Day 346, December 12 Chronological Bible Study Timeline. Map. Go to today’s Bible reading (use your browser arrow to return): Ephesians 1–3
Adopted and Included
It is the Christmas season, and many of us are thinking about the birth of the Christ child. In our minds, we see him lying in a manger of hay. Mary and Joseph, some shepherds, and the three kings are there, and perhaps an angel and some animals surround him. We might almost hear the music of angels singing, “Hark the Herald Angels sing…”
After the music stops, and our hearts are still aglow, consider…
Why did Jesus come?
Jesus was a gift to the world. Before we unwrap it, whose name is on the present? When the Apostle Paul writes to the Christians in Ephesus, they want to know that, too.
From a rented house in Rome, Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, writes to the Ephesian church to answer their question. He reveals a mystery hidden for thousands of years in the Old Testament scriptures. In Biblical terms, a mystery is like an unopened present.
Mystery Revealed!
God chose the Israelite (Jewish) people to be his own. God’s favor had always been with the Israelites whenever they lived obediently. However, after Moses, the typical way a non-Jewish person was converted was to believe in God and become a Jew.
Now, God is doing something he had always intended. The mystery is that God is forming a new family unit called the church. Because of God’s grace and good pleasure, he has chosen many Jews and Gentiles. He offers forgiveness for their sin (and ours) and adopts them (and us) into his family. He made this decision before the creation of the world.
Present offered
When the time was just right, Jesus, God’s only beloved Son, entered the world in human form and showed us who God is. He taught and healed people and even raised the dead. Then the Lord paid the price for all their (and our) wrong-doings on the cross. When he arose from the dead, he proved God accepted his sacrifice for us.
Since that time, the Lord provides forgiveness for all sinners who turn to him in faith—he doesn’t require circumcision, animal sacrifices, or the keeping of Jewish laws and ceremonies. They were only symbols of the reality that Christ offers all of us. Will we receive his gift?
How can we be sure we are included in God’s family?
Paul comforts the Gentiles. He says,
… you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory (Ephesians 1:13-14, NIV).
We are chosen and adopted and included as God’s children, with all the rights and privileges. That is amazing grace! And, we have a rich inheritance in heaven, too!
To have this inheritance credited to us, like the Ephesians, we must believe Christ provided it for us and accept it personally. We are then guaranteed to receive it as though it were deposited into our account and sealed in a vault. God’s Holy Spirit gives us spiritual life, and his presence within us is the guarantee of our spiritual inheritance!
Wait, there’s more!
Knowing that our inheritance is secure is comforting, but there is more, for we each have a life that God wants us to live. Paul wants the followers of Christ to have a greater spiritual understanding. He prays for the Ephesian believers (and each of us) that
The eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us [Jews and Gentiles] who believe (Ephesians 1:18-19a, NIV).
Christians, are we beginning to understand and appreciate the sure hope we have in Christ, our future inheritance, and the power we have now within us to accomplish God’s will? What great joy was theirs! What great joy is ours, too, if we believe the gospel and act on it.
But I’m basically good. Do I really need Christ?
Perhaps, some of us are saying this. Did the Gentiles do anything to deserve God’s grace? No, not at all. Paul says to them,
As for you [Gentiles], you were dead in your transgressions and sins, … but because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions— it is by grace you have been saved (Ephesians 2:1,4-5, NIV).
Like the Gentiles and Jews of Paul’s day, there is nothing good about any of us, but God extends his mercy and grace to us. We were once alienated from God, and from his people Israel, and were without hope. But, because of God’s grace, through faith in Christ, we are adopted and included with Israel in one body, the church (this is the mystery revealed, not replacement theology). We are now “fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household,” and all the privileges are also ours (Ephesians 2:19, NIV).
Okay, God is gracious, and we need him. How should we live?
Paul instructs us, “…we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10, NIV). We will find out more about this in our next Bible study.
Until then, if any of us have not received Jesus’ gift, why not do it now in this Christmas season? Or, if we have received it, why not give thanks to God for our incredible inheritance, the presence of his Holy Spirit to secure our salvation, and the power God has given us to fulfill his will?
End Notes: “Transgression” generally means going against the laws of God, offense, faults, or sin (Vines, Expository Dictionary of N.T. Words, pp.1172-1173), while “sin” is a general word for all wrong-doing or failure to do what is right. The two terms are sometimes interchangeable.
The church is not New Testament Israel and does not inherit her promises. Promises to Israel will still be accomplished for her people. For more information and evidence of this, read Romans 9-11, the December 6 Bible study and this article.
Discussion
What was the mystery hidden in the Old Testament but revealed by the Apostle Paul?
Is there any people group we don’t think is worthy of God’s grace? What does God say about that?
How can we be sure we are included in God’s family?
Focus Verses
Ephesians 1:13 (NIV) “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit.”
Ephesians 2:10 (NIV) “For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
If you want a more in depth and interactive study from Ephesians, we have one in our small group studies.
Write a private prayer response to today’s Bible study:
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Looking Ahead:Since God has adopted and included us in his family, we need to Live Worthy Lives. Find out what that means in our Next Lesson.
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