His Sons and His Daughters

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.” (Ephesians 1:3–6, NIV)

Paul here explained what was God’s eternal purpose even before creation: that we might become His children—His sons and His daughters. The only way that this could be achieved was through the substitutionary death of Jesus on the cross. When Jesus bore our sin and suffered our rejection, He opened the way for our acceptance. For that period alone, He lost His status as God’s Son so that we might gain that same status—as God’s sons and daughters.

I love the sixth verse, “To the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.” The word that is translated “freely given us” is a very powerful word. It is the same word used by the angel in saluting the Virgin Mary, “You who are highly favored” (Luke 1:28, NIV). It means that we have become the objects of God’s special favor. The New King James Version says that God “has made us accepted in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:6).

You must realize that Jesus bore your sin and rejection so that you might have His acceptance as one of His children.