“In love He predestined us for adoption..."

 Ephesians 1: 4-5 ESV

It's interesting to note that the period at the end of the sentence comes several words before verse five, where the words "In Love" start a new sentence. Paul has established the Father's predestination of us for adoption to Himself as an act of love. This love, known as "agape" love, is a driving force behind the redemptive process. From the very beginning, God the Father created mankind in His image, with the purpose of demonstrating His goodness and grace to the world. God intended for man to extend the boundaries of Eden to the ends of the earth, so that His presence could be fully realized everywhere. This is why He gave Adam the mandate to subdue the earth, not for Adam's own benefit, but to further the expansion of Eden. However, sin interfered with this plan, as rebellious spiritual beings saw an opportunity to thwart God's plan of building Eden on earth.

From God's view, it wasn't ambition or narcissism that drove the bus, but love. God wanted to create man to reflect His being and likeness. However, one could argue that man was a victim of a deceiving divine being who withheld critical information from an innocent and gullible Adam and Eve. All that was needed to maintain love was obedience. God desired for man to choose love over knowledge, the tree of life over the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Love was present even after the loss of Adam and Eve's innocence, preventing them from making the fatal mistake of taking from the tree of life after their disobedience, which marred them from being acceptable as God's imagers.  They needed redemption to regain their former state of innocence.

The only way for mankind to be redeemed and restored to their original position as the imagers of God is for the Father himself to become the means of that redemption. And so, love became flesh just as Adam and Eve were and Jesus bore the penalty of disobedience once and for all. He rose from the grave to testify that mankind has been fully restored to the position of being precious sons and daughters once again. As a result, we bear the mark of the death of Jesus as our atoning identification that we are dead to our old way of life and now alive in Christ.

We needed to become adopted because we lost our birthright to Satan, an evil and deceptive divine being who tricked Adam. As a result, all of mankind was affected. However, Jesus came as the second Adam to restore humanity back to their heavenly Father and we are now co-heirs with Jesus. He chose to empty himself of all his divine powers and become like us, as a man, to sacrifice himself and redeem humanity. This is explained in Philippians 2:5-8 ESV: "Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

Did God plan for all of this to happen from the beginning? The answer is yes. God always intended or purposed in His will for His heavenly beings and human beings to be united, but it is taking some time for the plan to unfold. God knew from the start that He would have to become the means of sacrifice for mankind to unite all His creations.

However, what about the rebellious divine beings? Is there any hope for their redemption? Unfortunately, there is nothing in the Bible that indicates that Satan or any of the rebellious divine beings that corrupted mankind will be redeemed. In fact, the Scriptures indicate in Matthew 25:41 ESV "Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’" This passage not only reveals the fate of those who rejected Jesus but also indicates the fate of the Devil and His angels which is eternal fire.

The message of this post is powerful and thought-provoking. Here are the key takeaways:

#1 God had a plan from the very beginning.

#2 Satan's deception caused mankind to lose his status as an imager of God.

#3 But thanks to Jesus, mankind's status has been restored as both an imager and as sons and daughters of God.

#4 By being adopted back into God's fold, we are now co-heirs with Jesus.

#5 Satan and a third of the divine beings chose their own fate by rebelling against God.

It's amazing to think about how much information can be conveyed in just one verse. Paul's gift of simplifying complex thoughts in his letter to the Ephesians has made it easier for all of us to understand these profound truths. Take a moment to let these ideas sink in and consider what they mean for your life.

Stephen Barnett