Sunday, I preached from an amazing passage about our identity in Christ – Ephesians 1:3-14. The passage is about God’s marvelous grace to us, our identity in Christ and it is replete with reasons to worship Him. It is also difficult to miss the eleven letter heavy weight word: predestined. And… it is used twice!
I know some of you are eager to learn more and put further brain-power toward some study. Here are some passages and questions (and guardrails!) if you’re one of those hungry people.
Some guidelines:
Be a learner. The word “disciple” effectively means “learner”. You don’t have to have concepts nailed down immediately but its so fun to learn – especially to learn God’s Word because it’s so transformative!
Don’t be quarrelsome. Sunday during the sermon I mentioned “annoying conversations” I’ve been in about this topic and related heavier theological topics. A more appropriate description would have been “quarrelsome conversations”. Those are no bueno. Our goal is to understand and then flourish based on what we learn about God in His Word.
The Bible uses the word “predestined” in several passages. What are they?
To whom are the passages written and why?
Develop a Biblical definition of predestination.
How does knowing you are predestined affect your worship of God?
How does knowing you are predestined affect your own identity?
A huge question that coincides with predestination is: “Wait! Don’t I have free will?!” Yes! Take a look at the following passages from the same book that describe both. Then jot down some conclusions.
- Matthew 11:27 and Matthew 11:28
- John 5:40 and John 6:44
- Acts 13:48 and Acts 17:30
- Ephesians 1:4 and Ephesians 1:13
- 1 Timothy 2:4 and 2 Timothy 1:9
- 1 Peter 1:1-2 and 2 Peter 3:9
- Revelation 13:8 and Revelation 22.17
Here are some transformational fruits of knowing you’re predestined:
- Humility. Why?
- Worship. Why?
- Identity. Why?
- Comfort. When?
- Courage. How?
Pray this prayer with me: “Father, thank You for the magnificent way You have saved us through Jesus and thank You that our beholding of this great salvation never fails to amaze me!”
