Ephesians 1:
4. According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
5. Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
6. To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
Verse 6 actually begins to inform the reader "According as" to what this "chosen us
in Him" is referring to - "
that we should be holy and without blame before him
in love:"
In other words, that "before the foundation of the world" God determined in Himself that He would one day accept
in the Beloved -
in His Son - those who would trust
in His Son
upon hearing about Him:
11.
In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
12.
That we should be to the praise of his glory,
who first trusted in Christ.
13. In whom ye also trusted,
after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
14. Which is the earnest of our inheritance
until the redemption of the purchased possession,
unto the praise of his glory.
In short, God determined He would bless a bunch of Godless, lost, hell bound Gentiles one day, upon their hearing of, and trusting exclusively in, His Son for salvation:
Lost Godless Gentiles - Ephesians 2:
3. Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as
others.
4.
But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
5.
Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved; )
6. And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places
in Christ Jesus:
7. That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
Verse 7 is a continuance of the issue of adoption from chapter 1 that Paul is actually asserting God had determined to
give to those who trust His Son.
This adoption is similar to the concept Paul writes of in Galatians 4.
It is similar in concept to the concept of Bar Mitzvah: where a father comes to acknowledge his son as no longer a child, but as his heir, as a Son, with the rights privileges of that. Thus, verse 7's:
7. That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
This "adoption" is this here, from Ephesians 1:
8. Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
9. Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
10. That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
11. In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
12. That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
It is the issue of an inheritance with the Son over all things
with the Son by virtue of the fact that we are
in Him.
This is why a Rapture, and why the Body will not be returning to the Earth; which is Israel's adoption unto their sonship over the Earth, Isaiah 2:1-5.
Anyway, a lot of gold nuggets to ponder there as to the distinctions between Israel's and the Body's respective adoption.
All par for the course within the Mid-Acts Perspective
