Richard Craig, Author at GraceAndWorks - Page 42 of 60

This blog comes to you by my sister, Connie Willoughby. Connie is a 60 year Christian and attends the Waterview Church of Christ in Dallas, Texas. Enjoy the read.

Over the years on my walk with God I have studied the Ephesian letter many times. As I was preparing to lead my little neighborhood class in a study of Ephesians, a window of understanding opened to me that I want to share.

After Paul’s greeting, which is packed with important information, Paul praises God for the blessings received. He is referring to the spiritual blessings God has granted. These are blessings that effect the spirit or the soul of man. He defines three parts of this blessing: 1) We are chosen or called by God. 2) We are made acceptable to God through Christ. This is, of course, an act man cannot do on his own because he is a sinner. 3) The third part of the blessing is the removal of man’s sin. This is called redemption and is due to the sacrificial death of Christ and requires our acceptance.These three parts of the blessing given by God to man are the nuts and bolts of Christianity.

Ephesians 1:4-5 reads: For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ in accordance with His pleasure and will. These two verses are the open window of understanding I earlier referred to. They are among the most exciting verses I have studied.

We are all chosen or predestined as God’s adoptive children before God even created the world!!

I WAS CHOSEN (predestined) by God to be His adopted daughter before the world was formed—before the beginning of time!!

HOW EXCITING IS THAT??

In the past I have heard many Bible students stumble over the word, predestined, trying to figure out why one would be chosen over another.

In God’s reality, we are NOT chosen because one person is better than the other. It is NOT a matter of luck or reward. We are ALL chosen.

However, we learn in Romans 3:21 that mankind sins and Isaiah 59:2 tells us that man’s sinful nature separates him from God. If our fate ended here, we would all fall short. But, remember, before God created the world, He had a plan. That plan included offering man a way to be redeemed of his sin. God gave His Son as a sacrificial lamb that all might have the opportunity to live with Him as He had planned. Part of His plan was to give man free will. We have evidence of this part of His plan as early as God’s command to Eve in the garden of Eden (Genesis 2:16-17).

I rejoice that God has already chosen ME as His adopted daughter. All He requires of me is that I choose to believe, follow and obey His Son. When I’ve done that, I will receive the blessings promised me as His adopted daughter.

This is WIN-WIN!!!!!

Here’s the question, who do you want to be like? Who do you look up to? Why do you want to be like him/her? As I pondered this word and subject several ideas about role players/leaders came into my thought process. Maybe it is Mom or Dad that I want to be like or a brother or sister. Maybe it is a boss or co-worker. What about an athlete or coach? It could be a policeman/woman, fireman/woman, service man or woman. Could it be a teacher or preacher? Maybe an actor or possibly a good friend. We all have different interests and likes and the people we look up to, or want to be like, will vary greatly.

When I was in my mid teens, I had a preacher that I wanted to emulate and be like him. I watched what he did. I studied the methods he used. I started putting the ideas to work. I built sermons just like he did. I listened and observed how he taught his classes. His name was Al Tennant. As I got older in life, I used what I had learned from him. He became one of the most influential persons in my life. What I had learned from him in the way he taught became vital in my sales career. His way of teaching not only helped with relating to people but also in showing my product and why someone needed it. As I advanced in sales and became a sales manager the same teaching process that I had learned in my mid teens was still working into my 40’s-50’s and 60’s. He indeed was a valuable person to look up to, be like, and emulate. Thank you Al Tennant!!

I left one person for last on purpose. Jesus!! He was/is THE most looked up to person in my life. He is the one that I have tried to pattern my life after. Many times  I think Jesus gets put last in lives, when, indeed, He should be number one. In 1st Corinthians 11:1, Paul tells the church in Corinth to be imitators of him because, ” I am of Christ.” 3rd John verse 11 says to imitate good.

Back to the original question. Who do you imitate? The Bible teaches us to not be followers of men, but, to be followers of Jesus.