A study on Ephesians (Chapter 1)

The Messenger 9

Introduction

Selwyn Hughes, in one of the editions of his  “Everyday with Jesus,” presents us with this encouraging illustration:

“A story I heard tells of a young schoolgirl doing piano exercises while her friends were playing out in the street.   She found the task tiresome and tedious.   Then suddenly she was visited by an angel who whisked her away to a concert hall.   There she watched a young woman playing to a packed hall and holding her audience enthralled by her virtuoso performance.   ‘Who is this amazing pianist?’  the young girl asked the angel. ‘That’ came the reply ‘is you in a few years time.’   From that moment on, so the story goes, the young girl had an entirely different attitude in her daily piano practice.”

Some of the things that we find ourselves having to work through often seem  tedious, pointless and even painful  at times.   We may even be tempted to envy the seemingly more carefree existence of those ‘playing out in the street.’   If that is your response to what you are going through then remind yourself of the  young girl in Hughes’ story.   Like her, what you need is a glimpse into the future – to see what in Christ (in union with Christ) you are destined to become (1 Jn 3:2).   It helps to put the present into a whole new perspective (Rom 8:18).

Keep this in mind as we  look into this amazing  treasure-chest of salvation.

Chosen – but why?

“God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world” writes Paul in verse 4 of that opening chapter of Ephesians.

There is a hymn by Matthew Smith that I can’t resist quoting here:

My Lord, I did not choose You,
For that could never be;
My heart would still refuse You,
Had You not chosen me.

Unless Your grace had called me
And taught my opening mind,
The world would have enthralled me,
To heavenly glories blind.

My heart knows none above You;
For Your rich grace I thirst;
I know that if I love You,
You must have loved me first.

But if God chose us in Christ before the world began what did He have in mind?   And why us?   What about all those who appear not to have been chosen?   Is God being fair?

I don’t presume to know all the answers to those searching questions.   Who could ever presume to understand the profound depths of the mind of God?

However, it seems to me, as we ponder these questions, that there are two things that God is wanting us to see here.   Hermann Cremer touches on the first point when he makes the following comment on the Greek word Eklego (to choose):   “It is the same word for God choosing Israel. But God never chose Israel because He rejected the other nations and wished to deny them salvation.  He chose Israel to make salvation possible to other nations.”

Jesus in his conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well put Israel’s divine election into perspective when he said to her:

“You worship that which you do not know; we worship that which we do know, for salvation is from the Jews“ (Jn 4: 22)

Israel had been chosen to serve the purposes of God.

But there is a second point to this divine choosing that will put things into perspective for us.   God’s choosing highlights His  sovereignty.

Israel was chosen to serve the purposes of God in bringing salvation to the world.   As we look at Israel’s history, however, that sense of a divine purpose must have seemed at times to be hanging by a thread.   Wars, corruption, disobedience, division in the nation, captivity, 400 years of prophetic silence, an inward looking mentality – all this must have left even the most committed of believers wondering whether God had not abandoned the nation.   Yet for all that the thread of divine purpose continued to run through the history of Israel.   Then in a most unlikely way and at a time of Israel’s vulnerability, God demonstrated His sovereignty through an event that was to change the world.   A young girl  gave birth to a son called Jesus – “Jehovah Saves.”   Just over three decades later the good news of the Gospel of salvation began to be preached that was ultimately to touch the nations.   A light had entered the world to show the way to God. God’s choosing of Israel to make salvation possible to the nations was finally vindicated

Two thousand years have passed and now, wonder of wonders, we, too, have been chosen.   In fact we were in the mind of God  before the world had even begun.  We were chosen not because we were better than others, nicer than others, cleverer than others or because we were more powerful than others.  Seen against the backdrop of our world we possess none of those qualities.  But we were chosen to serve the purposes of God in our generation – to bring the message of salvation to others.   His choosing of us is a blessing and a privilege.   But it is also a challenge to accept the responsibilities that go with that choosing.  We have been set apart for God.

If the thought of divine choosing points us to the sovereignty of God, then there is something all of us need to remember.   Whatever we may be going through in this world, God remains sovereign and “in all things is working for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Rom 8:28).

Don’t lose heart; don’t become discouraged.   The sovereignty of God is not overwhelmed by your circumstances, whatever you may be facing.

“I am confident of this very thing that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus” (Phil 1:6).

Things may have happened to you that have left you feeling that you have become a most unlikely instrument for God to use.    But as a minister I once knew used to say – “God can strike a mighty blow even with a crooked stick.”

Remember – God chose you before the foundation of the world.   And He chose you to fulfil His purpose in your generation.