Ephesians 1:3-6
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love 5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
It is amazing how hard the enemy has worked to prevent me this morning from consuming Gods word for breakfast. I’m writing this on the notepad app on my phone in the waiting room of a car shop. As my frustration for the day quickly increased in the past hour, I’m so thankful for Gods peace that surpasses our own understanding. Today’s passage talks about the awesomeness of God.
In Paul’s letter, he is talking about how we are chosen as children of God through the blood of Christ. Paul discussed the same thing I his letter to the Thessalonians. I noticed something even more revealing in this passage though: the relationship God has with Himself. Yes, He has a relationship with Himself.
In verse 3, we see a casual yet intentional mention of God the father and Christ the Son. I think we can all agree that throughout the scriptures, both the Son and Father are referred to by capitalized pronouns. As we read the next three verses, however, all that is used is pronouns! At first, I was thoroughly confused, trying to figure out who Paul was talking about when. In fact, I asked myself “which one is which?” Those of you who know me know my “funny” response to multiple choice questions: yes. Indeed this was the correct answer.
In my current quest to understand the wonder of our triune God, this passage was the cherry on top. The Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit are three and one at the same time. Each are fully God yet each are of their own for their purpose. Christ is the One through whom God the Father chose us in order to receive the Holy Spirit of Sanctification so that we are found holy in, for, and through Him.
We see this represented in God’s institution of marriage. “the two shall become one flesh…” yet we are still two separate beings. Each person in a family has their own purpose, yet they are all still one. God is a family of His own. In His family, we are what Paul refers to as the adopted sons, since we are not of the original family: Father, Son, and Spirit. However, we are loved just the same.
One thing about “pre-destiny” I have struggled with is the parts of scripture that say all have been given the opportunity to receive Christ, yet some have not. If God truly wants us all to be saved, and He has ultimate control, then why aren’t all predestined to be saved? Today’s passage reveals to me that the pre-destiny isn’t referring to everyone in the world, but rather those who have received Christ. Those of us who have chosen to seek out God’s truth and have accepted it through Christ are destined to spend eternity in His presence. Whose presence?
Yes.
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