What God Feels for You: Chosen and Adopted

Introduction

Before you even open your Bible, stop for a second. What does God feel when he thinks of you? Does he merely tolerate you because it's his job? Does he love you on the surface but not really care deep down? Many believers carry a quiet voice inside that whispers God puts up with them more than he loves them.

That's exactly the question Paul wants to blow apart as he opens his letter to the Ephesians. Right from verses 3 to 6, he lifts his hands like a rabbi blessing the assembly and shows you concretely what God has done for you, not what he thinks, what he has done. Because in the Bible, you know someone by their actions.

And what you're about to read isn't theory. It's a reality that can move you to tears if you receive it for yourself.

Outline of the Text

1. A Blessing Above All

Ephesians 1:3-14 forms one single block. Paul opens it with an opening prayer, a berakhah, that rabbinic blessing Jews would recite on the Sabbath day: "Blessed are you, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with his commandments and commanded us to light the Sabbath light."

Paul takes up exactly the same form: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places." (Ephesians 1:3)

This isn't a theological sentence to dissect with a pen. It's a priest lifting his hands, a rabbi proclaiming, picture Paul on a video call, blessing the church. A blessing is a transfer: a transfer in deed and in word. When you bless someone, you proclaim something praiseworthy over them.

2. How Do You Bless a God Who Needs Nothing?

Blessing God is easy to say. He is light, he is pure, without flaw, he holds your very breath in his hands. But saying that God has blessed us, that's a different thing entirely. Because we, rebellious humanity, aren't worthy. We aren't worthy in what we think, in what we do to others, or in what we fail to do.

So how can we bless God in return? Through himself. Because Jesus Christ transforms us and creates in us what didn't exist before, what is necessary, what is praiseworthy, what is beautiful. It's he who makes us able to bless him.

3. First Blessing: You Belong to Christ

Paul lists a whole string of spiritual blessings, but today we're stopping on the first one, maybe the most precious of all: you belong to God in Christ. And this belonging unfolds in three concrete acts.

4. He Chose You (verse 4)

"Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and without defect before him in love." (Ephesians 1:4)

Before there was light, before the Spirit hovered over the waters, you were already in his heart. It isn't because he knew you would come to believe. The text doesn't say that. It simply says: "in Jesus." There's no other reason given. The choosing belongs to God in his sovereignty, not to you.

This truth puts at ease those who love to let go of control, and unsettles those who love to hold onto it. As Walter Liefeld put it: "The words he predestined us do not imply that God chose some in order to condemn others. Rather, they show that God did not act without purpose, but had a destiny in mind for us."

God didn't choose in order to exclude. He chose to give you a destiny: that you would be holy, without defect, in his love. Through trials, through the way he lifts you up after you fall, through his Holy Spirit, he strips away everything that isn't right so that one day you will be his, before him, loved forever.

5. He Adopted You (verse 5)

"Having predestined us for adoption as children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his desire." (Ephesians 1:5)

The word predestination can be frightening. It doesn't mean you have no free will at all. It simply means God had a precise plan behind his choice. It's like writing a shopping list before heading to the store: you already know what you're going to do with the cream, the eggs, and the bacon, a beautiful quiche waiting at home. God, for his part, has already planned beautiful things for you, in a particular order and with a purpose.

As Max Turner puts it: "The primary thought is rather that God has eternally chosen a people in Christ (that is, us, the church), to be holy and blameless before him at the final judgment, and so to enter the full blessings of the messianic age of the new creation."

And the word "adopted" carries two powerful meanings: first, without him you're not part of his family. You belong to rebellious humanity. Second, this God adopts his enemies. Better still: he doesn't just tolerate them, he transforms them into friends, into children.

There's nothing in you that could earn this. That's why Paul writes "according to the good pleasure of his desire." Pure kindness on his part.

6. For the Glory of His Grace (verse 6)

"To the praise of the glory of his grace, by which he freely gave us favor in the Beloved." (Ephesians 1:6)

Why did he choose you? Why did he adopt you? For a celebration. A feast.

One day, you'll be together with every man and woman throughout history who put their faith in Christ. You'll hear the stories of Abraham, of David, of the great ones who went before us: how did this grace transform you? And that celebration doesn't start over there. It starts today, in every conversation, in every prayer, in every "thank you, Lord" that rises from your heart.

You might think: "Celebrating the glory of his own grace sounds a bit narcissistic of him." But if you demanded to be celebrated, that would be narcissism, because you'd love people to speak well of you. When God does it, it's something else entirely. This is the God who, the night before his crucifixion, got down on his knees and washed his disciples' feet. He is the greatest because he is the servant of all. Everything he has done throughout history, he did for us. So celebrating his grace isn't narcissism: it's a feast that has already begun and stretches all the way into eternity, because you have a Father who chose you and who loves you.

Key Takeaways

• We know God by what he does, not by what we imagine about him. Ephesians 1:3-6 lists his concrete acts toward you.
• You were chosen before the foundation of the world. Not because of who you are or what you would do, but in Jesus, by his sovereignty.
• This choice has a purpose: your holiness in his love. It isn't a choice of exclusion, it's a choice of destination.
• You were adopted out of pure kindness. God didn't merely tolerate you, he turned you from an enemy into a child.
• All of this so that the glory of his grace would be celebrated. A feast that begins today and stretches into eternity.

Personal Application

• When you think of God thinking about you, what's your first image? A God who tolerates you, a God who's disappointed, or a Father who chose you before creation?
• Is there an area of your life where you're still resisting God because you want to keep control? What would change if you believed he already has a good plan for you?
• Where does God actually rank in your daily priorities? Last? After work, your phone, your worries?
• When was the last time you took a moment to simply bless God, to proclaim that he is blessed, without asking him for anything?
• If you don't yet have faith, are you ready to receive the invitation being extended to you: to come and know his love?

Scriptures Cited

• Ephesians 1:3 · 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.
• Ephesians 1:4 · Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and without defect before him in love.
• Ephesians 1:5 · Having predestined us for adoption as children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his desire.
• Ephesians 1:6 · To the praise of the glory of his grace, by which he freely gave us favor in the Beloved.

FAQ

Does predestination mean I have no free will?

No. Ephesians 1:5 says God predestined, not that he erased your choice. The word means he set a precise purpose behind his election, not that he turned you into a robot. As Walter Liefeld noted, these words aren't meant to condemn others but to show that God has a destiny in mind for you.

If God chose me before the foundation of the world, isn't it because he knew I would believe?

The text doesn't say that. It only says this choice was made "in him," in Jesus. No other reason is given: it's God's sovereignty and his kindness. It's neither your past merit nor your future faith foreseen in advance.

Why would God want to celebrate his own grace? Isn't that narcissistic?

If a human did it, yes. But God revealed himself in Jesus, the one who washed his disciples' feet the night before his crucifixion. He is the greatest because he is the servant of all. Everything he has done, he did for you. Celebrating his grace isn't about showing himself off: it's about pulling you out of your small daily worries and inviting you into a feast that has already begun.