Welcome in our next lesson in the study of the letter to the Ephesians. And today we would like to turn to verse 4 of our first chapter. There we read, Just as He choose us in Him before the foundation of this world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. What is the core meaning of this verse? And I just would like to read the verse once more, but leave out some parts. And the meaning, I think, is this. Just as He chooses us, that we should be before Him. God has no need of anything. There’s nothing where He’s not satisfied. He is enough for Himself. There is nothing that where God says, well, if I had this, then this would be enough. Then I’d be satisfied, that is the case for us. But God doesn’t need anything and He doesn’ t need anybody to be happy. But God is love. God has light, and there is no darkness in Him. We will come back to that in a bit. But, God, is Love. And love, that is something that we read in 1 John 4, verse 8, also verse 16. Love wants to show itself. And as such, God wanted to have objects that He can show His love to. God didn’t want to stay alone in heaven. He wanted people before Him in His presence. And that is what we learn here. He wanted to have fellowship with us in an atmosphere of holy love. That was in the heart of God and that was something that he purposed in himself before the foundation of the world. We will come back to that in a bit. But you see, this amazes me. I mean, we are used to it. If we think about John chapter 14, We hear the Lord Jesus Christ speak about going to prepare a place for us and that He would come again to receive us unto Himself, that where He is we also may be. And we know He talks about His Father’s house. And there is a place for all those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, who can say, God, through the lord Jesus, Christ is also now my father. And henceforth, there’s also a Place for me in The Father’s House. There are many mentions, many abodes. You see, the word is here. The idea is that we abide there. We stay there on this world. we are not permanently here and even on the world we have to move. sometimes quite a lot of times, right? But there we will stay, we’ll abide there, never to leave that place again. We will enjoy God through the Lord Jesus. And we’re so used to that. When the lord Jesus came on earth, when the son of God became man and he revealed that to his disciples, that was not the first time that thought occurred. Now we have to go back into eternity past, if you allow me to call it that, and there we’ve got God, God alone, there’s nothing else that exists, only God exists. And then there is that will of God in which he delights, by which He glorifies Himself, this purpose that He has in Himself. That will God which has purpose in himself to have people before Him. And that is at a point of time, is really not the best word, but in that eternity past, nothing else existed. This universe did not exist. This earth did NOT exist! You and I did no exist, sin did NO exist and yet God thought actively about individuals to have them before HIMSELF. What a God that is! And then the Lord Jesus Christ came and He revealed that to those who believe in Him. And those also today who believed in the lord Jesus christ, they can know that. The Lord Jesus Christ has opened that place to us. But we will also see that there is something else that is necessary for us to go to heaven. I will not answer that now, but there’s this thought I would like to put before us that it is amazing how God thinks about us, about individuals. not only in salvation, because Ephesians 1.4 is not about salvation. It’s not sin. That’s something that we often bring into this verse, but I would like to keep it out. But that God thinks about us and that He wants to save us, that he wants us to forgive, is amazing. Then, what could He have done? He could have made us like angels. Those beings that are before Him and that serve Him, and are in His presence. But He didn’t do that. He could have put us back in a situation like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, something like that, that would have been amazing also. That was not in God’s heart to make you and me, but in his heart was that He wanted to make you and me, everybody who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, to be children of God and to have us before Himself. And that is what is in God’s heart and that should bring us to our knees and really worship Him. that we realize what kind of God we have to do with, that purpose, something like this in his heart, fully independent of the question of sin. Yes, God knew that he would sin against him and God had this plan of salvation. But you see, the questions of sins that needed to be answered according to God’s standards, according his nature, That all needed to happen. But it’s not everything. There is something that goes much beyond that. Way beyond. And that is what we see here. That God had something in his heart, that he purposed in himself, That he wanted to make you and me. He wants you, and those who believe in him, before him. Those blessings have to do with heaven. They have do do, with glory. Now let us go a little bit more into detail and look at some things more in detail. And we read, just as He, I explained the He already, that is our God, the Father, choose us. Now God choose, He elected. That is something that God actively did. It is an active work that God did in sovereign grace. He does not have to give account of that. It’s just where we see God being active. it is not that god knew that we would believe in him and therefore he choose us. No, he chose us and, therefore, we believed in Him. That is the order here. And I don’t want to go deeper into the topic, but I think what is necessary that we are very careful here, because what often happens when we talk about predestination and choosing or election, we confuse two topics, two sides. And the one side is God’s sovereign dealing with man and the other side is man’s responsibility and that is something that we have to keep apart because that’s what scripture does. God is sovereign and he acts as a sovereign God as he pleases. And no one can stand up against him and say I’m not okay with that or that is not righteous or whatever. No, God is God and he acts as such in sovereign grace. Grace it is, because none of us has deserved what God gives to us. But the other side is man’s responsibility and what often times happens that we bring those both sides together and we try to harmonize them in our little human logic. And what usually happens is that somehow we go beyond scripture. If you want to name names, like we have Calvin, we are Arminius, right? And usually people, they ask, are you a Calvinist? Are you an Armenianist or whatever? I’m neither nor. But I want stick to scripture because Calvin was only partially right, but then he wanted to harmonize those. two sides and that is where he went beyond scripture and the same happens with Aminus. He also wanted to harmonize the two things and he also went Beyond scripture. But I think we need to accept that I have no doubt that in the mind of God there is a perfect harmony in these things, but there are limits to our human reasoning. There are limit to human logic. Logic is the gift of god, there’s limits. And I think here we find one of those limits, when it comes to the triune God, that’s another limit. When it come to person of the Lord Jesus Christ that He was God and man in one person, then there another limits These are just some examples where we just have to realize and acknowledge we are human and there are limits to our logic, to reasoning. But here we have a God. It is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who actively chooses people. and He chooses them that their minds should be holy and blameless before Him in love. We have already seen that He did so before the foundation of the world and that once more shows us that what we see here in verse 4 has nothing to do with sin or salvation. It is something that goes way beyond that and is totally independent of that question of salvation God was not surprised by sin, God had a plan for that But as I said earlier, He did not only save us. He didn’t bring us back to the state of Adam and Eve, no. There was the purpose in his heart to have us before him. But this is something now that we need to ask ourselves. How is that possible? That you and I who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ now can be before God? A God that is light and there is no darkness in him? How’s that possibly? Well, nothing less than his nature is necessary to be in his presence, to before God in heaven. Yes, sometimes we say, what does it take? Who goes to heaven? Well, you need to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. You need forgiveness. That’s not wrong. But what it really takes is that we are born again, that you receive something that is of God, where He is the originator. Something that He gives of Himself. God does not only do something for us, forgiveness or justification. He does something in us. When we believe the in Lord, Jesus, Christ, there’s the new birth. And in new the birth, We receive His nature. We don’t become divine, but we receive his nature which is holy and blameless. That is what we see here in this verse, which corresponds to what 1 John chapter 1 verse 5 said, that God is light and there is no darkness in Him. That is necessary, and that is something that we possess already, this new nature that God has given us. That’s necessary. Nothing less would do. And God made us fit for His presence. But then it also says that, we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. You see, God has created us as beings that are capable of receiving love and showing love. That is who we are. And also God is love. Don’t you think that something would be missing if we were only chosen to be holy and without blame before Him? No, it is to before him in love! Heaven will be filled by this pure, holy love that we will enjoy to the fullest, where we’ll enjoy God Himself through the Lord Jesus Christ. He has chosen us to be before Him, wholly and without blame in love. And you see, so many people in this world, they are craving for love, People want to be loved, they want enjoy love, and they go out and want find it. And yet the more they try to find in different places, through different activities, the most they get stricken into sin. Because they are running away from the God who is love. I know this term is many times misused in our modern Christianity. We deal with that way too lightly. But nonetheless, it’s true. God is love. And if you want to experience true, divine, holy love, we need to come to God. They are capable of enjoying this divine love. They have fellowship with God already. And the outcome is joy. That is what John writes. He says, truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. These things we write to you that your joy may be full. You see, often times we ask ourselves, what will it be in heaven? Well, here we get one glimpse of it. That we will be in the presence of God. We will stand in light of the God and it will not condemn us. But there is no trace of sin anymore. And we in an atmosphere, as I said before, of holy love, enjoy God, and there will this joy to the fullest which cannot be destroyed, which can not be taken away. That is just maybe a feeble try to explain what heaven will be. But here in this world now we have gone to the future that is ahead of us, but this Bible verse goes into the into the eternity past where we see God and He has chosen us before the foundations of the world that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. What a God we have to do with. May it really be that that the Spirit of God can make us to grasp more the depth of this Bible verse. And as we study this by verse and what blessings we possess already, that we may bow down before God our Father to worship Him, because He has purposed such things in His heart to give to us, to enjoy for us. That we can enjoy Him and May it also be that this has an impact for us practically as we go through this world, that we long more to have fellowship with Him even now and that long for this moment where we will be in front of Him, in His presence, before Him as We have read and where We will enjoy God to the fullest.