Chosen and Adopted – Ephesians 1

A text – Ephesians 1:3-14

1:3 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,
1:4 just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love.
1:5 He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will,
1:6 to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace
1:8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight
1:9 he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ,
1:10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
1:11 In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will,
1:12 so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory.
1:13 In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit;
1:14 this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory.

A reflection:

A brief summary of one of the themes in this passage: We were destined for adoption, chosen as God’s beloved children by God in creation and by Jesus when he walked on earth and by the Holy Spirit, whose seal marks us as God’s own people. All three persons of the Trinity claim you and claim me for their own.

We are signed, sealed, and delivered as chosen by God to be heirs of God’s kingdom. We have the maker’s mark on us. We have the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval, as we might have said back in the 1950s. Does this message mean anything to you? That God has chosen you and marked you to be an heir of God’s kingdom? Leaving aside the original receivers of this letter, the believers in Ephesus, let’s see how it speaks to you and to me.

If we don’t spend our days considering God and God’s creation, maybe it doesn’t mean much. If we don’t wake up in the morning with gratitude for being alive and for being one of God’s beloved creatures, maybe it doesn’t mean much. If we have so much going on in our lives that we haven’t considered what God might be up to, maybe it doesn’t mean much. If we are anxious or overwhelmed by politics and violence in the world, maybe we can’t even hear the message.

But politics and violence in the world are not new things. Just read our texts for this week and you will find politics and violence aplenty. Human beings kind of specialize in politics and violence. What does our being chosen by God to be heirs of God’s kingdom mean in a world dominated by politics and violence? Well, one thing it could mean is that no matter what is disturbing us, we can know that God chooses us for adoption and love. And if we can tuned out the noise, we can be reminded of that message. That means that whatever good we can do for our neighbor in the face of the whirlwind world will be a testament to our security in knowing we are called by God to be God’s children and love our neighbor. It’s a promise God makes to us, via the Holy Spirit, because of the death and resurrection of God’s own son. And God keeps God’s promises.

A prayer:

Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for making us your own. Thank you for giving us the assignment to love our neighbor as a sign of your keeping your promises. Help us to remember, amid all the flurry of good and bad around us, that we are chosen by you to be your beloved children.  Amen.