3-6) How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He's the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son. 7-10) Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we're a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth. 11-12) It's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone. 13-14) It's in Christ that you, once you heard the truth and believed it (this Message of your salvation), found yourselves home free—signed, sealed, and delivered by the Holy Spirit. This signet from God is the first installment on what's coming, a reminder that we'll get everything God has planned for us, a praising and glorious life.

Now, maybe I missed the part where it says all of this will be ours if we can just make it through life, sin free. Or maybe Paul just understood through his relationship with Christ that it’s not about our deeds or misdeeds. Salvation and the forgiveness of our sin lies totally in the shed blood of Jesus spilt out on the alter of the cross for our sakes. Our only work in salvation, as mentioned by Jesus to His disciples in John 6:29 is this: Believe in Him who He sent. Put your faith in Jesus and the work He did on the cross for you and you too will be saved. It’s in the relationship that you build with the Father through Christ that you will find that you are a Prince and not a pauper and a son, and not a servant. In the Garden of Eden, God created a family. Not a church, not a religion and not a social club. Adam and Eve were the first of many children God intended to have. Unfortunately, sin separated God from His children. Jesus came to restore that relationship and to bring us back to right standing with God, our Father. He took sin upon Himself, it was put to death and buried forever. One of the most powerful and telling statements of just how great the sacrifice He made for us was came as Jesus was about to die on the cross. Throughout the entire bible, Jesus always referred to God as His Father. But at the very moment that Jesus had taken all of our sin upon Himself, The Father could not look upon Him anymore because of the sin that he had become and The Father turned His back on His Son. Jesus said, “My God my God (no longer did He call Him Father), why have you forsaken me?” Imagine if you had a child and just before your child died, and while you were turning your back on him, he asked why you have forsaken him? It broke The Father’s heart. But, there was no other way. He had to turn His back on His Son once so that He would never have to turn His back on you. If you don’t yet know Him, at least you know now what you are missing. His love is like nothing else you have ever experienced and more than you could ever imagine. If you want to know Him, simply thank Him for His grace, and receive it. Begin to build a relationship with your Heavenly Father. It’s His free gift to you, and that relationship is what you were created for. He will never force it on you but He will never hold it back from anyone who asks for it. So, ask Him into your heart today.