Before We Had a Problem

Wednesday - January 12th

Scripture to Read Today: Ephesians 1:3-14

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For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will.

Ephesians 1:4-5

In 1993 a French man driving a Citroen car in the remote Moroccan desert broke down and became stranded. To survive, he tore down the car, built a motorcycle from the parts, and rode it back to civilization. He had a problem, made a plan, executed it, and that plan saved his life. Unfortunately, when the man arrived in the closest city to the desert, a police officer ticketed him for operating an illegal vehicle.

Can you imagine that? You think you might die in the desert, come up with an incredible plan to get yourself out of the situation, and once you are safe, you get penalized! You might think, "Yep, that would probably happen to me!"

We are familiar with life's challenges - big and small. We regularly find ways to solve the problems we face. As human beings, we tend to be fixers. Some of it flows from our desire to survive (like the guy stranded in the desert). Some of it flows from our drive to succeed. Either way, we like to fix the problems we face. But unfortunately, we all face a problem none of us can solve.

The Scriptures say that every human being has a sin problem. As a result, we all fall short of the holiness and glory of God (Romans 3:23). We cannot rescue ourselves from that problem; only God can (Ephesians 2:8-9). And the great news is that even before we had a problem, God had a plan to save us.

Ephesians 1:4 says, "he chose us in him before the creation of the world." Before the foundation of the world? Before human beings were created? How incredible is that! In this amazing opening sentence of the Book of Ephesians (1:3-14), we get this profound look at God's plan of redemption that predates the creation of humanity.

Paul told the believers in Rome that God proved His love for us when Christ died for our sins while we were still trapped in our sin and guilt (Romans 5:8). He did not wait for us to solve our sin problem as human beings. He knew we couldn't. We would never measure up on our own to His holiness and glory.

God saved us in Christ through a plan He set in motion before He created the world. He knew Adam and Eve would sin. God knew we would need a savior. He knew we could not do enough to measure up to Him. He loved us so much that He showed us love in Christ dying for us while we were still guilty.

We could not improvise (like the guy who made a motorcycle out of his car) to solve our sin problem. Only God could rescue us. How amazing is our God and His grace to us in Christ!

Even before we had a problem, God had a plan!