Ephesians is one of my favorite letters written by Paul. It’s the book of the Bible that God has used to help me in my journey of discovering who I really am. The me that Jesus thought about when I was being knitted in my mother’s womb (See Psalm 139).
Over the next several weeks we are going to dive deep into this first chapter of Ephesians. I hope you will journey with me as I learn the lessons in this amazing book of the Bible.
Spiritual Blessings
In Ephesians 1:3 we are told that God the Father has blessed us “with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.” Paul then goes on to tell us what those spiritual blessings are.
The first spiritual blessing from heavenly places is that we were chosen before the foundation of the world. We were chosen to be holy and blameless before the Father.
“even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love” Ephesians 1:4 (ESV)
There was a lot of planning that went on before Jesus ever spoke the words, “Let there be light.” (Genesis 1:3) Before God created the trees, animals, and Adam and Eve there was a ton of stuff going on.
At the end of Jesus’ time to teach in the flesh, he tells us that people will be separated. The sheep will go to his right and the goats to the left. Then he will turn to the sheep and say, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Matthew 25:34 (ESV) The kingdom of God was prepared for all of us, who chose to say yes to Jesus, before we ever had an opportunity to sin. This kingdom was created separate from the earth. It is for those of us mentioned in Ephesians 1:4. We were chosen before the very foundation of the world was laid to enter into this kingdom.
The plan for Jesus to come to the earth to redeem his people was established before the foundation of the world in John 17:24 (ESV), says, “Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.” Because Jesus loved us and chose us before the foundation of the world, and the Father loved Jesus before the foundation of the world, the plan for Jesus to come save us was established before the foundation of the world.
The Meeting
I can imagine it. There sits the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They are discussing the future of the world. They know that Adam and Eve will sin. They know this because they are already in every time and every place from beginning to end. The question is what needs to be done to redeem not just people, but all creation. (Romans 8:20) There must be shedding of blood, for there is no redemption without the shedding of blood. (Hebrews 9:22) There must be a perfect sacrifice. Since Adam and Eve’s lineage will be tainted with sin, there can not be a perfect sacrifice from them alone.
The plan is hatched that through both man and God redemption will come. God himself will come to earth as a man, 100% God and 100% man. God himself will live a perfect life, a life completely free of sin. God himself will then freely and willingly become that perfect sacrifice. He will shed his blood so there can and will be redemption for both humanity and creation.
The question now becomes who from the Trinity will be that sacrifice? The Father stands up, and says, “We need to show humankind what true love is. It will be through love that we will bring them and all of our creation back to us. Humans will need to be shown what true love looks like. Love is the strongest weapon we have. There is no love left in the enemy. Only hatred and deception. We will conquer sin and death with love. Our show of love must be the greatest show of love possible.
We will show our love by becoming like one of them. We will live as one of them, and then show them the ultimate act of love by being their perfect sacrifice once and for all. Which one of us should go?”
Holy Spirit stands up and says, “I am willing to be that sacrifice. I’ll go. Send me.”
The Father looks over at Holy Spirit and replies, “It can not be you. If you go, you will set the whole place on fire! Your role will be to set the world on fire AFTER the redemption of mankind. The world will need you to remind them what is true.”
The Father then says, “What is the greatest show of love?”
Jesus then says, “There is no greater love than to lay one’s life down for his friends.”
“Yes, that is true my son. We need to show mankind the greatest form of love there is. No greater love than to die for your friends.” The Father said, pondering. “If I go, humanity will see my sacrifice as good and natural. For it will be natural to them to lay their life down for their offspring. If I send my son, my only son, they will see this as the greatest sacrifice possible. We should send the Son for he will show humankind what true love is. He will demonstrate the kind of life all of my children should and will live on earth. He will befriend humanity, and then die for them.”
Then the Father turned to Jesus and said, “My son, my only son, will you be the sacrifice for the redemption for those written in the book of life?”
Jesus turns to the Father and replies, “Yes. I love our creation so much, I can not bear to see them perish forever. I will be the sacrifice. I will go to earth clothed in human DNA. I will live a perfect life, and I will allow our creation to murder me so we can set our creation free.”
The plan was set even before Jesus ever uttered the words, “Let there be light.”
Hidden Secrets
There are secrets that have been hidden since the foundation of the world. We are told in Matthew 13:34-35 (ESV) “All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet: “I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.”
There are things we need to know, but as a race we have not been ready to learn. This occurred when Jesus was walking on the earth in the flesh. This is why he spoke to the crowds in parables. One thing I have learned in my walk with Jesus is that there is always more depth to the lessons in the parables of Jesus. Each time I think I understand what Jesus is teaching us through his parables, I come to learn something even deeper and more profound than before.
“Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me.” John 8:42 (ESV)
Before Jesus went to the cross, he said something amazing, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” John 16:12-13 (ESV)
There are things Jesus wanted to tell his disciples (aka us), but we weren’t ready for those truths yet. They were too much for us to bear. Jesus tells us that he will send the Spirit of truth to us, and he will guide us into all truth. This begs the question; what are those truths that were too heavy for us to bear in the time of Peter, John, and the others? When are these truths going to be released? Are we ready for them yet? Could these truths be other events that happened before the foundation of the world? We know one thing for sure. The Spirit of truth will reveal these truths to us in the right time and in the right way. We must trust him. We must also seek him and ask him.
We are Holy and Blameless
This concept of activity going on before the foundation of the world is fascinating. We see God creating and planning even before he created our world. We see his love for us even before humanity was even created. The Father was thinking about us and loved us before the foundations of the world were laid. In his mind we are created holy and blameless. Remember our anchor verse: “even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love” Ephesians 1:4 (ESV)
In the eyes of the Father, we stand before him holy and blameless. The sin of our past, present, and future doesn’t exist in his sight. All he sees is his pure and perfect children standing before him. This is why 1 Peter 1:16 (ESV) tells us, “since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” God doesn’t give a command without also giving the path to achieve the command. We are holy as Jesus is holy. We have been made new, the old us doesn’t exist any longer. (2 Corinthians 5:17) You are no longer a sinner saved by grace. In fact you are holy and perfected through the blood of Jesus. And this is how we have been determined to be even before the foundation of the world was laid.
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