2. Love Shapes Our Identity
Ephesians 1:3-6
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love, he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
We often think about God’s unconditional love as a love that endures even when we make mistakes and sin. He always forgives us, right? While that’s true, it’s even better than that. The Heavenly Father’s love doesn’t simply persist despite conditions. His love also precedes all conditions. God loves you no matter what you do because God loved you before you did anything.
Fred Rogers knew this kind of love was transformational. “Unconditional love,” he said, “is the most powerful tool in a parent’s toolkit, shaping and molding a child’s sense of self.” Love shapes our identity. And so, since the Father “chose us in him before the foundation of the world,” we know who we are (v.4).
But notice … this paternal affection comes through Christ. We are blessed “in Christ” (v.3). We are adopted “through Jesus Christ” (v.5). We are blessed “in the Beloved” (v.6). Unconditional love is not only a matter of when but how. For sinners to become children, the only Son of God had to be treated like a sinner. Through his substitutionary death, any and every condition that could ever separate us from the Father’s love has been rendered powerless.
You see, you are loved unconditionally because the Father’s love preceded all conditions (that’s the when). And you are loved through Christ (that’s the how). In other words, his love is not based on our performance but on his perfect Son.
That’s who we are.
We are the Father‘s loved children.
What does it mean to be a child of the Heavenly Father?
How does remembering you are blessed, chosen, and loved by the Father change your view of yourself? How ought it change what you do and what you care about?
Why was Jesus’ death necessary to make us children of God?
Heavenly Father …
Thank you. Thank you for loving me first. Thank you for loving me before all conditions. Thank you for loving me, no matter the conditions. Thank you for loving me through your Son.
In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
