The letter to the church at Ephesus was written to a community of Christ followers by Paul. Paul was writing to shape their identities in the gospel. He was so excited about writing to them about Jesus that he started his letter with a single, huge, sentence that contains seven verbs: blessed, chose, destined, bestowed, lavished, made known, and gather up.
The third of seven verbs that explode the opening sentence in Ephesians is “destined” or “predestined”. Check it out here…
…he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will…
Ephesians 1:5, ESV
What a remarkable thought! We were not simply chosen, but we have a destination, a place, a purpose in the world. The word that the ESV translates “predestines” looks like this in Greek, προορίσας. It’s a real word, not a word that has been lost to antiquity. If you were at the airport in Greece you would see this at your gate telling you where the plane was heading.
In Christ, we have been destined to be the Father’s sons and daughters. All of this is according to the purpose of his will.
How does knowing that, in Christ, you have a purpose and place in the world? That you’re not simply lost in space to figure it all out on your own?
Originally published at the Antioch Movement on September 16, 2015
The post “Destined” appeared first on Daniel M. Rose. It was written by Daniel M. Rose.
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