The Trinity Present

The first twelve verses of Ephesians 1 show us the precious work that the Father, the Son and the Spirit have done on behalf of the believer. There we are told that the Father blessed us in Christ in the heavenly places, that he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, that he predestined us for sonship as his children through Jesus Christ, and that he made us accepted in Christ (v. 3-6). All this, before we had any awareness of what God was doing for us.

And all this is "in Christ". This little phrase appears over a hundred times in Paul's writings; and in this paragraph alone it appears eleven times. Nothing has been granted to us apart from Christ, because the Father's will is to concentrate everything in him, so that in everything he has the preeminence.

In this passage we have also the work of the Son of God. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. Redemption is deliverance as the result of a ransom; forgiveness, meanwhile, is obtained by redemption. In him we were also given wisdom to know the mystery of God's will. Without wisdom and spiritual intelligence we cannot understand anything from God.

What is the mystery of God's will? To gather all things together in Christ, or to gather all things under one head in Christ. All things have now been placed under the dominion of Christ. In Him we also have an inheritance; that is, he himself is our inheritance, the precious land. So we can say with the psalmist: "The inheritance that is ours is beautiful" (16:6).

And what do we have of the Holy Spirit? We have the seal, the guarantee of possession, the certificate of authenticity, and the down payment on the full inheritance. Thus, as someone has said, the Father plans (v. 3-5), the Son executes (v. 6-12), and the Spirit applies the above in the hearts of believers (v. 13-14). Wonderful conjunction of favors!

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