Me: What a pretty spot.
Prodigal: Yes, I thought this would be ideal for the devotion today.
Me: It think your right on target!
Ephesians 1:11-14
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. So that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 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, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
Two different impression are made as we begin studying these verses before us. One unique aspect is that the Trinity is presented before us in scripture. Ephesians 1:11 starts with the Father. The Father is associated with Creation. Christ is mentioned in verse 12. He represents our Redeemer. The Holy Spirit is presented to us in verse 13, as the one who Sanctifies.
The trinity is firmly positioned between these verses yet flows together at the same time. We can see how they are unique, but function together. The trinity is presented here with different roles in our walk with the Lord. The Father represents our predestination, and His knowledge of us before we were born. He is present at the creation of the university and also our creation. Christ is our redeemer. His existence is our way to salvation and the truth. The Holy Spirit gives us a sealing that means we are marked as the Lord’s. It gives us access to eternity and also represents God’s promise to us. As we are sanctified on earth, the Holy Spirit will convict or give us peace. The conviction or peace we feel, guide our decisions, and behavior.
These scriptures clearly point out the trinity, but I believe it also is presenting to us our spiritual lives connected with time. Verses 11 and 12 explain how we were predestined by God. God choose us in the beginning, and we would become saved. Then we are led to the present with verse 13. This talks about how we have heard the truth, and accepted the gospel so that we are therefore saved and sealed with the Holy Spirit. We are now saved at the present time. The last verse tells us that we have an inheritance in the future. That inheritance will be given to us when we die. We will be allowed into heaven and present with the Lord. We are saved in the future from eternity without our Lord.
God may not be bound by time, but He knows that time is part of our lives. The scripture allows us to see the plan that God has for us that includes our birth, while we are living and finally our death. Our God has not forgotten us, at any point of time. The security that we have from our Lord can be seen in the different functions within the Trinity. We can trust a Creator who knew us from the beginning. There is confidence in the Redeemer whose gift means we have been forgiven. The Holy Spirit can be relied on to direct us today and every day of our future. Our security in these truths allows us confidence to walk with our Lord even when we still have questions about the Trinity or different times in our lives.
When we start a new year. We often only want to look toward the future. Especially if this last year has held hurt, challenges, frustrations, confusions and fear.
We are ready to get to the inheritance part. We want to put all this behind us. The Lord says there is wisdom in seeing the balance of it all together. We look at the past and see how we were predestined. God choose us, He stayed with us, when we went astray. That leading astray could have been months, years and decades, but because he chooses us, he did not leave us. The past no matter how messy can give us an opportunity to praise today. Let us not forget the past and therefore remember to praise.
The present is that we are sealed with the Holy Spirit because we have accepted Christ as our savior and the son of God. Right now, we have the spirit of the lord with us to teach us, guide us and show us direction and correction. We need guidance now, before the inheritance is here. We need the Lord’s guidance for our daily life.
Now our inheritance, is we have hope for the future. Our future is secure. We will not be separated from God. When we doubt about how good God is. We are reminded that God has planned an inheritance for us.
After planning the new year, how will your praise include the idea that you were predestined by God. How will your service this year include how you have been sealed with the holy spirit and is with you at all times. How will your prayer include that we have an inheritance that is guaranteed ours one day?
Dear Lord, help us to praise you for your love. A love that has not been bounded by time. Lord helps us to serve you by the guiding of the Holy Spirit. A service that is done together with you and is not in our own strength. Finally, Lord as we start a new year, we ask that even if prayers are not answered in our way, that we look beyond this year and focus on how eternity will be spent with you.
Praising God for choosing us, means that we did nothing to earn His love. This allows us to understand how deep His love for us. Praising is just allowing us to show how thankful we are for this love. Being sealed with the Holy Spirit means that any service we do in the name of the Lord will mean He is with us. If we rely on the Holy Spirit during service than He can prepare us and gives us the strength that is needed for His works. Praying with our inheritance in mind means that even if a prayer on earth is not answered in our way, we have an answered prayer to look forward too. We have eternity to spend with our Lord.
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
