He Promised you as a Bride to His Son!

I'm excited to be studying Titus with Tim Chester's help!

The following is really incredible. I had to read it a few times to let it sink in and enjoy it:

The hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie,

promised before the beginning of time.

Titus 1.2

Chester:

What we do reaches forward into eternity future—but it also reaches back into eternity past. What you do has eternal implications. And what you do also has divine implications. It goes right to the heart of God the Father’s love for his Son.

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—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.

Ephesians 1:4-6

 “He chose us in him,” says Paul. God the Father chose us in God the Son. God the Father made a promise to his Son. He promised him a bride. He promised him you. He did this “in accordance with his pleasure and will”. It was his pleasure to choose us. God the Father had such pleasure in his Son that he chose to share that pleasure. He created and recreated us so that we could share his delight in his Son. The Son died so that we could share his experience of sonship and be loved by his Father with the same love that his Son receives.

Your faith has eternal implications, and your faith has divine implications. It is the fulfilment of a promise from God the Father to God the Son. The Father sees you and delights in the work of his Son. The Father loves you with the love he has for his Son. The Father chose you so you could share the joy of the triune God.