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Ephesians 3:14-19 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,

That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith;

Tthat ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth,
and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge,
that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

Day 12—What We Can Know about this Matter  of Predestination

Just about everyone who has some question about being saved eventually comes to the matter of predestination. It was a big question for me till I understood more of what Paul was saying when he spoke of our being chosen. The word predestination means “having a prior design.” This takes us back to when God designed us. He chose us in Adam. Here is that primal Word. And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness: and let them have dominion... Genesis 1:26a.

Simply spoken, God’s predestination for everyone of us is confirmed in what He said here. We note His exact words contain Our image and Our likeness. Would not the use of the plural word Our indicate that He was not alone?

Do we see the Lord Jesus in that Genesis verse? It does indeed seem that Paul believed this to be so. In Ephesians 1:5 He went on to tell of our being chosen. God chose us after He had predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will. In His Own good pleasure, He designed us from the beginning to be placed in His household as  sons and daughters, mature enough to receive our inheritance. We were created for that. Now, see this: all that God did—the creation and the redemption—was accomplished in Christ Jesus. Can He bring to completion in us what He has begun in us? Yes He can! In our hearts we know He can!

FATHER, that You held  us in Your bosom when You created Adam exposes to our hearts the great love You held toward us from the beginning. It was that love that drew me to Your side. You granted me repentance. You forgave the departure I made from You. That Your only begotten Son died for me—and not for me only, but for all the world—amazes my heart. Please set the rule of Your Kingdom strong in me. Seal me with the bond of that same love with which You made me and redeemed me.