In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

Ephesians 1:7-14 NKJV

1:7 In Him we have redemption through His blood. The word redemption is defined by a repurchasing and winning back of what was lost. Redemption is a release, or deliverance, effected by a payment of ransom. To understand what Paul is getting at we must understand what was lost and needing redeeming.

Many of us understand the idea of Adam’s sin and the curse which was placed upon both mankind and all of creation as a result of Adam’s sin. A lot is being redeemed here. Not only the souls of humans are being redeemed through the blood of Messiah. We also possess the redemption of the earth and the redemption of Adam’s original command to “take dominion” over it.

We, in relationship with redeemed Jews, possess the redemption of God’s covenant promises to ethnic Israel, which will be fully realized at the return of the One, Jesus Messiah, when He institutes a kingdom of righteousness from Jerusalem. It is at this point we need to be clear and remind ourselves who’s blood we are referring to here. It is the blood of the Jewish King. Paul here is emphasizing the forgiveness of sin and I believe we need to take this at face value. That which we have full access to now is the forgiveness of sin. We are free from accusation and we possess the right standing before God. We are redeemed unto the grace of God for the purposes of God.

I might be jumping ahead, but we will see as we dig further into Ephesians that while forgiveness of sins is fully accessible today, the other aspects of messianic redemption are ours today by faith (in waiting for the fullness to come), even though we don’t see their fullness yet. We will not see the full dominion of the earth restored to mankind until the perfect man, the Messiah, is seated on His throne in Israel. He alone is the embodiment of what we lost, and that which He bought back we will one day enjoy with Him in His kingdom when we rule and reign with Him.

1:8 Until the fullness of these things come, His grace abounds towards/in/through us. Abounding grace could almost be considered hyperbole. Paul is making a point here. If God could lavish more infinite and all-powerful grace upon us than He already has, God will do it again and again and again. The redeemed cannot escape the ridiculous and superfluous grace of Jesus, which God promises to overflow in and through us by the Holy Spirit again and again. Our position of favor should startle us, humble us, and produce a deep sense of awe and appreciation.

Grace here, we see, is given in all (fullness in every and any way) wisdom and moral understanding. There is a purity and sense of intelligent caution and proper expectancy in grace. This might seem as a slight contradiction to Paul’s previous statement of lavish grace, but it is quite the opposite. Of all the things God could have done with messed up, sinful people, God chose to bestow grace.

1:9 By grace we know the mystery of His will. Mysteries in the Bible are simply truths that require an act of God for us to know and understand. Mysteries are, as Paul mentioned earlier, the unsearchable riches of Christ. We cannot know them or see them without God’s help. The mystery of God’s will, that is redemption, was revealed through the blood of Christ. We understand the redemption, because God revealed the ransom by putting His own Son on a cross. It is almost terrifying to me to think that this was done to “His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself” , but that is exactly what Paul says here. The Father desired to make a ransom out of His Son, and He was fully determined in and of Himself to see the ransom paid.

1:10 “In the dispensation…” Dispensation is a big and frustrating word because we have entire theologies built around it. To simplify, here it means that God is faithfully managing His own household and His own time well (in the proper season). In other words, God is always on time and He will at the proper time gather both heaven and earth -in Him- into one realm under the headship of Christ. God is managing the affairs of God and will one day put His Son, Jesus- who is fully God and fully resurrected man, on a throne in Jerusalem.

1:11 Our inheritance is both heavenly and earthly, and we will inherit what God has promised when Jesus returns. This word predestined comes up again, so we can confidently understand that God’s purpose was established before the creation of heaven and earth, so that His immovable purpose could not be moved by the effects of creation. Because heaven and earth are not creatures of freewill, as humans are, these promises work in accordance with the counsel (deliberate wisdom/decree) of His will. In other words, the course has been set and all of history is proceeding towards God’s redemptive goals.

1:12 “That we who first trusted…” Here is the insertion of the creature of freewill (mankind), that is those who can elect to trust, should trust in Christ, being (in agreement with the previous statement of God’s immovable plan) unto the praise of His glory. In verse six we saw the praise of His grace, but in verse twelve we see the praise of His glory. Here we see the great adoration for the worth of God in His plans. He is not just a bestower of good gifts and plans, but He Himself is great and precious.

1:13-14 “In Him you also trusted…” Paul is simply affirming the Ephesians in their pursuit of putting their trust in the word of truth and the good news of their salvation. Here we see a fairly strong theological statement as well, because Paul equates trusting, hearing, and believing to being sealed with the Holy Spirit. This is the first mention of the Holy Spirit as a “who” , a person, in this specific epistle. I would argue that Paul waiting for His introduction until here is quite intentional. This is the Holy Spirit’s favored role in light of the mystery of God’s will. His seal is the guarantee.

What is to note here is the insertion of a very Hebrew idea into the life of non-Hebrews. The guarantee, or pledge, was part of the purchase money or advance of security for what was to be paid in full at a later time. The ministry of the Holy Spirit within the Church is a down payment of greater things to come. Two things should be mentioned about this. First, the active ministry of the Holy Spirit within the body of Messiah should not be seen as the “fullness” of what God wants to do. It should however encourage us to pursue more of the Holy Spirit’s ministry among us. Second, the ministry of the Holy Spirit should produce a longing and groaning within us for that promise which cannot come until the day of Jesus’ return. I also love here that Paul inserts the phrase again “to the praise of His glory”. We see in this verse the Holy Spirit’s ministry is unto the praise of the Holy Spirit’s glory. I am not sure we adequately understand or value the Holy Spirit, yet Paul very clearly uses the same statement to convey His gratitude for the One we often call “The third person of the Trinity.”