Ephesians 1:3-14
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. For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will— to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves. 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, He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.
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, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of His glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the Gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of His glory.
In these verses, God (speaking through the Apostle Paul) gives us a full picture of how He chose, saved, and redeemed us. We learn that we are called to be children of God, He paid the price for our calling, and we are sealed as His children. Many of us want to be good men and ponder our purpose, but we may doubt whether God cares when we begin to meditate on these few verses from Scripture. However, as we really study them, we find that God’s plan was set before the foundations of the Earth and can’t be distorted, disrupted, or changed.
In contrast, the world around us is like shifting sand. The price paid for our salvation secured our sonship. Nothing has ever caught God off guard! Men, we were not just called; He knew us and even set our salvation in motion before He hung the first star in the sky!
Here are some important takeaways from this powerful passage:
- We are blessed from Heaven with every spiritual blessing! This means that as God reigns in Heaven, He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing and holds nothing back. No one is being left out. Our adoption was settled before the first star hung from the sky!
- He chose us before creation existed to be holy and blameless in His sight. This means that we, because of Jesus, are without fault and perfect in His sight. Our sin nature did not catch God off guard. Before He formed the very ground that we walk on, He chose us to be blameless. This means that when we kneel at the foot of His throne, even while we’re still in our earthly bodies, He doesn’t see our sins.
- In His perfect love, He predestined us to move from being orphans to being adopted as His sons. We were once outside the family of God, but through His love, He chose to call us into sonship before we were born, even before our sin.
- Our adoption into sonship is not only His pleasure, but it’s His will. God’s good and perfect will was also His deliberate purpose. He makes no mistakes. When God starts a good work in us, He finishes it. Our sonship is not only deliberate, but it is also His good pleasure.
- Verse 6: He has freely given us redemption through the blood of His Son, Jesus. Redemption means all our debts are paid in full through the blood of the Lamb. We are set free from the obligation and debts of sin. When we were orphans, sin brought death and separation from God. Now, Jesus’ blood has given us eternal life and sonship from a loving Father. We did not earn or deserve such a great gift, so we should praise Him for lavishing His grace on us.
- Verses 8-9: We are not only sons and daughters[JT3] . But God, in His goodness, mercy, and pleasure, has made known to us the mysteries of Heaven. As His sons, we have access through the very Word of God. This is how He makes His will for our lives known to us. As orphans, we stood outside, cut off from His glory and wisdom. Now, as sons, through His Word, He guides our every step, which He purposed in Christ. Jesus came in the form of a man so He could walk in our shoes. He lived a perfect life on Earth, walking in step with His Heavenly Father, so we too can understand His Father’s will. Men, it gets even better; not only did Jesus walk in our shoes, but because we are sons of the Most High, He now intercedes for us in Heaven. Romans 8:34 says, “Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.”
- Verse 10: “To be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.” In these words, Paul shows us that the coming of Christ and His sacrifice for our sins unveil the great mystery of how Heaven and Earth come together in the awesome will and plan of God. As verses 22 and 23 describe later in this chapter, God appointed Jesus to be the Head of everything. The times reach their fulfillment when Jesus’ sacrifice builds the bridge between Heaven and Earth. Unity is only possible because Christ connects the temporary things of Earth with the eternal things of Heaven.
- Verse 13: “We were included in Christ when you first heard the gospel.” When the Word of God is spoken, it tells us that He has called us into sonship through His Son’s redemptive power. This means that hearing the Gospel is the first step in salvation. But once the Gospel message is heard, it needs to be accepted. God, through Jesus, not only chose us, but He also calls us from above to accept the very gift of salvation, the forgiveness of sins. It’s only through the blood of Christ that the penalty for sin can be paid. We can’t earn this gift. It must be received and accepted. The Gospel is the very Word of God delivered to us, and we must accept it. Like a Christmas gift, we receive it, accept it, and then open it. When we open a gift, we don’t deny it; we accept it. God’s gift is no ordinary gift; it’s[JT4] [PF5] the gift of our salvation. We are being called to be His children. He loved us so much that He predestined us to be His sons. He also predestined His one and only Son to pay the price for our sins on the cross. The pain and penalties of our sin were covered by the blood of a holy Son who didn’t sin. A holy God paid the price of my filthy sin.
- Verse 14: We are marked and sealed by God. Hearing the Gospel doesn’t save us; it’s accepting the Gospel that brings salvation. When we accept the Gift of God in Christ, then we are sealed with the Holy Spirit. As the Word says, the Holy Spirit is the deposit and guarantee of your sonship. The redemption has been fully paid. We are now God’s children. How do we confirm the Holy Spirit is in us? We desire to do His will, we long to know Him better, we begin to lose interest in our old ways, we begin to lose interest in the things of this world, and we begin to seek His will over our own. Is this an overnight transformation? Is it always perfect? No, but we can be confident our salvation will be worked out. God knows His children by name. He has designed each of our walks differently. As His children, we need not compare ourselves to others. We measure our walk with Him as we grow in His Word and spend meaningful time in prayer. Since the moment of our salvation, God has lived in our heart, and the very Spirit of God leads us to walk as Jesus did. While our body may be failing, our spirit man is growing and getting stronger. But we must feed our spirit man. Like a plant that needs water, we must water newly planted seed through the very Word of God, just as Jesus did. As sons and daughters of Christ, we must learn to walk in step with the Lord, setting our eyes on Heaven and our eternal inheritance. We must never forget His grace—for our salvation was settled before the first star hung from the sky.
Have a great weekend.
Stephen L. Thomas