THE BLESSINGS OF DIVINE CHOOSING
Ephesians 1:1-14
THE FELLOWSHIP GREETING
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,
To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus:
2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
In the first verse, Paul identifies himself as an apostle of Jesus Christ.
He gives us his mission, which is the will of the Father
The letter is directed not to religious people, but not to church people. It is directed
to the faithful in Jesus Christ.
It is good to know what our purpose is and who it is we report to. We report not to
the world, but to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul gives his standard greeting of encouragement, It is good to start with
a prayer of grace and peace. There is nothing more important than to lift brothers
in the praise and worship of the Lord.
THE GRATEFULNESS
V:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
There is not but one Supreme God to be praised. He is connected to Jesus Christ.
Many religions believe in God, but not Jesus. Spiritual blessings come as a result of
our relationship with Jesus. The only way to get to the Father is through faith in
Jesus. Notice our blessings are not confined to earth, but also to our spiritual home
in heaven.
Jesus has made us complete with every spiritual blessing. We are probably not
aware of all blessings. Some we do not see the significance until there is a need.
For the believer, nothing is left to chance. The weakness of our faith is our lack of
trust in the Lord Jesus in all situations and conditions.
THE DIVINE CHOSEN
V:4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.
When I was growing up, I never got chosen to play on any sports team. I was small
short, and didn’t have any skills. I would stand on the sidelines hoping someone
would not show up so I could be chosen to play. It rarely happens. Many times in life we are overlooked when it comes to important positions.
When it comes to being on the Christ team, we don’t have to worry, because
we were chosen before the start of creation. Our size does not matter. Our
education does not matter. Our race does not matter. The lack of connections
does not matter. We were divinely chosen for the Christian race and given
every qualification for the team. Not only were we equipped for success
in this world but in the heavens.
We were purposed to be holy and blameless in the sight of the Lord. We were
born in sin and shaped in iniquity. God has a transformation plan for our lives
to make our character acceptable to Him. He tolerates us in our sinful state because
of the atoning blood of His Son our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We are in an
ongoing cleaning process by the conviction of the Word of God.
Because of His Great love, He adopted us as Sons through Jesus Christ. We were
aliens in the Gentile nation, but through Jesus has been made with one in him being
predestined before the foundation of the world. It pleased God according to His grace, his mercy, and divine will to adopt us as sons.
FROM WORLDLY TO SPIRITUAL
V: 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace 8 that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.
The work of Jesus on the cross was releasing us from the slavery of sin and the
penalty of sin with the shedding of His atoning blood. Jesus became sin for us, taking
our place. As a result, we are brought into the right fellowship with God and
Jesus Christ with confession of our sins. God's continuous favor flows to us with more
knowledge and understanding opening our eyes to His unending glory.
UNVEILING THE MYSTERY
V:9 And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment — to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.
The mystery not made known to the Old Testament prophet is that Jesus is the head
of all things in heaven and on earth. It was put in effect with His death and resurrection
The Jews may have thought that only they were God’s people. The mystery revealed
is that all who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are God's people. After Jesus'
resurrection, He announced that all power over heaven and earth was given to Him.
All of the law was fulfilled in Jesus. We are no longer under the law but under grace.
It buy the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ that He abides in us as we
abide in Him.
ONE GOD, ONE PEOPLE IN JESUS CHRIST
V:11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of His Glory
The Apostles and the believing Jews were the first to have hope In Jesus Christ. God
knew before the foundation of the world which Jews would believe in Jesus and
which would reject Him. All was according to God's Sovereign will and plan. We
praise God for the favor shown to believers.
V:13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession — to the praise of his glory.
When the majority of the Jews rejected Christ the Gospel was preached to the
Gentiles, who heard the Word of truth and believed in Jesus. Salvation went to
the Jews first and then the Gentiles, all according to God's plan. The seal of
redemption is the promise of the Holy Spirit received at first belief. The seal of
the Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our home in heaven.
The World cannot receive the Word of God because it is foolishness to them
thus condemning them for their sins. 1 Cor 2:14
It is according to the sovereign will of God that we were chosen to be part of
the body of Christ. It is through no work of our own that God in His divine love
chose us. Thank God For His Love John 6:44
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