Jesus

We have EVERYTHING in Jesus!

The Apostle Paul is specific about the individual blessings God gives His children. The first he mentioned is that God chose us in Him “before the foundation of the world.” When we consider who we were before we were saved, God’s choosing us becomes an even larger blessing.

“And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.” Ephesians 2:1-3

We were “dead” in trespasses and sins. We lived our lives according to the direction of every other sinner in this world. We lived according to the direction of Satan, the prince of the power of the air. He is the spirit that works in all children of disobedience. We used to live as children of disobedience behaving according to the lusts of our flesh. We lived our lives to fulfill every desire of our flesh and sinful mind. We were by our very nature children of wrath, just like every other sinner. We were spiritually dead, dirty and diseased. No one would look at us and find anything attractive about us. If we were put up for adoption, no one would want us. No one, except God.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world.” Ephesians 1:3-4

God “chose” us. He wanted us. He loved us. His desire was to make us part of His spiritual family, part of the Body of believers in His Son Jesus Christ. How amazing is that?

“… just as He chose us in Him.” Those seven words hold a world of hope for every believer and every person who will believe. God chose us. We are His choice. He wanted us. He loved us. His wish was that we belong to Him. How wonderful!

He chose us. We are not an unpleasant duty. We are not a dreadful deed God had to do to fulfil some ancient obligation He couldn’t find a way to escape. God chose us freely, voluntarily, willingly, wantingly, gladly!

God chose us “in Him.” The words “in Him” are used in the context of the location of our blessings: “in the heavenly places in Christ.” God the Father chose you and me in Christ! God’s work is always done in perfect harmony. The triune God – Three in One – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – make “their” choice. It’s never one against the other. The Triune God makes a singular choice – and their choice was you and me! God the Father chose us in His Son and God the Holy Spirit agreed with the choice and plays a vital role in carrying out the purpose of the choice.

When did God make this choice? Was it recently? Was it just before we prayed to receive Christ as our Savior? Was it at our birth? Was it when our parents prayed we would pray to receive Christ? The Bible says clearly that God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit chose us “before the foundation of the world”! God chose us before He created the world. His choice was not made in haste. He chose us in Christ before His creative act of bringing the world into being. God knew us intimately and loved us intensely long before the first human beings walked on the earth. He chose us before there was a world surrounded by a sky filled with stars, planets and moons. He created us before there was water, air and land. He created us before the birds sang, the fish swam and the animals foraged for food. God wanted us and chose us before He created the world we live in and depend on for life. God’s choosing us was an amazing activity of the Great Mind of God before He thought and spoke the worlds into beinbg. God chose us, then created a place for us. What phenomenal love!

God didn’t just choose “people” to be saved; He chose “you” personally because He knew you before time, loved you and wanted you. He knew who you would be. He knew when you would be born. He knew where you would be born. He knew who your parents would be. He knew what you would look like, what you would do as a child, what you would become as a teen and adult. He knew all about you. He knew your strengths and weaknesses. He knew your sinful ways and made a way for you to become His child. He sent His Son to die for your sins and make a path to righteousness. He knew when you would believe, when you would pray to receive the salvation He provided for you, how you would live your life as a Christian. He knew everything and chose you!

God chose us in Christ before He created the world “that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.” God had a marvelous purpose in choosing us. He wanted the best for us. He wanted us to be saved from sin, to be spiritually and physically whole again. God chose us to be “holy and without blame before him in love.” The word “holy” means we are separated and dedicated to God. We are set apart for God’s service. The words “without blame” mean we are without any blemish. God has made us perfect in Christ. We are like Him. Christ was the pure sacrifice without blemish and God chose us to be made like His Son. No one can point to any blemish and accuse us of being unworthy of belonging to God because God has made us without blemish. We are without blame (blameless) in Christ. That’s how God sees us now, how He saw us before the creation of the world and how He will see us through eternity. God chose us before He created the world that we should be holy and without blame.

The position of our blamelessness is “before him.” We would be foolish to think we are perfect in this world. We know our faults. We know our sins. We know our failings. We are as imperfect as they come. We don’t (can’t) live up to all God asks of His children. We are human. We are sinners. However, in Christ, we are saved sinners. God sees us differently than we see ourselves or other believers. He sees us standing before Him in love as sinners saved by His Matchless Grace. He sees us covered by the Blood of Christ. He sees us saved and set apart for service to Him. We are holy and without blame in God’s sight – in His view.

As we will see during our study, God is the reason we can be holy and blameless. We are not holy and blameless because of something we did, do or will do. We are holy and blameless in God’s sight because He sees us “in” Christ. Jesus is the Holy One. He is the Blameless One. We are holy and blameless before God because we are in Christ and He is in us. That is both a “miracle” and a “mystery”.

This first spiritual blessing is the greatest blessing of all. We have hope for every aspect of our lives. When we fail (as we will continue to do every day we breathe air on this planet and our heart pumps blood through our body), we can pick ourselves up and know that in God’s eyes we are holy and blameless in Christ. We will blame ourself for so many things in this lifetime, but God chose us to be holy and without blame before Him in love. That’s how God sees us and how He wants us to see ourselves, other believers and those who will become believers.

The first blessing is how we learn as Christians to see God, see ourselves, see others, see this world and the world to come. We can do what God calls on us to do because we have the proper perspective about life. We understand when He chose us, how He chose us and why He chose us. That perspective makes every day special, every moment important, every opportunity vital.

You are so special! God chose you from before the foundation of the world. He chose you to be holy. He chose you to be without blame before Him in love. Enjoy your life!

In Christ’s Love and Grace,

Mark McGee

GraceLife Ministries

“Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”