Chosen and blessed in the Beloved

Ephesians 1 from the daily reading in the One year Bible

The Blessings of Redemption

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,

To the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus: ² Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

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. ⁷ In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace ⁸ which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight ⁹ He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him ¹⁰ with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him ¹¹ also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, ¹² to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. ¹³ In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, ¹⁴ who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.

¹⁵ For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints, ¹⁶ do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers; ¹⁷ that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. ¹⁸ I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, ¹⁹ and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might ²⁰ which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, ²¹ far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. ²² And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, ²³ which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

I think that most people, who believe in heaven, would agree that there is no lack in heaven, that there is no sickness, no disease; no deformity; that in heaven there is no sadness, no anxiety, there is only peace and joy, there are all the blessings of God. Jesus taught us that we should pray: “Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” He says:  “All things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.” (Mark 11:24)   So we should pray and believe that the realities of heaven would be manifested on earth. We should pray believing that the provision, the wholeness, the peace and joy that exist in heaven, would be ours here on earth. In today’s text Paul says:  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.  So, in the Spirit we already have every blessing that exists in heaven. The difficult part is having our physical bodies and our natural circumstances line up with what already exists in the spirit. That is the stuff miracles are made of. When the physical and the natural become aligned with the heavenly and the spiritual, there is healing and wholeness. There is provision. There is peace and joy.    

Paul continues:   Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us.     We were chosen By God before the foundation of the world. It is not that He chose some and rejected others, but rather God chose all that would believe in the Beloved. John 3:16 says: “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten (Beloved) Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”   God did not choose some and reject others. He chose to redeem us from our sins, according to the riches of His grace. He chose to provide that grace to whoever will believe in Christ, the Beloved. In Revelation 13:8 it speaks of Christ, the Beloved, as the Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world. It is not God who chooses some and rejects others. It is a choice each person makes whether to accept or reject the grace of God, whether to believe in the Beloved Christ and His sacrifice which was predestined from the foundation of the world. In John 19:30, when Jesus was on the cross, He said:  “It is finished!” He accomplished the will and purpose of God, predestined from the foundation of the world for whoever believes.   

Paul then says:  He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.   Things in heaven and things on earth are summed up in Christ. In Matthew 28:18 Jesus says: “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”   Paul says it’s according to the mystery of God’s will. Heaven and earth are under the authority of Christ and the finished work of the cross, by the will of God; by the same will we are to pray would be done on earth as it is in heaven.

In John 4:24 Jesus says:  “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”  1 Corinthians 2:10 says:  The Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. In John 16:8 Jesus says:  “And He (the Holy Spirit), when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.”   If we will worship God in Spirit, He through the Spirit will reveal His truth and His will. We will be convicted concerning sin and righteousness and we will receive God’s grace, believing in the Beloved Christ and the finished work of the cross. Additionally, as we worship in Spirit and truth, the things of the Spirit become the truth to our physical bodies and our natural circumstances. As we worship in Spirit and truth we have every spiritual blessing in heaven and on earth.  

In all of this, Paul’s declaration and prayer is:  That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.   Amen.  Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.   Amen.