“Because I am in Christ, I am…”

Sep 9

7 min read

A personal reflection and study guide from Ephesians 1:1–20

Transformation begins when we, every one of us, stop defining ourselves by what happened to us and begin agreeing with what God says about us.

HOW TO USE THIS HANDOUT

Read Ephesians 1:1–20 slowly in your preferred Bible translation. Work through the questions honestly, then add other Scriptures that reinforce each truth.

This can be used personally, with a friend, or in a small group.

Key Scriptures

Ephesians 1:1–20 - The Passion Translation

Ephesians 1:1–4

Dear friends, My name is Paul, and I was chosen by God to be an apostle of Jesus, the Messiah. I’m writing this letter to all the devoted believers who have been made holy by being one with Jesus, the Anointed One. May God himself, the heavenly Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, release grace over you and impart total well-being into your lives. Every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm has already been lavished upon us as a love gift from our wonderful heavenly Father, the Father of our Lord Jesus—all because he sees us wrapped into Christ. This is why we celebrate him with all our hearts! And in love he chose us before he laid the foundation of the universe! Because of his great love, he ordained us, so that we would be seen as holy in his eyes with an unstained innocence.

CHOSEN

Reflect

Who or what have you allowed to determine your value?
Where are you still trying to earn the acceptance God has already given you?
How would you live differently this week if you truly believed that God chose you intentionally?
Have rejection and disappointment convinced you that you are unwanted?

CONFESSION: I am chosen—not overlooked, unwanted, or accidental.

Additional Scriptures / Reflections: _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ephesians 1:5–6

For it was always in his perfect plan to adopt us as his delightful children, through our union with Jesus, the Anointed One, so that his tremendous love that cascades over us would glorify his grace—for the same love he has for the Beloved, Jesus, he has for us. And this unfolding plan brings him great pleasure!

ADOPTED

Reflect

Where in your life do you still feel like an outsider?
Are you relating to God as a beloved child or as someone trying to earn a place in His family?
What fear of abandonment could you release if you believed your place in God’s family was secure?
Whose approval are you chasing because you have forgotten that you already belong?

CONFESSION: I am adopted. God wanted me, welcomed me, and gave me a place in His family.

ACCEPTED

Reflect

What part of yourself are you hiding because you fear rejection?
Are you exhausted from performing for the acceptance of others?
What would change if you walked into every room knowing you were already accepted by God?
Are you allowing someone’s rejection of you to speak louder than God’s acceptance of you?

CONFESSION: I am accepted—not because I perform perfectly, but because I belong to Christ.

Ephesians 1:7

Since we are now joined to Christ, we have been given the treasures of redemption by his blood—the total cancellation of our sins—all because of the cascading riches of his grace.

REDEEMED

Reflect

What part of your story have you labeled “beyond redemption”?
Are you still identifying yourself by something Christ has already rescued you from?
What old cycle keeps trying to pull you back into the person you used to be?
Can you believe that God can give purpose even to the chapters you wish had never been written?

CONFESSION: I am redeemed. My past may explain me, but it no longer owns me.

FORGIVEN

Reflect

What have you confessed to God but continued to hold against yourself?
Are you serving a sentence that Jesus has already paid for?
If God has forgiven you, why are you still introducing yourself by your failure?
Is there someone you need to forgive because unforgiveness is keeping you tied to the injury?

CONFESSION: I am forgiven. My failure is not my identity, and shame is no longer my home.

Ephesians 1:8

This superabundant grace is already powerfully working in us, releasing all forms of wisdom and practical understanding.

LAVISHED WITH GRACE

Reflect

Do you picture God as disappointed and reluctant, or generous and overflowing with grace?
Where are you demanding perfection from yourself when God is oﬀering transforming grace?
Are you treating grace as permission to remain unchanged, or as power to become new?
How would you respond to your weakness if you believed God’s grace was greater than it?

CONFESSION: I am lavished with grace. God is not stingy with His love toward me.

Ephesians 1:9–10

And through the revelation of the Anointed One, he unveiled his secret desires to us—the hidden mystery of his long-range plan, which he was delighted to implement from the very beginning of time. And because of God’s unfailing purpose, this detailed plan will reign supreme through every period of time until the fulfillment of all the ages finally reaches its climax—when God makes all things new in all of heaven and earth through Jesus Christ.

INCLUDED IN GOD’S PURPOSE

Reflect

What situation looks chaotic because you can see only one piece of God’s larger plan?
Have you mistaken a confusing season for a purposeless life?
Where might God be working even though you cannot yet recognize the pattern?
Can you trust God’s purpose when you cannot trace His process?

CONFESSION: My life is not random. I am included in God’s unfolding purpose in Christ.

Ephesians 1:11–12

Through our union with Christ we too have been claimed by God as his own inheritance. Before we were even born, he gave us our destiny; that we would fulfill the plan of God who always accomplishes every purpose and plan in his heart. God’s purpose was that we Jews, who were the first to long for the messianic hope, would be the first to believe in the Anointed One and bring great praise and glory to God!

GIVEN AN INHERITANCE

Reflect

What temporary loss has made you forget your eternal inheritance?
Are you measuring your wealth only by what can be deposited into a bank account?
What fear would lose its power if you knew your future with God was secure?
Are you living like an heir of God’s promises or like someone spiritually abandoned?

CONFESSION: I have been given an inheritance. My future is secured by God, not controlled by my present circumstances.

Ephesians 1:13

And because of him, when you who are not Jews heard the revelation of truth, you believed in the wonderful news of salvation. Now we have been stamped with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit.

SEALED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT

Reflect

What are you afraid could separate you from what God has promised?
Are you living as though everything depends on your ability to hold on to God?
Where have you forgotten that the Holy Spirit is present with you right now?
What would courage look like if you believed you were marked, known, and secured by God?

CONFESSION: I am sealed with the Holy Spirit. I am marked as God’s own and I do not face life alone.

Ephesians 1:14

He is given to us like an engagement ring, as the first installment of what’s coming! He is our hope-promise of a future inheritance which seals us until we have all of redemption’s promises and experience complete freedom—all for the supreme glory and honor of God!

GUARANTEED HOPE

Reflect

Has human disappointment made it diﬃcult for you to trust God’s promises?
What present circumstance are you allowing to write the ending of your story?
If the Holy Spirit is God’s guarantee, what promise can you begin trusting again?
How would you live today if you were confident that God will finish what He began?

CONFESSION: My hope has a guarantee. God is completing His work in me.

PAUSE AND CONSIDER

Which word is hardest for you to say about yourself—chosen, adopted, accepted, redeemed, forgiven, graced, righteous, an heir, or sealed—and what experience has made it diﬃcult to believe?

Reflections: _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

BECAUSE I AM IN CHRIST

I am chosen.

I am adopted.

I am accepted.

I am redeemed.

I am forgiven.

I am lavished with grace.

I have been given an inheritance.

I am sealed with the Holy Spirit.

I am the righteousness of God in Christ.

I will no longer allow rejection, shame, failure, fear, or my past to name me.

I agree with what God says about me.

This is my identity. This is my inheritance. This is my transformation.

A PRAYER OF SUPPLICATION

Ephesians 1:17–19

I pray that the Father of glory, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, would impart to you the riches of the Spirit of wisdom and the Spirit of revelation to know him through your deepening intimacy with him. I pray that the light of God will illuminate the eyes of your imagination, flooding you with light, until you experience the full revelation of the hope of his calling—that is, the wealth of God’s glorious inheritances that he finds in us, his holy ones! I pray that you will continually experience the immeasurable greatness of God’s power made available to you through faith. Then your lives will be an advertisement of this immense power as it works through you! This is the mighty power…

Ephesians 1:20

…that was released when God raised Christ from the dead and exalted him to the place of highest honor and supreme authority in the heavenly realm!

THREE THINGS PAUL WANTS US TO SEE

The hope of His calling. What has God called me into?
The riches of His inheritance. What does God value? What does He see in His people?
The greatness of His power toward us. What is possible because His power is working in us?