“Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus: grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 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, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons, by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace, which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth — in Him. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory”
– (Eph. 1.1-14 NKJV).
Wow, when you examine these fourteen verses, you find the extent of what Christ has done for you, and who you are in Him. If you’ve never really focused on these, you’ll be so blessed by the realization that everything we need for life today and our eternal salvation is all recorded in these verses. Let’s pull these out and highlight them.
Blessed, verse 3…
Chosen, verse 4…
Predestined, verse 5…
Adopted, verse 6…
Accepted, verse 6…
Redeemed, verse 7…
Forgiven, verse 7…
Enlightened, 8–9…
Given an inheritance, verse 11…
Sealed, verse 13…
Assured, verse 14.
Now, take time to meditate on these. Christ came for one purpose, and that is to accomplish all the above. And he did it perfectly for you and me, the body of Christ. Now, let’s sum everything up in these three profound truths.
The Father chose us…election—Vss. 3-6
The Son redeemed us…redemption—Vss. 7-12
The Spirit sealed us…protection—Vss. 13-14
Chosen, redeemed and sealed by the Triune God…Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. So, what part did we play? We heard, received and believed. This is confirmed by John the Apostle.
“The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1.9-13 ESV).
Any other questions about who you are in Christ and how you got there? I think this about says it all. Praise and honor and glory and dominion and power to Almighty God? AMEN!!!