This whole first chapter of Ephesians is filled with confidence and hope, encouraging us with what God has done and is doing. Here, Paul wades into the hotly-contested realm of predestination, mentioning it twice. The Amplified says, “He foreordained us (destined us, planned in love for us) to be adopted (revealed) as His own children.” For verse 11, the Amplified says, “we had been foreordained (chosen and appointed beforehand) in accordance with His purpose.”
Now, the timid commentators say this is talking about the saints as a group, or the church in general, meaning that it was predestined only that there would be saints—that there would be a church. That is as far as they will go, and it is a very cautious way of looking at it.
But this view sidesteps what it says in verse 4. It says we were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world for the purpose of our becoming holy and without blame. Chosen means picking some and excluding others for this age. The apostle says this choosing took place before the foundation of the world. So, if we are going to be objective in our studies—which we should be—we must find an explanation from Scripture as to why verse 4 does not mean what it certainly appears to be saying.
I just want you to see there that God has been working this thing out—thinking about it, thinking about His purpose—before time began! Time began when God created the heavens and the earth, by which we keep time. And, maybe, in one sense we would say that time did not begin until God created Adam. Then time became important. (Time does not mean the same thing to God.) But God has been thinking about the purpose that He is working out in our lives since before time began.
That is what He is working toward, making us all one in Christ and that we could all be glorified in Him, as part of Him.
