Chosen in Christ
God chooses all who are in Christ to be holy and blameless in his sight
For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. (Ephesians 1:4 NIV)
What an amazing blessing this is. To be chosen by God. Being chosen reminds me of high school P.E. The teacher would pick two jocks to lead teams. These ‘captains’ would then choose the rest of the class to be on their team. Invariably I would be among the last ones chosen. Understandably so, since I was not much of an athlete. But still, it did not do much for my self-esteem.
And that may be why I find this verse so meaningful. God choose me. Not because of my athletic prowess, or my intellectual ability, and certainly not because of my good looks or charm. And he chose me, not because he had a quota to fill to round out his team, but simply because he wanted me.
Chosen in Christ
There is a part of this verse that is easy to miss, although it is a major theme of Paul’s, especially in this passage. The words ‘in him’, or ‘in Christ‘ are easy to pass over. But to do so misses much of the impact of this verse. We are not chosen to be in Christ. We are chosen because we are in Christ. And we are included in Christ when we hear the gospel of our salvation and believe (Eph. 1:13).
Before the creation of the world, God chose us. Our color, gender, culture, accomplishments, potential, or anything else that we might identify with were irrelevant. He chose us because we would believe and be included in Christ.
And he chose us to be holy and blameless in his sight. The truth of the matter is that we all are far from being holy or blameless. But God chooses to see us that way. Again, not because of anything we have done. But because of what Christ has done. And because we have been included in Christ.
What a blessing to be included in Christ and chosen by God.
