Ephesians 1:3-5
4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the
world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he[b] predestined us for adoption to son ship[c]through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his
pleasure and will—
AMP VERSION
4 just as [in His love] He chose us in Christ [actually
selected us for Himself as His own] before the foundation of the world, so that
we would be holy [that is, consecrated, set apart for Him, purpose-driven] and
blameless in His sight. In love 5 He predestined and lovingly planned for us to be
adopted to Himself as [His own] children through Jesus Christ, in accordance
with the kind intention and good pleasure of His will—
This is not a complete exegesis of the text
rather a pulling on the main thoughts on this passage and looking at how it
applies to us.
We are going to look at How and why we have been
called, and what implications does our new DNA in Christ have on how we live.
VERSE4a For HE chose us
Our salvation story starts in Jesus. He selected us before we were even thought of by our
parents. He decided we would be born and on the day we would become His. In His
loving-kindness, He drew us to repentance Rom 2:4.
Yes, we responded. We have a responsibility to
respond to the call. Predestination is a huge topic and a difficult one I
do not want to get into.
There are many passages in scripture to support this.
No one comes to the Father except through Jesus. You did not choose me but I
chose you. Those whom he called, He justified and so on. We do not understand
it fully.
The point I am getting at is this. Rejoice in
the truth that God chose YOU. Thank God for this great salvation given to us as
a gift.
When we received Christ, God became our Father.
Our life as a Christ-follower starts and ends with God at the
center of our very being. We are “in Christ”. Where is Jesus right now?
At the right hand of the Father. So if we are in Christ, we too are seated in
heavenly places in Christ.
We are blessed and have access to unlimited divine favour
because we belong to Him
.
Some of us Christians live like this: Thank you God for this gift. Now let me prove to you that I
deserve it. You get saved by grace and then you get into religious graceless
faithless works trying to win God’s favour that you already have.
A true son does not work to win favor with his
father, he works hard because he is loved and his hard work is a response to
love not for love. Do you
see the difference?
Paul says in Col1:10 so that
you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing
fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,
VERSE 4b- To be holy and blameless in His sight
The question of purpose is answered here. Why did
God choose us?
In the amplified version it says – consecrated,
set apart for Him, purpose-driven. Blameless is our standing. Jesus paid
the debt for our guilt so that we can live shame-free, blame-free lives. This
is huge.
VERSE 5- In love, he predestined us for adoption to sonship through
Jesus Christ. NEW IDENTITY
This brings me to the realization that before
Christ’s death on the cross I was not a child of God! God is not everyone’s
Father. Not anyone can call him Father.
John 1:11-12 – He
came to that, which was His own, but they did not receive Him, yet to all who
received Him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become
children of God.
Paul is laying a great foundation for us to
understand our new identity in Christ. This is who we are. We are
sons and daughters of God. We can call Him Father.
2 Cor 5:17 says: Therefore if anyone is in
Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” we are new
creations in Christ.
New= never before created. You are one of a kind
image-bearer of God. No one gets to be you.
We have a new DNA, that of
Christ. DIVINE NATURE ACTIVATED
DO not make the mistake of calling yourself a
Sinner. That is no longer your identity. You were a
sinner before you knew Jesus. You are now a Saint. You were an orphan, you
are now a child of God. When you sin, you sin as a saint. It does not alter
your identity.
Something miraculously alters in our very being. We
now have the mind of Christ but we just do not tap into it.
We renew this mind by washing it with the Word
of God
When we attempt to change without the heart and
mind transformation, we only have behavior modification that cannot be
sustained for a long period. That is
why some of us fall back into old patterns of behavior and thinking.
Some of us try living the Christian life under
the bondage of religious duty and not from a place of relationship and delight
in the Father. WE fall back into law instead of living out of grace.
We focus too much on what we ought not to do
instead of focusing what the great Hope and calling we have
Today I want us to look at our Sonship in God.
In order to know the truth, you study
the truth first, and then you look can spot the lie.
So let’s look at some truths about us today that
are a part of our DNA as children of God.
SO WHAT DOES THIS NEW IDENTITY AND DNA GIVE US?
1. GOD is your Father.Do
you know and believe that he is truly a good, good Father?
The starting point of knowing who we are is
knowing whose we are.
2. The Supernatural is our new nature. We need to know that we live from a place of victory, therefore, nothing is impossible for us with God. So I can take leaps of
faith.
Jesus
conquered everything on the cross. Therefore, I can dream big because God’s
assignment for us is huge and encompasses all of our lives.
2b - I can trust God because He is good and can do the impossible, and all His
promises are “Yes and Amen”!.
My new identity gives me access to all the
spiritual blessings.
Its all in my account but not yet in my
possession. ( Bill Johnson)
I have to cash the
cheque so that I can use that favour of access to be a blessing to
others and fulfill God’s mandate for me on this EARTH.
When we realize how much we have access to, it
increases our responsibility because to whom much is given much is required.
3. He chose me, therefore, I am significant not in an arrogant
self-obsessed way. I am significant to God’s plans and purposes
He has chosen us in order that the earth is filled with
the knowledge of the glory of the Lord even as the waters cover the sea.
How you may ask? you and I as we are being
changed from one degree of glory to another. Glory – we are meant to share in
His glory and bear His glory. Imagine that!!!
If we realized this, we would not indulge in some
of the things we do.
4. Your identity as a son and daughter is covered in Royalty. You are a Prince/princess.
One thing the devil really trembles at is when
Sons of God come into their full identity, operate in that anointing, and
power.
He wants to keep you from fulfilling your purpose
and destiny in life. HE wants to set us free, from shackled thinking and a
wrong identity.
1 Pet 2:9 – 10 We are a chosen people, a royal
priesthood, a holy nation.
A good King and royalty live for the benefit of their
subjects. Our King Jesus laid down his life for us so that we could enjoy
unlimited favour.
We are blessed to be a blessing. We have favour in order to use it to bring blessing to
others.
Therefore, since we know that we have a good
God who can do the impossible because of the finished work of the Cross-we can
take leaps of faith and serve him whole-heartedly, faithfully and diligently as
sons and not as orphans or hirelings.
An orphan or hirelings in last in and first out. They do not care about their Father’s business but only look
out for themselves.
When you have understood your place and identity as
a son in the house of God, you will take on responsibilities with joy just as
Jesus did. He laid down his life for his friends for the JOY set before him.
When we live in the goodness of our identity in
Christ, we become a light to the world around us.
When we live in the awareness of the
significance of God’s choosing of us, that he has invested into us when He put the holy spirit inside of us; we will carry ourselves differently and conduct ourselves
differently. You will not get involved with potty stuff.
There will be a shift from living a life to please
me to living a life of service. Just like our Servant King, Jesus; knowing the Father has placed everything beneath him, He could serve with a towel and basin.
First, do you see yourself as a son or do you
behave as an orphan or a hireling?
Do you know who you are and what you are called to and that you are chosen by God? Are you living out of your new DNA?
We will look more into this the next time.
Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again), Spirit-filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that has people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service. Word of Grace is a part of a wider international family of Churches called RegionsBeyond.To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org.
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