Sunday, April 26, 2015

accepted in the Beloved...


As I was listening to this beautiful rendition of the hymn, My Beloved, by Kari Jobe, my heart was drawn back to Ephesians Chapter One for a word study of the phrase accepted in the Beloved from Ephesians 1:5-6…

Amplified: For He foreordained us (destined us, planned in love for us) to be adopted (revealed) as His own children through Jesus Christ, in accordance with the purpose of His will [because it pleased Him and was His kind intent]— [So that we might be] to the praise and the commendation of His glorious grace (favor and mercy), which He so freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.

NLT: God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son.

Phillips: He planned, in his purpose of love, that we should be adopted as his own children through Jesus Christ—that we might learn to praise that glorious generosity of his which has made us welcome in the everlasting love he bears towards the Son.

Wuest: having previously marked us out to be placed as adult sons through the intermediate agency of Jesus Christ for Himself according to that which seemed good in His heart’s desire resulting in praise of the glory of His grace which He freely bestowed upon us in the Beloved.

Young’s Literal: having foreordained us to the adoption of sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, in which He did make us accepted in the beloved.

Jubilee Bible: having marked out beforehand the way for us to be adopted as sons by Jesus Christ in himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, in which he has made us accepted in the beloved.
NKJV:  having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

A word study of beloved (agapao) speaks especially of love as based on evaluation and choice, a matter of will and action. The Beloved is Christ, the one the Father loves. God the Father has always loved God the Son with this love which is permanent.

In this scripture, beloved is in the perfect tense, which is very expressive. It speaks of an action that took place in the past, which was completed in past time, and the existence of its finished results. For instance, you might say, “I have closed the door," which speaks of a past completed action. But the implication is that, as a result, the door is still closed. The entire meaning is, “I have closed the door and it is closed at present."
In this context beloved is in the perfect tense, which conveys the idea of permanence and speaks of the Father having always loved Son. Christ is the One Who is ever in the state of being loved by the Father, and where are saved sinners? Accepted in the Beloved.

I heard a story several years ago which is a beautiful illustration of this Truth. A man was the guest of sheep-raisers. It was lambing time and every morning they went out to see the lambs. One morning, the man was startled to see an old ewe walking across the road, followed by a strange looking lamb. It apparently had six legs, and the skin seemed to be partially torn from its body. One of the herders caught the lamb and explained the mystery—that lamb did not really belong originally to that ewe. She had a lamb which was bitten by a rattlesnake and died. This lamb was an orphan and needed a mother’s care. But at first, the grieving ewe refused to have anything to do with it. She sniffed at it when it was brought to her, then pushed it away, as if to say, “That is not our family odor!” So the herders skinned the lamb that had died and very carefully drew the fleece over the living lamb. This left the hind-leg coverings dragging loose. After it was covered, the lamb was brought again to the ewe. She smelled it once more and this time seemed thoroughly satisfied and adopted it as her own.

What a beautiful picture of the grace of God to sinners. We are all outcasts and have no claim upon His love. But God’s own Son, the "Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the World," has died for us, and now we who believe are dressed up in the fleece of the Lamb who died. God has accepted us in the Beloved. Praise His Holy Name!

54 comments:

  1. This is a lovely post and the song by Kari Jobe is so beautiful...love her music and her heart. This scripture should reassure us all! Blessings!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Debby, I so agree with you...many blessings to you ❤️

      Delete
  2. Beth, beautiful post & truths you have shared. I love how you shared the verb tense of "beloved" conveying the permanence of our position. Wonderful way to start my Monday :) Blessings!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Joanne, your words of encouragement are so appreciated ❤️

      Delete
  3. Fantastic to read that Scripture verse in all those versions. We are rich in truth, aren't we? Glad to have met you at Inspire me Monday!

    ReplyDelete
  4. What a beautiful picture, indeed! I love the fact that Jesus' sacrifice covers me so that the heavenly father recognizes me and includes me in being 'beloved.'

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love the word beloved and the story you shared about the lamb is one that touches my adoptive mama heart. I remember picking my son up from the adoption agency and wanting nothing more than to bathe an dress him in clothes I picked out. It's part of the claiming process all adoptive mamas do.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm your neighbor at at the #smallwonder linkup today.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love being part of the #smallwonder community ... Thanks for stopping by ❤️

      Delete
  7. This is so beautiful! I love your object lesson and also how you shared with us the perfect tense. I love hearing other people talk about grammar and verb tenses! Our pastor was just talking about Ephesians 1 yesterday! So glad I came by your blog! Blessings from "Espressos of Faith" via #MakeaDifferenceMondays!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Bonnie ❤️ I love grammar and verb tenses too! I have several posts which include word studies, including the one I posted last week, also from Ephesians Chapter One.

      Delete
  8. I tried to comment earlier. Sorry if it goes through twice. I really enjoyed this! My pastor was just preaching on Ephesians 1 yesterday! I love the word picture you shared with us, and I also really appreciate how you talked about what the perfect tense meant in this context. (I get very giddy about grammar discussions!) Awesome post! Blessings to you from "Espressos of Faith" via #MakeADifferenceMondays!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bonnie, thanks again so much for your enthusiastic responses ❤️

      Delete
  9. Praise God that He loves us infinitely! and that once we trust Him, we become part of the bride of Christ. Linked up with you at Donna Reidland -- hope you'll stop by Saved by Grace for a visit!
    God bless,
    Laurie,
    http://savedbygracebiblestudy.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Laurie, I'll be right over to Saved By Grace Bible Study ❤️

      Delete
  10. Beautiful! Beloved is one of my favorite words, titles, and roles! Amen!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Karrilee, thank you so much...I so agree with you ❤️

      Delete
  11. What a gorgeous picture you have painted! Thank you for this post :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much, it is a blessing to share what touches my heart with this sweet community ❤️

      Delete
  12. Gorgeous imagery today that fills my heart with the expectancy and certainty that God chose me to be His beloved as He chose His son Jesus so many years ago to die for our sins. You have a beautiful way of explaining scripture and I find such great insight every time I come to visit here. Hope you have a blessed day!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mary, you will never know how much your words encouraged me this morning ❤️ feels like Jesus wrapping His Loving Arms around me ... Thank you so much ❤️

      Delete
    2. Thank you also for linking up this beautiful post at The Weekend Brew.

      Delete
    3. Mary. It is a blessing to be part of The Weekend Brew community ❤️

      Delete
  13. "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and they know me - just as the Father knows me and I know the Father - and I lay down my life for the sheep." John 10:14-15. We just talked about the sheep knowing the shepherd this weekend at a retreat - and I love your story about the ewe learning to adopt the orphan.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I love the insight of your words. I love the depth you go to in order to provide us with meaning through all the translations. Thank you. You paint beauty! Cheering you on from the #RaRalinkup on Purposeful Faith

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kelly, thank you so much for your encouraging words, you are a great spiritual cheerleader ❤️

      Delete
  15. Nothing like God's word to help us remember that we are indeed His beloved!

    ReplyDelete
  16. This is wonderful! I needed this reminder this morning, for me and for my babies! Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  17. What a beautiful word to study! We are sinners, but by God's grace we are His beloved children.

    ReplyDelete
  18. He calls me “Beloved”
    I call Him “Sir”
    I’m my Beloved’s and He is mine
    I call to Him – He comes
    His Word speaking unsearchable things
    Things I do not know

    Whispered words of wisdom
    My heart burns within me
    I bow in humble adoration
    He is here
    He calls me “Beloved”
    I call Him “Sir”
    I’m my Beloved’s and He is mine

    "Beloved" a treasured word of the treasured one. thank you for sharing. Coming to you from the Wednesday Prayer Girls.

    ReplyDelete
  19. I just love the analogy of us being dressed up in the fleece of the Lamb who died for us. This is just beautiful and I really appreciate you sharing this with us at Good Morning Mondays. We live in an area that is known for sheep and we have our own flock of just over 100. The skinning of the dead lamb and placing it over an orphaned one is done here as well. Blessings

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Terri! That is such a blessing to know more about these precious sheep...thank you for sharing this with us!

      Delete
  20. What a beautiful story- wow, what a gift that He has clothed us with Himself and called us His own. Stopping over from Three Word Wednesday.

    ReplyDelete
  21. These are some of my favorite verses. So grateful God adopts us. Thanks for linking up at #ThreeWordWednesday.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kristin, thank you so much...I love being part of the #ThreeWordWednesday community ❤️

      Delete
  22. Thanks for linking up on #livefreeThursday!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Suzie. Many blessings to you all at #LiveFreeThursday ❤️

      Delete
  23. I love word studies and to read different versions of a verse which always inevitibably brings some new insight.

    I especially was struck by the Phillips version where it said, "that we might learn to praise that glorious generosity of his which has made us welcome in the everlasting love he bears towards the Son." I re-read that particular version of the verse over and over, "that we might learn to praise..." I believe and I am indeed in awe that the Heavenly Father chose me to be His adopted child, and I do praise Him for that, but there is truth in "learning to praise" as too often, I can live my life not remembering that I am God's chosen, His beloved, thereby falling into sin and not living in gratitude.

    Lord, that I would remember I am your beloved, chosen before the foundation of the world, so that I may live a life accepted, bringing you glory always.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Karen, thank you so much for your thoughtful and encouraging comments. I pray in agreement with your beautiful closing prayer, "Lord, that I would remember I am your beloved, chosen before the foundation of the world, so that I may live a life accepted, bringing you glory always."

      Delete
  24. Thank you for this lovely post and encouragement. And thanks for linking this up with us at Grace & Truth!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for your encouraging comments Holly! Many blessings to you ❤️

      Delete

Blog Archive