エフェソの信徒への手紙1:11-14 Ephesians 1:11-14,
この聖霊は、わたしたちが御国を受け継ぐための保証であり、こうして、わたしたちは贖われて神のものとなり、神の栄光をたたえることになるのです。 （エフェソ1:14）
「御国を受け継ぐ」と翻訳されている言葉は、ギリシア語の原典では、クレーロノミアと言い、文字どおりに翻訳すれば「相続財産」となります。つまり、聖霊は私たちが天国の財産を相続することの保証であるということです。また、「保証」と翻訳されているアッラボーンというギリシア語は、「売買代金の一部を前もって支払うこと」という意味の言葉です。日本語で言えばいわゆる手付金のことです。この箇所は神様の養子が天国の財産を相続するという話ですから、正確に言えば、売ったり買ったりする場合に用いられる手付金という言葉は当てはまりません。しかし、あたかも手付金を払うように、神様が養子とした人たちに前もって天国の財産の一部を与えてくださっているという意味だと理解することはできるでしょう。
キリストを信じる人が天国の財産を相続するのは、地上の人生を終えて天国に召された後です。そして、永遠の命を完全に受けるのは、終わりの日の最後の審判において、キリストと同じような永遠の命の体に復活するときです。しかし、天国の財産の一部分は、私たちがこの地上で生きているときにすでに与えられています。そして、それが私たちに「天の父よ」「天のお父さま」と祈ることをさせるキリストの霊である聖霊なのです。聖霊はこの地上で生きている私たちを、神様の喜ばれることをすることができるように、導き清めてくださいます。言い換えれば、永遠の命の源である天の神様との交わりを、この地上で生きている私たちに可能にしてくださるのです。ですから、聖霊が私たちの中に宿ってくださっているときに、私たちは天国の幸いの一部分を前もって経験することができるということです。
「わたしたちは贖われて神のものとなり」とは、キリストの十字架によって罪を贖われることだけではなく、終わりの日に完全な救いを受けることをも含んでいるのでしょう。終わりの日の最後の審判において、キリストを信じてキリストに従った人は永遠の命の体をもって復活します。パウロは、このエフェソの信徒への手紙の4章30節において、終わりの日のことを「贖いの日」と呼んでいます。また、ローマの信徒への手紙の8章23節では、永遠の命の体をもって復活することを「体の贖われること」と言っています。神様の養子とされた私たちは、終わりの日に、義とされて永遠の命を受けるという天国の財産を、完全に相続することができるのです。(11月24日の説教より)
In recent years, the academic discipline of “thanatology,” which studies human death, has become increasingly popular. It seems that there are also more and more articles in general magazines that consider human life and death. Dr. SUZUKI Hideko, a Catholic nun and former professor at the University of the Sacred Heart, who taught modern Japanese literature, wrote the following article in the May issue of the magazine Katei Gaho this year, under the title “The ‘World of Eternal Bliss’ of Which I Was Convinced through My Near-death Experience.”
It was a very strange experience. In 1977, I fell down a flight of stairs at a monastery in Nara where I was staying, and I lost consciousness. When I came round, I found myself floating in the air. Many lotus petals were covering my feet, and as they fell one by one, I was freed from my suffering and became free.
Before long, I found myself soaring to the highest point in an instant, and I was enveloped in a beautiful light that I had never seen before. When the Lord who appeared at the source of the light – who was probably God – stood before me, I clearly understood that I had been forgiven and accepted, and that I was completely loved. It was a world without time, an eternal world. I was filled with a sense of omnipotence, where I could fully express my abilities (Translated by MIYOSHI Akira).
After having this near-death experience, Dr. SUZUKI Hideko became convinced that “after death, people are enveloped in God’s infinite love and live a new eternal life in bliss and joy that cannot be experienced in this world.” She is a Catholic, so her beliefs about the afterlife are not the same as those of us who are Protestants. However, what impressed me when I read her writings was the fact that she had a very concrete and hopeful image of heaven. Dr. SUZUKI Hideko has written many books, and at the age of 94, she is still active as a nun and as an external member of the Institute for Christian Culture at the University of the Sacred Heart. The source of her strength must be her firm belief in eternal life in heaven.
The apostle Paul, who once was a Jewish teacher and became a Christian preacher, also had a clear conviction about eternal life in heaven. In Philippians 1:21-24, Paul writes as follows.
For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.
Paul declares a hopeful conviction about life after death saying, “To die is gain.” This conviction is that by dying in this world, he will be able to “be with Christ” in heaven. That is why he says, “My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.” However, if he remains in this world, he will be able to provide various services for the Philippians, so he says, “To remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.”
In today’s Bible passage, Paul says that there is a sure guarantee that those who believe in Christ will inherit the heavenly inheritance. The heavenly inheritance, as I preached in the exposition of Galatians 3:16, is being justified by God and receiving eternal life. In verse 11 of today’s passage, Paul says that we are considered to be heirs of such heavenly inheritance, “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.”
The words translated as “we have obtained an inheritance” are actually just one word in the original Greek. It is the passive form of the verb κληρόω (klēróō), which means “to appoint by lot” or “to obtain by lot.” In the Old Testament, when the Israelites were delivered from slavery in Egypt and obtained the land of Canaan, which was the promised land of God, the land was allocated to each tribe by lot according to the command of God. This land was called “inheritance” because it was an inheritance allocated by God. The phrase “we have obtained an inheritance” in verse 11 of today’s passage is based on this Old Testament word “inheritance.” In the Old Testament, “inheritance” refers to the land of Canaan, but in the New Testament, as we have already mentioned, it refers to the heavenly inheritance of being justified by God and receiving eternal life.
Paul says that in order to receive this heavenly inheritance, “in him,” we “have been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.” The phrase “in him,” i.e., “in Christ” can be understood in various ways, but in this case it probably means “by being united with Christ.” That is, by being united with Christ, the only begotten Son of God, we can receive the heavenly inheritance together with Christ. The words “predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,” also remind us of verse 5, which says, “He predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will.” This means that sinners like us can become adopted children of God. And once we become adopted children, we can inherit our father’s property. As God’s adopted us as children, we can inherit the property of heaven. According to verses 5 and 11, being adopted by God and inheriting the property of heaven were both “predestined” by God. It was not because we had any good qualities, but because we had been “predestined” by God that we were able to believe in Christ and become God’s adopted children and inherit the heavenly inheritance.
In verse 12, Paul says, “so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.” The reason we have become heirs to inherit the heavenly inheritance is to praise God’s glory. This is the same as what is written in verse 6, “to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.” What is the life of a Christian like? It is a life of praising God’s glory. Christians live their lives praising God’s glory, being thankful for the amazing grace of God, who has predestined us to receive the grace of Christ. And while praising God’s glory, Christians live their lives testifying to Christ.
In verse 13 Paul says, “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.” In order to be adopted by God and inherit the heavenly inheritance, we must hear “the word of truth,” i.e., “the gospel of salvation.” “The gospel of salvation” is the proclamation of the fact that Jesus Christ died on the cross and rose again for the salvation of mankind. In order to hear this “gospel of salvation,” of course, there must be someone to proclaim it. If we think broadly, the ministry of the Christian church would include things like performing acts of love in society and practising justice. However, the core of the church’s ministry is to proclaim “the gospel of salvation.” In the confession of faith of our denomination, the Church of Christ in Japan, when expressing what has been commissioned to the church by Christ, the first thing mentioned is that the church “rightly proclaims the word of God.”
In order for people who hear “the gospel of salvation” to actually be saved, they need to believe it. It is each person who hears “the gospel of salvation” who believes it. However, as I also mentioned in the sermon two weeks ago, the power to believe is something that is given to us as a gift from God. Therefore, those who believe must change their self-centred thinking from “I have chosen to believe in Christ” to a God-centred way of thinking, “God has chosen me to believe in Christ.”
Now, then, how is it proven that those who believe in “the gospel of salvation” have become God’s adopted children and have obtained the heavenly inheritance? In the case of an earthly adoption, the fact that you have become an adopted child is proven by submitting notification to the authorities and having it entered in the family register. However, in the case of the one who has become an adopted child of God by believing in Christ, the evidence is the seal of the Holy Spirit, as it says, “You were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.” In Galatians 4:6, Paul says, “Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’” “The Spirit of his Son” is the Holy Spirit, because it is the spirit of God’s Son, Jesus Christ. In other words, the evidence that those who believe in Christ have become adopted children of God is that the Holy Spirit, who makes them call out “Heavenly Father” dwells within them.
Paul goes on to explain this in more detail in verse 14. In verse 14, he says that the Holy Spirit “is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory” (NRSV). That is, the Holy Spirit is the guarantee that we inherit the heavenly inheritance. The Greek word ἀρραβών, translated as “pledge,” means “payment of part of a purchase price in advance.” It is the equivalent of a deposit. Since this passage is about God’s adopted children inheriting the property of heaven, to be precise, the word “deposit” as used in the context of buying and selling does not apply. However, it can be understood to mean that God gives a portion of the heavenly inheritance to those he has adopted in advance, as if paying a deposit.
People who believe in Christ will inherit the heavenly inheritance after they have finished their earthly life and have been called to heaven. And they will receive eternal life in its fullness when they are resurrected in a body of eternal life like Christ’s at the Last Judgement on the Last Day. However, a portion of the heavenly inheritance is already given to us while we are living on this earth. And it is the Holy Spirit, the spirit of Christ, that makes us pray to God as “Heavenly Father.” The Holy Spirit guides and purifies us so that we can do what God is pleased with while we are living on this earth. In other words, it makes it possible for us, who are living on this earth, to have fellowship with God in heaven, who is the source of eternal life. So, when the Holy Spirit dwells within us, we can experience a foretaste of the blessings of heaven.
The phrase “toward redemption as God’s own people” in verse 14 refers not only to the atonement of sin through Christ’s cross, but also to the complete salvation we will receive on the Last Day. At the Last Judgement on the Last Day, those who have believed in Christ and followed him will be resurrected with bodies of eternal life. In Ephesians 4:30, Paul calls the Last Day “the day of redemption.” In Romans 8:23, he refers to being resurrected with the body of eternal life as “the redemption of our bodies.” As God’s adopted children, we will be able to inherit the heavenly inheritance of being justified and receiving eternal life on the Last Day.
At the end of verse 14, the phrase “to the praise of his glory” is written again. In today’s Bible passage, verse 12 also says, “to the praise of his glory.” Why does Paul repeat the same thing? If you carefully read this letter, you will notice something important. In verse 14, Paul says that the Holy Spirit “is the pledge of our inheritance.” And because of the Holy Spirit, he praises God’s glory. In verse 12, Paul says, “we who were the first to hope in Christ,” and because of Christ, he praises God’s glory. Furthermore, in verse 6, Paul says, “to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.” That is, Paul says that he praises God the Father’s grace because of God the Father’s work through Christ the Son. In this way, we can see that Paul is praising the Trinity, which is the basis of Christian teaching: God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of God the Father and Jesus Christ.
Our lives on earth are the lives heading towards death. How we prepare for death will be different for each person. As part of the end-of-life activities that prepare for the end of their lives, people write an “ending note,” make a will, and organise their belongings. While these things may be important, the most important of the end-of-life activities is probably to prepare to inherit the heavenly inheritance. I want to believe in and praise the triune God who has chosen and predestined those who will be saved from among sinful mankind, who has made us God’s children through Christ, and who has given us the guarantee of the heavenly inheritance through the Holy Spirit, and to walk each day towards the end of our lives on earth.