Ephesians 1:5-6

Day 4

“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.” Ephesians 1:5-6

Predestined to Adoption
Historically, there has been much debate on the extent of God’s work in salvation for each individual.  There are many and varied Biblical texts used to argue on both sides of this quarrel.  Some see the sovereignty of God in such absolute terms as to completely remove human response.  Others elevate human response to such a level as to reduce God to merely a casual observer in the salvation of individuals.  Some view God as forcing salvation onto select individuals while others see God as making salvation possible for all but somewhat disconnected from any individual response.  The reality for most of us, we see the work of God in salvation and the response of faith when someone becomes a believer.  Most of us struggle to comprehend the infinite will and kindness of an all-powerful, all-knowing, all-sovereign God who offers to sinners the free grace through their faith in His Son, Jesus Christ.  Frankly, great mystery surrounds the exact nature of God’s work of salvation and the extent of the response by humans to believe.  In this debate, there are certainly challenging verses pushing for and against reformed theology and Wesleyan theology, or as commonly known as the Arminianism versus Calvinism.  Those who spend great energy on the debate find this theology in just about every text of the Bible, especially a text like this where the choosing and predestining of God is explicitly described.  Ironically, despite the vocabulary present in these verses, this passage seems to be focused in a different direction.  Though these verses may seem to be striking at the core of the reformed debate, it should be noted that the predestination here is not about the initial instance of salvation in each believer, but instead this particular text focuses on the ultimate end of God’s work of salvation.  God sovereignly works toward a certain end or telos for all who have put their faith in Jesus Christ.  God, predetermined before a person even believes in Christ, that His plan for their ultimate destiny would be to receive full adoption as children into the family of God. 

God is at work, even now, toward His desired end for you.  If you have put your faith in His Son, God is at work for this glorious destiny.  Through Jesus Christ, we become full members of the family of God.  Consider this.  Consider the divine privileges that stream to us in abundance.  First, it is an amazing thing for God to forgive sins.  We should be more than grateful for His mercy to completely forgive us of all we have done in violation of His holy standards.  Not only this, but even more than forgiveness, God grants us a righteous standing in His presence.  In Christ, God sees us as not only forgiven, but He sees us just as He sees Christ, completely and wholly righteous.  As Paul described in the preceding verse, God sees us as holy and blameless in Christ.  Not only this, there is an even greater gift than forgiveness and blamelessness.  God gives to sinners the unspeakable hope of eternal life.  In Christ, we live forever.  And this eternal life needs an eternal place and an eternal body worthy of our destiny, in order for us to fully enjoy these marvelous benefits.  In Christ’s resurrection, by faith, we receive the gift of resurrection life.  We will dwell with God forever in heaven, with resurrected bodies.  All of these things are amazing truths.  Considering all of these things should produce worship and thanksgiving.  God takes sinners and forgives us, declares us to be righteous, grants us eternal life, provides for us resurrected bodies in order to make us fit for heaven. 

Not only this, but God does even more.  Beyond all of those amazing benefits that flow to us, God adopts us into His own family.  God adopts us as His own children.  This predestination is “according to the kind intention of His will.”  God’s motivation for our adoption into His family proceeds out of His kindness.  He loves us with a parent’s love.  Jesus told His disciples that the same love that God the Father has for God the Son, has now become His love for us as well.  “I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.”  (John 17:23)  In eternity past, before the world was created, God had your adoption into His family as a major aspect of His creative design. 

Reflecting on the work of God the Father in our Salvation results in praise.  Notice the repeated pattern in Ephesians chapter 1.  Three times the outcome of our reflection on all of these heavenly blessings is “to the praise” of the glory of God.  Verse 6 exalts the praise of the glory of God’s grace due to the Father’s role in our salvation.  Verse 12 exalts the praise of God’s glory due to the Son’s role in our salvation.  Verse 14 exalts the praise of God’s glory due to the Holy Spirit’s role in our salvation.  This passage bears a heavy emphasis on the Triune work of God in salvation.  This passage also reflects the most fundamental truths of salvation.  We receive immense spiritual benefits and God receives praise. 

The final statement in this section on the Father’s work in salvation emphasizes the generous heart of God.  God the Father “freely bestowed on us” this gracious work of salvation.  God does not regret saving us.  He freely bestowed salvation on us.  He acts, not out of obligation or compulsion, but out of a kind and loving attitude toward us.  This flows out of the relationship between God the Father and God the Son.  This kindness comes to us “in the Beloved.”  That phrase invokes the incredible triune moment at the baptism of Jesus.  “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”  The Father spoke these words as the Spirit of God descends upon Jesus.  Matthew 3:16-17, provides a glimpse into the triune work of God in the ministry of Jesus Christ.  Ephesians 1:3-14 also focuses on the triune work of God.  Not surprisingly, Paul appeals to the same language of the launch of the public ministry of Jesus when choosing verbiage for this triune paragraph.  “In Christ” or “in Jesus” or “in Him” are Paul’s favorite prepositional phrases.  In this moment, he switches from his usual phrase and alters the object of the preposition from Christ or Jesus or Him to “the Beloved,” thus capturing God the Father’s love for the Son of God.  God chose us in Christ, the beloved Son of God, the one in whom the Father is well-pleased.  Just as the Father loves the Son, He amazingly places this same love on us.  We are adopted out of the overflow of the kindness of God in our connection to His Son, the eternal Son of God Jesus Christ.  As the Father freely bestows His love on the Son, He freely bestows the same love for those who are “in the Beloved” through our faith in Christ.

 Suggested Prayer:  God, thank you for freely granting Your grace to me through Your Son, Jesus Christ. We praise You, Our loving Heavenly Father for our adoption into Your family.

Ephesians