Presents
Pamphlet #4589
My
highlighted verses: Ephesians 1:3 ¶Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ:
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:
[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:This is one of the most profound and exciting verses in the Word of God!
There are three major components of this verse that require a background of understanding in order to fully comprehend.
1.) foundation of the world1.) foundation of the world
2.) without blame
3.) chosen...before
In almost all cases where this word is used it is connected with the "world" or cosmos.
"Foundation of the world" would then be more properly translated "ruin or disruption of the world".
When was the world ruined or disrupted?
Answer: At the time of rebellion of Satan.
Let's go back to the beginning:
Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
[2] And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
Look up the words "without form, and void" in a Strong's Concordance.
They are tohu and bohu which mean waste and desolate, i.e. undistinguishable ruin!
Question! Do you know any manufacturers who create things
in undistinguishable ruin?
Does Detroit create "wrecked" cars?
Of course not.
And neither does God create things "wrecked".
Here's proof that He did not create the earth in undistinguishable ruin (tohu):
Isaiah 45:18
For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, He created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.
He ought to know how He MADE IT!
"He created it NOT in vain (tohu).
He formed it to be inhabited!"
The word "was" in verse 2 (the earth was without form) is exactly the same Hebrew word used in Gen 2:7 and translated "became", as in man "became" a living soul.
It should also be translated "became" in Gen 1:2, And the earth "became" without form and desolate (tohu va bohu).
It wasn't created that way... it became that way.
Now that makes sense.
You will read in Revelation 12 that Satan drew a third of the stars (sons of God) after his perverted ways in what Peter calls "The world that then was" (2 Pet 3:6).
You can be sure God gave Satan every opportunity to repent, but alas, he would not and God sentenced Satan to die, which is why he is called the "son who will perish" or the son of perdition.
But then, rather than having trial and judgment for the 1/3 who defected as well as the rest of His sons, God laid out His loving plan of salvation.
As part of that plan He destroyed the world that then was, just as Gen 1:2 says, and the earth became a ruinous desolation .
Read about it Jeremiah 4:
Jeremiah 4:23-26
I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. [24] I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. [25] I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. [26] I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce anger.
It is quite evident that He knocked the earth off its true polar axis.
That is why magnetic north and true north are 90 miles apart and we have the jet stream.
He also knocked it out of its perfect orbit.
The latest theory I saw about three or four weeks ago was that a giant meteorite once crashed into the Caribbean where there exists a huge crater.
Could be!
It works for me.
Now let's consider the number 2 and 3 components of Ephes 1:4, "without blame" and "chosen".
In addition to the 1/3 of the sons of God who joined Satan's camp, there were also those who stood against Satan at that rebellion and remained loyal to our Father.
They "earned" the right to be "chosen", used by God, as instruments in fulfilling His will, His plan.
God is completely fair, He is no respecter of persons.
From this group of faithful sons, God chose His elect, to be present at the final generation, and the remnant who would carry forth throughout history.
So you can see He chose the first to be last (to be born) and the last (chosen) to be first.
Those who were chosen were also justified, found blameless before God.
They had exercised their free will and chose to love our Father.
All that Paul is saying in Ephes. 1:4 is that we, God's elect, were "chosen" before the "katabole".I know this is "new territory" for some of you reading this, but hang in there, it gets easier.
Beginning in Gen 1:3 our Father then created this earth age, which included a resurfacing of the earth.
He then created mankind, male and female, and told them to go and replenish the earth... not to plenish it,but re-plenish it, for it had been populated in the world that then was.
So as part of the plan of salvation (to bring back His children) it was given unto every man to die once, i.e. all the sons of God would be born of flesh woman, from umbilical cord to umbilical cord.
Hebrews 9:27
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
In other words, their "hard disks" or "hard heads" would be newly formatted with NO data, just the operating system.
That way they could be free to make-up their minds whether they would follow God or Satan.
Now understand this next statement in light of what we've covered so far:
"God will not interfere in a person's life without their asking UNLESS you already are one of HIS."
If He did, He would be accused at judgment of interfering with a person's chance and right to choose freely.
Jonah would be an example of one of God's remnant whom God would use.
God told Jonah to go to Nineveh. Jonah, exercising his free will, jumped on a boat and headed the opposite direction.
But Jonah had no choice in the matter, he was going to Nineveh.
God interfered in his life, big time.
Jeremiah was named BEFORE he entered his mother's womb.
Why not?
Where was he before he entered his mother's womb?
With our Father, the same place you and I were before we were born!
We already saw how Paul was converted.
Is it no wonder that the Lord says in Act 9:15 that Paul is a chosen vessel unto me?
Christ then intercedes on behalf of His elect.
Romans 8:27
And He that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because He maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
Again, there was no altar call.
Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
You may have wondered about some of the events in your life.
If you are one of His, there is a reason, a purpose, you
have a destiny.
Ephes. 1:5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
That doesn't mean God's elect are better than others.
Remember, God is always and completely fair.
Romans 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
[30]Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
If God, who has all power in heaven and on earth, has predetermined our destiny because of our loyality to Him during the first earth age, and has us "under His wing", who in the world, including Antichrist, can be against us?[31] What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
[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:
We have obtained an inheritance!!
Hmmm... You know God owns the entire Universe.
I wonder what that inheritance will be?
... Maybe a couple of planets or solar systems or how about a galaxy?
Tomorrow we will find out what the inheritance is for God's elect.
It's beyond your wildest imagination!
Ephes. 1:12
That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
This is in contrast to the "ye" of the next verse.
When did the "we" first trust in Christ?
Well, you could say that in as much as Paul is speaking to those saved members of the Pentecostal church closed by the judgment pronouncement of Acts 28:25,28 that they were the first to trust in Christ.
However, if you are "attuned" to the subject in this chapter of those "chosen before the foundation of this world", who were "justified", then you could say that they first "trusted" then, in "the world that then was", at the "katabole".
Is it still a "mystery" or are you beginning to see?
Paul is now addressing those who trusted "after they heard
the word of truth":
[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,
Make no mistake.
God's elect are no better that anyone else, just because they were first.
All of God's children who believe, trust and accept Christ partake in His inheritance.
We
predestined from the 1st. earth age.
Ye
who accept Christ now in this earth age.
To study the Bible is the noblest of all pursuits;
to understand it, the highest of all goals.
We pray that with the guidance of the Holy
Spirit, you accomplish both.
is.
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