Consider Me Underwhelmed

6 · Alcantar acknowledges the homiletical challenge of preaching one sermon on a single Greek sentence and lays out the sermon's three-part structure (what, how, why)

Listen, I'm going to tell you upfront, any sermon about this passage is a challenge for a couple reasons. One, there's so much there. But the problem is, if we were to break up the passage, it would break up what Paul does, meaning Paul wrote it as one giant cascading run-on sentence. So it would be difficult for us, in a sense, to insert a period where Paul only inserts a comma. Every period in English is not a real period in the Greek.

It is just a comma, in a sense. That's the challenge. And so one sermon on this is going to feel— I'm going to tell you up front, it is like walking up to a waterfall with a cup and trying to contain it.

But my prayer is that by by getting close to the waterfall, by hearing its roar, by putting our little, in a sense, cup of understanding in the water and drawing it out, that we would find ourselves overwhelmed again. So, 3 things we're going to ask today. First, what is true of us? What are our blessings in Christ? The second is going to be, how is this true of us in Christ?

And the third is, Why is this true of us? First then, what is true of us? Well, what's true of us is that we are blessed in Christ, not just blessed a little, not just blessed with a few things, but overwhelmed with blessing on blessing on blessing on blessing. John Stott summarizes the commentary surrounding this verse this way. He says, as Paul dictates his speech, as Paul dictates, his speech pours out of his mouth in a continuous cascade.

He neither pauses for breath nor punctuates his words with full stops. Commentators have searched for metaphors vivid enough to convey the impact of this opening outburst. It is a, quote, "golden chain of many links," or, quote, "a kaleidoscope of dazzling lights and shifting colors," or, quote, "a snowball tumbling down a hill, picking up speed as it descends," or, quote, a racehorse careering onward at full speed. This is what Paul does to us.

7 · Alcantar begins unpacking the specific blessings by focusing on election—that God chose believers in eternity past

Now, many ways we could approach this, but I'm just going to pick out some of these vivid kind of metaphors and theological terms that describe our blessings in Christ.

And the first one is this: chosen.

What's one of the blessings He comes to us. We're chosen, even, as the language says, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world. Now, that is an extraordinary statement. And so next week we're going to take an entire message and talk about what it means that God has chosen us and what that means, because some people may be going, well, wait a minute, I thought I believed in God. How did he— choose me.

We're going to get into that next week, but I want the language here to land on you with full force. It says point-blank, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world. Before time began, Christian, God chose you. He chose to set his love on you.

8 · Through a personal story of being picked last in sports but unexpectedly chosen for the mock trial team, Alcantar illustrates the emotional impact of being chosen—and sets up a contrast with divine election

Now, look, growing up, I had a challenging high school athletic career.

Challenging in that inevitably in whatever sport it was—basketball, you know, football especially—I was, when they came to pick teams, I was picked last. And so I got used to the feeling of being on a field And they start picking teams, and I just am like, well, I'm just gonna wander over here because I'm not gonna be needed until the end. And then wander back, and I remember one time, faithfully, it was me and another kid who like, I can't remember what his issue was. I think he had like one maybe functional eye because he'd had some kind of disability, and so they were like, well, I don't know how he's gonna do, and he got picked. And it was just like, okay.

Yeah, well, I'm at the end. And then in high school, I tried— I kind of went out to try out for the mock trial team, which is kind of a debating team. And so first few weeks was basically tryouts, and they showed you how the thing worked and pretending to try cases. And then it came time for the coaches to pick the lawyers. Now, the lawyers were like, you know, kind of like the stars of the mock trial team, and the witnesses just were kind of there and tried not to mess anything up.

And so In your first year, nobody ever gets picked as a lawyer. But I remember faithfully, I did. I got picked as a lawyer. And I remember the feeling of strangeness coming over me to go like, I don't know what this feeling is like. I'm usually picked last.

I am. Somebody picked me. Now, here's where the difference is in the biblical metaphor. I was picked because the coaches saw something in me that they were like, you know what, we see your skills over the last few weeks, you've really gone, You've really outdone yourself, you really worked hard, so we're gonna— we see the work you put in, so we're gonna pick you because we think it'll help our team win.

9 · Alcantar makes the theological contrast explicit: unlike human choosing based on merit or utility, God chose believers knowing their full sinfulness and not because He needed them

Notice when God chose us, friend.

Chose us in him before the foundation of the world. It is one thing to be chosen by somebody because that person knows that, well, they're gonna help me succeed. Not so with the Lord. We don't help the Lord succeed. He didn't in eternity past go, "Man, I'm really going to need Alec here.

I mean, this salvation plan seems doable, but I'm going to need Alec." No! Sorry, Alec. No!

Christian, let this hit you.

What's one of the blessings in Christ? That you were chosen in him. The Lord chose you with even seeing your faults and your failures and your weaknesses set out before him in eternity past. He chose to set His love on you. More emphatically later in the text it says, "According to the purpose of His will." Oh, Christian, you walk around knowing God chose you.

10 · Alcantar introduces the second blessing—blamelessness—and clarifies through appeal to commentary that this refers to believers' present standing before God, not merely a future aspiration

Second, blameless. Chose us that we should be blameless before Him. Now, I agree with Dr. Chappell's commentary on this section that that there is a call later in Ephesians to be holy, but this phrase refers to our standing before God right now, meaning that we should be blameless before him, meaning in the sight of God, we are blameless through his salvation.

11 · Through a borrowed illustration from a former pastor about public exposure of factory errors, Alcantar vividly depicts what believers deserve (public exposure of sin) versus what they have received (complete removal of blame in God's sight)

I remember a former pastor at our church gave one of the most vivid illustrations I've ever heard where he worked at a factory, I think it was in Wadis, and he worked at this factory in Wadis, and when the factory would mess up, the plant manager would take the messed-up manufacturing pieces, gather the whole factory floor, and lay out all of the pieces in front of everybody. And the people that messed up knew that they had messed up, and everyone's looking at them, and the work is paused, and their sins, as it were, were out in display for all to see, right?

That is what we should be in the sight of God. All of our faults, all of our failures laid out in front of the world and laid out in front of eternity eventually. But Christian, what this passage says is that through salvation in Christ, you are blameless before God. That in a sense, the sins and failures laid out on the factory floor have been removed from the floor, and there is nothing there to see in the sight of God.

12 · Alcantar identifies the third blessing—holiness—and explains the double imputation: Christ removes our sin and gives us His righteousness

Third, holy, that we should be holy and blameless before Him.

This is extraordinary. Not only is our blame removed, there is a righteous, holy standing given to us in the sight of God. How? How? Well, because of Christ.

Because Christ removes our sin and then, in a sense, gives us His righteous standing before God.

13 · Alcantar extends the factory floor metaphor to illustrate imputed righteousness: not only is the defective work removed, but a perfect work is credited to the worker, leading to undeserved promotion

Imagine on that factory floor that not only are your sins removed, but a masterwork is placed on the factory floor for all to see. And everyone is going, man, this is extraordinary. And the boss says, you right there, you're going places. Come up with me.

We're making you an executive. And you're like, that's not mine. Okay, sure. I'm sorry, the pay is pretty low. It's only $1 million.

Okay, sure. You know, I imagine how you'd feel. Not only have your sins been removed, but a gift given to you that is attributed to you in the sight of God through Christ is yours.

14 · Direct pastoral declaration of believers' present standing before God, applying the doctrine of justification personally and immediately

Listen, Christian, as you stand before God in the sight of God this morning, as you sit there, as the Lord looks down on you, in God's sight, you are holy and blameless. What extraordinary blessing.

15 · Alcantar introduces adoption as the fourth blessing, contrasting a merely professional relationship with God (which would still be gracious) against the reality of being brought into God's family as sons

Further, you are adopted and loved.

Verse 4, "In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ." Not only guilt removed, not only given a righteous standing, but then it's one thing for your boss to say, "Now listen. I don't want you to call me at home, okay? We're gonna be here working together, but this is— I'm never giving you my personal number. When I get to the office, you'll see me. That's the relationship perhaps we could expect, should expect from the Lord, but instead he has gone further and brought us into his very family.

16 · Through the personal story of his adopted sister and his father's tears at her wedding, Alcantar illustrates that adoption creates real family bonds, not merely legal status—and applies this to believers' adoption by God

Look, one of my sisters is adopted. I think I was about 12 at the time that she was adopted, and I wanna just— if you have an adopted family member, you know this. When you adopt someone, they don't become a roommate in your house. They don't become a close friend. They don't become— you know, you have those people, they're like an uncle, you know.

They don't become like an uncle. They don't become like a sister. They become a sister. I mean, I still remember my dad when she got married and walked down the aisle. My dad cried tears of joy, not because she was a roommate, Because she was his daughter.

That, Christian, that is what is true of you. You have been through Christ adopted into God's family. This is not just a legal change; this is a relational change.

17 · Alcantar addresses a potential objection about gendered language in adoption terminology, explaining the cultural-legal significance of being adopted as 'sons' in Roman context—full inheritance rights—and applies this to all believers regardless of gender

Now, listen, some of the ladies here may be offended. "Well, why do we have to be adopted as sons? What about sons and daughters?" I'll tell you why. This is why the original language and being faithful to the original language is so important, because in Roman culture, sons only had the title. Sons only got the inheritance. Sons only had a standing, a legal standing in the Roman judicial system. So the statement here spoken over all the church men and women is extraordinary.

You are sons. You are the only people in a legal standing that can inherit, that are fully part of the family legally. Man, this is what is true of us.

18 · Alcantar introduces redemption as the fifth blessing, defining the term as freedom from bondage and purchase from slavery, establishing the metaphor of imprisonment

Then it goes further, redeemed, verse 7, "In him we have redemption through his blood." Now, the word redeemed is a word that means freed from bondage and bought back from slavery. So the Bible says we were once imprisoned by our sin, and even if we wanted to break free from our sin, we couldn't break free.

19 · Through the vivid image of a New Mexico prison with multiple barriers and the cruel proximity to freedom, Alcantar illustrates the hopelessness of bondage to sin and the joy of redemption through Christ's purchase

I don't know if you've driven the highway up to Ruidoso, kind of up 54 that way. There is a prison out there in New Mexico. And you just imagine, this is that unadorned building with a yard and a fence with barbed wire and then alarms and then guard towers and then another fence with barbed wire. And when I say a fence, I mean, this is not just like a little fence you can hop. I mean, this is like, I don't know, like a 12-foot, 15-foot fence.

I mean, nobody is getting out of there. And even if you do, there's just desert for miles around you. I don't know what the plan is. And so imagine being there in this prison watching people go by in their cars. That's the cruelest thing about the prison.

It's close enough that when you're in the yard exercising, you just watch this endless stream of cars going back and forth. Knowing that you're not free.

Christian, that was once us, but you have now been set free from the prison of your old life. You have been set free from the prison of sin. You were purchased at the cost of Jesus himself, and now the gates open, everybody cheers, and you walk out of that prison forever. You've been redeemed.

20 · Alcantar introduces forgiveness as the sixth blessing and begins to unpack the meaning of 'trespass'—crossing a boundary that should not be crossed

Then it goes further: "The forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us." Look at that word "forgiven." "The forgiveness of our trespasses." The phrase "forgiveness of our trespasses," those two terms together create a vivid picture, right?

Forgiven for a trespass. Trespass is, okay, this is the line. We have these little tape lines that over, I think it's over here, they're like, don't go past this 'cause then the people at home can't see you. I'm gone, now I'm back. And so they're like, don't go over the line, right?

That's a trespass. There's a line, you're not supposed to go over the line.

21 · Through the personal story of receiving graded papers marked up in red pen, Alcantar illustrates the comprehensive nature of human trespass and the totality of forgiveness in Christ—every red mark erased

I don't know about you, but I remember vividly doing schoolwork and the torture of the red pen. Does anybody have trauma? They need to work through from the red pen.

I'm pleading with you, if you're a schoolteacher, find another color. Because I just remember getting, you know, a paper back and it was like, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, your, no, you are apostrophe re, right? Or, you know, I, you know, to be, no, more line between to and be, right? It looks like tobe. You're like, you know, and you're just like, ah, and you're just going through paper and the line after line of red, red, red, red, red, red.

Christian, as our lives are reviewed, the red pen is all over the place. Every time you said something you shouldn't say, every time you watched something you shouldn't watch, every time you got into a relationship you shouldn't get into, any time you misrepresented the truth, you lied to your boss about why you were late, red, red, red, red, red. Your life, and it's page after page after page after page, is filled with red ink, and yet this is true of you in Christ: the forgiveness of your trespasses. It means the entire book, the whole book filled with red has been washed white and forgiven by Jesus. Oh, man.

Amazing.

22 · Alcantar introduces the seventh blessing—being made part of God's cosmic plan—by expositing verses 9-10 and expressing wonder that God would include redeemed sinners in His purposes for the universe

And then it gets even better. Verse 9 says this: "Making known to us the mystery of his will according to his 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. Look, one of the things that is said in Ephesians and only glimpsed here is that God has a plan for the universe. And that plan is being worked out through, amazingly, the local church in generation after generation and age after age.

And we in Christ are part of his plan of redemption for the world. That is insane. Why would you take a former criminal, marked up, their life is full of red ink, their sins are all over the factory floor, why would you take them and say, "You are going to be part of my purposes for the universe"? That's insane. And yet it is what Christ has done.

23 · Through observations about children's Halloween costumes and sports fans wearing jerseys, Alcantar illustrates the universal human longing to be part of a meaningful story—a longing fulfilled by being included in God's cosmic plan

Look, I don't know about you, but I feel like all the seasons are getting earlier. And so apparently now it's Halloween in September. You go into Costco or whatever, and it's like Halloween costumes and candy. And you're like, did I miss a month? What day is it?

September 4th. Welcome to Halloween season. And so in these costumes, here's the thing I love about costumes over the years. Kind of when I grew up, I remember kids having more scary costumes. But a lot of the kids' costumes now are just aspirational costumes.

The Hulk, you know, their favorite video game character. They're this. And why do kids love these costumes and want to get their costumes a month early like our kids? Because they want to be part of a story, right? Right.

If you, if you know, my son wants to be dressed up like Master Chief because he wants to be part of this video game story of saving the world from aliens. There is something deep down in every single person's heart that we want to be part of a story. Some of you guys this afternoon will go into your closet and put on a jersey for a team that you do not play for and watch a football game.

And why do you do that? Your wife probably has some thoughts, but I I'm going to tell you why I think you do that. I think you do that because there's something in the heart of every man that we want to be part of a story that matters. Something in the heart of every person that we want to be part of a story that matters. We want to know that our life has meaning and purpose, and in Christ we find that purpose.

We've been brought in by God, and our life has meaning and purpose.

24 · Alcantar introduces the eighth blessing—inheritance—with mounting rhetorical intensity, expressing wonder that God would add still more blessings beyond all that has already been described

Ah, and then verse 11, it gets even better. Verse 11: "In him we have obtained an inheritance." Okay, now we're getting nuts. Now this is out of control. It feels out of control.

Not only are we adopted, not only are our debts canceled, not only are we saved, not only does God set his love on us, not only does he do all of these things, he then makes us inheritors. To more. What?

25 · Through the personal story of receiving his first car from his grandfather who worked hard for it, Alcantar illustrates the nature of inheritance—receiving what someone else labored for—and applies it to the future inheritance awaiting believers

Look, I remember vividly my grandfather, my granddad, gave me my first car and the keys to my first car. He was not a rich guy, but he did all kinds of work.

He was a contractor. He worked hard with his hands his whole life, and he traded work to somebody, I think my nana's boss, one time, and as a result of payment for the work that the guy gave him an old car he had. And so he worked hard for this car, doing contracting, building, and all kinds of stuff. And he hands me the keys.

Here's the reality: I did none of the work for that. But instead, I have been gifted the key. Now, the car's not in my driveway, but that key means I have, in a sense, inherited something I did not and could not earn. And in Christ, that is what we have. We have an inheritance awaiting us in eternity.

And one day, Christian, in glory you will receive it. Not only have you been showered with blessing after blessing after blessing in the sight of God, now there is still There's still more to come. This is just a foretaste of all that we will experience in eternity.

26 · Alcantar introduces the ninth and final blessing—the indwelling Holy Spirit—and traces the biblical-theological arc from God's distant presence in the tabernacle/temple to the outpouring prophesied in Joel and fulfilled in Christ

And last—we could go on and on—and last, verse 13: "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 of it to the praise of his glory. Not only all this, not only all this, but when we are saved, we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, the presence of God himself, which was once so far off in the tabernacle or in the temple that had to be approached so carefully after so so much cleansing.

And the people of God were glad to just have God dwelling in the midst of their country, even if they could not approach and could not get close to it. In Christ now, that blessing of the gift of God's presence, which was only given in little drips and drops throughout the Old Testament, the floodgates have opened according to Joel 2, and it has been poured out on the people of God.

27 · Alcantar acknowledges the inadequacy of any illustration for the Holy Spirit's indwelling and appeals to Jesus' own teaching that the Spirit's coming is even better than Christ's physical presence—establishing the supremacy of this blessing

Now look, I was trying to think of, okay, what's a good illustration for God's presence, the Spirit of God himself, the third person of the Trinity, the Spirit of God himself dwelling in the heart of the Christian? What is a good illustration for the one who made the stars and galaxies and upholds all things, the one who works, the one who speaks, the one who speaks things into existence, the one who can do anything, who is eternal, self-existent, the one who is beyond imagining and compare, what is a good illustration for that Spirit of God dwelling in the heart of the Christian? You know what I've got?

Nothing. Nothing.

Because there is no illustration for that.

Perhaps the closest we even get is Every Christmas we lean forward and look forward to celebrating God with us, Emmanuel, Jesus come to earth to dwell with us. And we're excited, we're overjoyed. Here's the reality: we have something, according to Jesus, even better. He says, "It's better that I go so that each and every person, each and every Christian, no matter who you are, no matter where you are, will have the Spirit of God dwelling inside of them." That, Christian, is what he has given to us.

28 · Alcantar summarizes the nine blessings cataloged and issues a direct challenge to the congregation's affections, contrasting the initial problem (feeling underwhelmed) with the proper response (being overwhelmed)

Do you feel the force of what Paul is saying here?

That we have been chosen, that we are blameless, that we are holy, that we are adopted, that we are redeemed, that we are forgiven, that we are purposed, that we are made inheritors, that we are sealed with the Holy Spirit. Do you feel the cascade of blessing after blessing after blessing? Pouring out of the mouth of the Apostle Paul, he can't even stop himself. He goes from one to the next to the next to the next. And so it is with us.

We should feel the furthest thing from underwhelmed by the Lord and our salvation. We should feel overwhelmed. We should feel like we're in a waterfall and can barely breathe.

29 · Alcantar anticipates an objection from those suffering temporal difficulties and addresses it by pointing to Paul's own circumstances in prison—establishing that spiritual blessings can overwhelm temporal suffering without denying the reality of the suffering

Now, I want to address one thing briefly. Perhaps you're here and you're like, "Yes, I feel that.

I see that. Yes, but what about my marriage? It doesn't feel like I'm overwhelmed with blessing there." Or, "What about my health?" Or, "What about my child?" Or, "What about my country?" Or, "What about my career?" Or, "What about this relationship?" Surely Paul would would modify his stream of praise if he could see my temporal circumstances in front of me. This is where it's so important, friend, to remember, based on what we see from Ephesians and surrounding texts, that the most likely place that Paul wrote the book of Ephesians— does anybody know where he wrote it? I think somebody said it— from a jail.

So Paul is not on the beach in the Bahamas writing this stream of endless praise. He's not living life. This is not a feast day. He's not, you know, he's not full of health and wealth and abundance. He is chained up under house arrest with a pen looking at a Roman guard.

His reputation has been destroyed. His health has been destroyed. His friendships, some have abandoned him. And yet, he, in a jail cell, before he can even begin to write to the book of Ephesians, so overflows with the blessings of God. And how does he do that?

Why does he do that? Because it's not as though he's not acknowledging his temporal circumstances, but instead, as he looks at his temporal circumstances and then looks up to see what God has given him in Christ, The blessings of God overwhelm even his present difficulty.

Brother, sister, this is no less true despite our hurts and losses.

30 · Structural pivot from the first major section (what blessings we have) to the second major section (how these blessings come to us)

Okay, second— that's the first question: How has God blessed us? How is this true of us? I'm sorry, what has God done to bless us? Second is the most important, perhaps the most important question: How is this true of us?

31 · Alcantar establishes the answer to 'how': all blessings come through union with Christ, proven by the repeated phrase 'in Christ/in him/in the beloved' throughout the passage

Maybe you're not a Christian and you're wondering, "Okay, that sounds awesome. How do I get in on that? Is there, like, a class I take? Is there, like, a prayer I pray, like, a certain number of times, and I'm kind of in? Because that sounds awesome.

I'd love to be loved and adopted and forgiven and all that stuff. Cool. How do I do that?" Christian, how does this come to us? It's so important to remember this phrase occurs over and over and over and over again. I want to encourage you this week, go back and underline every time in this text it says "in Christ" or "in him" or "in the beloved." All of these things, verse 3, blessed in Christ.

Verse 4, chose us in him. Verse 6, blessed us in the beloved. Verse 7, in him we have redemption. Verse 7, set forth in Christ. Verse 9, unite all things in him.

Verse 10, in him we have an inheritance. Hope in Christ. Verse 13, in him you also, or believed in him. All of these things, the channel through which all of these blessings flow to us is that we are in Christ, that we have been united with Christ.

32 · Alcantar draws on the baptisms performed earlier in the service to illustrate union with Christ—burial with Christ in His death, resurrection with Christ to new life, and the transfer of all blessings

And look, we saw one of the most vivid illustrations possible in baptism today.

What did Jonathan say as people go down? Buried in the likeness of Christ, they come up raised to walk in newness of life. What is that picture saying? Again, that doesn't save, it's proclaiming what's already happened inside. What is that picture saying?

It's saying this: I have been united with Christ in such a way that when he went into the tomb, all of my sins, all of my failures, all the red pen, all the stuff on the factory floor, it all goes into the tomb. And when I come out, I come out redeemed, adopted, made an inheritor, handed a key to an inheritance, all of that given to me. Why? Not because I've done it, but because I am in him.

33 · Direct evangelistic appeal to those not yet in Christ, clarifying what union with Christ requires (faith and confession) and does not require (religious works), and urging immediate response

Oh, friend, let me encourage you. As we saw this morning, he still saves. You today, are you in Christ? Being in Christ, that doesn't mean that you attend church. Being in Christ doesn't mean that you read your Bible.

It doesn't even mean that you pray. It doesn't mean that you believe in God. It means this: that you believe that Jesus really is the Son of God and that he went to the cross for your sins and you say, "I believe in you and commit to follow you." You confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, and Scripture says you will be saved. All of that that we just described, all of that cascade of blessings, can for you today be true in a moment.

Oh, friend, won't you come under the waterfall with us? Stop living in the desert.

34 · Structural pivot from the second section (how blessings come) to the third section (why we have them)

That's how it comes to us. Third question: Ah, very important. Why is this true of us? What's our application today?

Why is this true of us? Why does Paul go through these— this cascade of blessings?

35 · Alcantar answers the 'why' question by showing the threefold doxological refrain in the passage: we are blessed so that we would bless God in return

Verse 3: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing." What's the point? What's the headline of all of this stream of things that God has done for us in Christ? It's so that we would join Paul in blessing the Lord, that overwhelmed in blessing in him, we turn upward and outward and overflow in blessing to him.

It's threaded throughout the whole text. Verse 3: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." Verse 6: "All this to the praise of his glorious grace." Verse 12: "So that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory."

36 · Corrective claim warning against self-focused reception of blessing

Look, make no mistake, the emphasis is not Man, look at how amazing we are. Oh, I'm just a work of art here. I'm just a wonder. I'm just amazing.

I'm just beautiful and strong and smart, and all these things are true of me in Christ. And so I got a spring in my step as I head to the office. And you're like— people are greeting you. You're like, "Hey, Randy, how are you?" And you're like, "You're welcome. I'm here."

37 · Through the personal story of receiving diamonds from his grandmother and giving them to his wife, Alcantar illustrates the proper cycle of receiving and returning blessing—not hoarding but worship

Look, this is the best way I can try to— describe this.

So when that same set of grandparents— my granddad, who handed me the key to my first car through his hard work, my grandmother, who grew up very poor in New Mexico— in the course of her life acquired a few small diamonds. And so when I was going to get engaged to Jen, she wanted to give me some of those diamonds that she had acquired. So I remember her bringing out this kind of special jewelry box, opening the box, and seeing these 3 diamonds in there.

And I just remember being overwhelmed. Like, "I can't believe you would give this to me." You know what I did in that moment? Or you know what I did not do in that moment? Take the diamonds, go home, and go, "I'm rich. I'm a diamond owner.

I just joined the diamond club." You know, first class from here on out. No, what did I do with the diamonds? They came from someone I loved, so I took them, had a ring designed, and then gave it to Jen, someone I loved. I was overjoyed both to receive it and overjoyed to give it. And so it is with us in Christ.

We receive his blessings with gladness as from someone we love, and then in a sense we just offer it back back, offer the blessings back to him as someone we love. And you think, well, that's silly. That's Christmas, right? That's what we do. This is— this is the most beautiful human relationships are: I receive this and I'm overjoyed, and then give it back to you.

That's what we were made to do. That is our relationship with God.

38 · Concrete weekly instruction tied to communion: remember the blessings, remember union with Christ, and respond in worship and prayer

And so let me encourage you to do something this week, to remember the cascade of blessings given to you in Christ, to remember how they come to you through Jesus as we'll take communion in just a minute, and then offer them back to the Lord in utter worship and joy and prayer.

39 · Final illustration returning to the theme of being underwhelmed versus overwhelmed

So let me just say this in the end. This morning we drove over Trans Mountain, and it's something I do all the time.

And often it is, to put it mildly, underwhelming. I'm late for work, I got to go to a meeting, et cetera. I got to get over this stupid mountain. But this morning the rain had come, the mountain was green, there's all these plants, it looked beautiful. The rock and different colors were shining out in the sunlight.

And it hit me in my mind, I am driving through a mountain. That is in the middle of my city, like it's nothing, right? And in that moment, in a sense, I let myself be re-overwhelmed by the reality of it. Somebody built a road through a mountain in my city, and I just drive it. In a sense, Christian, the blessings of Christ are laid out as a mountain range, and we often are too used to, well, yeah, sure, I traverse them from time to time.

Let's pause. Let's stop. Let's wonder and stare at them again. Amen?

40 · Closing prayer summarizing the sermon's burden (to be overwhelmed with blessing) and transitioning to communion

Let's pray and then we'll turn to communion.

O Father, I pray that you would seal these things in our hearts. Lord, I pray that we would be overwhelmed, overwhelmed at the blessings that are ours in Christ.

O Lord, may we as we enter in the study of this book of Ephesians, may we first be awed. And grateful, and may it then transform everything else we do this week. In the name of Jesus, amen. Well, please take the