It is important now more than ever to understand our identity.  We are blood bought; spirit-filled children of God. Ephesians Chapter 1 is full of descriptions that define Christians.  Paul was trying to explain to the church at Ephesus who they were in Christ.

Verse 4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

This verse says we are chosen.  It is easy to accept that we are chosen but take a moment to think about it. Christ the hope of glory, our savior, our father loved us so much that he made a choice to die for us.  He chose death to save us.  We are chosen.

5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,  Verse five says we are adopted.  The spirit of rejection comes from satan. It makes us feel unwanted like spiritual orphans.  It is a lie from satan that says, you are not really a son of God. God says he accepts us and makes us his children. We cannot listen to the attacks of the enemy on our minds. We are loved and precious in God’s sight. He wants us with him throughout all eternity.

6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved  Verse 6 says we are accepted. The enemy will make you feel rejected by people and tell you that you are so worthless that God cannot even love you.  Don’t believe the lies.  Believe the word it says we are accepted.

7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;  We are redeemed, which means to make up for a fault. Christ redeemed us from our sins. God sees our flaws and imperfections but ignores them because the blood of Christ covers us and says we are redeemed.

11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:  Verse 11 says we are heirs of a home in heaven. Satan tries to get us to give up and tell us the road is too hard.  Philippians says I can do all things through Christ.

13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, We are sealed with the Holy Spirit.  I think about this being like home canning food, the food is preserved from spoiling or rotting. God will keep our souls from corruption if we abide in him and stay in his presence.

Chosen, adopted, accepted, redeemed, heirs and we are sealed. All these things say that we are loved by God.  The God of the universe who created everything, LOVES US.  Take a moment to let that sink in, HE LOVES US. We should never allow the enemy to tell us that we are less than, worthless, useless, hopeless or any other “less” words.  Notice he takes good words and adds less, suddenly we are feeling bad about ourselves.

We should never wallow in self-pity or self-loathing even if we make a mistake and fall down.  Jesus is there to pick us up. The next time satan comes whispering his lies about who we are, we need to stand boldly and tell him he doesn’t define us. Jesus has redeemed us and he names us.  His opinion is the only one that matters.

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