Proper 6 (CL)

Ephesians 1:1-14

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,

To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus:

² Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

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. In love ⁵ he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, ⁶ to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. ⁷ In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, ⁸ which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight ⁹ making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ ¹⁰ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

¹¹ In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, ¹² so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. ¹³ In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴ who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

The main purpose of what God is doing is to make us Sons of God through Christ Jesus. Christ Jesus is the Beloved through whom all believers have been blessed with the Grace of God. Here St Paul brings this understanding of grace with predestination and choosing us to be his own before the foundations of the Earth.

People often times are focused on the immediate or now, rather than focused on the enteral plan and purpose of God. We make plans for next week or next month, and often struggle with having them fulfilled. While God set forth a plan for each of us before the World, and he has fulfilled this in Christ.

Jesus Christ is the Beloved. Jesus is the one who has paid the price for our redemption. God has even given us a down payment or security deposit in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes to us in the waters of baptism and seals us for the day of redemption, maybe not a month or year, but whenever Christ returns the Victory is already yours.