Chosen and Adopted!

Scripture: Ephesians 1:4-6: For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will – to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.

I wasn’t raised Protestant. In my 20’s I left the church of my upbringing because I felt what I was mainly being taught was that God was a demanding and angry God. I felt He was only out to squash me for my sins. As a kid, I would try to be “good” for as long as possible, but every time I failed, I would grow discouraged. I started to take on an attitude of “Why bother? I will never be good enough.” What a dangerous attitude to have!

While I struggled through my spiritual ambiguity over a number of years, God sent several friends and acquaintances to cross my path who shared their faith with me. I knew there was a God, I knew (some how) He couldn't be constantly “mean” and I desired to belong to a church. I wasn’t looking for just any church – I’m very grateful for my mother’s teachings, because she gave me a solid foundation for my faith. I wasn’t an empty vessel waiting to be filled by any passing theology.

Finally, a friend introduced me to a non-denominational (Protestant) church she was attending. And there is where I found the teaching that my spirit longed for. Yes, God does demand allegiance from us. He requires deep reverence and loyalty. But the flip side to my knowledge of God, I discovered, was right here in the bible all along.

Ephesians 1:4-6 is water to a very thirsty soul: “He CHOSE us to be holy and blameless in His sight!”

How special is THAT? That God would CHOOSE each one of us!?! Chosen .. not reviled by or angry at us at all!!.
“In LOVE – He predestined us to be adopted..."

Not only are we lovingly hand picked, but He ADOPTS each of us. As soon as we accept Christ as our Savior! He holds the door of His house open for us to enter into His presence! AND ... He did this “in accordance with His PLEASURE and will”!!

THERE is the sweet side of God I some how knew existed, but missed in all my previous childhood teaching. And furthermore, I learned we will never be perfect, never be “good enough”. This is the very nature of being human! It was for this reason, God sent Jesus to us.

We are such a motley crew, that we’ll never get it exactly right. God knew this from the beginning, and because of His great love for us, He sent Jesus to earth to show us how to live the Christian life. He died in our place and took the full wrath of God from us. And now Christ stands as our mediator between us - imperfect humans – and God.

Now we all have “Freedom in Christ”. (A term I have heard often, but as I have written this, have discovered what it really means!) As a Christian, we do our best to follow in Christ’s footsteps; living the Christian life. When we fall, and we all do – and because Jesus took the wrath of God upon Himself, we are able to repent and keep moving forward!

We don’t lose God’s love and mercy. He doesn’t grow angry, weary or impatient with us. He doesn’t blast us off the map or make us “pay” for our mistakes. And He certainly doesn’t have a giant fly swatter, just waiting for us to mess up. :-) Instead, we serve a God that will lovingly lift us up when we fall, take our hand, and keep moving forward with us.

This is the definition of the Christian life, and the love and mercy He demonstrated through Christ, that makes His Word “Good News.”

Prayer: Dear God, thank You for sending Jesus to us to stand in our place and for showing us such love and mercy. Help us to live lives worthy of being called “Christian”.

Prayer request: That we all evaluate our lives and continue to draw closer to God.