Ephesians 1:5
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.
God’s will is mentioned four times in the short chapter of Ephesians 1 which has slightly different applications but crescendos into the same stunning message. I’d love to break all of Ephesians 1 down for you sentence by sentence, word by word, but with keeping this devotional a short read I will just focus on the point of why Paul wrote about God’s will in the way that he did. (I will do an in-depth video on my YouTube channel soon)
- First, Paul writes that he is an apostle of Christ by God’s will (his decree because he was designated by Jesus himself to lay the foundation of truth for the church).
- In Ephesians 1:5 and 1:11 it speaks of God’s predestination according to His will (His good pleasure; what He sees fit)
- “the mystery of his will” emphasizes to us that the mysteries of God has been revealed, manifested in Christ (see also John 14:9). Knowing Christ is knowing God’s will and the actual events foretold no one knows the hour or the day until the day of Christ’s return… and it is not for us to know.
It would be easy to read Ephesians 1:5, or all of Ephesians, for that matter and conclude that it is all about God’s will and sovereignty. It is certainly one of the main aspects of what Paul is writing about, but it would be important to ask ourselves “why did God, in His sovereign will predestine all of this?” We can start to answer that in the very first words of Ephesians 1:5 “In love he predestined us for adoption to himself”. God is Love and He is the perfect embodiment and essence of Love because He is Holy and out of that Holiness, out of that Love He pours out His Grace (see 1 John 4:10-16, 1 Samuel 2:2) which is later described in Ephesians 2. That Grace is showered upon us, and secures for us a true hope, an eternal inheritance so that we can say like the Psalmist:
My flesh and my heart may fail,
But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. (Psalm 73:26)
Questions to ask yourself:
- What hurdles do you have that keeps you from walking in the love God has for you? Does being reminded of the security of your inheritance that was predestined before you were even born help? If not, why do you think you have difficulty internalizing that truth?
- Where do you see God’s grace in your life?
- What does eternal inheritance mean to you?
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, I am humbled by your grace and mercy. Thank you for The Cross. Thank you that I have an eternal inheritance to put my hope in, not in the temporal things of this world. Lord, search my heart, and excavate all of the things that keep me from being in awe of this wonderful salvation that I have in Lord Jesus. Help me to better understand what it means to be an inheritor of glory. Please keep me from taking my salvation, The Gospel, for granted. O Lord, purify my heart towards you and take me ever deeper into your beautiful truths. In Jesus’ name, amen.