Praising the Father (Ephesians 1:3-6)
The form of praise that Paul uses here is similar to what would have been said to God by a devout Jew, with the obvious difference that Paul’s statement of praise is Trinitarian in focus. Paul can praise God in this way because the Messiah has come and revealed profound truth about the living God. His statement of praise divides into three, with the first mentioning activities by the Father, the second activities by the Son, and the third activities by the Spirit. Of course, each of the divine persons does a lot more than what is mentioned here.
We can also see that whenever Paul comes to the close of referring to what each divine Person does, he stresses that it was done for the praise of the Father’s glory, although he uses different expressions when he says this. This is a reminder that in the plan of salvation the goal ultimately is for the Father to be glorified, as Paul makes clear in a wonderful manner in Philippians 2:11.
We should note how Paul describes the Father in verse 3 – he is described in relation to Jesus as the exalted Messiah. When we think of Jesus, we find that there is a lot to think about. That is the case, firstly, because he is God; and it is also the case, secondly, because he is God and man. Sometimes, he is referred to in his essential deity; at other times, he is referred to in his role as mediator between God and humans. I would suggest it is the second way that is used here. Whenever we speak of Jesus we should have in mind that he is the One who represents God to his people and them to God.
As the mediator, Jesus has a special role from the Father. It may be that Jesus refers to his role on the day of his resurrection when he informed Mary Magdalene that he was ascending to his God and her God and his Father and her Father. In a very special manner, this way of focussing on God the Father stresses the great plan of salvation, about which Paul then mentions various details concerning what the Father planned.
Blessed with every spiritual blessing
In this statement we see the security of our spiritual blessings. What Paul has in mind is literally all our blessings, whether they are past, present and future. He will mention some in his statement of praise, and we can see there that some are past, others are present and some are still future from our perspective. Those blessings are not stored in us, but in Christ our mediator, and he will dispense them to his people as required.
These blessings are experienced in the realm that Paul calls the heavenly places. This is not a geographical location, but a spiritual one. The heavenly places are mentioned several times in this letter, which suggests that the phrase meant something to his readers. Maybe Paul used it to explain spiritual truth when he was there. Or perhaps he is contrasting the valuable experience of the heavenly places with the vanity of what was given in earthly places to those who looked there for spiritual help.
Paul mentions two actions of the Father – election and adoption – and we can think about them briefly. It is sad that many Christians don’t consider those actions often because such a response deprives them of spiritual comfort that will flow from meditation on them.
Election
Paul mentions four details about election. First, it was an act of the Father. Jesus referred to this several times when he was on earth. For example, in John 6:37, he combines divine sovereignty and the free offer of the gospel when he says that all that Father gives to him will come to him, and him that comes to him will not be cast out. Another example was when Jesus rejoiced because God had hidden spiritual truths from the earthly wise and had revealed those truths to spiritual infants. And a third example is part of his prayer recorded in John 17 when he says to the Father that he gave a people to his Son.
Second, the Father chose them in Christ. This means that they were linked to Jesus from the onset, and since this onset never had a beginning, it also means that they have been eternally united to Christ. Of course, we cannot understand this, but then we are not expected to understand it. Instead we should rejoice in the reality of it.
Third, the Father chose them before the foundation of the world. The foundation of the world is another way of referring to Genesis 1. When we read Genesis 1, we could conclude that the work of creation was the first divine activity in connection with us. But it wasn’t. Before then, the Father had chosen his people. The fact that he chose them before the work of creation is a reminder that election, and salvation, is not an afterthought on God’s part to human rebellion.
Fourth, we are told why they were chosen by God the Father. His plan was that they should be holy and blameless before him. Perhaps we can focus on ‘before him’ before we look at the other features. It is amazing to think that the desire of the Father was for all his people to be in his presence together. Whatever else can be said about this, it has not happened yet. Some are in his presence in heaven and some are his people on earth. There are some on earth who belong to him but have not been converted yet. And there are some who are his people who are not yet born. The plan of the Father will be completed, but it has not been completed yet.
When all his people will be together in his presence, all of them will be holy and blameless. This is a reminder that at some stage they were unholy and blameable. Blameable implies that they were responsible to maintain something and failed to do so, which would be to live for his glory. Unholy means that they were not fit for his presence. Yet in his grace, his plan was to make them fit and blameless. The way he will do this is through the work of the Son and the work of the Spirit which Paul mentions later in his statement of praise.
In describing them as holy and blameless, Paul could be referring to the justification of believers because the righteousness of Jesus is reckoned to their account. But I suspect that he is referring to glorification when all God’s people will be in his presence totally perfect.
Adoption
Sometimes we confuse election and predestination or use the words to describe the same thing. Yet there is a difference. It can be put this way: election refers to the choice of them as persons by the Father and predestination refers to the role that the Father pre-planned for those he chose. It does not mean that there was a time-gap between the electing and the predestinating, but there is an order.
Having elected his people, the Father could have predestined them for a range of things. For example, he could have predestined them to live in different groups according to their racial differences or to whenever they lived in history. There would have been nothing wrong with him predestinating in those ways because he had the authority to decide. Since he had that authority, and since only he had the authority, we should note what he decided to do with those whom he had chosen.
When we do so, we see that what he had in his divine mind is truly amazing. It was his loving intention that all of them should be his sons. Love will do the best it can for the object of its affections. And we see that was the case with God the Father. He did the best that he could for those whom he had chosen.
It is likely that Paul is using the Roman custom of adoption here to illustrate what happens when sinners become believers. In the Roman custom, it was usually an adult slave who was adopted in order to become the heir of a prominent person. There could be various reasons why the prominent person did not have an heir. When a person was chosen as an heir, it was inevitable that it was a position suitable for one person, and one only. The heir could not share his place with others. Yet God does. In his adoption, sinners who believe in Jesus became sons of God. It is not just that they become family members, because one can be in an earthly family and not be the heir. In the divine family, all the members share the same inheritance as the perfect Son.
I suppose the inheritance is the new heavens and new earth. What it will involve cannot be told. We can use suitable illustrations such as Adam and Eve and their descendants being the heirs of the original creation, with the obvious exception that our inheritance cannot be lost. Whatever it will involve, we will share it with the King.
What response can we make to such an amazing expression of divine love? One way could be how we express our affection for and to Jesus. Here Paul calls him by the name Beloved. Whatever else is implied in that particular title, it involves love, and also the awareness that he deserves to be loved. It also suggests special love – a mother may love all children in the street, but it is her own that she will regard as her beloved.
We can also have a very high view of divine grace. After all, Paul says that it is glorious grace. He has mentioned two aspects of it – election and adoption. By themselves they say that his grace is glorious. And there are many other aspects. It is very surprising that Christians can get more excited about earthly matters than about the riches of salvation.
The Heavenly Father wants us to praise him because when we do we express what we think of his great mercy. It is never appropriate to speak of his mercy glibly or without delight. True thoughts of his mercy are always accompanied with gratitude and since mercy forgives it is always accompanied with joy.