You are not an accident. You were created by God for the purpose of being like Jesus. Though God is sovereign and all-knowing, you get to freely choose to accept or reject His calling for your life.
For those who choose to respond in faith to the Father’s call, you are chosen to be like Jesus, holy and blameless (1 John 4:17). For those who reject God’s call, you will suffer His wrath.
I pray that everyone will faithfully answer the Father’s invitation to be conformed to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 1:3-14, “3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 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 predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, 9 he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.
11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.”
FOURTEEN THINGS PAUL WAS THANKFUL TO GOD FOR:
- Blessed with Every Spiritual Blessing, (v. 3).
- Chosen to be Holy & Blameless, (v. 4).
- Adoption to Sonship, (v. 5).
- Glorious Grace, (v. 6).
- Redemption & Forgiveness, (v. 7).
- Lavished with Wisdom & Understanding, (v. 8).
- Knowing God’s Mysterious Will, (v. 9).
- Unified with Christ, (v. 10).
- God’s Plan, (v. 11).
- Made to Praise God’s Glory, (v. 12).
- The Gospel, (v. 13a).
- Marked & Sealed by the Holy Spirit, (v. 13b).
- Guaranteed Inheritance, (v. 14a).
- God’s Possession, (v. 14b).
DEFINITIONS
- CHOSEN: To be selected and preferred over other persons or things (Ephesians 1:11-13).
- HOLY: To be set apart and pure (Ephesians 4:24).
- BLAMELESS: To be without spot or blemish, perfect (Numbers 6:14).
HOW, WHEN & WHY GOD CHOSES HIS PEOPLE
(1) HOW GOD CHOSES: God chose us based on our choice to respond to His invitation to come to Jesus.
Matthew 22:1-14, “1 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: 2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.
4 “Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’
5 “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. 6 The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. 7 The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
8 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9 So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ 10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.
11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless.
13 “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”
(2) WHEN GOD CHOSES: God chose us before we were created based on His foreknowledge.
(3) WHY GOD CHOSES: God chose us to be conformed to the image of Jesus.
Romans 8:28-30, “28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.”
IN SUMMARY:
- How: God chose us based on our choice to have faith in Him.
- When: God chose us before we were created because of His foreknowledge.
- Why: God chose us to be conformed to Jesus’ image.
Ephesians 1:3-6 (The Message), “Long before [the Father] laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son.”
