God's Plan-A Way and a Purpose

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: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

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, 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. In all wisdom and insight 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. 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, 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. Ephesians 1: 1-14

 Paul, the Apostle, wrote the letter to the church at Ephesus. This letter was not included in the earliest manuscripts. It is assumed to be a circular letter to be delivered to different congregations in Ephesus – AND - Princeton Indiana.

His central theme of the letter is that all things were created for ultimate unity in Christ Jesus.

His primary message to support that central theme is this: we can obtain liberty through Christ. Liberty, of course, is Freedom.

Also, Paul emphasizes that the Church is the dynamic center, or the place, for the consummation of the unity which is God’s divine purpose for His created order.

In our divided world --- minorities are pouring out their blood for civil rights; women are still seeking equality; the elderly are becoming a race of their own – separated from the mainstream of life.

There are wide gaps between the rich and the poor.

There is no better opportunity for the Church to do its work in a world as I have just described. That would be a gathering of a divided humanity into one!

The church – not a congregation – but the church worldwide – has a great opportunity to recover her purpose and her power if she will accept the challenge and seize the opportunity.

The church as one Body is the guarantee, the sign of hope, that the work of redemption has begun.

As Paul writes this epistle to the church in Ephesus he identifies himself as an apostle by the will of God. He has a calling, a vocation, as a minister who has seen the risen Christ (1 Corinthians 9:1): Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord?”

In Galatians 1:1 Paul reminds his readers that he was called to become an apostle by a direct call from Jesus Christ.

Paul, an apostle (not sent from men nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead),

Paul was convinced that God had a plan for his life. I am convinced that God has a plan for each of us who are in Christ. Each of us, in Christ, can be sure of that fact.

We find assurance of that fact back in the OT – Jeremiah 1:5: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; And before you were born, I consecrated you.” And, in Galatians 1:15: “…when God, who had set me apart even from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles….”

Paul was called to preach to the saints – God’s holy people in Ephesus. These were those who are set apart because they belonged to Christ; they have been called by God, and they responded.

I read once of someone who was describing what a saint is. She said, “a saint is a person the light shines through.”

A saint is a person who is trustworthy; one who has faith; one who has received Christ, entering into unity with Him – one who has been made a new person, and has become a part of a new version of humanity.

In his letter to the church in Ephesus Paul writes that we are Chosen by God (1:3-6)

He actually breaks out into a time of joyful praise. He prays and shares his prayer.

He says we are “chosen” and “predestined” – verse 4.

In our humanness – in our physical lives – it is a time of joy or happiness when someone chooses us for a particular purpose or event.

Think about when we were children – playing a game – and we were chosen to be on the best team; when we were chosen by the person who became our spouse. That is what Paul is describing here --- the joy of being chosen.

We experience that joy when we have become faithful in Christ Jesus – we have become “trustworthy” in His sight --- we have faith --- we have entered into union with Christ – we are made new persons – we have become a part of a new humanity.

God has chosen all of humanity --- but He doesn’t force us to follow Him --- each of us must respond to His message and to His Son.

In verses 3-5 Paul expresses the bountifulness of God’s gift to us.

This is the theme of grace – favor, a gift, a blessing.

How do you perceive yourself? The way that we perceive – or view ourselves in light of our relationship with Christ is important.

“Who am I?” is a question we should ask of ourselves.

I am, myself, a word spoken by God.

How we think we are, determines the direction of our lives and shapes our relationships.

To accept, at the depth of our being, that we are chosen by God is the antidote for our insecurity, our neurotic fears, our striving to be accepted, our self-deprecation.

What is the purpose of being chosen?

Captain Ahab – from the story of Moby Dick – said, “A man has to feel something that holds in this slippery world.”

We need something to hold on to in a slippery world. And we live tin that kind of a world today.

We live in a wide-open permissive society today. Sin isn’t taken seriously --- if it feels good – do it - is the attitude of multitudes of people today. Let the chips fall where they may.

People in the world today are bent on self-gratification, titillating experiences, catering to our own wants and whims --- all for our own pleasure.

We live in a “me” world of focused on selfish satisfaction.

A permissive society does not provide purpose. The “if it feels good, do it” attitude offers no sense of direction or meaning.

But – there is hope!

Because God offers a Way with a Purpose – and that is to be: Holy and Blameless before Him in love (Eph 1:4)

Being “Holy” has the idea of difference and separation – that is, “set apart by God, and for His purposes.”

The separation is not a separation from the world, but it is a difference than that which is expressed by the world.

Being “Blameless” is a sacrificial word that has the meaning of “being unblemished”.

As Christians, our whole lives are to be an offering to God.

God is not satisfied with second-best. He accepts no cop-outs.

We often say “Well, I am only human” and “you can’t change human nature” as an excuse to do as we please.

When God says He has chosen us for a purpose he means precisely: that to be human and Christian is to be holy, and to make our entire lives an offering to God.

In verse 3 of this Ephesians 1 passage, Paul speaks of the “heavenly places”. He is not speaking of the dwelling place of God where Christians go when they die.

The realm of all unseen reality, good and evil stands for man’s invisible, spiritual environment, as contrasted to the tangible, visible environment of the earth.

In every realm – good and evil powers struggle to dominate our lives individually, and in the body of Christ.

The power of Christ is ours as we do battle with all the attackers that come our way, especially those in the spirit realm.

Paul says, in Ephesians 2:5: “He predestined (means ‘determined beforehand’) us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will.”

Our salvation through Christ is universal in the sense that it is available to all of humanity.

The predestination Paul mentions is verse 5 is not specific individuals designated as “saved” at their birth. The “predestination” is determined by the response of individual persons to the Gospel message.

The salvation of Christ is universal in the sense that it is available to all who will respond to it.

Those adopted – chosen – predestined are those who have responded to the message of Christ.

The highest function of the life that God has blessed is that it should praise him to whom it owes its blessedness.