Ephesians...the Messiah's Good Pleasure

When last we visited Ephesians, we took the big picture of the book and its connection to Revelation and good news.  This time, we will continue with Chapter 1:5.  I do not consider myself a scholar.  I just love the word of God and the many layers of beauty and depth we find.  It truly can speak to us over and over again…saying things more deeply each time.

Verse 5: having predestined us to adoption as sons by Messiah Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,…

This is an interesting text and wonderfully shows the color and meaning of the word, “predestined.”  It can be defined as foreordained, destined, planned in love for us to be adopted and revealed as His own children…or my personal favorite from  Strong’s is “border (like a body of water.”  Do you get what this is saying?  A body of water has creation parameters; its coastline.  You and I have creation parameters…to be adopted as sons by the Messiah for the Heavenly Father.

Romans 8:28 and 29 adds to the above.  Verse 29: For those whom He foreknew for whom He was aware and loved beforehand; He also destined from the beginning (foreordaining them) to be molded into the image of His Son (and share inwardly His likeness), that He might become the firstborn among many brethren.  (Amplified Bible).

Do we see how tenderly God cares for us?  Do we see how thoroughly He has planned for us?  From the beginning…we were not an after thought!  God did not get in an awful bind with His creation and throw His hands in the air in disgust.  We got into trouble, and even before, He had it worked out for our redemption and a way back to this wonderful Image.

Verse 5 says that the Messiah, our big brother, was put in charge of our adoption.     I just love this.  I have often heard wonderful big brother stories.  I have seen some precious big brothers.  I never had a big brother, but I have heard stories of the sister being taken care of by brother.  That might have been nice.  

Brothers and sisters are not always happy about each other.  They are often jealous and do not get along so well.  Sibling rivalry is anything but Christ’s sacrificing love.  We have a big brother who is committed to us becoming inwardly filled up with our creation parameters just as a body of water fills up to the border/coastline.

We spend so much time doing and being what man has designed for us.  Here, the Messiah (big brother) has a divine plan for us.  It is so much higher and nobler than that of man.   Ephesians keeps singing its love song to us.  Can we see the Father and Son directing the orchestra and dancing to the music of our becoming all that we were meant to be?  It is ennobling to know what our creation parameters are.  His bidding is His enabling.  Let’s join them in their celebration.

As we celebrate this resurrection time of our Lord, let us also celebrate the "new man/woman" that we are because of our big Brother and because of what He and the Father initiated from the very beginning of time.  Your story has a wonderful beginning and so does mine.   Thank you, Father!  As we ponder resurrection, let us look deeply into that relationship with heaven.