I Choose You! - God

Click Here to Read or Listen to the One Year Bible Lessons

Spiritual Blessings

3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. 4 Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. 6 So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. 7 He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins

I remember when I was younger, when I played basketball or football in the neighborhood or after school, and it came time to choose teams. The best two players were usually chosen to be the captains, and they got to make their picks one by one. If you weren't the captain, you waited to see when you would get picked. You hoped it would be sooner than later. When you got picked there was a sense of relief. I always felt a little bad for the last two guys left standing, but at least they got to play!  

As Paul starts his beautiful letter to the Ephesians, he starts with a beautiful strings of verses, which is actually only ONE very long sentence in the Greek language. Before Paul talks about the Church, or what we are supposed to be or do as a Christ follower, he starts with who God is. And he starts with what God has given us, which is "every spiritual blessing in Christ". Material blessings are nice to have, but spiritual blessings last forever and are therefore much more valuable. 

But the preeminent idea is that God has chosen you in Christ. It wasn't an accident. It had nothing to do with the good things we would do in our lives. Before we were even born, God chose us. If you ever wondered if you were saved by grace and not works just meditate on these words, "Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and blameless in his eyes."  

Even before your mom and dad locked eyes, or shared their first kiss, God loved you. And He didn't do this because he had to but it says, "This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure." 

We talk a lot about self esteem, but I think it is a lot more important to teach kids about "God esteem". Our view of ourselves should be directly correlated to God's view of us! As Paul says in Romans, "If God is for us, who can be against us!" 

Do you know this? Do you believe this? When you look at yourself, do you see yourself through God's love for you? And if you wonder how important it was for God to have you in His family, He gave His only Son to die on the cross. God proved His love for us, that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us! Romans 5:8 

God says to you tonight, "I CHOSE YOU!" 


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