A study on Ephesians (Chapter 1)

Stanley Jones tells the lovely story of a Korean artist who produced a remarkable picture of Christ by writing by hand the whole of the New Testament in minute letters in English.   By inking in some words more heavily than others he produced a full length figure of Christ.   “Out of the words rises the Word.   Out of the Gospels arises the Gospel.   Jesus himself is the good news,” writes Dr Stanley Jones.  I want to invite you now to think a little more deeply about those nine blessings that Paul associates with salvation.   As we explore the Scriptures together we shall begin to understand what Stanley Jones meant when he wrote – “out of the words rises the Word .”

I used to think that salvation was a message for those who had yet to experience it.   Or a message perhaps for those new in the faith.   Certainly not a message for those of us who have been walking in the Christian way for some time.   Surely  mature Christians need to get beyond salvation and into the meat of the Word.   Since studying Ephesians, however, I have changed  my thinking.   The good news of salvation, while aimed at the uninitiated and the new Christian, is a treasure-chest of revelation waiting to be explored.  The more we grasp the profound depths of its message, the greater impact it will have on even the most mature believer.

In union with Christ we received, what Paul calls, “every spiritual blessing.”  From verse 4 right through to verse 14 Paul unpacks these blessings and in the process gives us an in-depth insight into the meaning and implications of  salvation.  Let’s begin with the blessing in verse 4.

Who is the ‘us’ to whom Paul is referring in this verse?   The answer?   Those who in union with Christ have been set apart for God;   who exercise faith in Jesus Christ.   If that describes you, then according to verse 4 you were chosen by God before time began.   And you were chosen so that you could be holy and blameless before God.  That God chose us in Christ before we even existed or before even the world existed is something that really exercises our thought processes.  Think for a moment about the implications of your having been chosen.   The fact that you were chosen  before creation itself must mean that God knew what you would be like, knew you were going to disappoint Him, knew you would sin. The fact that He must have known all that and yet still chose you in Christ suggests that He must have seen something about you that right now you don’t see.  If God could visualise you before creation began then surely He can visualise you in the future.   He can see you not simply as you are now but as you can become in Christ.   When others give up on you, and when you are tempted to give up on yourself, He can visualise a time when you will be holy and blameless before Him in Christ.   So whatever your present circumstances are, and whatever you may be feeling deep down inside about yourself, God is wanting you to see yourself in Christ as He sees you.   What an encouragement to keep pressing on to the goal God has for you.  There is, however, an even deeper significance to that verse 4.   If God chose you in Christ before creation then your salvation did not happen by chance.  That we were chosen  before the beginning of time to enter into the glorious plan of salvation in Christ is undoubtedly a difficult doctrine.   Just because it is difficult, however, doesn’t mean we should run away from trying to understand it.  The Greek word for chose is EKLEGO.   It means to pick or choose for one’s self.   In our relationship with God it is always God who initiates that relationship.   And He initiates it by choosing us in Christ.   How could it be any other way?   It is unthinkable that we mere finite mortals could know God at all unless He had first chosen to make Himself known to us.  “You did not choose me but I chose you” said Jesus to his disciples (John 15:16).   “No man can come to me unless the Father draws him” (John 6:44).   And in John 14:6 Jesus says “No man can come to the Father except through me.”   But what about our freedom to come to Jesus because we choose to come?   How do we reconcile divine choice with Paul’s words in Romans 10:13:  “Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved?”  And isn’t it true that whosoever will to the Lord may come?  Doesn’t the idea of God choosing us preclude us from the freedom of making up our own mind?  Or is there something so profound in that verse 4 of Ephesians 1 that we are compelled to hold in tension two apparent contradictions in the Bible?  John Stott puts into perspective for me when he writes:  In pre-creation eternity God did something.  He formed a purpose in His mind.  This purpose concerned both Christ (His only begotten Son) and us (whom He purposed to make His sons and daughters).  Mark well the statement that ’he chose us in him.’  He determined to make us (who did not yet exist) his own children through the redeeming work of Christ (that had not yet taken place).   Now everyone finds the doctrine of election difficult.  “Didn’t I choose God?”  somebody asks indignantly: to which we must answer “Yes indeed you did, and freely, but only because in eternity God had first chosen you.” “But didn’t I decide for Christ?” asks somebody else: “Yes, indeed you did, and freely, but only because in eternity God had first decided for you.”  That God chose you before creation had even taken place will really exercise your mind. I trust,  however, that you have gained some helpful and encouraging insights from this session. “For He (the Father) chose us in him (Jesus Christ) before the creation of the world ……”Chosen in Christ – a privilege and also a challenge.   However, it does raise some searching questions we’ll need to think about. Why me?   And what about those whom God seems to have bypassed?

If you have a question or a comment about this series please feel free to write to me, Brian, at

intaka2003@yahoo.co.uk