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In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will\u2014\u2026 (Ephesians 1:5)

Following pretty closely on the heels of God\u2019s choosing grace, we find the next verb of \u201cpredestined.\u201d \xa0Now, we can get hung up with this idea of predestination. \xa0It can give us some reservations. \xa0If everything is predestined, do we still have free will? \xa0What about all the bad things that happen in this world? \xa0 \xa0

John Calvin suggested that the doctrine of predestination was not to be taught to those who were young or new to the faith, but only those who had experienced more of life with God. \xa0The Canons of Dort suggest the same in Point I, Article 14 when they say \u201cthis teaching must be set forth with a spirit of discretion, in a godly and holy manner, at the appropriate time and place, without inquisitive searching into the ways of the Most High.\u201d

While our Reformed tradition and Paul in more of his writings, including here in Ephesians 1:5 claims that God has \u201cpredestined us for adoption,\u201d the fact of the matter remains that God has not revealed to us the intricate details of how this history will unfold. \xa0Most things remain hidden in the mystery of God\u2019s will and are beyond our searching out. \xa0The life that we live, therefore, remains a life in which we must make wise and virtuous choices given the reality before us, speak loving and gracious words, and commit ourselves to hopeful, faithful action trusting in God to work out his purposes in his time and in his way.

While we may not know the path our lives will take though, what the doctrine of pre-destination does tell us is that our life has a \u201cdestination.\u201d \xa0God does not act randomly or impersonally. \xa0He does not merely choose\u2014he also gives a direction, a purpose, a meaning to the lives of those he chooses. \xa0He gives them a destination. \xa0And that destination is \u201cadoption to sonship through Jesus Christ.\u201d \xa0Our destination is the family and Kingdom of God. \xa0

Through God\u2019s choosing, we belong to this family and Kingdom. \xa0It is a gift. \xa0But we\u2019re not fully there yet either\u2014the kingdom has not fully come, nor are we yet fully at home with God in his family\u2014and so it is also a destination. \xa0Our adoption is both gift and destination. \xa0As is the Kingdom. \xa0And so, through our works of faith, hope, and love we become more fully who we are. \xa0We draw nearer to our destination even as that destination of the Kingdom becomes more fully revealed to others through us. \xa0

One other thought. \xa0This word \u201cpredestined\u201d is derived from a word meaning boundary\u2014the outer limits of where we can roam. \xa0Peterson likens it to a fence line on the prairie that gives a start and end point to a field and thus to a farmer\u2019s work. \xa0Otherwise, without that boundary, one might get lost and swallowed up in the endless seas of grain. \xa0

Without boundaries, we can easily get lost in a sea of choices and decisions and so become paralyzed, anxious, and fearful. \xa0But God\u2019s predestining work in our lives narrows the field of possibility, gives us an identity and a name\u2014His own\u2014and gives purpose and direction to our days. \xa0In the seas of endless choices that stare us in the face everyday from our devices about who we can be and what we should do, God\u2019s gift of predestining love seems to me like good news indeed.\xa0

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21).

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