Warrior Church Home Fellowship Study

Dr. Kevin Zadai 11-05-2023 -- 11-11-2023

We Are God's Delightful Children

"Even if you don't feel like you're God's delightful child, you are a delight to Him; this is the absolute truth."

~Kevin Zadai

For it was always in His perfect plan to adopt us as His delightful children, through our union with Jesus, the Anointed One, so that His tremendous love that cascades over us would glorify His grace—for
the same love He has for His beloved One, Jesus, He has for us. And
this unfolding plan brings Him great pleasure!
—Ephesians 1:5–6 TPT

DISCUSSION:
God, our Father in Heaven, has expressed that we are His delightful children. He revealed His heart for us through the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 1, which is the passage our study will focus on.

ORDAINED BY GOD AS HOLY
And He chose us to be His very own, joining us to Himself even before He laid the foundation of the universe! Because of His great love, He ordained us, so that we would be seen as holy in His eyes with an unstained innocence.
—Ephesians 1:4 TPT

Ephesians 1:4 expresses that God chose us to be His very own, joining us to Himself even before He laid the foundations of the universe. Paul explained that because of God's great love, He ordained us. Being ordained results in being "seen as holy in the Lord's eyes with an unstained innocence." Sadly, this scripture is often skipped over in churches; however, it's vital to understand its message because, in today's society, people need help. In addition to all of us needing God's help, gaining understanding is essential. We must have practical insight into what's happening and what has gone on behind the scenes.

The Holy Spirit is One who unveils things, which He does through Paul in Ephesians 1. In other words, He takes the veil away, pulling it back so we can see clearly. Paul, throughout his letters, unveiled the Spirit's revelation that was given to him. So, Ephesians 1:4 states that God chose us as His very own. He joined us to Himself before He laid the foundations of the universe—not when we were born or before the creation of the world, but before the foundations of the universe. This was determined long ago, which is the frame of mind that will help many people. Many are not receiving help for different reasons, including a lack of understanding.

Because of God's great love, He ordained us as His very own. He is unveiling the revelation that He joined us to Himself through Jesus Christ, so that we would be seen as holy in the eyes of God. We are not holy because of anything we have done, but because we are owned by the Lord and joined to Him. We find out in Ephesians 1:5 that God has adopted us. His relationship with us is not surface; He was fully committed to us before we were even born through the previously mentioned ordination. He's done it all for us already.

o What does it mean to be ordained by God? When did He do this?

UNSTAINED INNOCENCE
The Lord has made a way so that we could be seen by Him as holy, as we discussed. God has already done everything He needed to do to be able to make this statement from Ephesians 1:4. He is not a liar; He's already provided for it, so we are seen as holy. We are also seen in God's eyes as having an unstained innocence. I know it is difficult to comprehend this revelation, but it is true.

When I was in Heaven, I was able to receive understanding because I didn't have all the resistance we deal with down here. The flesh and soulish parts of me weren't there; all the unredeemed parts stayed here on earth. My body remained on the operating table. My emotions and unredeemed parts of me stayed with my body. My spirit is the part that went to Heaven. I had certain understanding faculties about me, but was redeemed and transformed, so I saw that I was innocent.

The reason we are innocent is that there are no marks against us. Unstained innocence means there is no stain or residue of our past. In other words, if you looked at your record, there would be no indication that there was ever any accusation against you. There would be no evidence whatsoever that you were anything but innocent. This is the only way I know how to explain it: When I was with Jesus, He treated me as if I had never done anything wrong—ever. He acted as though He had never seen anything in my file.

At first, I didn't understand how I could be innocent because I was taught that God knows everything. Although God is indeed omniscient, He chooses not to remember certain things. The Lord decided not to have access to our past records because He can do whatever He wants. In Heaven, I saw that Jesus had literally cleansed my file, so He had nothing to read against me or anyone else. I had no way of knowing anyone's past when I was there. When you're in Heaven, it won't take long before you forget everything that you're supposed to forget. I couldn't remember specific events, yet the Lord allowed me to recall other things when I was with Him for a purpose.

The predominant idea in Ephesians 1 is that God chose and ordained us to be the fulfillment of what He spoke. Nothing will remain except for what He had purely established from the beginning. Everything else will fall away. You will comprehend this one day: When people go to Heaven and encounter the revelation of unstained innocence, their greatest regret is feeling guilty for sins that were already forgiven. When I was there, it was evident that we must stop feeling guilty when God has made us innocent. Take time to examine these scriptures, then tell me how you can walk away and still feel guilty. We all have to reconcile this.

SET APART AND ADOPTED
Ephesians 1:5–6 states that it was always in God's perfect plan to set us apart and adopt us as His delightful children. His plan has always been to adopt us through our union with Christ, the Anointed One, so that "His tremendous love that cascades over us would glorify His grace." The scripture goes on to express that the same love the Father has for “His beloved One, Jesus, He has for us.” In other words, God doesn't love us any less than He loves His Son, Jesus. The unfolding of this plan brings the Lord great pleasure. There is a generous amount of revelation packed into these verses. The meaning in the original language is that we have a destiny that God has marked out beforehand; God has made a way and established us.

We have been established and adopted by God. All the paperwork has been done, and everything is set up for our inheritance. This is all evident in Heaven, but it should also be lived out through the Church on earth. We should be learning and experiencing these revelations, yet it isn't happening often. 

Warrior Church Home Fellowship Study

Dr. Kevin Zadai 11-05-2023 -- 11-11-2023

The Warrior Notes Fellowship Bible studies have been established on non-church nights to provide a place to study God's Word, fellowship, pray, and help each other. Your gathering is a place to discuss these revelations, which were God's plan from the beginning.

The Church should already be experiencing the inheritance God has provided. Still, because of this fallen world and warfare in the spirit realm, we do not always get everything we need. In the Book of Daniel, we see an example of an intense battle in the spirit realm. The angel, Gabriel, told Daniel that he was sent the first day he prayed, but encountered warfare to get to him. It took 21 days, but God heard his prayer on the first day and sent angelic help (Daniel 10:1–21).  

Ephesians 1:5–6 expresses that the Father loves us at the same level He loves Jesus, as we discussed. The same degree of love He has for Jesus is the same degree of love He has for us. We must realize we are a part of the Father's unfolding plan, which brings Him great pleasure. Even though you don't see or feel it, it is the truth. It's the same concept as when you pray; you often don't see your prayer answered right away, which is already explained through the scripture in Daniel. Likewise, even if you don't feel loved, you must know you are still loved. Even if you don't feel adopted, you are. Even if you don't feel like God's delightful child, you are a delight to Him; this is the absolute truth.

PRACTICAL UNDERSTANDING

Since we are now joined to Christ, we have been given the treasures of redemption by His blood—the total cancellation of our sins—all because of the cascading riches of His grace.

—Ephesians 1:7 TPT

Ephesians 1:7 teaches us that we have been given the treasures of redemption since we joined with Christ as born-again believers. Treasures is plural, so this verse speaks of multiple benefits piled up for us. Redemption is not just forgiveness of sins; it encompasses so much more. Jesus was beaten and bruised for our iniquities, and by His stripes, we were healed (Isaiah 53:3–6). Jesus obtained physical healing for us because He physically took this punishment upon His back. Our inheritance— treasures of redemption—includes the cancellation of sins, but also encompasses cascading riches of God's grace over us, the children of God.

This superabundant grace is already powerfully working in us, releasing within us all forms of wisdom and practical understanding.

—Ephesians 1:8 TPT

Ephesians 1:8 states that God's “superabundant grace is already powerfully working in us, releasing within us all forms of wisdom and practical understanding.”

• The verse specifically states this grace is superabundant, not just abundant.

• The idea here is that it's the manifestation of grace, which is not something we often hear.

• Wisdom is understanding the truth, not just hearing the facts.

• Knowledge of truth is hearing the facts, but not necessarily being able to apply them.

• Superabundant grace is released in all forms of wisdom and practical understanding.

• The word practical takes understanding a step further. It's not just knowledge, but revelation that can be applied.

I want you to come to the conclusion that something practical can be used in everyday life. For truth to be practical and useful, there must be manifestation. If you're going to believe something, you must encounter it, not just verbally agree by saying, "I believe it." We have often been put on hold, declaring we believe something, yet not seeing the answer. The point is that we must see what we believe manifest.

As mentioned, the angel told Daniel that God heard him the first day he prayed, but he had been fighting to get to him. There was a war going on. If you look at everything with the realization that there is spiritual warfare, you will have more understanding of what is happening. Practical understanding is when you receive revelation that you can apply. So, practical and application are synonymous because everything that God says has to be able to be encountered. For example, Romans 2:4 states that the goodness of God leads people to repentance. So, the revelation of God's goodness has to be applicable through manifestation. In other words, when people encounter God's goodness, then they repent. That repentance is a manifestation of God's goodness when it's revealed.

Remember that God desired us long ago to be His delightful children before we were born—and even before the universe was formed. God ordained us and caused us to be part of the manifestation of His great plan. Essentially, we are manifesting like a word; God spoke us into existence. He spoke His will into being, and we are all part of that plan.

PRAYER:

Father, thank You so much that we are Your delightful children. Help us to fulfill all the desires that You have for us. Thank You, Lord, that we are a manifestation of Your goodness and grace. Father, You knew that we would be alive at this time. We just want to glorify You. Lord, we just want You to know that we delight in You just like You delight in us. Thank You for giving us practical wisdom, application, and manifestation for this life. We will see the end of our faith, which is You being glorified in our lives, in the name of Jesus, amen.

1. Discuss what it means to have an unstained innocence, according to Ephesians 1:4. According to this study, how does all-knowing God see us as holy, no longer remembering our sins?

2. Why is it important to understand that God has adopted us and delights in us?

3. Redemption for those joined to God goes far beyond just the forgiveness of sins. Discuss the concept of treasures of redemption.

4. What is the difference between having knowledge and practical understanding? Discuss the concept of manifestation, according to this study.

5. Discuss why we must understand that we are ordained to manifest God's great plan.