God Chose Us

Ephesians 1:4

God chose certain individuals to be saved.

These were the redeemed who would believe in Jesus Christ for salvation.

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God chose them before the creation of the world.

God planned His salvation ahead of time.

It was a predetermined choice of God.

Before anyone was saved, God had already made a sovereign choice to save certain individuals.

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God chose them in Jesus Christ.

God sovereignly placed them in Jesus Christ.

When Jesus Christ came to the earth, they were in Him.

When He died on the cross, they were in Him.

When He rose from the dead, they were in Him.

When God came to them in conviction and they responded in faith, they were baptized into Him.

Their union with Jesus Christ is absolute and eternal (Ephesians 2:5-6).

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God chose them to be holy and blameless in his sight.

God saved them so that He might demonstrate His saving grace and power in their lives.

God did not choose them because of their abilities, their good deeds, or any merit in them.

God chose them merely because He wanted to.

He saved them for His own glory alone.

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Some thoughts.

• The doctrine of election is a hard doctrine to accept. It destroys human pride and ability.
  
• Besides, we want God to be fair. We want everyone to have an equal chance to be saved.
  
• But the doctrine of God’s sovereign election is a reality. It is a biblical doctrine.
• We want God to save everybody, but He never intended to.
  
• Besides, we know that not everyone is saved!
  
• But this does not make God unjust (Rom. 9:14-23).
• Instead of complaining that God has chosen to save some, we should praise Him that He has chosen to save any!
  
• God would have been just if He had allowed all of us to go to Hell because of our sins. But God reached out to save some! If it were not for His sovereign grace, none of us would be saved.
• But what about those people out there who want to be saved? They should not complain, rather they should come to Jesus Christ for salvation. When they come, He will not turn them away. That is His promise (John 6:37).
• So, instead of attacking the doctrine of election, we should thank God that He has chosen us in Jesus Christ.
• If we have not yet been saved, and He is calling us to come to Him, we should come. Be saved today.
• If we are saved, we should rejoice in all His grace, mercy, and abundant blessings in our lives.
  

God Is Good

Ephesians 1:3

God is to be praised.

Apostle Paul said praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

God is to be praised when things go our way and against our way.

God is good no matter what happens.

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God has blessed us.

Apostle Paul said God the father has blessed us.

God is the source of all our blessings.

All our blessings come from God.

At times, God turns bad things out for our good (Rom. 8:28).

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God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing.

Apostle Paul said God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

When we come to faith in Jesus Christ, God gives us unlimited spiritual resources.

We have been given everything God has to offer.

God just keeps blessing and blessing and blessing, giving us love, joy, peace, grace, mercy, glory and hope, and countless other blessings besides!

We are rich in all spiritual blessings!

We do not have to be frugal with His blessings, but we should spend all we can while we are here for His glory!

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Our spiritual blessings are located in heavenly places.

Apostle Paul said God has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

All our spiritual blessings are in heavenly places.

We just need to take them here on earth.

The only way we can bring them here is by yielding to the Spirit of God.

As we allow the Spirit of God to fill us and use us, He will produce all the spiritual blessings of heaven in our souls (Gal. 5:16, 22-23).

We are rich in Jesus as we lay hold on those riches by walking in the power of the Spirit of God!

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All the spiritual blessings are given to us because we are in Christ.

When we come to faith in Jesus Christ, we are brought into a wonderful union with Him.

As a result, everything that belongs to Him now belongs to us (Rom. 8:16-17).

We are given these things because of Christ’s work in our hearts and lives.

We don’t deserve it.

We don’t earn it.

Everything is given to us as a free gift of His grace!

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We are truly blessed in Jesus Christ.

We have all the heavenly blessings for our needs.

We must ask God to help us walk in the Spirit so that we can lavishly spend everything He has given us in Jesus Christ.

We must get up and go out into the world living out His will and walking in His way.

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God is good.

And we must be good to Him.

Greeting From Apostle Paul

Ephesians 1:1-2

Paul was the author of the epistle.

He wrote with divine authority.

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Paul was an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ.

He was the foundation leader of the early church.

He received direct revelation from God to deliver His truths to His people.

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Paul was called by the will of God.

He was sent from God for a special mission.

He was to be an apostle.

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Apostle Paul addressed his recipients.

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He called them saints.

They had been saved by the grace of God.

They were washed in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

They were imputed with the righteousness of Christ.

They were set apart for the glory of God and for His exclusive use in this world.

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He called them the faithful in Christ Jesus.

They were new creations in Christ.

They lived a distinct and different life from the world around them.

They lived a faithful life in Christ in a world that does not know Him.

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Apostle Paul acknowledged and greeted his recipients.

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He greeted them with the blessing of grace.

He prayed that God would save them.

He prayed that God would keep them.

He prayed that God would change their lives.

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He greeted them with the blessing of peace.

Paul prayed that they would have peace with God.

Paul prayed that they would have peace with fellowmen.

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Apostle Paul emphasized the importance of good relationship with God.

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When we trust the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, we will have God as our Father.

Then we will have the riches of God.

We will enjoy God's grace and God's peace.

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As Christians, we are saints and faithful in Christ Jesus.

We know God the Father.

And God will blessed us with abundant grace and peace.

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God will feed our souls.

God will challenge our lives.

God will change our church as a result of our faith in Christ.

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Let us come praying to God.

Let us wait on Him to bless us.

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He just knows how to bless us.

Jesus Led The Way

Mark 10:32-34

The Lord Jesus Christ and His disciples were on their way up to Jerusalem, the capital of Israel.

They were on their way to the Temple where sacrifices were offered and atonement was made.

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But the Lord Jesus Christ had His mind on a little hill outside the city gates.

His focus was on a hill called Golgotha, a place called Calvary.

His mind was on the hill where Abraham offered up his son Isaac to the Lord.

His mind was on the place where He would offer Himself up as the final, perfect, eternal sacrifice for sin and sinners.

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The Lord Jesus Christ knew that when He arrived at Calvary, an ages old plan would be accomplished.

He knew that the prophecies of the prophets would be fulfilled.

He knew that the just demands of a holy God would be met.

God Almighty would be satisfied and lost sinners would be saved.

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The Lord Jesus Christ had His mind on all those who would bow before the Father and confess the Lord Jesus as their Savior.

He would die for all those who would believe the Gospel message!

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The disciples were afraid for the Lord Jesus Christ.

They were also afraid for themselves.

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They knew that the Jewish leaders hated the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Lord Jesus had had several bitter encounters with the Jewish religious leaders.

They were upset by His miracles.

They were upset by His claim to be the Son of God.

They were upset by His claim to be the Messiah.

They were so upset that they wanted Him dead.

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The disciples were amazed that the Lord Jesus Christ was determined to march to His death.

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The disciples were afraid for themselves too!

This was not what they wanted.

They would die with Him and they were afraid.

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But they continued to follow Him.

They were resolved to follow the Lord Jesus Christ even if it meant that they would die with Him.

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The Lord Jesus Christ sensed the fear in His men.

He took the time to comfort them.

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The Lord Jesus Christ told His men in very clear terms what was about to happen to Him at Jerusalem.

The leaders of the Jews would make a final rejection of Him as the Messiah.

Their Supreme Court, the Sanhedrin, would condemn Him as a common criminal and sentence Him to die.

The Jews, the very people He came to save, would turn Him over to the Gentiles so they could put Him to death.

The crowds around the cross would mock Him and ridicule Him as He died.

The soldiers would take Him and scourge Him.

They would bend Him over a low pole and beat His back with a Roman flagellum.

Then they would spit in His face and ripped His bread from His face.

Then they would nail Him to a Roman cross, where He hung for six agonizing hours before He died.

They would remove His dead body from that cross and buried Him in a borrowed tomb.

Three days after He died on the cross, He would get up from the dead!

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The Lord Jesus Christ led the way.

Like a Good Shepherd, He walked before His flock, taking care of their every need.

He had cleared the way for His people.

He had come to this world with a single goal.

He had come to accomplish our salvation.

He had done all these when He died on the cross and rose again from the dead.

He had went where we could not go and done what we could not do, so that we might receive what only Him could give us.

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Let us come to the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved today.

Eternal Life

Mark 10:17-22

A young man came to the Lord Jesus.

He heard the way of salvation.

But he left as lost as he came.

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This man was rich.

Anything he wanted was well within his reach.

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This man lived a clean and moral life.

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But his money and morality couldn’t satisfy the deepest longing of his soul.

He wanted most of all the peace with God before he died.

He wanted eternal life.

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This man wanted a saving relationship with the Almighty God.

He wanted to do something about it.

He ran to the Lord Jesus; it was urgent.

He fell on his knees before the Lord Jesus Christ; the Lord Jesus Christ was special.

He came while Jesus was in the way; he was not ashamed to admit he had a spiritual need.

He wanted to know how he might inherit eternal life.

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This man was confused.

He thought salvation could be earned.

He thought salvation was a reward.

He thought if he could do enough good things, God would give him eternal life as a reward.

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This man called the Lord Jesus “Good teacher”.

He didn’t know that the Lord Jesus is God.

He is God in the flesh!

He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life!

He is the only hope we have of salvation.

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The Lord Jesus gave him a list of commands to get him see that he was a sinner.

The Lord Jesus wanted him to be honest about his spiritual condition.

The Lord Jesus wanted him to see that he was morally and spiritually bankrupt.

He was a sinner in need of a Savior.

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This man responded to the challenge by telling the Lord Jesus that he had kept all those commandments since his youth.

The Lord Jesus looked at him; He loved him.

He didn’t rebuke him for his claim.

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The Lord Jesus told him in very clear terms how he was to be saved.

The Lord Jesus told him “One thing you lack.”

This man needed to get rid of his wealth and his self.

He was to sell what he had and gave it all away.

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We can never be saved until we are willing to lay down everything we own to the Lord Jesus.

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Next, the Lord Jesus called him to totally commit his life to Him.

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When this man heard the Lord’s demands, he was sad.

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He wanted salvation.

But he wanted it on his terms.

He wanted to keep all he had.

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This man chose his possessions over the Lord Jesus!

He loved his money more than he wanted to be saved.

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Let us examine our faith today.

What do we trust to give us eternal life?

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We are to lay down everything to follow the Lord Jesus.

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Without Him, we are lost, doomed and headed to Hell.