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Today we will read Ephesians 1:7 and 8. These verses say “We have redemption in Him through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.”

We’ve been spending time in Ephesians 1. Paul has a knack for writing soaring poetry about Jesus to open his letters and this may take the cake. In fact in the original Greek, these 11 verses about God’s blessing are one long sentence. We’ve seen that God has taken all the responsibility to choose and execute His good plan to redeem. We’ve seen that He did this before you were even born, or anything at all was created! We’ve seen that He loves you intensely. We’ve seen that He’s adopted us. But we must ask the question, from what has He adopted us? From what has He chosen us? How has this adoption occurred and what’s the flip side of the coin? 

These verses tell us. We have redemption in Him through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses. Here we come face to face with the shocking claim of the gospel. God’s method of redeeming you is through His blood. That is, through He Himself suffering, shedding blood, and dying. Why? Why would God need to do that? It tells us - because our trespasses need to be forgiven. We don’t use the word “trespass” often - at least not in the archaic sense. To trespass is to commit an offense, to sin, or to break the law. To do wrong. We could use the modern sense as well - going where we should not. 

And here we have a problem. This passage is claiming that our behavior, our very self, is…wrong. It’s so wrong, that it requires God-blood to forgive. It’s not trivial. It’s not a minor error. This is a systemic lawbreaking problem on our part which requires the King Himself to suffer and die in order to fix. So I must ask, does that bother you? Specifically are there behaviors you indulge in and (more importantly) dismiss or excuse as right even if revelatory scripture claims that they’re wrong? Think of it this way, would you be so bold as to call good what the God of Creation shed blood to redeem? That’s incredible hubris. And yet I fear that more and more our culture is claiming just that. This passage, and scripture as a whole doesn’t apologize for calling sin sin. Of course there are thoughts, behaviors, and habits that both you and I have that are shameful and that He shed blood for. That’s obvious. And it’s enough that we do them. But let’s not delude ourselves into thinking something is good just because our twisted selves desire it. 

This adoption doesn’t come easy or cheap. The riches of His grace that He lavishes on us cost Him greatly. And He seems incredibly overjoyed to do it. Still there’s another piece to consider - the last part of the passage. How does He lavish this grace? “With all wisdom and understanding.” God shed His blood, lavishes grace, forgives trespasses, and redeems, with not just some wisdom and understanding, but with all of it. He is completely thorough in His wisdom and understanding regarding the entire matter. He knows the exact nature and extent of the problem. He knows all that must transpire in order to transform you into the beloved. He knows how much energy, and cost it requires. And He’s made all the provision. And as we’ve said - He will get what He wants.

Our role at this point is quite simple. It’s to agree with Him. It’s to take at face value that He has chosen, shed His blood, forgiven our trespasses, and lavished us with grace and riches. And strangely that He seems to enjoy it! You could call this belief, or faith. What a God we have!

God I believe You. I believe that You have done all of this. I believe that I need it because I’m a sinner. But I believe You’re bigger than my sin and way better than I could imagine.

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Today we will read Ephesians 1:5 and 6. Here’s what they say… “He predestined us to be adopted through Jesus Christ for Himself, according to His favor and will, to the praise of His glorious grace that He favored us with in the Beloved.” 

Predestination. We tend to recoil at the idea of fate. We want freedom - the opportunity to better our circumstances, pick ourselves up, or at the very least, if we are to suffer, to suffer for our own misdeeds. Let the debt be our own to pay. What feels most repulsive is the idea that we would enter this world through no choice of our own, and ultimately burn in hell also seemingly through no choice of our own. It is this view that runs the risk of making God appear wanton, capricious, and arbitrary. Have you thought of God this way? I’ll be honest, whenever I hear the word “predestination”, I have to resist my initial impulse to think these dark thoughts. Perhaps it’s how the concept was initially presented to me. I don’t know. I don’t think I’m alone. I wonder how many have turned away from God due in part to thinking this way.

So it’s at this point we need to carefully consider what the text is actually saying. Of course there are many verses on the topic of predestination, and here we only have two. But whenever we face a difficult concept in scripture, we have choices in how to address it. We can ignore it. We can claim the author is wrong - or that God is wrong (heaven forbid). We can cling to our system of belief and force fit it in. We can cry out “Mystery Mystery”. Or we can receive it with open hands and allow our thinking to be changed and accommodate the revelation. 

So what does it say? He predestined us to be adopted. We were outsiders, and parentless. But God chose us. And to what end did He choose us? For His own end. We are adopted for…God! God literally wants us. He wants you - He’s made all the provision, and He’ll get what He wants. Is there anything in here about hell? Anything about not choosing some? Anything about a moody God Who could’ve just as easily destroyed you? No. There’s nothing like that. Only His favor and will. His will is a good one. And this is not only for you, but you receive this favor by being part of a collective whole - the beloved. 

There are numerous passages about Christ’s (God’s) beloved, or body, or bride. You pick your favorite word. The point is that God so deeply loves this collection of the redeemed and it is His object of passion, romance, and unending favor and love. You are in that. And you had nothing to do with it. You’ve won the multi-billion dollar lottery a million times over because God is that good. He chose it for you. You couldn’t nullify His love for you if you tried. And you do try. So do I. But no matter how screwed up we are, or how much we mess up, it is simply steps along the way to making us what He chose long ago for us to be - the objects of His love - His beloved. 

Congratulations beloved of God! Go live it out!

God are you really that good? I have to pinch myself. You’re incredible.

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Today we will read Ephesians 1:3 and 4. Here’s what they say, “Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens. For He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in His sight. 

We’ll be spending some time in Ephesians 1. I won’t pretend to be a Greek expert but it’s worth noting that these verses all the way down to verse 14 are one long, run-on sentence. They express an idea about Jesus. It’s almost like Paul is looking at a diamond and as he rotates it the facets look slightly different from each angle - but it’s still one diamond. Paul lavishes praise on God. His mind seems captivated and carried away by Christ and ever surprised by God’s methods. In Paul’s mind, things just get better and better the more we know God. He is better than we could have imagined. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Time will let us get there but for now, verses 3 and 4.

“Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Jesus has a Father - and He’s your Father. There is something unique between the Father and Son. There is a relationship and it’s a good one. What’s the nature of the difference? I haven’t got a clue. Neither does anyone else. We’re talking about a Being wholly different than anything we can possibly behold. But scripture is unapologetic about it. Personally, I’m often tempted to swerve toward modalism - the idea that One God expresses Himself cosmically as Father and humanly as Son. And while I believe there are merits to this idea, Paul doesn’t let me rest comfortably in it. There is something to the Trinity. There is something to the differences (if I’m even using the right word - or thought) between the Father and Son. Let’s just receive it. Isn’t it a wonderful thing to have the God we do? Not a distant self-absorbed, static unfeeling Being. Far from it. We have a dynamic, relational, moving, feeling God Who has done an incredible thing! On to verse 4. 

He chose us! And when did He choose us? When we had faith? When we were born? When Christ was crucified? When He created the universe? As mind-numbing as it is, it was before the Creation itself. Is “before” even the right word? There was no time before matter. So even now we’re far outside of our capacity to understand. But He chose us. You - He knew you and chose you. Some don’t like this idea of God choosing. It’s easy to immediately jump to the question, “But what about those He didn’t choose?” In time we’ll address it all. But for now just accept what it says. It does not say He choose You and ignored others. It simply says He chose you. You are chosen. Your standing with God could have been left up to you. And we all know the darkness in our own souls. No - God is a preemptive God. God had it all worked out before a single thing was created. It was His good plan to bless you with EVERY spiritual blessing in the heavens. And to choose you to be holy and blameless in His sight. 

Are you there yet? Are you holy and blameless in His sight? Well, in Christ you are. Your behavior may not reflect it at the moment. But you are subject to a God-sized force that is greater than all your self-destructive behavior. God has chosen you. You had nothing to do with it. Why? Because He’s that good. Nothing will stop Him from lavishing you with EVERY spiritual blessing in the heavens! Nothing will stop God from getting what He wants - and He wants you.

Does that excite you? Does it scare you? If so, are you open to the idea that you are not yet thinking of God as good as He is? He is far better than you can imagine. And by His own choosing, He will prove it to you. He’s just getting started.

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Today we will read Hebrews 10:26-27 which says, “For if we deliberately sin after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire about to consume the adversaries.”

Well this one is scary isn’t it? And to be clear, this affects us all. There is no one free of intentional sin. We’re all guilty, including the great apostle Paul himself. So is this passage teaching that we’re all doomed if/when we intentionally sin after receiving Jesus as our Savior? You could interpret it that way. It’s bleak and hopeless but an interpretation.

Perhaps a better way is through the lens of the Old Testament sacrificial system - something we’re sadly distanced from in Christianity. 

In Leviticus, the first offering is the Burnt Offering. This is an all-purpose, thorough atoning sacrifice. It’s offered when a baby is born. It’s a pleasing aroma to God. It’s a sacrifice that seems to cover literally anything and everything and is offered regularly. None of the animal is spared. None is eaten. It is completely consumed by fire.

And while there are other sacrifices to be eaten and enjoyed as a family, or just given out of gratitude, the Sin Offering is the other serious big one. The Sin Offering, also a burnt offering, is offered case by case when someone sins unintentionally and becomes aware, or sins intentionally and repents. Either way, it requires the individual to take responsibility, repent, and offer the sacrifice. There is however the sin of defiance, or “High Handedness” in Numbers 15:30 and seems to describe an ongoing obstinance and resistance to repentance that no offering could cover.

Jesus being the ultimate sacrifice fulfills these requirements and also informs the New Testament Jewish understanding of His work. So back to our passage. Jesus serves as the thorough Burnt Offering. He’s covered it all. And when we go on to sin, which we do, He is also the Sin Offering covering each and every misstep. If we sin quote “intentionally,” I take this to mean an attitude of resistance - the opposite of repentance - the sin of “High Handedness.” 

Imagine a husband in a room with his wife, and he just willy nilly flips on porn. No shame, no remorse, nothing. What would happen? He has knowledge of the truth - his wife is in the room. And yet he’s obstinate. In that moment, the intimacy of the marriage hits a brick wall and all that remains is her consuming wrath and judgement. It’s either destruction of the relationship that could have been, or repentance and sacrifice. Those are the only options. 

It’s no different with God. All provision has been made but you will not find intimacy with Him while in defiant intentional sin. You are right for feeling the impending weight of His wrath. The Sin Offering is however available whenever you repent. You can play that card a million times and never exhaust God’s grace. But it will always require a turning from your resistance and repenting. Destruction or repentance. Those are the only options. And the more time goes by, the clearer those destinies become in each of us.

God, I know my own heart. There are times I do sin intentionally, and I’m hard hearted. Forgive me. I repent again. I want You.