EPHESIANS 1:1-6 - GRACIOUS ADOPTION INTO THE FAMILY OF GOD

EPHESIANS 1:1-6

GRACIOUS ADOPTION

INTO THE FAMILY OF GOD

Ephesians 1:1 (KJV) Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:

Apostle is a word meaning “messenger.” Paul, along with the twelve disciples including Matthias who replaced the betrayer, Judas Iscariot, was Jesus’ messenger and was allowed to use the word apostle as a title.

The Apostles preached and taught the Gospel of Jesus, and some of them were used of the Holy Spirit to write the New Testament. The Apostles were all witnesses of the resurrected Jesus. Paul is in this category because Jesus Himself appeared to him on the road to Damascus (Acts 9). Paul made clear that he was writing to believers by calling them saints and faithful in Christ Jesus. As stated in the introduction, this letter may have been read to the church at Ephesus and then sent on to other churches in Asia Minor, so they, too, could benefit from Paul’s teaching.

Ephesians 1:2 Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance

Charis – graciousness of manner or act: lit. fig., or spiritual; especially the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life

The grace of God in the salvation process is emphasized in Ephesians, so we will be making it jump out for you by making the word red and bold. “Grace and peace to you” was a greeting used by Paul in all his letters. Grace as defined above was asking the Lord to effect change in their lives. With the word peace, Paul was indicating his desire that the Lord set their lives in order, make them whole, and give them rest.

John MacArthur Study Bible

1:3–14 This passage describes God’s master plan for salvation in terms of the past (election, vv. 3–6a), the present (redemption, vv. 6b–11), and the future (inheritance, vv. 12–14). It can also be viewed as emphasizing the Father (vv. 3–6), the Son (vv. 7–12), and the Spirit (vv. 13–16).

Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:

Westminster Shorter Catechism

Q. 1. What is the chief end of man?

A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.

Man’s purpose is to bless God, to praise Him and bring glory to Him through our perpetual surrender to His will and the life resulting from His grace. In his praise of the Father, Paul asserts the deity of Jesus by referring to Him as the Son of God. Paul uses “in Christ,” “in Him,” and “in Whom” as a repeated theme emphasizing the many benefits of abiding in the Lord. These will also be printed in bold red. Because of our relationship with Jesus, our surrendering our will to His, we are blessed. All blessings, all good gifts, originate with God and are distributed by Him as He chooses.

James 1:17 (KJV) Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

God, in His heaven, imparts to us many things we do not deserve, the most important of which is salvation from sin and death which guarantees the richness of dwelling with Him eternally.

Ephesians 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

I wonder if Paul’s sentences are this long in the original Greek? I seem to remember that they were from when I took Greek in seminary. Okay, back on task. These verses indicate that we were “chosen in Him from the foundation of the world” and were predestined to adoption by Jesus by “his will.” Whoa, what happened to my responsibility to choose? The gift of salvation was not cheap: it cost the Lord Jesus his life, death on the cross. The Giver should have the choice to whom He offers the gift. Where our will comes in is the moment we accept that gift, activate it, realize it is ours because the Holy Spirit has drawn us and given this expensive gift to us freely.

John 6:44 (ESV) No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.

I can quote many verses indicating that God chose us, predestined us to be saved. I can quote an equal number that show that man, although he cannot in any way earn salvation, has a responsibility to respond to the Lord’s wooing of him.

Romans 10:8-10 (ESV) But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

One might point out that there would be no belief had Father not given us the faith to believe which we will see in Ephesians 2:8-9. We will not easily settle the debate between predestination and free will, nor is that our intent. Susan and I believe that it is not either/or but both/and. That is mind boggling, but I fall back on this:

Isaiah 55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

You may see this as a “cop-out,” but I firmly believe that if I could understand everything about God, He would not be God because I would be His equal. Since He is far more intelligent than anyone He created, there will be things that are mind-boggling to us.

God extends His grace to those He has chosen to enjoy relationship with Him through Jesus Christ in order to bring glory to His name. As His grace changes us from the inside out, we will reflect His glory to the world. As we will see in chapter two, we are His workmanship, His masterpieces.

Question: Have you experienced the drawing, the wooing of the Holy Spirit, nudging you toward believing the Gospel? If so, have you placed your trust in Jesus alone to wash away your sin and bring you into His forever family? All the benefits we will study, all the blessings from the Father, are only for those who are His children, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.