IN CHRIST, I AM…CHOSEN FOR GOD’S GLORY—Ephesians 1:1-14
(Series on Ephesians: In Christ, I Am…)
Did you hear about the woman in Iceland who spent half the night trying to find herself—literally? Her tour bus had stopped in the volcanic Eldgja region of Iceland, and she went into a rest area to change her dress and freshen up. The tour guide miscounted the people on the bus, and a search was begun for “an Asian woman, about 160 cm, in dark clothing, speaking English well.” The woman joined about 50 people of the search party, until finally, at 3 a.m., she realized that she was the woman everyone was searching for! She did not recognize herself in the description.
In this series of messages, we will be looking at how God describes us. We might hardly recognize his description. It begins in the very first verse of Ephesians, when he calls us “saints.” We are saints, not because we are especially good, but because God has set us apart as his special people.
Each week in our study of Ephesians, you will receive a card with a description of who we are, beginning with, “In Christ, I am…” Ephesians is all about who we are “in Christ.” In the first chapter alone, we find the words “in Christ” or “in him” ten times. God does not see us only as we are by nature, but as we are spiritually joined to Jesus Christ.
God’s description might surprise us, challenge us, or encourage us. It will cause us to say, “Yes, I want to be like that—like God says I can be.” As we study Ephesians, we will discover not only how God sees us, but also how God helps us become the saints we are meant to be, in Christ.
Read Ephesians 1:1-14.
Before the beginning of time, God decided to create the universe. Why did he do that?
Why do people create? When people create, something wonderful happens: Their abilities, their thoughts, their uniqueness is displayed in their creation. They create art or music, they build things, they cook or write clever phone apps, and others say, “I had no idea they had that in them. We might even say that their hidden “glory” takes shape in what they create.
There is another purpose to creation, however, which displays a more glorious aspect of humanity. People have children, not only to generate new life, but to express the love which is inside them. The love of a parent might be hidden until a child is born, and the parent can display the depth of their love in parenthood. It is not unusual for other people to say, “I see a different side of my friend, when they are with their child.”
Some people create for what they can get out of it, to fill a void of recognition or love. God doesn’t need to do that; his glory is great enough, and it is magnificently displayed in heaven. Yet God created the universe, and the people in it, to demonstrate his glory in new dimensions, and to share his glory with people like us!
Even atheists ask the question, “Why does the universe exist?” Psalm 19:1 answers, “The heavens declare the glory of God.” The immensity of the universe, with its finely-tuned structure, points to a God who is beyond human comprehension.
Yet when God created the universe, it was still, as Genesis 1 says, “formless and void,” God already had a special purpose in mind: The universe would bring forth life, and human beings would live on a planet known as the earth. God created people for his glory! In Isaiah 43, God says, “Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth—everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”
Humans display the glory of God’s creative activity, and they are glorious! Just look at you! Not only do you have an amazing body and mind, but God has given you creativity and spiritual awareness. Your love, compassion, faithfulness and commitment to others reflect the glory of God! Even more glorious, we humans, among all the animals on earth, have the ability to know and worship the God who made us. We can give God glory!
Yet not everything about humanity displays the glory of God. There is a lot of ugliness in the world. In fact, evil is quite evident in the world around us. Technology can destroy, art can degrade, and people can be cruel. Too often, the glory of God is not evident in human life.
We read in Genesis about sin and the Fall, and how humans chose to rebel against God. The essence of the sin of Adam and Eve was to live, not for the glory of God, but for their own glory. Satan tempted Eve by saying, “You will become like gods, knowing good and evil.” When they sought their own glory, they were no longer bringing glory to God, and they failed in the purpose for which they were created. As the Apostle Paul says,
Romans 1:21-29 “They neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts…They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator--who is forever praised…They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice.
Although humanity failed to fully display his glory, God did not give up on his plan for creation. Read Ephesians 1:9-10. God’s glorious plan is that everything will come together, with Christ ruling over all things, to the glory of God.
If we look at the world today, we recognize that not everyone accepts Christ as the ruler over all creation. In fact, we all struggle to submit to the One who made us to live in his perfect kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy. How can we be included in the perfect reign of Christ?
The answer is somewhat surprising. Read Ephesians 1:11-12. God chooses some people to be included in his plan to redeem all of creation. He chooses those people for a specific purpose. Paul says three times in this chapter that God chooses people “for the praise of his glory.”
How does God choose people to be included in his plan of redemption? Does he choose people who are perfect for what he wants to accomplish? No, he chooses people who are not perfect—yet! Read Ephesians 1:7-8. God chooses people who need forgiveness, who need grace, who need to be redeemed from their slavery to sin.
The Bible is quite clear that God does not choose people who are smarter or better or more spiritual than others. He does not choose people because he sees potential in them. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:27-31, “Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things…so that no one may boast before him. It is because of God that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God--that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: ‘Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.’"
How then does God choose people to be saved, to live in obedience to Christ, and to glorify God? That is a mystery, which it is impossible for us to comprehend. It is a marvelous mystery, however, for it says that God already had us in mind when he created the universe.
Read Ephesians 1:4-6.
The idea of predestination is hard for many people to accept. Some say that if God predestines us to be “adopted as God’s children,” we do not have any choice in the matter. They say that predestination and free will cannot both be true. God does not agree! Read Ephesians 1:13. Paul implies that we do have a choice to believe the good news of salvation.
Paul is saying that God chooses us, and he is also saying that we choose to believe. Even our choice to believe requires God’s help: God sent his Son to save us, God arranged for us to hear the good news of the gospel, and God sends his Spirit to guide us, both before and after we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Yet we still choose to believe and accept the gift of salvation.
The relationship between predestination and free will is a mystery, which we cannot fully comprehend, and do not need to fully comprehend. When Paul reflected on the mystery of election, he said in Romans 11:33-34, “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?”
Yet we do not have to understand everything about election to get the drift of what Paul is saying. Two things are true: God chose us before we had a chance to deserve anything, and we must choose to receive salvation and glorify God.
How do we know whether God has chosen us? Is it a matter of intellectual understanding, or spiritual sensitivity? Can you walk down the street, and pick people out by some mark on their forehead? If you don’t feel like you are special to God, does it mean that you are not one of the chosen?
The fact that you are here today makes it likely that God has chosen you to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and bring glory to him. If you want to be one of God’s people, Paul is clear about the choice you should make. Read Ephesians 1:13-14.
Believe the gospel. The gospel of salvation is that the Son of God became a man, to restore humanity to its intended place in God’s plan. Jesus lived as a man, died for the sins of humanity, and overcame the power of evil by rising from the dead. He ascended into heaven, thereby confirming God’s plan “to bring all things in heaven and earth together under one head, Jesus Christ.” (verse 10)
If we believe that to be true, and trust God to make it real for us, we are chosen to be part of God’s glorious plan. It is as simple as that! In addition, if you believe the good news of the gospel, God will give you an amazing gift—the gift of himself, in the person of the Holy Spirit. When Peter preached on Pentecost, he gave an invitation to accept the good news, and
Acts 2:38-39 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
The evidence of being chosen by God is twofold: our faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the seal of the Holy Spirit. We make a decision to trust Christ, and God begins to transform us, through his Spirit.
Paul says something wonderful about how the Holy Spirit relates to us, when we live by faith. Read Ephesians 1:13b-14. We don’t get a mark on our forehead, or a certificate to prove that we belong to Christ. The Holy Spirit begins to transform us into the perfect people we will be someday. We begin to break the power of sin, in obedience to Christ. We begin to leave behind things that don’t satisfy, and we taste the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. We rejoice in every opportunity to glorify God by how we live.
In Christ, we are chosen to bring glory to God! The entire universe declares the glory of God, but God’s chosen people have the greatest role in fulfilling the purpose of creation, the glory of God.
That gives meaning and purpose to every aspect of our lives, big or small.
As we roll out of bed in morning, we think about our day, and we pray for opportunities to bring glory to God, by how we treat people. As we drive to work, we think about how we can display the glory of God in the quality of our work. As we hang out with friends or family, we try to love them as God loves them. As we worship, our focus is not on what we gain from it, but how we glorify God. When we sit alone, even when no one is watching except God and the angels, we bring every thought into submission to Jesus Christ.
(Preacher holds us the card for this week) “In Christ, you are chosen for God’s glory.”
Your life matters! God has chosen you to be included among those who most fully display his glory.
You may be older and losing some of your abilities, but the glory of God still shines in you. You may be struggling and fail often, and yet, God won’t let go; his glory shines in your struggles. You may have a life that is full of potential. Make sure that God’s glory shines, not yours.
God has chosen you to be forgiven, redeemed from the power of sin, and adopted as his child. You are sealed with the Holy Spirit, who is transforming you publicly and privately, in your character and relationships, and in your initiative and abilities. This is happening in you, and it will continue “to the praise of God’s glory.”
Since you want to remember that, try this experiment: Put this card somewhere where you will see it: your mirror, your car, your desk, the kitchen counter, or on your phone. Several times each day, look at the card, and say to yourself, “In Christ, I am…chosen for God’s glory.” At that very moment, think about how that fact applies that to your situation and your choices.
