Higher than Adam
A Sermon on Ephesians 1:5-6
Scripture
5Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
Sermon Description
God is the Creator of everyone, but not everyone is in His family. Nineteenth and twentieth century liberalism emphasized the universal fatherhood of God and the universal brotherhood of people. This false teaching disregards the gospel’s call to repentance and dismisses the wickedness of sin. In this sermon on Ephesians 1:5–6 titled “Higher than Adam,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones confronts this wrong theology and continues to expose others that have harmed the church. Another errant teaching confronted by Dr. Lloyd-Jones in this sermon is the teaching that differentiates between “sons of God” and “children of God” and the benefits given to them. The former, according to this teaching, enjoy a much greater fellowship with God than the latter. Dr. Lloyd-Jones reminds how important sound doctrine is for the Christian church. While providing a robust response to these errors, Dr. Lloyd-Jones encourages seeing the absolute privilege Christians have in Christ. He does so by contrasting Adam and the Christian. He notes that in Christ the Christian has been given more than what was lost in Adam. The privilege of redemption includes forgiveness of sin but also exaltation to sonship.
Sermon Breakdown
- The sermon begins by introducing Ephesians 1:5-6 which discusses believers being predestined to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ.
- The sermon then provides context that the passage is discussing the role of the Father in salvation and His choosing us to be adopted as sons.
- The sermon discusses how adoption means we are given the full rights and privileges as sons, including inheritance and the Father's authority over us.
- The sermon warns that we must understand the implications and principles in the passage to avoid false teachings and safeguard our wellbeing.
- The sermon addresses the false teaching of the universal fatherhood of God and universal brotherhood of man. It refutes this by showing the clear division in Scripture between those who belong to God and those outside of His covenant.
- The sermon shows how Scripture teaches God is the Father of all men in the sense of being Creator, but only adopts some as sons through faith in Christ. Quotes like "we are all his offspring" refer to God as Creator, not adoptive Father.
- The sermon emphasizes that we only become sons through Jesus Christ, not by nature. Christ had to come and die to make us adopted sons.
- The sermon distinguishes between Christ's sonship by eternal generation and our sonship by adoption. We do not become divine, only adopted into God's family.
- The sermon addresses the false teaching that only some Christians become sons. It shows Scripture uses "sons" and "children" interchangeably for all believers. All Christians are adopted as sons.
- The sermon shows how redemption does not just undo the Fall but elevates us to an even higher position than Adam had. In Christ, we gain more blessings than Adam lost.
- The sermon concludes by emphasizing all Christians are adopted as sons and will see Christ together, not just some special class of Christians.
The Book of Ephesians
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust’s collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.