Now that we understand the teachings of chapter one overall, we may turn our attention to what Paul is teaching us about God and our salvation. I will take the lessons mostly so you may read the chapter alongside these revelations.

First, God is a Trinity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. As we discussed already, God predestined Israel for a service (this use of the word is regarding a service, not salvation). God loves us, never doubt that truth. God is gracious, and his grace is free (not earned or according to some merit of our own), and this grace is given through Jesus the Messiah. This grace gives birth to our redemption through the blood sacrifice of Jesus; redemption is forgiveness.

God has all wisdom and insight. His complete will is a secret, but God revealed some of that secret in Jesus. The revealed secret is that Jesus will administrate all things, in all times, in heaven and on earth. We find out at the end of this chapter that this part of God’s will is already accomplished in a practical way as Jesus has been given all authority and now sits (showing the completion of his task) at the right hand of the Father and exercises the mighty strength of God.

Second, in regard to God’s will for us, we are to be holy and blameless. We are adopted children of the Father, belonging to God the moment we come to faith in Jesus. This is verified by the seal of the Holy Spirit given us, the Holy Spirit himself being a downpayment of our inheritance (not our salvation, our inheritance of the kingdom). Our mission is to bring glory to God though our faith in God and love of his holy ones. Any wisdom we have, any revelation we receive, any calling we obey and any hope we cling to is from God. His power is for us collectively, as a body of believers, for in this age the church is Jesus’ presence on earth.

You may want to read through those last three paragraphs again, there is a lot in there. There is one overarching theme, however, and this theme is true for all of Scripture: God is our hero. Read the passage again with that in mind, you will see it everywhere. God loves us and through his strength he excercises a measure of providence, gives much needed grace, wisdom and revelation, provides a doorway to salvation, and excercises his power through his people. God is far superior to any superhero ever imagined.