sovereignty of God in election and I believe that Jesus said Him that cometh unto me I'll have no wise...what?...cast out. And I believe Jesus said, Whosoever will let him come, I believe that Jesus simply put it this way, come unto me all ye that...what?...labor and are heavy laden, I'll give you rest. And you see, God has some things that He can do that I can't do and that's fine. Listen, if I understood everything, I'd be God and if I was God, we would be in lots of trouble. I don't need to resolve it, but don't do this. Don't take God's sovereignty and man's choice and try to find some middle ground or you've just destroyed both of them.

Leave them alone. Let the tension be there. Let it be that God says He's sovereign. Don't worry about how He harmonizes that with people coming to Christ.

That's His problem, not ours. He just says, come...come. Look, the term's here. He hath chosen. It's an erist middle of eklego which means to choose out, to pick. And the middle voice is reflexive which means that God is picking for Himself and nobody else is involved in this. God didn't have anybody, you know, whispering in His ear, well I'd like it if you could include so-and-so.

No. And it wasn't anything for us to do with it. God chose for Himself. He did it for Himself that it might be for His glory. It says that in verse 6, to the praise of His glory. It says in verse 12, to the praise of His glory. It says in verse 14, to the praise of His glory. You see, when God chose the church, He chose it for His own glory before He ever chose it for the church's own good.

In fact, it says in chapter 3 verse 10 that the reason He put the church together was that He might display it to the angels that they might see how wise He is, not how wonderful we are. And so we're elect. Before the foundation of the world we were chosen. In Revelation, that is also stated in two passages, 13-8, and all that dwell upon the earth shall worship Him whose names are not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world. The book of life, folks, was written before the world began. The same thing is true in 17-8 of Revelation. It says at the end of the verse, names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world. The book of life was written from the foundation of the world.

Listen, election...don't have a problem with election. It just means God chooses everybody who's saved. That's right. And it's always positive. You never see it in a negative sense. God chooses who will be saved. Jesus...for example, let me back up a little bit and show you another angle on it. When God chose Israel, He didn't say, all right, all you nations are going to have a contest, and the best nation gets to be My nation.

Oh no. If that was the case, I don't think Israel would have made it. He says to them, I didn't choose you because you were the most righteous.

I set My love upon you because that's what I chose to do. And in the Old Testament it says, Israel mine elect. Did you know that? Israel mine elect. God elected you.

Listen, when it came to angels, 1 Timothy 5 21, God says they are the elect angels, the ones that are still glorifying God. They were elect to that. 1 Peter 2 6 says, I shall lay in Zion a cornerstone elect, precious. Jesus Christ was elect. Jesus said to His apostles, You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you. And of Paul He said, He is chosen by me as an apostle of the Gentiles.

Israel is elect. Angels are elect. Christ is elect. Believers were elect for apostleship. And believe me, when it comes to the church, He doesn't switch gears and say, Oh now it's a free for all. God will be consistent with His nature. The church was chosen before the foundation of the world.

In 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 9, it says that He has saved us and called us with a holy calling. Listen, not according to our works. It had nothing to do with us. It had nothing to do with what we did or did not do, or what He anticipated we would or would not do, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ before the world began.

Can you believe that? God set His grace on you before the world began. Your birth in this world was not incidental. It was the consummation of the divine plan of God. Listen, you don't need to go to some psychological seminar to get a sense of value.

Is that enough? You were master planned by God in His eternal plan. 2 Timothy 2.10, therefore Paul says, I endure all things for the elect's sake that they may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus. In other words, he says, I'm trying to reach the elect, the ones who are already chosen that they might take hold of the faith that has already been granted them in God's sovereign decree. Second Thessalonians, I just would remind you of 2.13, we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God...listen to this...hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation. Boy, it can't be any clearer than that. You're chosen, chosen before the foundation of the world.

You are strategic. You are important to God. The book of Acts, it says, and many believed in chapter 13, 48, because they were ordained unto eternal life. They were ordained unto eternal life. Now listen, you say, but if God chooses everybody, what do we have to do with it? We have something to do with it too because the Bible presents that part of it. Just leave those two where they are and believe them both and let God resolve it in His infinite mind.

But I'll tell you one thing. God is never a victim and it is the doctrine of election that lets God be God and God be the sovereign of history and it is the doctrine of election that says to me, you are of value eternally in the heart of God. You matter to Him. Jesus came to shed His blood to purchase you. You're important.

And so God has eternally formed His body. Beloved, you're a part of that if you're a Christian. Don't struggle with a sense of self-worth. You are worthy. And don't struggle with a sense of inadequacy. He has dumped on you all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies. The resources that are available to you are unlimited and you need to use them. Capitalize on them in order to live on God's best level. Use them in order to minister with the greatest amount of power.

Use them in order to build the church that Jesus purchased with His own blood. Let's pray. How wonderful it is, Father, to know that when all the world about us seems so confused and sometime we wonder where it's going, the Word of God tells us it's all according to plan.

The blueprint is being followed. The church is being built and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. All that the Father gives to Me, said Christ, shall come to Me and I have lost none of them. You'll build your church.

We'll all be there because that's the way you've planned it. And Father, help us to know that each of us is important, important in the ministry we have toward You, toward each other, toward the world. Help us to realize that You have equipped us with all spiritual blessing, with all things pertaining to life and godliness, so that we can do Your work in Your way, for Your glory. We will thank You, Father, for what You can do and what You want to do as we become available in Christ's name.

Amen. That's John MacArthur continuing his current study here on Grace To You, titled Richer Than You Think. Along with teaching on this radio station, John also serves as pastor of Grace Community Church and chancellor of the Masters University and Seminary.

Now, something important to mention. For the past few weeks, nearly every Bible and commentary and book that Grace To You sells has been available at 25% off the regular price. And John, that sale ends tonight. So tell our listeners about a few resources that would make ideal Christmas presents that they might want to get before this sale ends.

Yeah, you need to move quickly today. And I would suggest, first of all, the MacArthur Study Bible. They're in hardback and softcover and leather and premium leather. This is the flagship tool for you as a Christian—25,000 detailed notes explaining virtually every passage, all kinds of charts and graphs and introductions to every book. They're available in English, multiple English versions.

I use the New American Standard. They're available in Russian, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Chinese, Arabic, and Portuguese, all the MacArthur Study Bible in all those languages. This would be the gift of all gifts, because you're giving someone the Word of God, the entire Bible, but you're also giving them a commentary and an explanation of that Bible contained right in the pages of the Bible itself. So the MacArthur Study Bible is the best and most comprehensive gift you could give. And second to that, I would suggest the MacArthur Daily Bible. That is the Bible broken down into 365 daily readings so that you can read through the Bible in one year. Every day you read a portion of the Old Testament, the New Testament, a psalm, and a section from Proverbs. This is for devotional reading through the year 2021.

You can get it now and start the 1st of January. And then we've been mentioning it, and I'll mention it again, the new book Stand Firm, a practical book on how to be the person God wants you to be in a society that is increasingly hostile to God and to the Lord Jesus Christ and to biblical truth. So the MacArthur Study Bible, the Daily Bible, or the book Stand Firm. Again, this is the last day for the 25% discount ends at midnight tonight, so get your order in today.

Yes do. These resources will help you and those you love grow in Christ and feed on biblical truth long after Christmas Day. To get the MacArthur Study Bible, the MacArthur Daily Bible, Stand Firm, or any of our Bible study resources at 25% off the normal price, place your order today. Our toll-free number, 855-GRACE, and that number translates to 800-554-7223. Or go to our website, GTY.org.

Again, our fall sale ends at midnight tonight, 25% off our regular prices, so to take advantage of it, place your Christmas orders now. Call 800-55-GRACE, or order at GTY.org. Also, if you'd like help studying God's Word, I would encourage you to download our Study Bible app, if you haven't done it already. This is a free app that gives you the full text of Scripture in the English Standard, King James, and New American Standard versions, along with instant access to thousands of online resources. That includes blog articles, devotionals, and John's entire sermon archive – 3,500 sermons from 51 years of John's pulpit ministry. The app, again, it's simply called the Study Bible, is free to download from GTY.org. Now for John MacArthur, I'm Phil Johnson. Keep in mind you can watch Grace to You television this Sunday on DirecTV channel 378, or check your local listings for Channel and Times, and then join us Monday as John continues his series from Ephesians 1 titled Richer Than You Think. Don't miss the next half hour of unleashing God's truth, one verse at a time, on Grace to You.