Instruction
Scripture: Ephesians1:3-14
Over the next eight weeks we will read most of Paul’s letter
to the Ephesians. (Feel free to read the whole thing!) Paul had a special
relationship with the Christians in Ephesus, a great port city on the coast of
what is now Turkey. He spent 3 years there – longer than any other place where
he served as a missionary.
In this opening section of the letter, Paul praises God for
the blessings and grace that he had poured on Paul and all believers in Jesus.
He also points to the gospel as central to our relationship with God and one
another as heirs of an inheritance from God. The passage draws the reader into
praise of God, encourages her to look forward to the inheritance received in
Christ, and reminds her of the gift of the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of the
inheritance.
Teaching
This section teaches the deep mystery of salvation. This is
God’s work, and his alone. There is no confusion about who is active in this
whole process described in Ephesians 1. From first to last, it is God. Paul
drives this point home by writing that those who believe are predestined for
adoption and to receive an inheritance from God. This has led some to teach
that God predestines some for adoption and others for judgement, but that is
not what the text says – here or elsewhere.
This matter of predestination is intended to be a matter of
confidence for us, not a matter of comparison to others. We can be confident of
our salvation because of what God has done for us in Christ. We have the Holy
Spirit as a guarantee of the inheritance of eternal life with God in glory
because of Jesus.
Life
Do you remember playing team games at recess when you were
in school? Did you ever dread being chosen last? Did it feel good to be selected
for a team? Hear this clearly. God chose you! He adopted you. He made you one
of his heirs. Why would he do that? Because he loves you.
Is there anyone in your life who needs to hear God’s good
news? Anyone who could use the good news that God has chosen them? Perhaps you,
like Paul, can be the one to deliver, “the word of truth, the gospel of your
salvation,” so that they, too, can know how it feels to be predestined.
Prayer
This prayer is written
with the theme of Instruction.
God, this teaching that we are predestined is hard for us to
grasp. Teach us what it means that you have chosen us to be your adopted
children and heirs. When we hear that word, “predestined,” help us to remember
that it means that we are chosen for salvation, and not that others were chosen
for damnation. Help us to learn the lesson that the work of redemption in yours
from first to last, and that I am blessed to benefit from it and that you have
sealed me with your Holy Spirit as one who is yours in this life and in the
glory that is yet to be revealed. Amen.
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