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.
As we know, names are very individual. There are specific names written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, and this says they are written from the foundation of the world. This indicates that when Paul says we are predestined to adoption and predestined according to God’s purpose, he isn’t just talking about the church as a group. There are specific names written.
There is no point at which God can know a name this many years in advance, but one more year would be too much for Him. As we saw, He declares the end from the beginning. If He has purposed it, He will also do it. God demonstrated His foreknowledge with Cyrus, and there is no scriptural explanation for why He could not also choose some from the foundation of the world and write their names in His Book. He works all things according to the counsel of His will, and His foreknowledge is beyond our comprehension.
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.
