EPHESIANS 1v3-6

From his humbled situation Paul bursts into praise in the form of a doxology (from the Greek doxa, meaning glory, and logos, meaning word.)   Verses 3-14 contain 202 words in the Greek, and there are no punctuation marks or stops, or paragraphs, just one long spontaneous song of praise. as he considers the wonder of God's salvation.   We can divide the sentence into three stanzas, each one ending with the phrase "to the praise of His glory"  v6, v12, v14.   This is the highest, loftiest, view of salvation in the entire bible.... it is all to the praise of God's glory!   In chapter 2 he views it from the standpoint of man's need (and what a need it was, as we shall see), but in chapter 1 he sees it from the primary standpoint of God's glory.   The truth is that except God be glorified, no one could be saved, but now He is glorified, He brings to men a salvation which is perfect in every way.

• Ephesians 1v 3-6       The work of God the Father in electing grace
• Ephesians 1v 7-12     The work of God the Son in redeeming grace
• Ephesians 1v 13-14   The work of God the Spirit in sealing grace

The tri-une God, all involved in the salvation of man, to the glory of God!   No wonder Paul cannot contain himself as he ponders it.

The electing grace of the Father     Paul blesses the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; he was always conscious of the One he was praising, so should we.   The God of our Lord Jesus Christ, only in the incarnation, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ in His eternal being.   The word for blessing is eulogetas which means "to speak well of" and this is the meaning in the rest of the verse.   Transliterated it could read "may God be well spoken of who speaks well of us in terms of every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ."   The God who has blessed us deserves, even demands, blessing from us.   The expression "every spiritual blessing" is an astonishing one.   Some cults speak of the second blessing, how poverty stricken are they, when we have every spiritual blessing, countless blessings, that will last forever.   Blessed in these, so not just an endowment, but a powerful force.   All these blessings flow from the sovereign election and predestination of the Father.

• We were chosen in Christ         Not chosen for any good in us, but chosen in Christ, that is chosen only for the good in Him whom we would embrace.   Both apostles Paul and Peter make it clear in their writings that Divine election is based on foreknowledge ( Romans 8v29 & 1 Peter 1v2).   God does not choose the way we choose, His ways are higher than our ways.   Fundamentally God is no respecter of persons, which He would be if He chose as we do.   This is the Divine side to which we are not privy, the human side is clearly stated in chapter 1v13.   The phrase in Christ  or in Him, that is describing our standing in Him is the very essence of the Ephesian letter and appears no less than 12 times in chapters 1-3.   It refers to our judicial standing before God;  the other phrase more prominent in Colossians Christ in us refers to our state before God.   In the context of election we must avoid any suggestion of merit on our part.   We were chosen in Christ.
• We were chosen before the foundation of the world    Before we were born, before the world began, we were in the mind of God.   Indeed the universe was created because of us to become a stage on which God through the church would educate angels.   They knew His power, His holiness, but they could only learn His love and compassion and longsuffering through redeemed human beings (Ephesians 3v9-10).   He would introduce the church to the world through the nation of Israel(Romans 9v5).   Of Israel He said "I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee." Scriptures like Psalm 139v13-18, Jeremiah 1v4-5, Galatians 1v15, should be read to fully understand this.
• We were chosen to be holy before Him      Our salvation is much more than an escape from hell, or a "meal ticket" for eternity, we were chosen to be conformed to the image of God (Genesis 1v26, Romans 8v29, Romans 12v2, Ephesians 2v10, Ephesians 5v1, Colossians 3v10).   In short He elected us to be holy (set apart exclusively for God's use) and without blame (without blemish, free from sin, faultless in the sight of God, and therefore in the sight of all).
• We were chosen to live in God's presence      "before Him in love".   This has long been God's desire, to have faultless human beings dwell before Him in an atmosphere of love, instead of the environment of suspicion, and fear, and doubt of this world.
• We were predestinated to sonship      Predestination is pro-orizo, which means to determine beforehand.   Before time began God determined beforehand all in Christ to be His sons, that is, not only would they manifest His characteristics, but they would become beneficiaries of all His riches.   This thought is continued to the end of the section.   In our modern society, the noble practice of adoption, though praiseworthy, nevertheless can be considered as secondary.   In the times of the Roman empire when Paul was writing, however it was the opposite.   Adopted children enjoyed greater privileges than natural born, and this fits exactly the picture portrayed here.   Only Paul uses the figure of adoption (Romans 8v15, 8v23, 9v4, Galatians 5v4).   It was very difficult to adopt a child in the Roman legal system.   Features were:  it was a lengthy process; it was very costly;  the outcome was binding on the adopting parent;  the adopted child was endowed with the same rights of inheritance as the natural born.   The process was irreversible!   A biological son could be disinherited because of disgraceful behaviour, not so an adopted child.   Apply this metaphor to the believer and it is a beautiful picture.   It is of the good pleasure to bestow such an honour.
• We are accepted in the beloved      we are highly favoured in heavenly places, there is no thought of past sins, we are the aristocracy of heaven, Divine blessings are ours by right, God has received us with open arms and heart.   Heaven is our home, we belong, we are loved because He is the beloved.

We could sum it all up like this;  God's sovereign act of election was:
         unconditional       it was according to the good pleasure of His will;

         eternal                   the conception of it took place outside of time;

         moral                     it's design was to change us from sinners to saints;

         merciful                 we deserved wrath but we were shown mercy(accepted);

         irreversible            given full adoption rights in the family of God.