Scripture: Ephesians 1 v 1 - 4: "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:
2 Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
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:"
Jeremiah 1 v 4 - 8: "Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
6 Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.
7 But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.
8 Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD."
'The Elect' are those whom God has chosen to serve Him. In the first passage of scripture it refers to all the saints, i.e. living Christians, who were in the Church of the Ephesians, at that time. Their only attribute was that they were faithful to God Almighty.
They were also chosen in Him, Jesus Christ, before the foundation of the world. Just like Jeremiah in the next passage. Before I formed you in your mother's womb, I knew you! Before Jeremiah was even a twinkle in his mother's eye, God knew him as a person and had given him the significant calling of a prophet.
Romans 8 v 29 - 31: "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?"
We need to seriously consider all these things and look beyond our fleshly lives on this third rock from the Sun, and realise that a lot was going on before Eden and the Creation. This Earth was the final stage in God's plan for our salvation.
God saw beyond the damage Satan did to His Son and The Bride of Christ. Satan had them in his evil power and he shattered them, but even that was covered in the recovery plan. It was like what happened to some on White Island in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand this past week.
A crowd of tourists were caught unawares on the edge of a volcano that erupted without warning, killing many and leaving some with serious burns. A few days ago a recovery crew went on to this volatile island to recover the bodies of those who did not make it out, and even now two are still missing.
But our God, in recovering our dead spirits out of the hand of the enemy, had a plan the evil one could not foresee. God made Adam and Eve and planted in her womb all the tiny seeds that would one day become us. Plus the one seed that would become Jesus Christ, who would be resurrected from death.
He had to die so He could absorb into Himself our eternal death. He became Sin, to absorb all our sin, so that we would have His life and sinless nature and be faithful, chosen, alive forever more. We are part of His Body and He does not want any dead, lame, missing, broken bits. No sir, He wants His Body whole and without blemish.
We can have confidence in Him. He cannot fail. The enemy knows this only too well. His only evil weapon left is to try to bluff us. Con us into thinking we can still beat the odds without God. That all religious paths lead to Heaven, when he knows very well that in John 14 v 6: "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."
Only Jesus, and our personal relationship with Him, gets us into Heaven. No other religion, person, cult, or book, or combination of religions, can save us. The Law cannot save us. Following Judaism cannot save us. Interfaith cannot save us. Following Jesus is the way, the only way, to do it.
This is where our Father is seeking the faithful chosen, 'The Elect', the ones who are not turned aside to fables, myths, philosophers, gurus and suchlike, who can be very convincing while being equally wrong. When our eternal destiny is at stake we must remain faithful and true to the One who laid down His life for us.
We are predestined, pre-programmed, to be conformed to the Body of His Son. The Bridegroom. We are not The Bride. The Bride is Israel.
Revelation 21 v 9 - 14: "And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.
10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,
11 Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;
12 And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:
13 On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.
14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb."
The Bride, the Lambs wife, is made up of the 12 tribes of Israel. In verse 14, twelve Jewish men were chosen out of Israel to be the foundation stones for the Lamb, to bring the knowledge of the New Covenant between God and Man to the world, to Jews and Gentiles alike. Twelve Jews were converted to be followers of Jesus Christ the Lamb, to build His Body.
The Lord has mostly let Israel slumber for twenty centuries while He completed the Body of Christ, but that door on the Gentiles is closing, and His gaze is turning to complete the Bride, ready for the Marriage Feast of the Lamb.
It starts with the Rapture of the Body, where we will be caught up into the air above Earth and the Feast will begin. Then we will go with Jesus to rescue His Bride from the armies of the world who want to destroy her, at the battle of Armageddon. Jesus will not fail her. Nor shall we fail Him.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, these times are fast approaching and we are getting excited about the coming of Jesus. Prepare us O Lord for what lies ahead that we may do that which You have chosen us to do, without fear or failure. We love You O God, we love Your Son, we are ready to bring lost souls into glory. In Jesus' name. Amen.
