January 4 I Wednesday

Genesis 10-12

Matthew 4

“For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight.”    —Ephesians 1:4

Our inheritance in Christ is something that was set before the creation of the world as the opening verse of this devotion tells us. Our chosen-ness is in Christ. Because we are in Christ, we are one of His chosen. Paul continues, “In love He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will” (Ephesians 1:4-5). When Christ becomes our Saviour, God becomes our Father. Since we are in Christ and Christ is the Son of God, we now share all the benefits of being God’s son.

       In Ephesians 1:6, Paul talks about God’s glorious grace which He has freely given to us in the One He loves. God’s grace has been given to us in Christ; His grace is something that we do not deserve. Then in verse 9, Paul goes, “He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ.” In other words, the outworking of His will is going to be in Christ, which again, Paul confirms: “In Him we were also chosen….And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:11, 13-14).

       As we read through the above verses, did we notice that they are all in the past tense? It is in Christ and it is done. In other words, it is not something to be done; it is already ours. We are invited at the outset of our Christian life to enjoy what God has done for us. That is why when we participate in communion, we are looking back to something done—the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ as our substitute to pay and atone for our sins.

       The invitation of the New Testament is to recognize that everything that we need is already ours by virtue of the fact that we are in Christ and He is in us. That is why we ought to know Christ personally, experientially, because we have in Him all the resources for everything God is calling us to be and to do. As we learn to trust God, we learn to obey because we have His presence and His sufficiency in every situation. The response to that is to rest in His strength, in His resources.

Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, thank You for the invitation to recognize that everything I need is already mine by virtue that I am in You and You are in me. I am grateful that I can rest in Your strength and Your resources.