1. What does it feel like to be loved by God?
2. Why would someone lay down their life for you? Love

Love will allow us to endure many heartaches and pains.

Love is the power that helps us to overcome the evil of this world.

Thought: We cease to exist as a person when love is not present in our lives.

So…In love, God did something wonderful.

“He predestined us for adoption into his world, his family.”

1. What does that mean?

Here is the key to knowing this truth.

• Remember that Paul is addressing the church at Ephesus
• He is reminding them of the wonder of what Jesus did for them on the cross
• He wants them to marvel at God’s grace and mercy

This thought of predestination is not meant to look at the discretion of God’s love, but instead, look at the magnitude of his love.

Because of our fallen position, God had the right to not return his love to us.

In his love he decided to extend his mercy and grace to us

We didn’t and still don’t deserve his mercy and grace.

This work of mercy and grace was in accordance with his pleasure and will.

It results in us praising him for his glorious grace.

Everything is for God’s glory

We deserved nothing

He gave us everything in Christ

We deserved to be alone

He gave us a family to be a part of

The love of God!

STOP!

Do you understand what God has done?

His mercy saved us!

His grace accepted us!

Love paid the price for our admission, our adoption into His family.

“Walking in Grace”

In the ancient world the family was based on a Roman law called, “The Father’s power.” The law gave the father absolute authority over his children so long as the father lived.  He could work, enslave, sell, and if he wished he could pronounce their death sentence.  Regardless of the child’s age, the father held all power over personal and property rights.  Adoption was a common practice to ensure that a family would not become extinct by having no male children.  When a child was adopted three legal steps were taken.

• The adopted son was adopted permanently.  He could not be adopted today and disinherited tomorrow.  He was forever secure as a son to the adopted family.

• The adopted son immediately held all the rights of a biological son.

• The adopted son completely lost all rights in his old family.  He was looked upon as a new person, so new that old debts and obligations connected with his former family were cancelled out and abolished as if they never existed.

Paul’s intention was to teach the church that when they came into their salvation, God adopted them into his family and they became children of God.  Romans 8:15 states, “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’” (NIV)

Adoption meant that the believer was taken out of their old family. A  family of sin, death and darkness and were now brought into a family where there was love, light, joy and happiness.  In this family there would be acceptance, rights and privileges that they had never experienced before.  Somehow, someway, sometime back, God, through his Son Jesus, made a way for the believer to be a part of his family.

Paul was showing that God had made a way for the believer to find their salvation in Christ.  God was not satisfied with their position of sin.  He was not happy with what they had become because of the fall of man.  He was not going to stand idly by and watch them grow up in a dark, evil and death-filled family.  The beautiful thing about this whole process was it was in complete accordance with God’s pleasure and will.

(Soft music as I read Hebrews 13:20-21 KJV)

Now may the God of peace, 

that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, 

that great shepherd of the sheep, 

through the blood of the everlasting covenant,

Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, 

working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, 

through Jesus Christ; 

to whom be glory for ever and ever. 

Amen.