BEFORE

Ephesians 1:1-6 (KJV)

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:

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

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:

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:

Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

I told you last week that I heard from a preacher who said he had changed his doctrine concerning from a “traditional Baptist” one to a “Reformed Protestant” one in part because, growing up in a Baptist church he had never heard hard passages, like Ephesians chapter one preached.

I want to say first of all, that probably is not true. 

• He may have not paid attention to those sorts of messages because, as a kid, he wasn’t interested in them
• He may not have been impressed with those messages growing up so they did not stick in his brain
• He may not have felt like the messages he heard from those passages answered the hard questions to his satisfaction

But it is not very likely that he attended a Baptist church all of his life (his dad was a Baptist preacher) and never ever heard any messages preached from Ephesians one and passages like it.

However I do recognize that some of the more challenging doctrines presented in passages like Ephesians one and Romans nine through eleven could be preached in such a way as to almost completely avoid subjects that might create questions that preachers might not want to have to debate with members of their churches.

This week, and likely next, I am going to address those issues from Ephesians chapter one.

• I am going to be honest and forthright
• I might not answer questions you have to your satisfaction
• I might say things with which you disagree

There are two subjects that are closely connected in the verses we have read tonight, that God has:

• Chosen us before the foundation of the world and
• Predestinated us unto adoption

I want to speak about the first of those tonight.

It is more commonly called the doctrine of election.

I am going to use an outline similar to the one I did this morning and address the lesson of the passage by asking and answering three questions:

I. WHEN WERE THEY CHOSEN?

Ephesians 1:4 (KJV)

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:

I want to address this first because it speaks to the character and attributes of God.

Let’s remember that God is just and good.

He sets the standards of righteousness.

Whatever God determines is good and moral and, whenever we disagree with Him, we are in the wrong, not God.

The Bible says that God’s choice here was “before the foundation of the world.”

• Before Satan was lifted up in pride
• Before Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit
• Before Cain killed his brother Abel

Before there existed any evil in the world God had already made His choice.

This means that God’s choice was: 

• Not based on anyone’s good works
• Not based on someone being inherently better than someone else

Acts 15:18 (KJV)

Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.

This means that before God did anything, He already knew everything He would do.

• He created a plan 
• He knows every piece of that plan and
• He is working out His plan

Think of it like a master chess player; the master play their game dozens of moves ahead of their opponent.

God has already played His plan to the end of the game.

I don’t think we know all of His “moves” but He has given us hints at a few of them.

A. A kingdom

Matthew 25:34 (KJV)

Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 

If we continued in the chess analogy, I would call this God’s “checkmate.”

The game finishes with His people in a kingdom.

B. A Saviour

There are three moves in relationship to Jesus Christ that we know God knew before the foundation of the world:

The incarnation of Christ

John 17:24 (KJV)

Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. 

Christ was in heaven before He was earth.

He left the glory He had in heaven, so He could become the man He was on earth. 

Move number two,

The sacrifice of Christ

Revelation 13:8 (KJV)

And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

The master chess player uses the anticipated moves of his opponent to set up His next move.

God the Father did not kill Jesus Christ.

But He did anticipate that He would be crucified and 

His crucifixion “set up” God’s next move.

Move number three,

The Gospel of Christ

1 Peter 1:18-20 (KJV)

Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;

But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,

God knew that wicked men would crucify Christ and God used Christ’s precious blood, to redeem lost souls.

C. A book of life

Revelation 17:8 (KJV)

The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

God anticipated from before the foundation of the world that those whose names are not written in the Lamb’s book of life would wonder at and follow after the spirit of the anti-Christ.

The question is, why are there names not written there?

Revelation 3:5 (KJV)

He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. 

I believe it works like this:

At the foundation of the world God wrote every human being’s name in the book of life.

When a person finally rejects Christ to follow after Satan, God then and only then removes their name from the Lamb’s Book of Life.

• God would have all men to be saved
• God has made provision for all men to be saved
• God, if you will, has elected and chosen that all be saved

Only those who leave this world without Christ are not saved.

So, if everyone is chosen before the foundation of the world

II. WHO IS CHOSEN?

Ephesians 1:4 (KJV)

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 passage, some would say, makes no sense if everyone is chosen to be saved before the foundation of the world.

This verse obviously has a narrower field of view than that.

I want to ask you to follow with me the line of doctrine Ephesians addresses.

This is the major location of doctrine concerning the church.

The word church is found nine times in the six chapters of Ephesians, for example:

Ephesians 1:22 (KJV)

And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,

Ephesians 3:10 (KJV)

To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,

Ephesians 5:25 (KJV)

Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

You see how important these passage on the church are?

Where this passage is taking us is on a journey through key doctrines concerning your church.

Chapter one 

• References a mystery
• Prays that we might understand it and 
• Points us to the church

Then we go into chapter two where we are: 

• Saved by grace
• Reconciled to Israel and
• Fitted together into a building

God just revealed a secret to you if you will accept it.

There used to be just to classes of people,

• The Jews, who were the elect and chosen of God and 
• The Gentiles who were thought of as dogs by the Jews

But the Jews weren’t the only ones chosen by God. They never were!

God had chosen to use the Jews to introduce Christ into the world and through His death burial and resurrection introduce and new man or a new race of people, Christians who assemble in local churches.

That brings me to my final point tonight,

III. TO WHAT WERE THEY CHOSEN?

Ephesians 1:4 (KJV)

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:

The Calvinist would say that God has chosen some to be saved, but that’s not it at all.

God has chosen that the saved would be:

• Holy
• Without blame and
• Before Him in love

1 Thessalonians 4:3 (KJV)

For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:

God has chosen that those who are saved be more than saved by the skin of their teeth.

God has chosen you and me 

• to forget about whether we are Jews or Gentiles
• to forget about whether we are African or European
• to forget about whether we are Oriental or Occidental 

And to focus on whether we are holy, without blame and becoming more and more like Him.