Ephesians 1: 3-6, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even 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 for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.”
Recently, my youngest cousin and her husband, adopted a baby. To say the process of adoption is tedious and costly, is putting it lightly. Many steps are involved in bringing a child home to be a member of your family, but it is worth every bit of time and money spent. The blessing this baby has brought to our family is immeasurable. The process of adoption gives us a little insight into what Christ has done for us, so that we might be adopted into His family. Jesus paid the ultimate price when He died on the Cross, leaving His children spiritually wealthy by making salvation possible. He longs for us to be His sons and daughters and receive the blessing of salvation, so that we may begin to claim our “inheritance” He has so richly provided. Paul’s theme for the first few chapters of Ephesians focus on the blessings of God.
*We are blessed and chosen. (vs. 3,4)
God seeks the sinner, wanting all to know the blessing of salvation. We often see in the Scriptures just how much God wants us to be one of His children. 2 Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” We have a loving Savior ready to heap spiritual blessings on all our lives. By God choosing us before the worlds were formed, He knew us and began preparing a place for us in Heaven. We may receive an inheritance from a family member at some point in our lives, but no inheritance here on earth can compare to the inheritance we have in Jesus Christ.
*We are adopted and accepted. (vs.5,6)
Once we accept Christ into our lives we are “adopted” directly into God’s own family, born again as his child. This gives us the ability to immediately be able to claim our spiritual inheritance. Galatians 4:4 says, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. This passage in Galatians goes on to show why Christ wants us to be adopted and accepted in the family of God. Galatians 4:7 says, “So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.” God’s desire is not to leave us as slaves. His desire is to have an intimate and personal relationship with us, just like we desire to have with our own children. Furthermore, God doesn’t want born-again children to remain newborn babes. Salvation is only the beginning of our adopted life as children of God, and we continue to grow through the “sincere milk of His word,” as described in 1 Peter 2:2. If we as sinners want the very best for our children, imagine what the Lord, God of the Universe, wants for our lives!
Prayer: Dear Lord, we thank you for your many blessings. You paid the price for your children on the Cross, leaving us the biggest inheritance we could ever ask for. We desire a relationship with you and thank you we are not slaves but your sons and daughters. We are truly thankful you desire none of us to perish, wanting all to come to repentance. May we always be thankful and not forget the sacrifice you made for us to be holy and blameless before you. We love you so much and praise your name.
In the name of Jesus, we pray,
Amen
Digging Deeper 