having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself,
— Ephesians 1:9 (NKJ)
What is the “mystery of his will”? The mystery of his will is Jesus. God sent his Son to become a human so that he could exchange places with us by taking our place on the cross. And in doing this, he became my sin, my sickness, my addiction, my fear and on and on. His blood redeemed me, bought me back and forgave me. He wiped your slate and my slate clean. God now holds nothing against us. He will never be angry with you or me again.
And Paul continues to say that Jesus has become our inheritance. Everything he has, is given to us. And it is a gift, not something we strive for or earn. Salvation is a free gift. Some beliefs say, “yes, but now you are on your own and must earn His favor and His blessings”. Nowhere does the Bible say this. Our good works are a result of what he has done for us. They don’t get us brownie points. We don’t need brownie points to be accepted by God. Paul says God lavished gifts on us because He loves us so much.
Does God want your good behavior or a relationship with you? Perhaps some of you saw the movie “The Forge” where the young man was a total mess until an older man became his mentor. Through the mentor’s love and example as well as his teaching, the young man stepped into his real identity – the man God created him to be. He was no longer angry or explosive, but respectful and obedient. He had a relationship with this man and felt his love and value. Good behavior came as a result of this relationship.
It is the same with our Heavenly Father – Abba. We step into our real identity and are able to receive our inheritance through a relationship with Him. Behavior follows. Religion always puts behavior first through the law saying, “you must do this and you must stop doing that”. This is not the way Abba reaches out to us. He loves you and wants time with you.
Paul says God lavished gifts on us. Lavished means over abundance. That shows how much He values us.
In the days in which we are living, there is a lot of fear, worry, anxiousness, panic attacks, etc. And the way we have the peace of God and joy in our lives is to “know” in our hearts how much God loves and values us. When we “know” how much we are loved and valued, we feel safe! And we are then able to love and value others.
“Dwelling in the heart of the Trinity”
He Chose You