The Power of Love Week 2 | Deep Dive “Predestined for Love”
The Power of Redeeming Love
Text: Ephesians 1:3-14
Today, we reflect upon the profound and transformative power of God’s love, a theme so eloquently captured in the Epistle to the Ephesians, chapter 1, verses 3-14. In these passages, we find a theological treasure that speaks to the heart of the Christian doctrine: redemption through Jesus Christ.
Paul tells us that we are redeemed by the love of God and have been adopted by Him through Jesus Christ. He also tells us that God had a plan before the foundation of the world in which He chose us in Him. Verse 5 says He “predestined” us “according to the good pleasure of His will.”
Many people, even theologians, have been confused by just what it means that we are predestined by God. Some traditions have taught that predestination means that God chose some to be saved and some to be lost. But I want you to know this morning that is not true. That kind of understanding leads us to a flawed understanding of who God is. Remember, God is love and God is light, and as John says in his 1st Epistle, “…in Him there is no darkness at all.”
If we begin with the thought that God, in His sovereign will, just chose some for heaven and some for hell, then we are being hopelessly led down a track of misunderstanding and we will miss the real hope of our redemption through Christ.
In the Wesleyan tradition, predestination is not a decree of the inevitable, but rather an assurance of God’s loving purpose. It is the divine foreknowledge that every soul has a place in the eternal kingdom, made possible through the sacrificial love of Christ. This understanding gives human freedom its proper place in redemption and affirms God’s grace as freely given and available to all who seek it.
The key question of the predestination of God is not “if” or to “what” we are predestined, but “how” we are predestined. Paul explains this in Romans 8:28-30:
“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”
Redemption, then, is the actualization of this predestined love. It is the act whereby God, through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, reconciles us to Himself, liberating us from the bondage of sin and death. This redemptive act is the ultimate demonstration of God’s power to save, a power rooted in love so deep that it chose to predestine us for this very purpose.
In Wesleyan theology, God’s love is not passive; it is active and dynamic, seeking out everyone, calling them to salvation in Jesus Christ – but we must choose to believe. It is a love that calls us into a relationship, inviting us to respond to grace with faith and trust. The doctrine of predestination in this light is not about exclusion but inclusion, not about fate but about a hopeful and assured future in God’s loving presence.
As we ponder these truths, let us be moved by the magnitude of God’s redeeming love for us. A love that knew us before we were formed, that called us before we answered, and that redeemed us before we realized our need for salvation. This is the love that predestined us in Christ, the love that assures us of our worth and our place in God’s grand design.
May this understanding of predestination and the redeeming love of God fill you with peace and assurance. For in Christ, we see the fullness of God’s love—a love powerful enough to save, strong enough to sustain, and gracious enough to predestine us for redemption, all by and through His great love. Amen.
Join us next Sunday, August 18, for Week 3 of the Power of Love sermon series. We look forward to seeing you there!
Always improve the present moment.