Ephesians 1:1-6
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus:
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.Redemption in Christ
3 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, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
Paul in writing to the ephesian elders, begins to show us how truly amazing the love of God is. In verse 3 Paul states that we have been “blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places”, the amplified makes this a little clearer by stating that this blessing was given to us In Christ. God loved us so much that He not only gave His son, but He gave us every spiritual blessing through His son. We have these blessing through our act of submission to Jesus Christ. He is able to move and work in our lives when we allow His will to usurp ours.
Paul would go on to say in verses 4 & 5, that His love for us is premeditated. Many believers love to argue the idea of predetermining who will become saved and who won’t. My goal today is not to stir that pot or even provide my opinion in this matter. I simply find it amazing that God would choose to love me especially before my ability to choose Him was even presented.
Paul’s message in these first verses establish a foundation of God’s love for us before creation and His provision for us to live in the fullness of His holiness and righteousness through the blood of His son. The gospel message is not about a man who performed miracles, changed lives, created a paradigm shift in thinking, although all of these things took place. The gospel message is a story of a God who loved His creation so much that He would do anything, even die, to tell them of His love and offer them an oppurtunity to spend eternity with Him.
