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Read Ephesians 1:3-14


Read Ephesians 1:3-14

3 Let us give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! For in our union with Christ he has blessed us by giving us every spiritual blessing in the heavenly world. 4Even before the world was made, God had already chosen us to be his through our union with Christ, so that we would be holy and without fault before him.
Because of his love 5Godb had already decided that through Jesus Christ he would make us his sons and daughters—this was his pleasure and purpose. 6Let us praise God for his glorious grace, for the free gift he gave us in his dear Son! 7For by the bloodc of Christ we are set free, that is, our sins are forgiven. How great is the grace of God, 8which he gave to us in such large measure!
In all his wisdom and insight 9God did what he had purposed, and made known to us the secret plan he had already decided to complete by means of Christ. 10This plan, which God will complete when the time is right, is to bring all creation together, everything in heaven and on earth, with Christ as head.
11 All things are done according to God’s plan and decision; and God chose us to be his own people in union with Christ because of his own purpose, based on what he had decided from the very beginning. 12Let us, then, who were the first to hope in Christ, praise God’s glory!
13 And you also became God’s people when you heard the true message, the Good News that brought you salvation. You believed in Christ, and God put his stamp of ownership on you by giving you the Holy Spirit he had promised. 14The Spirit is the guarantee that we shall receive what God has promised his people, and this assures us that God will give complete freedom to those who are his. Let us praise his glory!

Think

Focusing on verse 13 and 14, Paul speaks of god giving what he has promised his people.  So many of us think of that promise as some sort of heavenly reward / riches / our own selfish treasures.  This promise of the Spirit is the promise of adoption into Christ; transformation into Christlikeness.  I like the image of the seal which when pressed onto wax makes a certain shape – perhaps we are the wax and the shape of the seal is Christ.

Pray

Lord, pour the gift of your Holy Spirit into my heart so that I may become more like you.


b before him. Because of his love God; or before him, and to live in love. God.
7 1.7: Col 1:14
c by the blood; or by the sacrificial death.

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