Read this out-loud to yourself.
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed me in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as HE chose me in Him before the foundation of the world, that I should be holy and blameless before Him. In love HE predestined me for adoption as a son through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of HIS will, to the praise of HIS glorious grace, with which HE has blessed me in the beloved. In HIM I have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of my trespasses, according to the riches of HIS grace, which HE lavished upon me, in all wisdom and insight making known to me the mystery of HIS will, according to HIS purpose, which HE set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in HIM, things in heaven and things on earth.
In HIM I have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of HIM who works all things according to the counsel of HIS will, so that I who am one of the first to hope in CHRIST might be to the praise of HIS glory. In HIM you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in HIM, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of HIS glory (Ephesians 1:3-13)."
God is always picking electing, predestining, and choosing people. He chose Adam to be the representative of all mankind, He chose Noah and his family to repopulate the earth, He chose Abraham to be a blessing to all nations, He chose Isaac over Ishmael, and then He chose Jacob over Esau. God then chose Israel to be the 'chosen' nation. Israel was not chosen over all nations, Israel was chosen for all nations. God's love motivates His choosing, not His hate. It says that God 'hated Esau'; but He didn't hate Esau Himself, but what Esau represented.
God keeps narrowing His choice, not against everyone else, but for them. He finally excludes everyone except one man, Jesus, the one true Israelite, a man of the same type of Adam in that He represented all mankind. Jesus was chosen for the rest of the world. It is one thing if Jesus died for you, it is another thing if He died as you. It is a whole different thing if He died as 'mankind'. "For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, therefore all died (2 Cor. 5:14)."
Paul, when talking about His encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus didn't say it was a 'conversion' experience, but that it was a calling. Paul was running around persecuting and killing Christians until Jesus met Him. Check this out; "But when He who had set me apart before I was born, and who called my by His grace, was pleased to reveal His son in me (Galatians 1:16)." He then is able to say confidently that, "I Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God (1 Cor. 1)."
Salvation isn't a point in time when you accepted Jesus, salvation is the person of Jesus Himself! He is God incarnate; both man and God, He united heaven and earth, He calls and has chosen you. He reconciled us to the Father, took the sins of the world into His own body, so that we would be free from sin!
"For God has consigned all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all (Romans 11:32)."
"Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned - for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is now law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come (Romans 5:12-14)."
Adam is a 'type' of Christ, in the sense of him being representative of all mankind.
"But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgement following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ (Romans 15-17)."
So who is justified before God?
"Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness lead to justification for all men (Romans 5:18)."
Jesus didn't come to condemn the world but to save the world (John 3:17). He is the lamb of God who took away the sin of the world (John 1:29)." He did what we could not do; the disciples asked Him, 'Who then can be saved? Jesus answered them, what is impossible with man is possible with God (Luke 18:26-27)."
Jesus hung on the cross and said 'forgive them for they do not know what they do. He says in John 12:47, "If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world."
"And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me (John 12:32)."
The good news is about our inclusion, not our exclusion. The good news is about God's choice for us, not our choice for Him. In one sense if we seek Him with our whole heart He will reveal Himself to us (Jeremiah 29:13), but in a truer sense God proclaims, "I have been found by those who did not seek me; I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me (Romans 10:20)."
Jesus is the good shepherd, the one who goes to find the lost sheep. He is the widow who seeks to find her lost coin. It has everything to do with His will, His choice, and His ability. Our faith is just trust in His faithfulness. After all, God wants all people to come to a knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4).
"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities - all things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything He might be preeminent. For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His cross (Colossians 1:15-20)."
"He is the author and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2)." "For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13)."
"All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5: 18-19)."
"From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, He is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come (2 Cor. 5:16-17)." "For God has shown me that I should call no man impure or unclean (Acts 10:15)."
You can ignore Him, you can forget Him, you can even reject Him completely, but He will not reject you. You can refuse your acceptance, and in the end He will give you what you want, but the gates of heaven are always open (Revelation 21:25).
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because He has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgement: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest His works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God (John 3:16)."
God's judgement over the world is grace. He does not hold our transgressions against us. He has woven us back into Himself. Those who do not yet know Him are scared to step into the light because they think that they will receive judgement. But those who practice the light expose their deeds and realize that their evil works have already been swallowed up by God in Christ's death. There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8) because we realize that He is not in the condemning business. We can refuse to accept the only package that salvation comes in, but the package is a free gift extended to all people. Unbelief is the most ridiculous state one can be in, in fact it is a lie-existence, a rejection of reality itself. The only way you can lose your salvation is if you think that it is in your own hands to lose.
So be reconciled to God, In Him you live move and have your being anyway. There is nowhere you can flee from His presence; even in the depths of Sheol He is there (Psalm 139:8). "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels nor ruler, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38-39)."
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed me in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as HE chose me in Him before the foundation of the world, that I should be holy and blameless before Him. In love HE predestined me for adoption as a son through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of HIS will, to the praise of HIS glorious grace, with which HE has blessed me in the beloved. In HIM I have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of my trespasses, according to the riches of HIS grace, which HE lavished upon me, in all wisdom and insight making known to me the mystery of HIS will, according to HIS purpose, which HE set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in HIM, things in heaven and things on earth.
In HIM I have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of HIM who works all things according to the counsel of HIS will, so that I who am one of the first to hope in CHRIST might be to the praise of HIS glory. In HIM you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in HIM, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of HIS glory (Ephesians 1:3-13)."
God is always picking electing, predestining, and choosing people. He chose Adam to be the representative of all mankind, He chose Noah and his family to repopulate the earth, He chose Abraham to be a blessing to all nations, He chose Isaac over Ishmael, and then He chose Jacob over Esau. God then chose Israel to be the 'chosen' nation. Israel was not chosen over all nations, Israel was chosen for all nations. God's love motivates His choosing, not His hate. It says that God 'hated Esau'; but He didn't hate Esau Himself, but what Esau represented.
God keeps narrowing His choice, not against everyone else, but for them. He finally excludes everyone except one man, Jesus, the one true Israelite, a man of the same type of Adam in that He represented all mankind. Jesus was chosen for the rest of the world. It is one thing if Jesus died for you, it is another thing if He died as you. It is a whole different thing if He died as 'mankind'. "For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, therefore all died (2 Cor. 5:14)."
Paul, when talking about His encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus didn't say it was a 'conversion' experience, but that it was a calling. Paul was running around persecuting and killing Christians until Jesus met Him. Check this out; "But when He who had set me apart before I was born, and who called my by His grace, was pleased to reveal His son in me (Galatians 1:16)." He then is able to say confidently that, "I Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God (1 Cor. 1)."
Salvation isn't a point in time when you accepted Jesus, salvation is the person of Jesus Himself! He is God incarnate; both man and God, He united heaven and earth, He calls and has chosen you. He reconciled us to the Father, took the sins of the world into His own body, so that we would be free from sin!
"For God has consigned all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all (Romans 11:32)."
"Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned - for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is now law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come (Romans 5:12-14)."
Adam is a 'type' of Christ, in the sense of him being representative of all mankind.
"But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgement following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ (Romans 15-17)."
So who is justified before God?
"Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness lead to justification for all men (Romans 5:18)."
Jesus didn't come to condemn the world but to save the world (John 3:17). He is the lamb of God who took away the sin of the world (John 1:29)." He did what we could not do; the disciples asked Him, 'Who then can be saved? Jesus answered them, what is impossible with man is possible with God (Luke 18:26-27)."
Jesus hung on the cross and said 'forgive them for they do not know what they do. He says in John 12:47, "If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world."
"And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me (John 12:32)."
The good news is about our inclusion, not our exclusion. The good news is about God's choice for us, not our choice for Him. In one sense if we seek Him with our whole heart He will reveal Himself to us (Jeremiah 29:13), but in a truer sense God proclaims, "I have been found by those who did not seek me; I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me (Romans 10:20)."
Jesus is the good shepherd, the one who goes to find the lost sheep. He is the widow who seeks to find her lost coin. It has everything to do with His will, His choice, and His ability. Our faith is just trust in His faithfulness. After all, God wants all people to come to a knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4).
"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities - all things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything He might be preeminent. For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His cross (Colossians 1:15-20)."
"He is the author and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2)." "For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13)."
"All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5: 18-19)."
"From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, He is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come (2 Cor. 5:16-17)." "For God has shown me that I should call no man impure or unclean (Acts 10:15)."
You can ignore Him, you can forget Him, you can even reject Him completely, but He will not reject you. You can refuse your acceptance, and in the end He will give you what you want, but the gates of heaven are always open (Revelation 21:25).
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because He has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgement: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest His works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God (John 3:16)."
God's judgement over the world is grace. He does not hold our transgressions against us. He has woven us back into Himself. Those who do not yet know Him are scared to step into the light because they think that they will receive judgement. But those who practice the light expose their deeds and realize that their evil works have already been swallowed up by God in Christ's death. There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8) because we realize that He is not in the condemning business. We can refuse to accept the only package that salvation comes in, but the package is a free gift extended to all people. Unbelief is the most ridiculous state one can be in, in fact it is a lie-existence, a rejection of reality itself. The only way you can lose your salvation is if you think that it is in your own hands to lose.
So be reconciled to God, In Him you live move and have your being anyway. There is nowhere you can flee from His presence; even in the depths of Sheol He is there (Psalm 139:8). "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels nor ruler, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38-39)."
Dan, this is a powerful compilation of Scripture and commentary. When you bold the words that you have bolded it powerfully communicates how how inclusive and all-encompassing God's action is. I was also particularly struck by the phrase that Jesus didn't die FOR us but Jesus died AS us. What an amazing bit of enlightenment that creates in me.
ReplyDeleteIn my journey, I am more and more convinced that Jesus came to break our religious system of a meritocracy to communicate God's unexpected love and his radical inclusion. Most all good Christians will say that they are not believing that they are saved by their works and yet so much of our religious practice and our condemnation of others reveals that we do still believe in a meritocracy or at least that it has to be OUR act of choosing. It is very hard to let go and trust that it ALL depends on God's undeserved love and favor.