The passage of Scripture.  Eph 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.”

Some notes on the passage

When did He choose us? Before the foundation of the world! Before anything was made, you and I as believers were in the mind and purpose of God for the world He was to create! Talk about significance! Chosen by Him! Beforehand! It is all of grace!

Why did He choose us? To fulfil His purpose for us in His world.

What was His purpose for us in the world? That we should be “holy and blameless before Him.”

“Holy” is [hagios] meaning basically “set apart”. Set apart from the unbelieving world and set apart to God for His purposes.

“Blameless” is [amōmos] without blemish. The word is used of sacrifices without any blemish and of an unblemished character as well. It is used of Jesus as ‘unstained” in Heb 7:26, “For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.”

“Before” is [katenōpion] meaning “directly in front of” Him. It is interesting that both [amōmos] and [katenōpion] are used together in Jud 1:24 “Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy.” God is able to fulfil His purpose for us by His grace even as we stand before Him at the end of time.

A Suggested Prayer

“Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your amazing grace in choosing us to belong to You before the world was made.

We thank You too that You had a purpose in choosing us, that we should be set apart from the world’s ways and its values to belong wholly to You.

We thank You that in Your love and power You give us the grace to live holy lives before You. Forgive us for the times we have not drawn upon Your grace and failed to be Your holy and blameless people.

We thank You for Your promise in Your word that You are able to keep us from stumbling and to present us blameless before Your presence in glory with great joy.”

Please fulfil Your purpose in our lives as we continue to offer ourselves completely to You. We ask these things in Jesus’ name. AMEN.”

Blog No.284. Posted on http://www.jimholbeck.blog on Saturday 01 September 2018