“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will…”
Ephesians 1:3-5
I used to get confused by Paul’s writing. It seemed to me that every sentence was long and hard to get through. After several years of being discouraged, I finally got smart and SLOWED DOWN. I started to reread verses, and to pull apart phrases so that I could make sense of them, though some are still hard to grasp.
What I discovered was a treasure trove of wonderful truths. Paul’s writing became less overwhelming and richer in meaning. The picture emerged of a man who was so in love with Jesus, he felt a passion to teach and share as much as he could about Him. I sensed the urgency Paul must have felt to help believers grow in knowledge while he still had the chance.
With all that in mind, passages like this one in Ephesians generate a new gratitude and excitement in my spirit. Phrases like “blessed us…with every spiritual blessing in Christ,” or “in love he predestined us for adoption to sonship” stir up hope about my present and my future. Paul wanted to awaken his readers to all the wonders of what Jesus has done for them – for us. Because the more we know of Christ, the more we’ll fall in love with him, too.
That’s worth taking the time to slow down and savor!
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These verses remind me of the digital quality of God. He knew before creation that I would choose His son, thus he, in a premeditated fashion decided to adopt me into His family. This was done before I, or anyone in my lineage, was born.