Chapter 1

 (Ephesians 1:1-5 KJV) "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus: {2} Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. {3} Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: {4} According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: {5} Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,"

Predestination

Now just how are we to take this? Did God know that you, by name, would be born in, say, 1953, and did He know this from the foundation of the world? Did he choose you by name and identity to be saved while he chose another to be lost? This is an old and widely held Christian belief.

But the implications of this run counter to every logical approach to the question, because it means that God had to know from the beginning every human being who would ever live and every decision they would make their entire lives. He knew that your father would propose to your mother. He knew what day they would have sex and you would be conceived. Much more difficult to comprehend, he had to know all about the holocaust and who would survive and who would die.

Now here is the sticking point in all of this. If this is true, then you have no freedom at all. What you are going to do is already written and it is written in infinite detail. Nothing can be left out or it will change the outcome. A counter argument is that we have complete freedom of choice, but God knows what that choice is going to be. Unfortunately, that runs completely counter to the logical system that God built into man and it creates more problems than it solves. It traps man and God in a macabre dance that cannot be changed. Mind you, it not only means you have no choice, it would also mean that God has no choice. If it is written that God will visit Abraham on a certain day on his way to Sodom, then God has to go. He can’t decide to go another day.

It also means, by some people’s belief system, that some people have been predestined from the beginning to be evil, to not repent, and to roast in hell forever. And there is nothing God can do to change it.

So, since these things are unthinkable, how do we understand what Paul is driving at? What he is saying is that God purposed before the foundation of the world that there would be a class of persons called and chosen to this purpose, and that we have turned out to be those people.

(Ephesians 1:6-10 KJV) "To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. {7} In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; {8} Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; {9} Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: {10} That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:

All Things

All things: And so the objective of all this is an overarching unity, not just of the church, but of all things. So if the church practices unity in an exclusive manner, it is running counter to the grand purposes of God. Predestination is a highly problematic concept as already discussed above. Paul presents it in his letter to the Romans in an even more complete statement: Romans 8:29.

It is a mistake to assume the foreknowledge of a specific individual was, in the phrase used in Ephesians, “before the foundation of the world.” And the word “predestinate” merely means to determine the destination beforehand. What Paul is saying here is that once God sets his eyes on a man, He will not give up on the man. This does not mean that the man cannot push God away and reject what he is being offered.

(Ephesians 1:11-23 KJV) "In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: {12} That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. {13} In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, {14} Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. {15} Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, {16} Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; {17} That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: {18} The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, {19} And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, {20} Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, {21} Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: {22} And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, {23} Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all."


 

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Youth in Action
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