God Chose in Advance

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world.” (Ephesians 1:3–4)

God foreknew us, and, on the basis of His foreknowledge, He chose us. You are not where you are because you made the choice; you are where you are and who you are because God made the choice. That truth makes a world of difference to your attitude toward yourself and your situation, both of which were initiated by God. You did not set your life in motion; God did.

God not only foreknew us, but He also predestined us. Some people are afraid of the word predestined and what it implies. I want to suggest to you that it merely means that God arranged, in advance, the courses that our lives would follow. As Paul stated in Romans 8:29, “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined.” He worked it all out in advance.

Then, in Ephesians 1:11, Paul wrote:

“We have obtained an inheritance [in Christ], being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will.”

This assurance should give you security. You have been predestined; the course of your life has been arranged in advance by the One who works out everything in the way He plans it. He works all things according to the counsel of His own will.