Ephesians 1 v 7 - 14 - Perfect Plan

So, in original Greek verses 3 - 14 were written as one long, 200 word sentence! Paul was getting pretty excited by all that God has done, is doing and will do in the future! These verses are just so amazing, i love them, and they need to be a daily reminder in our lives.


v7
In Christ, we've been set free, we've been forgiven! Christ's death is so significant, which sounds pretty obvious. The Crucifix is the "symbol" of Christianity. But it needs to be so much more than that in our own lives. We should be remembering every day the sacrifice of Jesus, for our own redemption. We were all forgiven, even before we had sinned, before we had been born. If I had to get into heaven by good works, I don't know about you, but I'd never ever ever get in. And God knew that, it's why he sent Jesus, to reconcile us. 
Everything starts and ends with Christ, and this should be our lives as well. He shouldn't be a passing thought, a guilty tug at the heart for not QT-ing for a while, a quick prayer before eating. Every second, every minute, every hour, all the time, should be Jesus focused. We need to stick to the path that is Jesus. And do you know what, I reckon people make this out to be harder than it is. Yes life has temptations, and struggles and hardships and yes at times it is hard. But I know, sometimes, I don't event try, because I know I'll fail and I'll stumble and I won't succeed. How rubbish!! There is no point in not trying because by trying and failing - we're learning and becoming better people. 


v8
God's got some amazing grace eh? We've done some pretty bad things in our lives, we don't really deserve to get to heaven. But yayayayay Jesus died for us! Sometimes we can get complacent, like, if you believe in Jesus, we get a free ticket to heaven. But nope, have to work at getting a living and working relationship with Jesus. It takes time and effort, and it's hard and amazing. 


v9-10
Through JC, God made it known what his will was, which was to have the entire authority of earth and heaven, under Christ. And this would all be done at the right time. Not YOUR right time, but God's. We don't know when that'll be, when the end of the world will be. So this whole "world is going to end in 2012" is never definite. The world could end today, tommorow, next year, next decade. We simply do not know. We have to remember our presence on earth is fleeting, meaningless and this isn't our real home! 


v11-12
Guys. We're chosen. HOW COOL IS THAT?! God knew our purpose, and he chose us to be his special people. That always makes me feel happy, and when I don't feel good enough, I remember that i'm not good enough, but it's okay, God has chosen me. Who knows why, but he has. His plan for me and for you will be revealed, and it'll be scary and exciting. God chose us, then we choose him, and who he chooses, is who he wants.God wants us! Jews looked forward to Jesus coming, and they were the first to hope in Christ


v13-14
The ephesians i think weren't Jews? But they now can have salvation too, it's freely given to those who believe. And when we believe, we get the Holy Spirit to live with us. The Holy spirit is like a taste of what's to come in heaven, which is pretty cool! 

Ephesians 1 v 1 - 6 - Being Blessed

Background info
Written in 60-61AD, From Paul to the Ephesians and it was written about the same time as Colossians, Philippians and Philemon. But, this letter is different! Other letters are more specific and direct to the place they were sent, but this one isn't, there's no direct reference to the Ephesians themselves, so it's for a broader context. Chapters 1 - 3 reveals God's plans to create a new people and chapters 4 - 6 is about how God's people should behave. 


v1-2
Paul starts off calling himself an apostle, because that's what God wanted. Pretty cool point, what God wants, happens. This doesn't mean that he is a God that makes England win the world cup, because that's what he wants, but he does what he wants, in accordance to making things better for our good, he's still  a just and loving God. He's showing that God appointed him, and it's God speaking through Paul. 


v3-4
He says that God HAS blessed us, not in the future, but he has already blessed us in Jesus. He chose us before creation, before there was anything he was like, I WANT YOU! That's just amazing and humbling, and especially needs to be remembered when we're like, why me? why do you want me, surely you don't, there's other people who are better christians? God chose you, don't argue with him ;) We're predestined Christians, and better yet, he sees us as blameless. 


v5-6
Again, we're chosen to be his children, through the amazingness of Jesus and his death on the cross. God wanted this, and it pleased him. There's so many different blessings we get from being Christians, we get grace, and forgiveness and salvation but we still have to work hard, we still need to work at being holy and blameless. God's given us this grace through Jesus, totally free!