The Crowning Jewel of Redemption—Ephesians 1:11-12
“Also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:11-12 NASB)
When God created the world, man was the crowning jewel in all creation (Gen. 1:26-27). He made male and female in His image to reflect and display His glory. Mankind’s fall merely put this plan on hold it did not thwart it.
When Jesus came to redeem through His death and resurrection all that was stolen in the garden, He gave birth to the Church (Col. 2:18). The Church is the crowning jewel in redemption. In Ephesians 1 alone, Paul reminds us that the inevitable result of all of God’s actions is that He will be praised and glorified (Eph. 1:6, 12, 14). The Church brings glory to God, and this was part of His master plan. “His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Eph. 3:10-11).
As a result, we bring glory to God by aligning ourselves with His eternal purpose, which is to put our hope in Jesus and take our place in His Church: “His body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way” (Eph. 1:23).
Amazingly, because of what Christ did, we also obtain an inheritance, and this is a part of the spiritual blessings we have been given in Christ Jesus (Eph. 1:3). But this word inheritance has a double meaning, as it is used both to describe our inheritance (which is how most translations interpret this), but it also means we were made Jesus’s inheritance. The Church, the believing followers of Christ, have become Jesus’s portion or inheritance. We are incredibly valuable to Him, as evidenced by both being the crowning jewel in redemption and being assigned as His reward for redeeming humanity—this is incredible!
No wonder Paul calls the relationship between Christ and the Church a profound mystery (Eph. 5:32), Christ’s purpose has always been to “present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless” (Eph. 5:27). Then, in the end, wrap it all up and give it back to God (1 Cor. 15:24). What an incredible accomplishment!
Because of the immense weight of this, my prayer echoes that of the Apostle Paul for you, for me, and for the global Church, “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better. I pray also that the eyes and your heart may be opened and enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and His incomparably great power for us who believe” (Eph. 1:17-19a).