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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
In Him, we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.
Ephesians 1:11-12
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
God is perfect in every way and this means that everything He does is perfect. He doesn’t make mistakes, ever.
And so when we consider God’s plan for creation, a plan that covered the beginning and end, the Alpha and Omega, we know that plan was without flaw and therefore, not open for debate or question. The Master’s plan was the only one ever to be foolproof and impeccable.
In Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus, we get glimpses into the plan of God for mankind, glimpses that include revealed mysteries as we have looked at in the last two messages. Yesterday, we were reminded about the nature of God’s new covenant which opened up salvation to all people, whether a Jew or not, which was a radical departure from the old covenant but nonetheless a part of the master plan.
As we turn to today’s verses from chapter 1, verses 11 and 12, we find the matter of predestination addressed and it has been a hot button topic in the church for reasons I don’t quite understand except that people want to make it too hard and in doing so, they question the concept which in turn challenges the truth that God’s master plan for His people is without fault. Look again at these words from Paul but they are really words from God given to Paul to write:
In Him, we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.
It was God’s will to make the way to save all people from the very beginning, when creation was just a blueprint in His mind that He would then construct. Everyone was predestined to be saved based on belief in Him and His ability to save. This was true before and after the cross. From Adam to Abraham, Moses to David, leaders encouraged people to believe in God’s power to rescue and deliver them, to preserve their live well before Jesus was first foretold by the prophets and then came just as God had promised.
When that happened, when Jesus came and started His ministry, Jews like the called disciples and later apostles like Paul were among the first to put their hope in Christ. You’ll remember Jesus spoke of this Himself after His ascension, saying the Gospel would first be presented in Jerusalem, then Judea and Samaria, before heading to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8) where a majority of the Gentiles were.
All this was for the praise of God’s glory, the One who is ever in control, the One who is our Master and has a perfect plan He has executed and will execute until it is accomplished.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com
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