The Position of the Believer: Chosen
Study of Ephesians
Week 1
Ephesians 1:1-6
Welcome to our study of Ephesians!
Here, Paul is writing a letter to the churches in Ephesus.
Ephesus was considered a large mega center for commerce as well as a religious center. Unfortunately, it was the home of a huge temple for idol worship, the temple of Diana. Paul’s welcomed message of Christ put a dent in idol worship and the money to be made. This collision ultimately landed Paul in a Roman cell. It is here that he wrote the letter to the churches in Ephesus, whom he had served over the years.
Notably, this letter holds quite a stark contrast to the other letters that Paul wrote. He takes a much “lighter” tone as opposed to other letters where Paul, out of love for early Christians, might have brought correction or rebuke.
However, Ephesians 1:3-14 provides a unique record of Paul’s heart. In these twelve verses penned by Paul, he earnestly articulates his love for the Lord as if he were writing a song.
Theologians have divided Ephesians into two categories. The first three chapters focus on the position of the believer, while the last three chapters center on the practices of believers.
Initially, Paul greeted his fellow Christians, the saints, those “who are faithful in Christ Jesus” and “extends grace and peace from God our Father.” (Ephesians 1:1-2)
Paul then used the next several verses to exalt the Lord.
Ephesians 1:3-6, our study for today, focuses on how we have been chosen by the Father.
“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 should 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.” Ephesians 1:3-6
First, we see that we have been “blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places..”
Paul, as some have claimed, might have written this letter while chained to a Roman guard (about 61 AD). It is during this first imprisonment that he allows his own heart to sing of the God he has served.
How could he exalt the Lord in such dire circumstances?
Because he knew that his value rested in a heavenly kingdom, not one on earth.
That was such a mind shift for these new believers.
Paul always had eternity on his heart and mind.
Let’s look at “every spiritual blessing” for a moment.
What are those spiritual blessings?
“Every” means “lacking nothing.” (1)
“Spiritual” in this context means “relating to the realm of the spirit”. (2)
“Blessing” means “concrete benefits.” (3)
So we as Christians have concrete, tangible benefits, complete, lacking nothing because God the Father has given them to us.
We also find that earlier in Paul’s ministry, he shared the same sentiment in 2 Corinthians 1:3.
Next, Paul revealed the most amazing truth.
We are chosen.
God “chose us in Him before the foundation of the world.”
“Chose” means to “select out of, by a highly deliberate choice (ie. a heart preference) with a definite outcome.” (4)
The question arises, “but why?”
In his praise, Paul clarified, “In love, He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will…”
Adopted as sons… in love…according to the kind intention of His will.
“Kind” in the Greek means “God’s good pleasure”(5), benefits not earned on my own.
In his praising, Paul gives the Ephesians a new kingdom perspective of value.
In Christ, we no longer have to live in an economy that says the good get rewarded and the bad get punished. (That, more than likely, was the value system of the Roman soldiers charged to guard Paul.)
No, in Christ, there is a heavenly place.
In Christ, we have every spiritual blessing.
In Christ, He chose us.
In Christ, we are adopted as sons.
In Christ, we can live in God’s good pleasure.
That is a message Paul experienced firsthand. Remember how God chose Paul?
(Acts 9:1-19)
We, too, are chosen in love by God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Footnotes:
(1-5) “Ephesians 1:1-6 Lexicon”, Bible Hub.com, accessed January 2022, https://biblehub.com/lexicon/ephesians/1-6.htm
Question for discussion: (your email is never posted or shared)
Looking at our definition of “chosen”, how does it make you feel to know that you were chosen by God?