10/24/26 Purpose in IAM

Ephesians 1:11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,

The 17^th week of the series we continue on what we have been teaching & hopefully you are seeing that each week generally builds on the previous week, & it unveils more & more the benefits & facts of being in Christ or in the Lord. The goal for the series is to present an understanding what can be had according to the authority of the word of God rightfully. These teachings are what can be yours through redemption in the blood of Christ, through the Holy Spirit & submission to the same.

Last wk. the assurance of the truth that in life we are bestowed Godly power to fuel us to do things on a grander scale in the strength of the Lord not in our own. This wk. we as stated will continue to build on what this means in everyday life & the truth of what we can expect in that. Here, the declaration is made that when you are in Christ you were chosen. This is the first word that leads to confusion so much it has divided schools of theology.

Jesus said in his ministry Matthew 22:14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.” The chosen word is eklektos chosen out of a personal preference. This is used to describe people who chose the Lord. Notice that. Who chose the Lord, this will be important here shortly. This is also tied to the word ekklesia for those who recognize that word. Here in Eph 1:11 the word chosen is inserted in because of a word derived from eklektos. V11 reads, “In him, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, having predestined according to purpose of the One all things working according to the counsel of the will of him.”

So it’s a bit choppy, but notice chosen it not properly used here. The “We have obtained” portion is the word eklērōthēmen the only time in scripture it is used & means assign or obtain an inheritance. The word chosen is not even in there. This means so far we have in him we have obtained. Then it moves to having been predestined, which is another word that has created confusion enough that some denominations strip the significance of salvation of Jesus on the cross and moves to God selecting some individuals for Paradise & some for hell. I do not want to digress into this but because this verse is so oft misused & misunderstood. You are a creature of God who has free will, you can choose this day who you will serve.

Now back to the verse, when we reflect to how the verse reads properly, we see this is about an inheritance, last week it was about an bestowing upon those in Christ the means to do his will, through his ability. Here again we look at purposes of the Sovereign we were given an inheritance according to the purpose of the One. Stop right there.

In Christ this means that we can expect something that comes from the One who we are submitting to for the purpose of serving his will every day, and notice how the verse in the original language concludes, according to the counsel of the will of him. So, let’s dig deep into that and conclude this weeks teaching.

The purpose of the Lord is going to be fulfilled for your life when you submit, in a verse that is very similar to Romans 8:28, according to the counsel, stop there. Counsel is a very keen word because if you retrace the steps in this series of being in Christ, we are called to submit as I have stated, to Holy Spirit. One of the purposes of Holy Spirit stated in wk. 3 is to counsel. The Holy Spirit has a purpose to inform you of the will of the Father once you are in Christ for his purposes to be achieved.

The translation in the NIV does not disclose the counsel portion, instead we get the purpose of his will. The purpose is disclosed through the counsel which is by Holy Spirit. Along the way to carrying out this will he makes all things working to the conformity or in the structure of the Lord, and we touched upon this earlier that does not omit us from having unfortunate things occur. There is something to be gained here. When you go through life asking the Lord not only what would you have for me to do according to your will, but what are you wanting me to learn from this, your circumstances take on a whole new meaning.

This is even more profound when you view it in the light of taking the last 2 wks. Worth of teaching into consideration. Obedience, has a payoff, despite the price we pay for such. I have taught before that the life of a Christian in the physical material world can be one of the most difficult things we could ever do in our brief time of living in the physical.

This means that as we are carrying out the will of the Lord, operating in his ability, That we are more than a vessel to affect the lives of others. It is through this that we are also effected because the Lord wants you to see, wants you to experience who he is. He wants you to understand his grace, his mercy, his miracle working power. He wants you to embrace his love, even when he leads us to the gates of our greatest nightmares & leads us through. And why?

If you are going to align with someone in this age. An age where trust is splintered, an age where the love of many is growing cold, he wants you to experience who he is and why he sent his Son to save you. It has nothing to do with what you can do for him, it has everything to do with experiencing him.