エフェソの信徒への手紙1:3-6 Ephesians 1:3-6,
天地創造の前に、神はわたしたちを愛して、御自分の前で聖なる者、汚れのない者にしようと、キリストにおいてお選びになりました。イエス・キリストによって神の子にしようと、御心のままに前もってお定めになったのです。（エフェソ1:4-5）
神様がキリストを信じる人々を選んでくださったのは、「御自分の前で聖なる者、汚れのない者にしよう」という目的がありました。神様が自分をキリストを信じて救われるように選んでおられるのならば、選ばれた自分は何をしてもよいのでしょうか？そうではありません。神様は選んだ人を「御自分の前で聖なる者、汚れのない者にしよう」としておられるのですから、その神様の御心に従って生きていかなければなりません。つまり、日ごとに神様の霊である聖霊によって清められ、導かれて生きていかねばならないということです。
神様の選びはイエス・キリストを通してなされます。そのことは4節の「キリストにおいてお選びになりました」という言葉や5節の「イエス・キリストによって神の子にしようと、御心のままに前もってお定めになった」という言葉によく表されています。神様が選んでくださったと言うと、何か宝くじにでも当たって得をしたような印象を受ける方がおられるかもしれません。確かに、5節の「神の子にしようと」という言葉は、ギリシア語原典の文字どおりに翻訳すれば「養子にしようと」という意味です。大金持ちの養子になって莫大な財産を相続することになれば、多くの人は自分がラッキーだと思うでしょう。ましてや、罪人であった者が神様の養子になって天国の財産を相続するのですから、それは考えられないくらい恵まれたことなのです。しかし、神様の養子になるという恵みは、人類の罪のために十字架の上で死んだ神の独り子イエス・キリストと結ばれることを通してしか受けることができません。言い換えれば、神の独り子であるキリストを信じて、キリストの体である教会に所属して、キリストの苦しみをも分かち合うことなしに、神様の養子として天国の財産を相続することはありえないのです。宗教改革者のカルヴァンは、父なる神様が「永遠の先に御自身の民としようとした者をキリストの体に接ぎ木し、そのため彼の体の肢と認められる限りの者は子であるとされた」（『キリスト教綱要』3篇24章5、渡辺信夫改訳版）と述べています。神様に選ばれているということは、キリストの体である教会に所属していることを抜きにしては考えられないことなのです。
（11月10日の説教より）
When people believe the teachings of the Bible, they can experience a profound change in the way they think and live. It is a change from a self-centred way of thinking and living to a God-centred way of thinking and living. However, such a change usually happens gradually over the course of one’s life. Of course, the time of baptism, when one is baptised, is a major milestone in the transformation to a God-centred way of thinking and living. However, even if one is baptised, it does not mean that one’s way of thinking and living changes 100 per cent immediately. Even after baptism, self-centred thinking still persists in the Christian’s mind. It also manifests itself in the way of life as self-centred behaviour. However, those who have believed in Christ have already started a new way of thinking and living, so there is a conflict between the old self and the new self. And they experience conflicts in their own hearts and suffer when they are forced to choose one or the other in their lives’ journey. However, such painful feelings are not in vain. Rather, they are necessary for the old ego to die and a new personality to be formed. If you have continued your Christian life for a long time without experiencing such painful feelings, the change to a God-centred way of life may not have happened very much.
The proportion of Christians in Japan is said to be a small minority, approximately 1 per cent of the total population. To be prepared to live as such a minority, to be baptised and become a Christian is a big decision. Therefore, a person who becomes a Christian will usually think, “I have chosen to believe in Christ.” However, the Bible teaches that “God has chosen you.” This is most clearly taught in Christ’s words in John 15:16. That is, in John 15:16, Christ said to his disciples, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.” Since Christ’s thoughts are the same as those of God the Father, this verse can be paraphrased as “God has chosen you.” And it is safe to say that these words of Christ are not only the words spoken to his disciples some 2,000 years ago, but also to Christians today.
The idea that “I have chosen to believe in Christ” is, according to the prevailing thinking in this world, a very normal way of thinking. That is, one has the freedom to choose what one believes in. Some may say, “One is free to believe in Buddha, one is free to believe in Amaterasu of Japanese myth. One is also free to believe in nothing. I have chosen to believe in Christ.” But “I have chosen to believe in Christ” is, according to the Christian view, a self-centred view. This is because, in the Christian view, believing itself is a gift given by God. One does not believe in Christ by one’s own power. God gives them the power to believe and they believe in Christ. In Mark 9:22, a father brings his demon-possessed son to Christ and asks, “If you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” To this, Christ responds, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes” (Mark 9:23). The father immediately replied, “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24). Christ then saved his son, who was possessed by an evil spirit. That is, the father was given the power to believe by saying, “Help my unbelief!” in his dialogue with Christ.
So what does it mean to be God-centred about faith? It means thinking like this: “God has chosen me to believe in Christ.” And when you change from thinking “I have chosen to believe in Christ’ to “God has chosen me to believe in Christ,” your whole way of thinking about things changes from self-centredness to God-centredness. For example, as long as one is thinking, “I have chosen to believe in Christ,” one asks, “Have I really gained anything by choosing to believe in Christ? Or have I lost anything?” As a result, one will think, “Because I have chosen to believe in Christ, there have been more things I should not do and more things I should do. I have lost out by believing in Christ!” The result is a reversion to a self-centred mindset that focuses on one’s own gain or loss.
However, when you start thinking, “God has chosen me to believe in Christ,” you will think, “When I came to believe in Christ, I was freed from the old way of thinking that used to bind me. Whereas before I was bound by my own righteousness and my own gain and loss, now I can admit my sins, receive forgiveness of my sins and receive the heavenly property of eternal life. This is a great blessing that I never thought of before!” This is a thought that makes me thankful. As a result, you will express your gratitude to God in the way you live your life. And you are transformed into a way of life that loves God and their neighbour.
Today’s Bible passage is a condensed statement of the essence of the idea that “God has chosen me to believe in Christ.” In verse 3, Paul says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.” It is “every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” that God gives to those who believe in Christ. It is not earthly health, success or prosperity. As I explained when I exposited Galatians 3:16, believers in Christ are promised that they will inherit the blessing of heaven, i.e., that they will be justified and receive eternal life. The heavenly blessing may sound unrealistic. But it is by no means.
Those who think that health, success and prosperity are everything in this world, feel as if they are cursed when they are not given these things. They then begin to curse the world. This curse is manifested in an extreme way in the indiscriminate mass murders that are taking place today. But if they know that there is “every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” that transcends this world, and that the only way to receive this blessing is to believe in Jesus Christ, how do they do? Some of those who had cursed the world will be converted to receive that blessing. And they will be transformed into a way of life that blesses others.
When I think of people whose lives have been changed from curses to blessings through faith in Christ, I think of the writer Ms. MIURA Ayako. During the Second World War, Ayako was a primary school teacher whose mission was to nurture a people loyal to the Emperor, but after Japan’s defeat in the war, she lost sight of the meaning of life and began to lead a life of desperation. She was then admitted to a sanatorium for convalescence due to pulmonary tuberculosis. When her childhood friend Mr. MAEKAWA Tadashi, a Christian medical student, visited Ayako and admonished her for drinking alcohol while she was recuperating, she swore and defied him. “Tadashi-san. That’s why I hate Christians so much. What’s the matter with you, playing the saint…. I don’t need you to lecture me, Tadashi-san.” “Christians are hypocritical. And you pretend to be refined. Though you want to go to the bar yourself, you look at people who go to the bar like they’re irredeemable sinners, don’t you?” However, Mr. MAEKAWA did not stop visiting Ayako even though she swore at him. Ayako was then given fellowship with Mr. NISHIMURA Kyuzo, an elder of Sapporo Kitaichijo Church, who was introduced to her by Mr. MAEKAWA, and was further baptised by Rev. ONOMURA Rinzo of Sapporo Kitaichijo Church. In this way, Ms. MIURA Ayako came to know the blessing of believing in Christ and became a writer who shares that blessing with the world. In a TV programme on which she appeared, Ms. MIURA Ayako said of her illnesses, “I think God shows favouritism toward me because I have so many illnesses.” Without the illness, her life as a Christian would not have been possible, so I think these words humourously express her faith that God has chosen her.
Now, in verses 4-6 of today’s Bible passage, we read as follows.
even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
This passage illustrates the idea that God has chosen us to believe in Christ, which we are talking about today, by making several points. The first point is that God chose those who believe in Christ an eternity ago, “before the foundation of the world.” Before believers were born into the world, and before the world was created, God had already chosen those who would believe. This is astonishing when we think about it. There are good reasons why people come to believe in Christ. For example, there are circumstances on the part of the human being, such as illness, difficulties in relationships, being influenced by family and friends, and so on. So many people will say, “I came to believe in Christ because of these experiences.” But if you think about it, it is God who decides what experience he will give each person. And even if they experience similar events, how they perceive them will differ from person to person. Some people may realise that they have been kept alive by God as a result of their illness and come to believe in God, while others may become angry and curse God, wondering why they are the only ones who have to suffer like this. The reason for such differences in perception is that God decides how to lead each person. It is God’s plan that it is set in the eternal past, “before the foundation of the world.”
The second point is that God chose those who believe in Christ for the purpose of making them “holy and blameless before him.” If God has chosen you to be saved by believing in Christ, does that mean you can do whatever you want? No, it doesn’t. God intends to make his chosen people “holy and blameless before him,” so they must live according to God’s will. This means that day by day you must be cleansed and led by God’s Spirit, i.e., the Holy Spirit.
The third point is that God’s choice is made through Jesus Christ. This is well illustrated by the words “he chose us in him,” i.e., in Christ in verse 4 and “he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ,” in verse 5. Many people would consider themselves lucky if they were to be adopted by a wealthy man and inherit a huge property. And even more so when a former sinner becomes God’s adopted child and inherits heavenly property, it is an unthinkably blessed thing. However, the grace of being adopted by God can only be received through union with Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, who died on the cross for the sins of human beings. In other words, there can be no inheritance of heavenly property as God’s adopted son without believing in Christ, God’s only Son, belonging to his body, the church, and sharing in his sufferings as well. The Religious Reformer John Calvin said, “It is into his body that the Father has decreed to ingraft those whom from eternity he wished to be his, that he may regard as sons all whom he acknowledges to be his members” (Institutes of Christian Religion, Book 3, Chapter 24 Section 5). Being chosen by God is inconceivable without belonging to the body of Christ, i.e., the church.
The fourth point is that God has chosen believers in Christ “to the praise of his glorious grace” he has given us through Christ. In other words, even if we have been chosen by God to believe in Christ, belong to his church and become his adopted children and heirs of heavenly property, the purpose for which God has chosen us will not be fulfilled unless we praise him for his glorious grace. Therefore, we should remember God’s grace day by day and live praising his grace. We should never forget, not even for a day, that we have been adopted by God from sinners and have become heirs of the heavenly property. Let us praise God morning and evening for such wonderful blessings in our lives. In particular, let us gather at church services on Sundays to praise God for his blessings.
Today’s Bible passage may be repugnant to some because they deal with the teaching of God’s election. That is, the objection is that God is unequal if He has chosen and predestined those who believe in Christ. However, the Christian truth that people are saved by God’s grace and not by their own merits cannot be separated from the teaching of God’s election. This is because unless we are convinced that we believe and are saved because God has chosen us, we will fall into the self-centred belief that we believe and are saved because we are great. John Calvin said, “We shall never feel persuaded as we ought that our salvation flows from the free mercy of God as its fountain, until we are made acquainted with his eternal election.” (Institutes of Christian Religion, Book 3, Chapter 21 Section 1).