Samuel D. High
sdhigh@aristotle.net
-----Original Message-----
From: Apostle Tom <pressingon@hotmail.com>
Sent: Fri, 7 Mar 2008 08:59:43 -0600
To: <pressingon@hotmail.com>
Subject: Morning Manna (Mar. 8); BP: Eph. 1:3-14; RBTTY: Mk. 11:1-18; Dt. 5-7
March 8 “Holy and Blameless”
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Heavenly places in Christ, according as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.”
Ephesians 1:3-4
It is His love that transforms us, not His will that forcibly conforms us.
Picture this if you will:
A parent has two children. He loves them both the same; yet, both respond differently to Him. One of them is boisterous and loud; the other quiet and reserved. One’s a risk-taker; the other a “rut-dweller.” And, one of them is strong-willed and seek-seeking, while the other is passive and pliable.
Although His love for them is the same, its application differs according to their response to it. In the case of the one who’s always on the go and seldom “poetry in motion,” he must be firmer—demonstrating “tough love.” For the other, his “job” is much easier, because this child more readily complies with his father’s wishes.
Does this mean he loves one more than the other?
No, not at all; it simply means he expresses it differently. And, the ultimate goal in both cases is to teach them to be honest, obedient, responsible, personally accountable, productive, etc.
Dear Pilgrim, isn’t this the essence of today’s Manna where Paul talks about the Heavenly Father having “chosen (Grk. ‘eklegomai’—‘to select, individual preference, put forth, determine ahead of time, etc.’) us in Him (Christ) before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love”?
Assuredly it is. Again, in order to properly understand this, we must view the word “predestined” as “predetermined”—i.e., that the Heavenly Father chose beforehand His course-of-action in light of what we would do. And, ultimately, His goal from the beginning is that we “should be holy and blameless before Him in love.”
What earthly parent is there who prays before his children are born that they be rebellious, good-for-nothing, belligerent “wild roots”? None, unless he/she is demented and demonic. Why, then, should we view the Heavenly Father any differently and interpret “predestined” as His deciding “before the foundation of the world” who would be saved and who would be lost?
That sounds more like a tyrannical, despotic dictator, doesn’t it?
Truly, the better (and right) interpretation is that of the type father pictured in the “Parable of the Prodigal Son and Rejoicing Father” (Lk. 15:11-24). Although he “gave the younger son up” to his wandering ways, he never “gave up” on him. And, when he “came to himself” (v.17) and returned home, the father readily received him and rejoiced (vv.20-24). May that same type love lead us to live “holy and blameless lives before the Father in love” today so others will see and praise Him (Eph. 1:6, 12).
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