Ephesians 1.11–14
A sermon preached at St Margaret’s Anglican Church Nedlands on 5th July 2026
In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. Ephesians 1.11–14
I make no apologies for giving you lessons on Bible interpretation. This is because most Christians are ignorant about what to do with the Bible, other than trawl through it for comforting thoughts. Since we believe it to be God’s Word, it is important to get its intended meaning, and not the meaning we would like it to have. I have said we begin by finding the units of meaning. Today we are looking at Ephesians 1.11–14. You may wonder how long it is going to take us to get through this book, if I am to break it up into such short passages. Today’s reading is short, because it deals with one big issue; the remainder of chapter 1 has a different subject. The subject of today’s reading is the Christian’s inheritance, we might turn it into a question: What benefit do I get by being a Christian? The passage does not so much answer the question what our inheritance is, but tells us that it is. Though it points us in the right direction to know what it is.
Learning that someone has left you something in their will is an exciting thing. A lot of this elder abuse we hear about today is children wanting to get their hands on their inheritance before the time. My Dad was wise enough to have spread the little he had between his kids while he was still alive. Inheritances can come at any time. God did not need to die to have given us an inheritance.
The recent fuss over the capital gains tax changes is in part motivated by people’s fear of losing their inheritance. If you are in line, what your parents are going to leave you will be much reduced. When this starts to bite, especially when, to pay the tax, people have to sell the family’s home or farm, I think we are going to hear some load screams.
Speaking of farms, this word “inheritance” in our reading is an interesting one. The Greek word is kleronomos; a kleros is a “lot.” I don’t know if you are into gambling—I wouldn’t recommend it—but when Joshua divided up the newly conquered land of Canaan and marked out the tribal areas, each Israelite family was to receive a land-parcel, and the distribution was done by lots; their names went into a hat—or maybe it was the land titles that went in— and there was a draw. Each family’s land allotment was its inheritance—from God. It was your stake in the promised land. And in the reading today we learn that in the kingdom of God, the new world which is coming, all God’s people are to have an allotment, a heritage.[1] I can’t tell you whether land is involved; perhaps it is. Jesus himself said “The meek shall inherit the earth/land,” depending on how you translate. But there is much more than land. Every child of God receives a stake, a share in the renewed creation which Jesus has promised. If you missed out in this life, this is an exciting thing.
Let me pause a moment here, and comment that the reason Christians are not involved in the scramble for land in Israel/Palestine is that they know their inheritance lies in the kingdom of God. The land of Canaan was only ever meant to be a shadow, a foretaste. Abraham looked forward to a city whose builder and maker is God, the Zion of the new age.
But let’s examine the passage more closely! I don’t want us to skip over the first two words—because I did miss them last week. “In him (in Jesus) we have an inheritance …” We looked last week at how God blesses us, and we uncovered 7 blessings. And there are more we will discover as we work through this letter. Inheritance is blessing number 8. But note that we have it “in Christ.” Just think back to the previous passage and you will see that I left out what is perhaps the most important thing: we are blessed in Christ. Every blessing is through Jesus Christ. Seven times he repeats it, but it is still easy to miss.
God has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. And now,
In him we have obtained an inheritance …
Why “in him?” I said last week that Adam was appointed head of the original world; we were to be part of his kingdom. What we discovered in Ephesians 1.10 is that God plans to make Jesus the head—the ruler— of his new creation. Everything originates from him, is received from him, and through him, and as we are united with him. Jesus is the king of the new world. I have called this sermon, “Finding our place.” The most important thing is to know that our place is with Jesus. If we are with him, we have a good future. According to F.F. Bruce, it is as though the whole human race is attached to Adam’s belt; God deals with us as one—in Adam; but now God takes us from there and hangs us on Christ’s belt, and once more deals with us as one. We are in Christ—in the King-Messiah. This is how Paul speaks of it.
In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
To make sense of this, you need to attend to two little words that are often overlooked: “we” and “you.” “We who were the first to hope in Christ” refers to the Jews. They are the chosen nation. God made his covenants with them, and gave them his promises. He also promised them a king, who would rule them for ever, and bring peace to the world. They were the first to hope in the Messiah, the first to look forward to his coming. Paul, speaking as a Jew, says they were destined to bring God glory.
But now God’s plan has moved forward. Jesus opened his kingdom to the other nations of the world. So Paul goes on to say:
In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit …
That’s us, folks, so listen carefully! We heard the word of truth, the gospel which saves us. Let us be clear that we are nothing without the Word of God. If God has not spoken, we are lost without compass or map or GPS. We are locked in this world of space and time, and can know nothing of its purpose or goal or meaning, because that knowledge can only come from the one who made it. I have suffered this week, as I am sure you all have, as each night we have been transported to Venezuela to see the ruination, to see people dragged from the rubble, to know that many more are crushed under fallen buildings, and worse than that, some are entombed, hoping for rescue, but most of them fated to die. Horrendous! And without a word from God, what are we to think. On 1st November, All Saints Day, when many of the citizens were at Mass, an 8 to 9-scale earthquake flattened the city of Lisbon in Portugal. A firestorm followed, and then massive tsunami waves. Over 50,000 people died. Europeans began to question whether God could be real, triggering the Western world’s massive loss of faith since the so-called Enlightenment. Ironically, in turning away from God and his revelation for answers, we turned from the only one who could give them to us. The West still seeks meaning away from God, but the universe is silent. God does not tell us everything; I cannot tell you the meaning of what has happened in Venezuela; probably it means something different for every person involved—and for the world which watches on. Sometimes all we can do is shut our mouth and mourn with those who suffer. But I can tell you there is meaning, which one day we will see and know, when the one who suffered helplessness and indescribable pain on the cross appears and explains all.
The particular word of God which Paul speaks of is “the gospel of your salvation.” The message of Christ and his kingdom is the instrument God uses to save people, when they believe.
Apart from the greeting, this is the first time in the letter we have come across this idea of believing. Everything else has been about God and what he is doing. But now our actions come into the picture. The gospel awakens faith—we believe—and God saves us.
He does something else: he seals us. This seal is a mark of ownership. When God looks out at the world of humankind, he sees clearly who are his, and who still belongs to the Devil. But what is this seal? Does he look on the baptized? No, baptism is important, but it is an outward mark, meant for us, and often false because it is made with human hands, as circumcision was for the Jews. No, God sees his Holy Spirit. This is his mark of ownership. And Paul goes on to call the Holy Spirit the arrabon, the down-payment, the first instalment, the guarantee —of our inheritance.
We see once again, that he is thinking of what is coming to God’s children in the fulness of time. But it is not all in the future. God gives us a first instalment now, a foretaste of what is to come. Christianity without the Spirit is just dead bones. Jesus said, except a person is born again of the Spirit, he or she cannot see or enter the kingdom of God. John says of Jesus, that to all who believed in him he gave the right to become children of God, children born not of flesh and blood, but born of God’s Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God’s gift to his people to seal them as his, a mark visible only to him of his ownership, but also a first-instalment of the inheritance which will be ours with Jesus comes again. Being born again comes first, then hearing the gospel and believing, then the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Having believed the gospel of your salvation, you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the—arrabon is the Greek word; it means a guarantee, a downpayment, a first instalment, something that guarantees you will get the rest when the time comes— “until, literally, “the redemption of possession …” The first instalment guarantees the inheritance is yours; when the time comes for you to receive the balance, you will present your arrobon, and “redeem” what is yours. I am puzzled by this word “redemption.” It sounds like the language of the pawnshop, but, of course, what happens when Christ comes again, is that our redemption is completed by the resurrection of our bodies from the dead. Perhaps Paul has deliberately fused two ideas.
In any case, you might think of it like this: God gives us a ticket for the full salvation which will one day ours. When Jesus returns we can present this ticket and take possession of what is ours. Of couse, the Holy Spirit is more than a ticket; he is a first instalment, a real personal experience of God living in us here in this world. And this is all to the glory of God. God is glorified by the saving of sinners like you and me.
[1] I have followed the meaning implied in the translations of AV, RSV, and ESV. Many commentators think the meaning is that Christians have become part of God’s inheritance, as Israel in the Old Testament was said to have been chosen by God as his personal possession when he allocated the nations to different angelic guardians.