Christ the Lord is risen today! I hope you had a wonderful Easter weekend. We're going to jump into Ephesians next, and I pray today's passage will just add to your Easter experience.
As I read this section of scripture, I can't help but hear the goodness of God! There are some pretty heated theological points in this passage (predestination, etc.) which I will not be addressing today -- that would take more study time than my little hour in the morning allows. I did find myself hung up on the words "predestined" and "chosen" as I read, but let me just say this, the character of our Lord is in 2 Peter 3:9, "He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." This I know to be true.
As you read this section, and I hope you read it a couple times so that it really sinks in, I would highly encourage you to put your name wherever you see a pronoun (we, us, etc). Because THAT is how God feels about YOU. Go ahead; try it. Put your name wherever I have a blank:
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed __ in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For He chose __ in Him before the creation of the work to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love, He predestined __ to be adopted as His son/daughter through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His will and pleasure..." (Do you see that, it makes Him happy!) "to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given ___in the One he loves."
Okay, now slow down. I know you rushed through it. Read it again...slowly.
Do you see how much He loves you? Oh my, soak that in this morning! He is crazy about you!
Not only that, but then once we have accepted Him and this gift and Love that he wants to give us, the following gifts also follow starting at verse 7. "In Him, we have..."
"redemption through His blood," Our sin requires such a large sacrifice that we would never be able to pay it by ourselves, but He paid it for us because he is God. The sacrifice of a perfect God is all that would be enough to cover our great sins. And He paid it for us! He was the only way we could be forgiven, and He did it!
"the forgiveness of sins" Not only did he pay for our sin, but he forgives us of it. He's not holding it over us. Do you still feel that your sin is with you wherever you go? That guilt doesn't come from Him. Since He's already forgotten it the moment you asked for His forgiveness, ask Him to help you forget it, and walk in the freedom that He's given you.
"all wisdom and understanding" Wow, Lord. You already paid for my sin AND forgave me of my sin. And now you're going to give me wisdom and understanding? (That's part of the grace that was mentioned in this verse -- getting something I don't deserve). In Him, we have insight that does not come from us. It is a gift.
Finally, comes the icing on the cake, which is found in verse 13, "Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession." The Holy Spirit is the stamp that God uses to claim that you belong to Him while you are still on this earth and await your eternal home in heaven! Such hope we have! According to Eph. 2:18, it is through that Holy Spirit that we have access to the Father. We can pray whenever, wherever because of the Holy Spirit living in us.
These are the "big" gifts of our faith. If you're like me and have known Christ for a while, it's so easy to look past what a big deal this is sometimes. I am constantly asking God to really help me understand the weight of what all this means. But if these concepts are too much, add more gifts to your own list. The gifts that He gives us are endless. Many times He reveals Himself in the little things. How is God revealing His goodness to you today?
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