Observation: Paul's introduction to the church in Ephesus twice mentions the idea of "predestination". He states that the Lord "predestined us" for adoption into the family of God through faith in Jesus, and here that those who "were also chosen" are predestined to bring praise and glory to Jesus. This, of course, illudes to the difficult topic of ... free will, and the possibility that some people are destined by the Lord's own plan to accept Jesus. The uncomfortable corollary to this is that anyone who does not believe in Jesus - and thus cursed to eternal damnation - was not pre-selected by the Lord and therefore their curse is not a result of their rejection of Jesus, but rather that Jesus rejected them before they had a say in the matter.
That is exactly the way satan wants people to think about this word "predestined". It becomes a reason for non-Christians to reject faith, as it sounds like they have been rejected by God first ... and who would want to believe in a divine entity that rejects them before they even existed. However, this is absolutely not what Paul is talking about. Paul is not talking about predestination in terms of a decision about faith. Rather, Paul is talking about predestination in the context of time and place.
The early Christians - like the ones in Ephesus - were predestined to exist in the first century AD, in order to be the ones who would first accept Jesus, and spread the gospel through the Roman empire. As Paul even says, they were predestined to be the ones who first put hope in Christ, to create the foundation for praise and glory to continue to future generations.
Individuals within the timing of the first century had a choice when they heard the good news of The Way. They had free will to accept or reject the message. However, the context of when and where they heard the gospel was determined by their lifespans, located in the largest unified empire in history. These people were destined to hear the news through traveling apostles that were mostly Jews, some of whom had seen Jesus first-hand and some who understood the Messiah directly within the context of the scriptures and prophesy. They were destined to form communities that would ultimately oppose the Greek and Roman system of gods, and the concept of the godship of Caesar. They were destined to receive letters as a form of teaching from experts, and then to preserve those letters so they could be shared for generations, over millennia.
Choosing to believe in Jesus was their free-will choice. What that choice would mean in terms of interaction with society was predestined by their time and place.
Application: I have free will to choose to follow Jesus, and that is a choice I absolutely make. I believe in Jesus as the Christ and Messiah, savior and Lord. However, what I am then called to do by faith is very much based on the fact I live in what must reasonably be understood to be the 'end times'. It is a timing that involves unique circumstances involving everything from AI-powered digital experiences, to open acceptance of identity and gender confusion, to global real-time communications placed in the hands of (effectively) everyone. I don't have a choice about the circumstances of my era.
As for the end times, there are some who think Jesus is returning this week. I sincerely hope so. I have not been overly obedient recently to his work. I have faith and a desire to be better, but I am also weary with the issues of this age. It would be nice for this to end. But if the end does not come this week, I will renew my work for the Lord in this time and place. I will seek more and more of the Holy Spirit, and by his strength I will find new work to do, as the Lord would call me.
I choose Jesus. I hope the Lord has predestined me to still do more for his kingdom on earth.
Prayer: Lord, I do pray this week, come Lord Jesus. However, if this is not the timing, may I be faithful in doing the work that you have already selected for me to do. Amen.
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