◄ What Does Ephesians 1:5 Mean? ►

Throughout Scripture, we discover verse after verse that reminds us that the love of God caused Him to send His only begotten Son to die on the Cross for our redemption, and it was by the grace of God that His free gift of eternal life is given to whosoever will believe on Jesus Christ as Saviour. 

God gave man free will to choose or to reject His gracious offer of salvation, but God in His omniscience knew, from before the foundation of the world, who would accept His gift and who would reject it. We read in Romans 8 that God foreknew all who would exercise their free will and choose to accept Christ as their Saviour. And those were the ones that: "God predestined to be adopted as His own sons, through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will."

God does not exclude anyone from salvation. Sadly, those that are excluded have done so of their own choice. Indeed, it is not God's will that anyone should perish but that all should come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and so be given eternal life, and there are a multitude of heavenly benefits that flow from this free gift of salvation, given to all who trust in Jesus as Saviour.

God's love prompted Him to save the fallen race of man, and by God's grace, He chose to redeem us at no cost to you or me, but at the inestimable cost to Himself; the life of His only begotten Son. And so God gave the eternal Son of God, Who is in every way equal with the Father, to be born as a man - a perfect Man - the Son of Man.

God became Man so that fallen men might be redeemed and thus be adopted back into the family of God. And God, in His omniscience, foreknew all of us who would choose to accept Christ Jesus as Saviour: "He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will." 

Believe in Jesus Christ - that is all it takes.

Loving Lord and Heavenly Father, what love and grace that You should send Your Son to die for me. I stand in awe as I contemplate that the eternal Son of God should be born into the human race to die on a Cross, so that an imperfect sinner such as I should not perish but have everlasting life. Thank You that this is according to the good pleasure of Your will. Praise Your holy name, forever and ever, AMEN.