The Narrow Gate, May 3, 2008

The Narrow Gate, May 3, 2008

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, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,
having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved.

Ephesians 1:3-6 www.solascriptura.com

Father, You tell us that You chose us and that You choose to bless us with every spiritual blessing. You have adopted us. We are heirs to Your Kingdom.

Here, Paul teaches us that we were predestined to be adopted as Your sons, by Jesus Christ, and that His will to do so gave Him pleasure. His grace to us brings glory to His name and He has made us acceptable in His sight.

First, Father, we know that You and Jesus are as one and that our election, our predestination was known by You. You would not be omniscient if You did not know that we would respond to Your love for us, personally. You knew we would accept Your invitation, Your grace and mercy.

Second, when Jesus came here, His life, His death and His resurrection became a pivotal event in history. Where men had been unable to fulfill the Law of the Old Covenant, You taught us, Jesus, that the New Covenant had replaced the Old. We now stand in the presence of the Father, not based on our obedience, but based upon our acceptance of You as savior. We can now stand in the presence of the Father, cleansed of our sin, as sons; sons that He knew would choose to have faith in You Jesus. Perfect! Amen.

Bruce Caldwell

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