Ephesians 1:3-14
An Irresponsible Deposit

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 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 to be adopted as his sons 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. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment -- to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.

In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession -- to the praise of his glory.

New International Version

While I normally use the New Revised Standard Version for these meditations, I chose to use the New International Version on this passage because of one word in verse 14 -- "deposit".

When I read that word this time, it got me thinking about all the deposits I have put down on items before, how carefully I had considered that choice before I wrote the deposit check, and how hard I worked not to lose that deposit. I've gotten pretty tense before when a car dealer wants me to put down a deposit on a vehicle before they'll continue negotiating, because I feel like they want me to commit to them more than they want to commit to me.

Another memory I have of a deposit has to do with an apartment where we lived for seven months after we had relocated. Of course, they wanted a $100 deposit to ensure that the apartment would be in good repair when we left it, and of course, I trusted that they would be fair in holding that deposit and I paid that money. As we were moving out, my wife and I worked hard to make sure that the place was clean, the walls were not damaged as we moved furniture out, and even that all the switch and wall plates were in place. Then, after we'd loaded the last piece of furniture onto the truck, I went back in to get a handtruck from the apartment, and I accidentally tipped it over -- into a window. We'd worked so hard to do everything right, and here at the very end, I'd broken a window! I was so frustrated with myself, both because I'd done something foolish, and I'd not lived up to my word in agreeing to the terms of the deposit. (Fortunately, since we'd been such good tenants, they gave us the $100 deposit back anyway!)

In contrast to my attitudes about deposits, God seems completely irresponsible! Paul says that before God even made creation, long before we'd taken our first breath and had our first selfish thoughts, God had already arranged to adopt us. Even though we are rebellious, flawed, and sinful, God has "lavished" grace on us, knowing full well how undeserving and untrustworthy we are, and choosing extravagant blessings for us anyway. And just to make sure that we who have accepted God's salvation know that we are truly God's, God has paid us(!) a deposit on our eternal salvation though the presence in our lives of the Holy Spirit!

How should we respond to such an unbelievable, irresponsible love as this? We must give ourselves more and more completely to God...

(If you're disappointed that I've not addressed the concept of "predestination", along with the thorny theological issues relating to how our free will matches with choices that God made before creation, please email me! I'd rather discuss it with you than try to write about it, because there are so many different ways to consider this concept.)