Chosen to Be His Very Own Children

Ephesians 1:4-6

4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish before him in love: 5 having foreordained us unto adoption as sons through Jesus Christ unto himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6 to the praise of the glory of his grace, which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved:(ASV)

Let me tell you about something that is BETTER THAN A BLESSING. In the previous verse, Paul had stated that the Lord has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ. He has made us spiritual millionaires, granting to the Christian all the spiritual resources needed to live a triumphant life. Could anything be better than that? Yes. There is something better than a blessing; better than being made a spiritual millionaire.

The moment you receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, the Spirit of the Lord enters your life bringing all the spiritual resources necessary to live an overcoming life. This is truly a marvelous blessing, and it is the birthright of every born again believer. There is something the Lord does that transcends even the blessings given. He makes the believer a member of His very own family. We have been chosen to be His very own children! That is better than a blessing.

Imagine a lonely orphan boy living in an orphanage. He sees his friends being chosen and adopted by loving parents. How he wishes for loving parents of his own. A fine Christian couple visit him from time to time and bring him gifts. That is great, and he appreciates their acts of kindness. Then one day this couple visit him and share some great news. They want to adopt him and make him their very own child. He has loved them and appreciated all they have done. But now, he will be their litttle boy and enjoy all the benefits and pleasures of their love. He will be their's for as long as they live. That is better than the gifts. They will be his and he will be their son.

Our children are adopted. We were advised before the adoptions that we should not keep the fact of their adoption a secret from them and should tell them as soon as they are old enough to understand. Following their advice, we told them that we were unable to have children and we wanted them and chose them to be our children. We told them they were special.

When we moved to East Texas our children enrolled in the elementary school. It was mid-term, and they were the new kids in school. We heard from our son's teacher about his first day in school. When he was introduced, she asked if he would like to say anything. He stood up and said: "I'm Steve Rambo, and I'm special. I'm adopted!" The teacher was flustered and had nothing to say in return. He was right. He is adopted and he is special...and so are you, if you are a child of the King.

The Believer Has Been Chosen to Be a Child of The King.

I. The Time of The Choosing.

"Before the foundation of the earth.." Before the world began, you were on God's mind. He had you on His heart long before you were born. He had plans for you and did everything necessary to provide the way for your eternal salvation.

Old friends are the best friends. Friends that have stood the test of time, who have stood by us through good times and bad, these are the ones we cherish most. How good it is to return to places where we have lived in the past and discover people who remember and care for us even though many years have passed. The oldest and dearest friend is the Lord God Himself. He has loved you with an eternal love.

II. The Place of The Choosing.

"in Christ" A favorite expression of Paul's is this term "in Christ". You can find the preposition "in" thirteen times in the first chapter of the epistle. He writes "in Christ", "in him", in the beloved", etc. This is the central theme of Paul's belief system. As we place our lives into the hands of Christ, the Spirit of God baptizes us into the body of Christ. We are united to, immersed into the Spiritual presence of Christ.

Suppose I placed a dollar bill in my Bible and later I told you that you that I had taken my Bible all over the country, preaching in hundreds of churches. Later if you looked at my Bible, you would find the dollar bill. You might assume that wherever the Bible went the dollar went along, for it is hidden inside. When you place your live into the hands of Christ, God no longer sees you as you were, but you are hidden in Christ (Colossians 3:3) As far as God is concerned, everything that happened to Christ happened to you. You were crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20), you were raised with Him and ascended to heaven with Him (Ephesians 2:6). The believer is identified with Christ. It is this personal relationship with Christ that is our hope of sharing His glory in heaven one day. We are chosen because we have chosen Christ as our Savior and Lord. So far as God is concerned, His Past is Our Past; His Position is Our Position, we are seated with Him in heavenly places; His Possessions are Our Possessions, we are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. All this because we surrendered our lives into His hands.

Dwight L. Moody described our eternal salvation thus: "Imagine that salvation were a huge temple and outside on the gate were the words: 'Whosoever will may come.' As you enter the gate and look back you see above the gate a huge sign stating: 'Chosen before the foundation of the earth.' " We have been chosen in Christ, through our acceptance of our Redeemer through repentance and faith.

God does not choose us because of our intrinsic worth and value. We are unworthy, and our only hope is in our relationship with His Son and our Savior.

III. The Purpose of The Choosing. (verses 4 and 5)

"that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: having predestined us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will,"

A. Chosen To Resemble The Father. "holy and without blame"

God wants us to be like Himself in order that we might be compatible with Him and enjoy His fellowship forever. People like to be with folks who like the same things. God wants us to resemble Him. He is a holy God. He wants His children to be like Him.

Every new father is delighted when someone says: "That baby looks just like you." Watch him beam with pride and delight. Now look at that baby. His/her face is red and wrinkled. He has no teeth, and isn't all that much to look at, (he/she may look like a miniature Winston Churchill) but the child has some characteristics that mark it out as belonging to its father. The father is delighted that his child resembles him. The Eternal Father has a longing that all His children should resemble Him and should be holy as He is holy.

The most important task of the believer is to spend so much time with the Father that we begin to resemble Him in action and thoughts.

B. Chosen To Respond To The Father's Love. "before Him in love"

Every loving parent is willing to sacrifice everything for the welfare of his/her child. That is what love is all about. There is one hidden motivation that stirs in the heart of every loving parent. The parent hopes that one day that child will respond to that love and return it. Nothing pleases a loving parent more than to hear the child one day say: "Mom/Dad, you're the best parent I could have ever hoped for, and I really love you." Those words are payment in full for all the sacrifices made.

The Eternal Father longs for the day when each of His children will respond to His love by returning that love and devotion.

C. Chosen For A Mature Relationship With The Father. "..unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ..."

Biblical adoption is quite different from the procedure we went through when we adopted our children, Becky and Steve. Adoption was the ceremony by which a full grown child or a honorable servant was accepted into a relationship with the father in which the adopted child was recognized as a responsible part of the household, with all the honor involved.

Picture a man who has a business. He is a plumber. He has a little boy whom he loves much. He has great plans for his boy. One day he will be his father's partner. He rides in the truck with his dad, and as he grows up he helps his dad in the business. As the boy reaches maturity, his dad makes him a full partner in the business. This is a picture of biblical adoption. God longs for the day when we will grow up and become full partners in His important business. He longs to share with the believer the privileges and responsibilities of being His partner in the work of world redemption. God's plan is that you and I would be His partners as He reaches out through us to bear witness to Jesus Christ and God's plan of eternal redemption.

III. The Privilege of Being Chosen In Christ. (verse 6)

"To the praise of the glory of His grace wherein He has made us accepted in the beloved."

Jesus Christ is God's beloved Son. The Father stated from heaven: "This is my beloved Son." The Son of God is so dear to the Father that He will accept anyone who is identified with the beloved Son.

A young lady in her senior year of college fell in love with a young man. He proposed to her and she agreed to be his wife. She wrote home and told her family the good news. She told them that she would bring him home during the Christmas holidays. Then she told him about her plans. He was a little frightened at the prospect of meeting her family, but agreed. The day arrived and they boarded the train. As they traveled he thought: "What if they don't like me? What if I'm not handsome enough? What if I say the wrong words?"

The train pulled into the station. On the platform he spotted the family. There was mom and dad, the grandparents, little brother and little sister. There were the cousins, aunts and uncles. He thought: "I wish I were somewhere else. Oh, me. I can't back out now." The doors opened and his fiancee left the car and started hugging all the family members. He lingered by the train, hoping they wouldn't spot him. Then suddenly the mother appears, hugs him and plants a big kiss on his cheek, then dad hugs him; little sister hugs him and the grandparents hug him, and he thinks: "Maybe this won't be so bad after all!" What made the difference? Why did they accept him? Because they loved his sweetheart so much that they would accept anybody that she loved. That is the same reason we are chosen and accepted by the Eternal Father. For the sake of His Son we are accepted by Him. Praise His Name!

Paul writes: "to the praise of His glory!" In this life and in the life to come, we should live to bring praise to His glory. By sharing the Good News of God's Beloved Son, we bring praise to His glory down here. When we enter into our Eternal Home, we shall praise Him for His wonderful grace and kindness in that He has loved us when we are so unlovely and made us His very own people.

May God help us to live in such a way as to bring praise to His Name.

Have you made that wonderful choice. Have you chosen Him Who is the only hope for this life and the life to come? If you have questions about the way to know God's Son as your savior, please send a note and we will respond promptly. God bless!

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