Destiny and inheritance.......A study of Ephesians Chapter 1

Prelude : God’s revelation of this very crucial chapter provides insight and understanding that God gives in regards to the DESTINY which God has given to every believer for his life on earth and his or her INHERITANCE in the Kingdom of heaven. The believer is never intended to drift through life, walking about aimlessly, meeting his day to day demands on life, and only intermittently coming into contact with isolated spiritual experiences. The picture that comes to me is a driftwood floating downstream in a river being pushed to and fro by each and every force inherent within the stream. The sad thing is the latter is true for most believers and this must truly grieve the heart of God…… for He believes in our creative blueprint and our eternal relevance and has taken a very serious position in regards to this, having made such grand scale plans for the fulfilment of each our destiny , so much so that he would even lay down his own life for this purpose!


Questions : What is our purpose on earth? Why were we saved? What is our destiny …….and what is the calling on our lives?

What does Paul mean when he says in Eph 4: 1 ‘ worthy of the calling with which we were called” and why does he presume that each of us have a calling? What is that calling …..and what does that mean to me? What is the role I will play in the kingdom of heaven? Is that role important to me? How is that relevant to the life I live on this earth in the fulfillment of that destiny which God has so carefully and meticulously designed? What would I tend to potentially loose out on if I don’t grasp the meaning of that destiny before the completion of my life on earth?

In Eph 5:15 , Paul says …see that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, ‘REDEEMING THE TIME”, because the days are evil……

If we don’t know our destiny and we are simply drifting through life , week after week, how are we actually……redeeming the time? How is our time being put to best use if it does not equate with our CALLING or DESTINY?

The bible says … that the people perish without a Vision. If we do not know where we are heading and what is our purpose in any pursuit, we will most certainly never reach it. If we do not know our DESTINY, we cannot make an impact for the kingdom of God,……. nor will we be effective against the principalities and powers and rulers of this dark age that seem to be gaining grounds over people’s lives and society in a big way. Neither can we become God’s desired army of spiritual giants that can make a collective and focused impact on the kingdom of God …..on earth.

Verse 3-6 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who HAS BLESSED US WITH EVERY SPIRITUAL BLESSING in the heavenly places in Christ, just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will to the praise of the Glory of His Grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved

In us, is now the provision of EVERY spiritual blessing as He says He has already blessed us; and all we need to do now is to simply unlock those blessings. What are the keys to unlocking these blessings? Before we find these keys, we need to ask what are those spiritual blessings and why are they so relevant to our lives that we need to unlock them?

Spiritual blessings are the provisions that God has put in us; to be able to rise to the occasion where we can impact the lives of others in very positive ways. The Kingdom of Heaven is all about a selfless disposition towards caring for and nurturing another fellow human or believer; to bring about their propagation and enhancement . In so doing we take on a Least position to bring about Greatness in another. Jesus did this by coming to earth and laying his life down for us to bring about Greatness in us in the eyes of God. His entire life on earth was about keeping his eyes on the well being of others. There was not even a moment of selfish pursuit. The Heavenly Law which governs this says he who is the Least ( the servant) is the Greatest of them all (Matthew 23:11). By imparting Greatness to another human or believer we rise in Greatness in the eyes of God. In order to attain this Greatness we need to unlock every Spiritual Blessing; which are the very provisions God has now made available in our spirit, through our salvation.


Vs 7-10 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound towards us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, which He purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and on earth – in Him.

The keys to unlocking the spiritual blessings seem to be Wisdom and Prudence. Wisdom and Prudence will start to click the minute we understand what is our CALLING ( Destiny) and how it impacts our INHERITANCE in the kingdom of heaven

Vs 7-10 shows how much God desires to raise up and to gather together all believers who have been fired up for their Godly destinies and who have so lived their lives to fully attain their inheritance and crown of glory. Therefore we need to ask God to reveal to us his calling on our lives and what are our purposes and blue print to bring our destinies into fulfilment.

The Calling is invariably tied to the Inheritance and we cannot understand the relevance of our Calling without understanding the Inheritance associated with it ,…………. and the converse is also true


Vs 11-12 In him we HAVE OBTAINED an inheritance, being predestined according to the purposes of Him who works ALL things to the counsel of His will….

Vs 13 ………….you were sealed with the holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our INHERITANCE until the redemption of the purchased possession……..


The Holy Spirit is the guarantee or the other word used is downpayment or earnest. I sort of understood what this meant when someone was interested in purchasing my house. The house agent who showed me a prospective buyer said that in order to secure the deal for the latter, the latter will need to put in the earnest deposit. This is the only way to hold me back from opening up the sale to another interested party. This will facilitate the opportunity for the prospective buyer to start the SnP, pay the outstanding on the deposit, and then proceed to get a mortgage loan. The earnest deposit in effect seals the deal. Therefore the Holy Spirit seals the deal for us to live out our destiny according to the predestined calling, in order to get the crown of glory which is our Inheritance

Many understand the Inheritance to be just a place in heaven. It will be sad if our understanding is just limited to this. Our salvation must mean more than just a happy ending.

We are to live purpose driven lives on earth that impacts mankind , society and the kingdom of heaven. We are to fully live out our destinies on earth , only to transcend into another realm of eternal Godly living and service.

Now here is an interesting parallel. If the earth itself has societies, people groups, animal species , space, environment, kingdoms etc; and the earth is only a shadow of the kingdom of heaven, how much more the kingdom of heaven? If Christ has gone back to prepare a PLACE for us, how complex and wonderful this system of things must be if He has taken two thousand years to do this?

A simple calculation will reveal that in the last 6 thousand years about 100 over billion people must have lived and passed on through their lives on earth . How many of these people must make up heavenly dwellers? Could it be larger than our current earthly population of 6 billion? It certainly must be!

If so, how many faithful servants of God will be required to help in the administration of the immensely huge and complex kingdom of heaven? What will our roles be in Heaven? This chapter of Ephesians seems to say more ……




Vs 15 Therefore I also….. DO NOT CEASE TO give thanks for you, MAKING MENTION OF YOU IN MY PRAYERS, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of Glory, may GIVE TO YOU the spirit of WISDOM and revelation in the KNOWLEDGE of Him, the eyes of your UNDERSTANDING being enlightened, THAT YOU MAY KNOW what is the hope of HIS CALLING, what are the RICHES of the glory of HIS INHERITANCE in the saints

This is one instance where the word Knowledge is mentioned in its three forms. Absolute Knowledge from God, Understanding which means Knowledge explained, and Wisdom which is Knowledge applied.

Paul felt that it was so important to unceasingly pray that the Ephesians will seek and acquire this divinely inspired KNOWLEDGE in order to know and understand their CALLING and their INHERITANCE

Vs 19-21 and what is the exceeding greatness of His POWER toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty Power, which He worked in Christ when He raised him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come………

This verse talks about two things.

One is the mighty POWER which is available to us for acquiring the Knowledge of our predestined Calling, and the releasing of our Spiritual Blessings, for living out our destinies on earth.

The second gives us a glimpse of the kind of Inheritance that we can receive if we are to fearfully and willingly live out our Destinies in accordance with God’s purposes and plans. The example mentioned here in Verses 19-21 is about Christ’s own Inheritance.

Christ came to earth, emptied himself of his heavenly position, took upon the sins of all mankind and suffered the most humiliating death to pave a way for fallen man. His Inheritance was a position ABOVE all principality , power , might and dominion,…….. a NAME above all NAMES.

Now how about the believer who lives out his destiny on earth in accordance with God’s plan? What is his reward?

Verse 21 mentions’ principalities, power and might and dominion’ which some seem to equate with the rulers of the Darkness of this age.

But this verse seems to speak of something deeper…………………………… it seems to be all encompassing about the subject of rule and authority without being specific.

It seems to indicate the existence of a heavenly realm and structure of Godly rule and authority in relation to ‘principality ( rule) , power( authority) , might and dominion’. Could it be true that the candidates who will inherit such crowns of glory in relation to this Godly structure of rulership and authority; are the very ones who have been counted faithful on earth; and who have suffered much in expressing their Spiritual Blessings ; and who had consequently impacted many lives through their God given destinies on earth? Is this the kind of Inheritance that we ourselves are to receive and which is being spoken of in the scriptural texts outlined above? It seems very much so….


Finale: Paul says in Eph chapter 4:1 says… I therefore the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to WALK WORTHY OF THE CALLING TO WHICH YOU WERE CALLED, with ALL lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace

The 1st chapter of Ephesians is generally known as the chapter that talks about our ‘seated position’ in Christ; ie our spiritual positions in Christ in the heavenly places by virtue of God’s great salvation plan, an act of Grace, saved through faith. But the revelation in the text above seems to further underscore the relevance of a Godly calling or destiny and the inheritance that accompanies this great salvation plan………. one that seems to be a personal call of God on our lives!!!

If so then……. What is my destiny?

What is my calling?

What then is God’s divinely inspired purpose for my life on earth?



………………………………………………….By Destiny Seekers International