Loved. Chosen. Known.
Our fall series kicks off this Sunday, and we embark on a nine-part series going verse by verse through Ephesians. The subtitle of the series is Loved, Chosen, Known. Those three main ideas start Paul's letter and serve as a sort of thesis statement that will carry us for a little over two months.
More than theological statements, they are foundational truths that help to center and orient our identity. Though not easy to grasp fully, they force us to consider God's perspective towards us. Let me rephrase those words into three different questions:
Do you believe that God loves you?
Do you believe that God chose you before the foundation of the world?
Do you believe that God knows you intimately?
It is easy to talk about God's love in a general sense and think about His love for the world and others. Letting our thoughts soak in the mystery of His love for us personally is more difficult and one we tend to shy away from in the deepest recesses of our inner thoughts.
As challenging, if not more so, is the notion that somehow before the origins of the universe, we were known and chosen by God. To add to the complexity of layered reflection is the image of being adopted into the great family of faith.
Three words: loved, chosen, known. Could we ever probe the depths of those three words and how they frame an unending exploration of God's heart towards us?
As we enter into the weekend, the fall, and a new teaching series, I pray that the words of Ephesians stir in you a fresh wonder at the eternal creator who calls you by name.
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. Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 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. Ephesians 1:3-5
-Bradley