Eph 1:5-6 | KingComments | STEP | is about the position we now have before God. We can stand before God without hesitation, because He has made us fit for this position. He no longer sees anything in us that is contrary to His nature, which is light and love. . This verse goes a little further. It deals with how we relate to God. It is a relation of sonship. Also for this purpose God has “predestined” us, also from before the foundation of the world. You may speak of a ‘predestination’. While ‘pre’ looks back, “destined” makes us look forward. There we see the purpose of Gods plan: He wanted us as sons for Himself. The word “adoption” also appears in Romans 8 and 9 and Galatians 4; it means ‘to put as son’ ( ; ). God has put you as son before Him. In that relation you stand now before Him. Incredible but true! God is surrounded by myriads of angels and they serve Him, but in them He can never find the joy He found and finds in the Son. That joy He only finds in the Son and in those who are connected with the Son and who stand in the same relationship to Him as the Son. Take note that this time it is not written ‘in Jesus Christ’, but “ through Jesus Christ”. When it comes to the relationship in which we stand as sons before God, we are not equal to the Son. There will always be a distinction between Him, Who was and is the eternal Son, and us who were made sons because we were not. This distinction you also see in John 20 where the Lord Jesus says: “I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God” ( ) and not: ‘I am ascending to our Father and our God.’ By ‘adopting’ us as sons God does much more than saving us from the distress we lived in because of our sins. Regarding the latter, forgiveness would have been sufficient. But you know: here it is about the desire of God’s own heart and not about our distress. In order to fulfill that desire He ‘adopted’ sons. He accepted people into His family who were not entitled to anything, and made them sons before Him. Apart from being son you are also a child of God. Being a child and being a son are different terms that both indicate a specific relationship to God. To be a ‘son’ you do not have to be mature; from your conversion you are both a child and a son. To be a child of God indicates that you are born of God and have received His nature. In sonship we see the desire of God to have fellowship with His children. You can rejoice with your children, but with your son you also talk about certain matters. Sonship is about sharing the same interests. That is what God thought of when He adopted us as sons. When He did that, He acted “according to the kind intention [literally: good pleasure] of His will”. This is another beautiful expression that indicates how God came to this action. If He did that just because He wanted that, it would only have emphasized His sovereignty, but then His inner motive would have remained hidden. That’s why “the good pleasure” is being connected to His will. It shows the joy with which God accomplished His will. A wonderful example of this you can find in the Gospels. There you hear more than once: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased” ( ). In this statement you hear how pleased the Father is about Him. The Father was pleased because the Lord Jesus, as the only Man on earth, perfectly did what He desired. Regarding this, the Lord Jesus said: “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work” ( ). So the motive of the Father’s action was the pleasure that He had in the Lord Jesus. . His purpose was: “The praise of the glory of His grace.” Not just ‘His grace’, but “the glory of His grace”. His grace would already have become visible by forgiving us our sins. We deserved judgment and hell. Now that He does not allow that to happen, but saves us from that, we should therefore praise and honor Him forever and ever. But as you have seen, He had a much higher plan with us. We can be with Him as sons. Therefore it is no longer only ‘His grace’, but “the glory of His grace”. Herewith closes the first part of the . The part that now follows shows what God did to give us this wonderful position before Him and what the consequences of this position are for the future. This part ends with , again with “the praise of His glory”. Until now you have heard about the plan of God. In the part that follows Paul shows which steps God took, so to speak, to implement this plan. The first step is "which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved”, which also can be translated with “wherein he has taken us into favor in the Beloved”. This is just another wonderful expression. To be ‘taken into favor’ means to ‘be made pleasant’. It is about having favor in which we stand before God ( ). You and I are not pleasant in ourselves. We have become pleasant because God looks at us in His Son, to Whom is being referred here by the significant word ‘Beloved’. It is not said ‘in Christ’ or ‘in Him’ as in the previous verses. That would not be sufficient here. It is not about the position that the Lord Jesus has before God. No, it is about Who the Lord Jesus Himself is before God. The word ‘Beloved’ shows how much the Lord Jesus is the precious object of God’s affection and pleasure. All love from the Father is focused on His Son. That has always been the case in eternity. The pleasure the Lord Jesus has given to the Father during His life on earth was one more reason for the Father to love Him. You can read that in John 10: “For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again” ( ). By this the Lord Jesus was referring to the work that He would accomplish on the cross. There He would glorify the Father magnificently. That was another reason for the Father to love Him. And in this One, the Beloved by the Father, we are blessed. Regarding this, we find a beautiful picture in the Old Testament. You can read about the burnt offering in Leviticus 1 ( ). That is a picture of the Lord Jesus in His full devotion to God. In Leviticus 7 it is said: “Also the priest who presents any man’s burnt offering, that priest shall have for himself the skin of the burnt offering which he has presented” ( ). Here you see in a picture about what we read in this letter. The priest receives the skin of the burnt offering with which he may clothe himself. This is what happens with the believer. The priest is the picture of the believer who is telling God what the Lord Jesus has done for Him – that is what we now understand by ‘offerings’. The believer who does this may know that he has taken into favor in the Beloved. So, when the Father sees us, He sees the Lord Jesus. Now read Ephesians 1:5-6 again. Reflection: Why did God want you as son?

‏ Ephesians 1:5-6

Predestined

Eph 1:4 is about the position we now have before God. We can stand before God without hesitation, because He has made us fit for this position. He no longer sees anything in us that is contrary to His nature, which is light and love.

Eph 1:5. This verse goes a little further. It deals with how we relate to God. It is a relation of sonship. Also for this purpose God has “predestined” us, also from before the foundation of the world. You may speak of a ‘predestination’.

While ‘pre’ looks back, “destined” makes us look forward. There we see the purpose of Gods plan: He wanted us as sons for Himself. The word “adoption” also appears in Romans 8 and 9 and Galatians 4; it means ‘to put as son’ (Rom 8:15 ; 23 ; Rom 9:4; Gal 4:5). God has put you as son before Him. In that relation you stand now before Him. Incredible but true!

God is surrounded by myriads of angels and they serve Him, but in them He can never find the joy He found and finds in the Son. That joy He only finds in the Son and in those who are connected with the Son and who stand in the same relationship to Him as the Son.

Take note that this time it is not written ‘in Jesus Christ’, but “through Jesus Christ”. When it comes to the relationship in which we stand as sons before God, we are not equal to the Son. There will always be a distinction between Him, Who was and is the eternal Son, and us who were made sons because we were not. This distinction you also see in John 20 where the Lord Jesus says: “I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God” (Jn 20:17) and not: ‘I am ascending to our Father and our God.’

By ‘adopting’ us as sons God does much more than saving us from the distress we lived in because of our sins. Regarding the latter, forgiveness would have been sufficient. But you know: here it is about the desire of God’s own heart and not about our distress. In order to fulfill that desire He ‘adopted’ sons. He accepted people into His family who were not entitled to anything, and made them sons before Him.

Apart from being son you are also a child of God. Being a child and being a son are different terms that both indicate a specific relationship to God. To be a ‘son’ you do not have to be mature; from your conversion you are both a child and a son. To be a child of God indicates that you are born of God and have received His nature. In sonship we see the desire of God to have fellowship with His children. You can rejoice with your children, but with your son you also talk about certain matters. Sonship is about sharing the same interests. That is what God thought of when He adopted us as sons.

When He did that, He acted “according to the kind intention [literally: good pleasure] of His will”. This is another beautiful expression that indicates how God came to this action. If He did that just because He wanted that, it would only have emphasized His sovereignty, but then His inner motive would have remained hidden. That’s why “the good pleasure” is being connected to His will. It shows the joy with which God accomplished His will.

A wonderful example of this you can find in the Gospels. There you hear more than once: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased” (Mt 3:17 ; Mt 17:5). In this statement you hear how pleased the Father is about Him. The Father was pleased because the Lord Jesus, as the only Man on earth, perfectly did what He desired. Regarding this, the Lord Jesus said: “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work” (Jn 4:34). So the motive of the Father’s action was the pleasure that He had in the Lord Jesus.

Eph 1:6. His purpose was: “The praise of the glory of His grace.” Not just ‘His grace’, but “the glory of His grace”. His grace would already have become visible by forgiving us our sins. We deserved judgment and hell. Now that He does not allow that to happen, but saves us from that, we should therefore praise and honor Him forever and ever. But as you have seen, He had a much higher plan with us. We can be with Him as sons. Therefore it is no longer only ‘His grace’, but “the glory of His grace”.

Herewith closes the first part of the Eph 1:1-14. The part that now follows shows what God did to give us this wonderful position before Him and what the consequences of this position are for the future. This part ends with Eph 1:12, again with “the praise of His glory”.

Until now you have heard about the plan of God. In the part that follows Paul shows which steps God took, so to speak, to implement this plan. The first step is "which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved”, which also can be translated with “wherein he has taken us into favor in the Beloved”. This is just another wonderful expression. To be ‘taken into favor’ means to ‘be made pleasant’. It is about having favor in which we stand before God (Rom 5:1).

You and I are not pleasant in ourselves. We have become pleasant because God looks at us in His Son, to Whom is being referred here by the significant word ‘Beloved’. It is not said ‘in Christ’ or ‘in Him’ as in the previous verses. That would not be sufficient here. It is not about the position that the Lord Jesus has before God. No, it is about Who the Lord Jesus Himself is before God.

The word ‘Beloved’ shows how much the Lord Jesus is the precious object of God’s affection and pleasure. All love from the Father is focused on His Son. That has always been the case in eternity. The pleasure the Lord Jesus has given to the Father during His life on earth was one more reason for the Father to love Him. You can read that in John 10: “For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again” (Jn 10:17). By this the Lord Jesus was referring to the work that He would accomplish on the cross. There He would glorify the Father magnificently. That was another reason for the Father to love Him. And in this One, the Beloved by the Father, we are blessed.

Regarding this, we find a beautiful picture in the Old Testament. You can read about the burnt offering in Leviticus 1 (Lev 1:1-17). That is a picture of the Lord Jesus in His full devotion to God. In Leviticus 7 it is said: “Also the priest who presents any man’s burnt offering, that priest shall have for himself the skin of the burnt offering which he has presented” (Lev 7:8). Here you see in a picture about what we read in this letter. The priest receives the skin of the burnt offering with which he may clothe himself.

This is what happens with the believer. The priest is the picture of the believer who is telling God what the Lord Jesus has done for Him – that is what we now understand by ‘offerings’. The believer who does this may know that he has taken into favor in the Beloved. So, when the Father sees us, He sees the Lord Jesus.

Now read Ephesians 1:5-6 again.

Reflection: Why did God want you as son?