In Him We Were Predestined

Ephesians 1:11
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,

To predestine is to determine the destination in advance. When the destination is known and settled before the journey begins, that is to predestine. If a person is predestined it means the person has no liberty to change the destination, they must arrive at the predetermined destination.

The concept of predestination in scripture raises several genuine concerns. Has God predestined all of us? Has God already determined whether I am ending up in hell or heaven? If we are predestined, are we free to make any choice? Do we need the power of choice if we are predestined? The key questions are two, (1) has God already determined where all of us will end up, whether heaven or hell? (2) Do human beings have a power of choice and how does it relate to divine predestination?

Another issue related and inseparable from discussions on predestination is God’s foreknowledge. Does God have foreknowledge? Does God know things in advance or do events surprise Him as they happen? How much of the future does God know? Is there something about the future that God does not know? Whether we are predestined or not, does God know the decisions we will make and where we will end up? If God knows and doesn’t prevent us from making wrong decisions is He good? If God doesn’t know the future isn’t He a limited God and maybe just as good as many of us and therefore not God?

The best response must ensure unchangeable basics of theological reasoning are established and then we build on them. The unchangeable basic that we need to reiterate is that in this life, there are only two sides any human being can belong to or be destined to. We can be heaven bound or hell bound, no other destination. We can belong to God and we can belong to satan, God’s archenemy. Therefore, we are either in Christ or outside Christ.

Those who are in Christ have chosen eternal life. Christ and eternal life come as one package. Those who have rejected Christ actively or passively by delaying a decision for Christ, are destined to hell. Hell and being out of Christ are in one package. All of us are born on satan’s side, hell-bound and hopelessly in sin. As we grow up we get an opportunity to decide to follow Jesus. If for any reason we do not decide to follow Jesus, we are not in the middle, we remain on Satan’s side. Even very good people, nice people, wonderful people, who have never made a decision for Jesus, are actively on satan’s side. Failure to make any decision for Jesus or even delay is a choice to be on satan’s side.

If you are in Christ, you cannot be hell-bound, hell is not your destination. If you are outside of Christ, you cannot be heaven bound, heaven and eternal life are not your destinations. The two destinations come as a package that cannot be cross-shared.

There are two packages. The in-Christ package and the out of Christ package. The destiny within the package is what is predestined. The choice of which package is your power of choice. If you choose the in-Christ package, you automatically subscribe to the predestination of eternal life and heaven. If you make no choice for Jesus, you automatically remain subscribed to the hell-bound predestination. That is how we are free to choose yet we are predestined. We choose the package and in the package comes the predestination.

The Bible tells us today in our text that in Christ we are predestined. Take note of “in-Christ.” Within that package, we are predestined to great things. Where is our power of choice? We chose the package. In Christ, we are predestined. That means out of Christ also comes with predestination that God doesn’t prefer for any of us. In Christ, we are predestined!

Matthew 25:41
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

Hell and its fires were prepared for the devil and his angels. Anyone who ends up in hell ends up in a place which he or she wasn’t predestined for. God through creation and salvation has predestined all of us who accept Jesus to end up in heaven with eternal life. If you choose Jesus, you choose predestination to eternal life. If you make no choice, you have chosen to be with satan. Satan’s predestination is hellfires. Choose your package either in-Christ or out of Christ. In Christ, we are predestined!

Anyone who comes to Christ does not choose the destination, they are already predestined to eternal life in heaven. Anyone who makes no decision at all does not choose the destination, they are already predestined to hellfires. In Christ, we are predestined!

God has foreknowledge. Without a complete total foreknowledge, He is not God. Any argument that makes Him less God by claiming that there are things He may not know, is a false and unacceptable argument. Since it is necessary that God knows everything in detail and totality in the future we must explain why He can’t prevent wrong choices and events, and why we are waiting for the end when He knows the end.

God created a universe that He wanted to be operated on the basis that His creatures have made a choice to serve Him. Therefore God who could force events and every creature to do His will, decided that He will not use force, He will allow us to freely choose even that which will harm us and hurt Him. Therefore, He knows the bad choices we will make and the terrible consequences we will experience but He does not interfere, He leaves us to be free. The best He does is to plead with us through preaching, teaching, and conscience that we make the right choice.

That divine choice to have a world where creatures are free to choose is basic in understanding God’s foreknowledge. We choose the package of in-Christ or we remain out of Christ. We are all in the out of Christ package. God has delayed His return because He wants to give to their creatures exhaustive evidence that where we end up was in the choice of the package we make.

If a child cries for fire or a blade or needle, you as a parent know what that can do and hurt them, but the child doesn’t know. You warn the child and plead with the child, but sometimes they touch the dangerous object and get hurt then they discover that the parent was always right. A parent may warn a teenage girl from carelessly interacting with men. The child may feel the parent doesn’t know much. Then the child gets impregnated and rejected, then she discovers that the parent was right, and it’s too late. If you know the terrible destination, the best you do is warn and plead, the final choice is personal. Parents know that trying drugs will bring addiction and a ruined future. They plead, but the child still makes a final decision. A parent’s foreknowledge helps in warning and pleading, but the final decision is for the individual.

We have two packages, the in-Christ package with its predestination and the other one. God knows what we will choose ultimately. He will not interfere with the choice, but He will give us an opportunity, enough opportunity to make the right choice. We are now in that opportunity of making a choice. Delaying the choice or not making the choice is still a valid choice for satan’s side. My prayer is that I may be found and remain in Christ and there be predestined, in Jesus’ name, Amen!

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