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The Light
Dr David Wood
LETTER TO THE EPHESIANS
CHOSEN
As we continue our
study of Paul’s letter to the Church at Ephesus we find the Father’s great love
for us at work.
Ephesians 1:4-6 (KJV)
4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the
world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus
Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us
accepted in the beloved.
In verse four we see
the phrase, “he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world”, in
verse five we find, “Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children, and
in verse six we find that “he hath made us accepted”. Paul does not want us to
miss the point that the Father wants us in the family. He has on purpose chosen
us even before the foundation of the world. In eternity past God chose us on
purpose to by His sons in Christ Jesus. What a deal! All persons would have
freewill access to become sons of God and access would be by grace (a free gift
of God). Later on in this letter, Paul tells the saints at Ephesus that the
free gift of salvation came by faith and not by any human effort.
Ephesians 2:8 (KJV)
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves: it is the gift of God:
One ingredient is
needed to receive this free gift and that is faith. All things in the kingdom
of God involve faith. Remember, whatever is not of faith is sin (Romans
14:23). But God makes faith readily available by the hearing the Word of God.
Romans 10:17 (KJV)
17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of
God.
We were chosen before
the foundation of the world. One meaning of that word foundation is
conception. So it could read before the conception of the world. So God said
let us have a family and this family will be secure in Jesus and will be able to
stand before the Father holy and without blame in love. We were appointed pure
and sinless in the love (agape) of God. God looks on us with love and sees pure
and sinless children secure in Christ Jesus. They knew that if mankind sinned
they would need a foolproof path back to God. So in the counsels of Heaven it
was decided there would be a Savior who would come and shed holy and blameless
blood and redeem us forever to the Father. Still, choosing the path of
redemption is a choice each of us must make of our own free will. As it says in
Romans we must call on the name of the Lord.
Romans 10:13 (KJV)
13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Verse five goes on to
tell us that we were predestinated unto adoption of children by Jesus Christ.
The Father predestinated us but Jesus was pleased to do it, it was by His own
will. The Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are always in perfect agreement.
Remember what the writer of Hebrews says about Jesus and the cross.
Hebrews 12:2 (KJV)
2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who
for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and
is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
The word predestinate
has been brutalized over time. It does not mean that your salvation or mine was
set in concrete, that is to say God had chosen that I would be saved and you
would not, to the contrary He said you all can come, I have open arms and Jesus
has paid the price for all. The fifth verse could read, “Having appointed,
decreed, specified, and determined before hand that He would adopt us all by the
work of Jesus at Calvary. It was a free gift; all we needed to do was call on
the name of the Lord, all we needed to say was I choose you. He has already
chosen us. The Father was pleased to do this and as we read above Jesus was
pleased to do it as well.
Paul goes on in the
sixth verse to say that we are to speak well of the manifested goodness of this
free gift from the Father. We have been made accepted in the beloved. The
beloved is Christ Jesus. The King James Version says “he hath made us
accepted”, meaning it is already done. The sacrifice, the blood of Jesus makes
us pure and blameless before Him. We have not become accepted by some process
we put in motion but were already accepted before the foundation of the world.
The coming of Jesus, His going to the cross, shedding His blood, defeating Satan
in Hell and leading captivity captive and taking His blood to the mercy seat in
the Heavenly Jerusalem although very necessary, in the mind of God all quite
anticlimactic. Oh, the amazing grace of God, the Father and His Son Jesus, the
Christ. Be reminded now of the words of that wonderful song by John Newton,
Amazing Grace. We were all wretched but now we are bright shining as the sun in
Christ Jesus.
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