There is a powerful truth that I want to share with you from Ephesians chapter 1:3-14. It is something that has deeply impacted my heart. As you read this passage, I encourage you to take it slowly, for it holds a profound revelation of God’s grace and purpose for us:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:3-14).

A lot of theologians have talked about this passage as sort of the pinnacle of New Testament theology. It is a place in which the richness, depth and layers of God's plan that has been hidden from ages past, all the way to the end of time, is being put together in this passionate, beautiful monologue.

Actually, I would say that theologically, you can't get any richer than this. But also in terms of passion and emotion, you can't get any deeper than this. To me that is very fitting. I feel like theology and worship ought to go together because what is theology except the study of God? And when you study God, the only appropriate response to getting a glimpse of him should be falling on our faces and worshiping like the angels in Isaiah six, covering their faces as they stand before the throne of God, they cover their faces and they cry out, "holy, holy, holy is the Lord".

Why? Because every glimpse of him is overwhelming.

In verse 5 Paul says, “He predestined us for adoption to himself as sons, through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace”.

Grace is that unmerited favour whereby we are welcomed into the family of God. It is the gift of God. It’s not of yourselves. Nobody can boast about it. That’s what Christianity is about. It’s about God’s grace. Paul gives us a very specific picture of how it works, putting it in the context of adoption.

Adoption looks very different now from the way that it would have in the first century. We adopt children. You don’t generally adopt a thirty-year-old. But in the Roman Empire they did. It was very often a strategic, financial or political move to do so.

For example, there's a story from history of how Caesar Augustus was actually adopted as a grown man by Julius Caesar. And it wasn't because Augustus needed a home. It was a political, strategic move. 

When someone was adopted in that society, that adopted person received not only the same rights and privileges as the natural-born children, but in some cases they received more. When someone was adopted in that society, the person adopting them, by choice, was going to give them all the rights and privileges that came through SONSHIP.

Christ decided to receive you long before you had an idea of who He was. He chose you; He found you. He picked you for adoption to himself as sons, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace.

I want you to imagine the scene before time existed, before the world was formed, before any human being had ever drawn a breath of air.

Father God goes to the adoption agency of eternity, and he looks down through the corridors of time, and he sees you and he says, I want this one. He picks you out and he pulls you close to his heart, and he begins to dream of what he's going to make with you and what he's going to do with you. And he says, I'm going to take you and I'm going to set you apart and I'm going to have a purpose for you and, and I have a plan for you.

I'm going to call you out. I'm going to lift you out of the miry clay. I'm going to put your feet on a rock. I'm going to redeem you not with silver or gold or corruptible human currency. I'm going to redeem you with the precious blood of Jesus Christ as of a lamb without blemish or spot. 

Salvation is not just a get out of hell free card like a lot of Christians think it is. It’s a whole destiny of purpose. That’s what God’s grace is. It’s not just grace out of hell. It’s God’s grace and favour to come into his family.

There is a story I love to tell, about my son, London and our dogs. We had two dogs; one was a dachshund named Penny and then there was a little grey Labradoodle named Dallas.

It was late, and I needed to put the dogs away before bed. I called for them, but they did not come. So, I shouted a little bit louder and suddenly heard the pattering of footsteps upstairs. Now the dogs are not allowed upstairs. They had broken through the gate that’s supposed to keep them downstairs. I called for them again and soon Penny came down. But Dallas, was still nowhere to be seen.

I shouted for him again and again, risking waking up the whole house. And now I was starting to get angry. I went looking for him room by room, but I could not find him.

Finally, the last room at the end of the hall was London’s room. By the time I got to London’s room, I wanted to discipline that dog that was breaking all my rules and now defying me, but as soon as I opened the door, I saw the dog curled up in bed next to London.

The moment that I saw Dallas curled up at my boy’s feet, every ounce of anger fled away. Knowing how much London loves Dallas, I never could have snatched him out of London’s bed in anger - that would’ve hurt London more than Dallas. In some sense I saw them as one. Dallas became the beneficiary of the enormous favour that my son has in my eyes. Dallas is a dog. But in that moment, he was imputed the favour of a son.

The Bible says God is angry with the wicked every day, "God is a just judge, And God is angry with the wicked every day." (Psalm 7:11). But when sinners flee to the feet of Christ, the Father sees them as one. They become sons through their connection with Christ, they belong to Jesus and become the beneficiaries of Christ’s favour with the Father because of Him.

That’s grace. That’s adoption. But it doesn’t just say that God has adopted us because of his glory. It says in verse 6 that we are adopted as sons "to the praise of his glorious grace". What does that mean? It means that your life and all that God has done in you and through you, it is not really about you, it’s about Him.

It’s all done to resound to the praise of His glory. At the end of the age, when all is said and done, when Christ returns and the elements melt with a fervent heat and there is a new heaven and a new earth, all of what has happened will culminate to the praise of His glory.

Throughout all human history, there have been times where people have found themselves in places where they have said, “God, what are you doing? I don’t understand this!”, but here’s the promise. There is a moment of revelation coming when everything’s going to be turned back on its right side. And when it’s turned, and you see what God has been working on, it’s going to overwhelm you with praise.

There is a painter I know who paints upside down, which I find astounding. He will take a blank canvas, and he’ll start painting. At first, it doesn’t look like anything. And the more he paints, the more confusing it is. But then at the end, at just the right moment, he takes the canvas, flips it over, and there’s this moment of amazement when you say, “wow, it’s better than I ever imagined!”

When he paints, he doesn’t just start throwing paint on a canvas and see what happens. He starts with the end in mind. He begins with the vision of the final product, and he works backward from there. And every stroke is on purpose. You might not understand it yet but just wait.

God’s going to turn that script right side up, not upside down. And when you see what He’s been doing in your life, it’s all going to make sense. There’s not one stroke out of place. He hasn’t done one thing frivolously or unintentionally.

Some people study theology, and they get proud of how much they think that they have figured God out. For me, it’s the opposite. The more I study him, the more I am amazed by him and I’m in awe. There is no one like our God. His ways are unsearchable, beyond discovering or distilling in a test tube. You can never break Him down to his component parts.

True theology should always lead to worship. True theology should always lead to praise. If it doesn’t, there’s something wrong with your theology. Because the more I see Him, the more I love Him, and I know it is the same for you too!