In Paul’s letter to Christians in Ephesus, God shows that His plan involves much more than a planet called earth. God uses His spiritual family—His church—to display His “manifold wisdom” to “the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 3:10). God’s plan was conceived “before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4). Here is how God, through the apostle Paul, summed up His amazing plan:
[God] chose us in [Christ] 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. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of His will, according to His purpose, which He set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth. (Ephesians 1:4-10)
Before time began, before the world was made, God had us in mind. He planned (“predestined”) for us to become His sons through Jesus Christ. Why would God want us? Though so tiny in the vastness of the universe, though so limited in time and space, humans are God’s special creation, and therefore the focus of His great caring heart (Ephesians 1:4-5). 1 John 4:8 says it quite simply: “God is love!”
“GOD IS LOVE.”