Chosen
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Introduction
Introduction
The city of Eph
The church of Eph
Talked about Paul formally know as Saul, and God’s will for his life
What was an apostle
We spent some time looking at verse 3
now we will focus on verses 4-6
Please stand with me for the reading of God’s word
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
Blessed by the Triune God in the heavens
Blessed by the Triune God in the heavens
I remind you in the original lang verse 3-14 is one long sentence. So we must understand this is a continuous thought. Paul lays out in these verses the Triune work in salvation. The father choosing, the Son’s sacrificing, and the spirit’s sealing. We will focus on The Father’s work today.
Verse 4 says even as he chose us in him. We must establish who is the he and who is the him. The he is the father and the him is Jesus us. This was set up in the previous verse, as Paul says blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.
It is the father who has blessed us in him, The him is Christ. One of the ways the Father has blessed us is by choosing us before the foundation of the world. Look with me verse 4
Even has he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world. This means the spiritual blessings That God the Father has blessed us with were planned before he created the world. Notice in verse 3 Paul writes Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who HAS blessed us in Christ! This occurred in eternity past.
This is often call the Election of the Father. The word Paul uses for He chose us is the word Eklegomai. It means to select something for oneself, to pick out, to choose.
God the father chose us with purpose, not randomly. Read with me, this was (That we should be holy and blameless before him) This means Christ Jesus’s death on the cross was not plan B in order for us to be blameless and holy before him, we must be in Christ. In order to be in christ we must be covered by his blood all of this was decided by God before the foundation of the world.
Act 2:23
this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.
He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
1 peter 1:20
God has always planned for Christ Jesus to be our redeemer. Without the Cross how would we know God’s forgiveness, God’s mercy, God’s justice and God’s love. We would never understand these attributes unless God chose a way in which to display them for his people and the created universe
verse 5 right before the verse begins look closely there is a period after the words before him. Then a new sentence begins, In LOVE
He predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of hIs will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the beloved.
The purpose of all of this is so that God will be displayed and his glorious grace will be praised! The text says in love he predestined us. All of creation is according to the purpose of his will. God chose to create and through redemption his attribute of Grace will be praised.
Some may say wow all that trouble and suffering experienced just so God can be praised. That is a very small man centered view of situation. We must understand something, GOD lacks nothing. He didn’t have a need that needed to be fulfilled so then he created the universe. God wasn’t lonely, he isn’t needy, God lacks nothing he is completely self suff . Remember at the beginning of the sentence, Paul said IN love God predestined us as adoption to himself.
God is all glorious, all beautiful, completely good, pure, majestic, marvelous. GOD is unique there is nothing like him, for him to chose to create and not only create but choose a people for himself is motivated by his attribute of Love
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
verse 5-6 Predestined us
verse 5-6 Predestined us
he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,
He predestined us, what dose this mean? Lets examine the word predestined ( Proorizo) it means to foreordain, to decide beforehand, to determine ahead of time .
Paul uses this same word in the book of Romans
For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
What God begun in the past is being accomplished and completed in the future. This election and predestination was done in love and it is an act of Grace.
The ultimate goal of God’s election is that believers will be to the praise of his glorious Grace.
Lets try and pull this together in a organized fashion
God the father has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessings
God the father chose us in him before the foundation of the word
He did this in love
He predestined us to be adopted into his family as sons and daughters blameless and holy
This was according to the purpose of his will
This is all for the purpose of him being praised for his glorious grace
He has blessed us in the BELOVED
Conclusion
Conclusion
We must base our faith on truth. We believe and embrace the word of God as the source of truth as God determined to reveal it. We as believers can shy away from hard doctrines in the bible. It’s ok to struggle with them. I would say if you don’t struggle a little then you’re not reading it correctly
The Grace of God is much more than a offer of Grace. The Grace of God is a decisive action of God on you before the foundation of the word. Don’t miss this truth. Some have said it this way, “Election is best explained this way, God looked down the coridors of time and could see what may happen in the future. He saw which ones chose Christ and which ones didn’t, based on their decision he elected and chose the ones that chose him.”
I submit to you today, that argument is not based on scripture. That is not what we read today. We must understand something. GOD has never learned anything. That means there wasn’t a moment in time or in eternity something surprised HIM. The bible says clearly
He CHOSE US
In love HE predestined us
HE Foreknew us and predestined us to be conformed to the image of his son.
We must also avoid the dangers of trying to figure out who is elect and who is not. This is only known by GOD we are told God has commanded everyone everywhere to repent and believe the Gospel. we are also told to preach the gospel to all people everywhere. Its never up to you or any church to figure out if someone is chosen by GOD. I’ve had people ask me, how do I know if I’m elect or not. I always answer the same way. Believe on the Lord Jesus and you’ll be saved.
Jesus said who ever comes to me I will never turn away. So Come to him
As a believer when was the last time you considered God personally choosing you for the purpose of being adopted into his family as a blameless and holy child?
Do you worship God with the purpose of Praising God for his Glorious Grace towards you? How does this grace effect your worship and prayer
If you are a believer in Christ, do you feel like a son or daughter? If you don’t what is holding you back from fully embracing your position as such
Has this sermon changed anything in your walk and life with Christ. Write it down and hold onto it this week
Let us pray