By Mark Grace, CCCNZ Ambassador
He mea whakarite hoki tatou nana i mua, hei tama mana, i roto i a Ihu Karaiti, ko ta tona whakaaro hoki i pai ai.
Na tofia e ia i tatou ‘ona o lona alofa, ‘ina ‘ia ‘avea i tatou ma ana tamafai ‘ona o Iesu Keriso, e tusa ma lona lava finagalo malie.
He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will.
Ephesians 1:5
My pepeha starts by recognising my mountain and river, and the significance of places in my family's history. Then it moves on to iwi, recognising the importance of extended family in my heritage. It concludes with the names of my parents and my own name.
A pepeha names the people and places that God has used to make me who I am.
Ephesians 1:5 is, in many ways, Paul giving the Ephesians a pepeha. He says: this is who you are, this is who you come from, this is where you come from, this is your identity, this is your anchor.
Paul says to them, and to us:
Before the creation of the world, in incredible grace and love, God predestined us. He predestined us to be adopted as his sons.
Predestined sounds like a complicated word, but it’s an action bathed in love. At its simplest, it means he destined us. It refers to the purpose for which we have been chosen.
Paul is saying that out of love for us, before he created the world, God chose and destined us to be adopted into his family through Jesus!
We have friends who have done an overseas adoption. It has been a rollercoaster ride for this family, but what is unmistakable is the immensity and immovability of the love they have for their child.
Another set of adoptive parents described it like this, “You walk in and see the one who is to be your child and immediately love wells up in your heart... You’re going to take them into your family. They are going to grow up with your name as your children; they are going to become heirs of your wealth.”
Sinclair Ferguson writes in Children of the Living God, “Adoption is a declaration God makes about us. It is irreversible, dependent entirely upon His gracious choice, in which He says: ‘You are my son and daughter; today I have brought you into my family.’”
Our pepeha may include our places and ancestors, but we should always remember that the foundation of who we are is rooted in the fact that we are chosen by God to be his children. Before the beginning of the world, he set his love on us.
