Ephesians 1:5

Plain English Version

so he got Jesus to bring us into his family, and now we can be God’s own kids. God did that because it is what he really wanted to do.

Cross References

Matthew 1:25

But he did not sleep with her, like a man does with his wife, until after her son was born. And he named the baby Jesus.

Matthew 11:26

Yes, Father, that is how you wanted to do it.”

John 1:12

But some people did want him. They believed in him, so God said they can join his family, and be his own kids.

John 11:52

And he was also going to die for all God’s people, everywhere. He died to join all of God’s people everywhere into one mob.

John 20:17

Jesus said, “Don’t hold on to me. I haven’t gone up to my father yet. I want you to go to my followers and tell them that I am going back up to my father, and he is the father of all of you too. He is my God, and he is your God too.”

Acts 13:48

Those people that were not Jews heard those words, and they were very happy. They said, “Thank you God for this message. It is really good.” And a lot of people there believed in Jesus. You see, a long time before that, God picked those people to live with him for ever.

Romans 8:23

And we get trouble too. We are Christians, and we have the Holy Spirit in us, but we still get trouble. God gave us that Holy Spirit to show us a little bit of the good that will come later. But right now, we get pain and problems too. So we just wait for God to fix everything up and to really make us his family. Then he will give us new bodies, just like he promised us.

1 Corinthians 1:1

I am Paul, and this letter is from me. God wanted me to go and tell people about Jesus Christ, so he picked me to be his special worker. And Sosthenes is here with me. He is our Christian friend, and he is helping me write this letter.

1 Corinthians 1:21

You see, God is properly wise. He knows that most people in this world want to be smart and think up their own ideas about God. But he blocks them, so they will never get to know him that way. Instead, God is happy to save everybody that believes his message. And we tell you that message, even though other people think we are stupid.

Galatians 3:26

It’s like this now. You all believe in Jesus Christ, so you are joined to him, and you are all God’s kids.

Ephesians 1:11

God always does everything that he plans. And a long time ago, he picked us, and planned to join us to Jesus Christ and make us his people.

Ephesians 1:9

God planned it all a long time ago, and nobody knew about it. But now he let us know about it. He told us that he is using Jesus to do the things he planned, things that make him happy.

Philippians 2:13

God is the one that is working inside you. He helps you think the right way, so that you want to do the good things that make him happy, and he gives you the power to do those good things.

Colossians 1:19

At the time when God’s son became a man, God lived in him properly. God was happy to live in him.

2 Thessalonians 1:11

So we always pray for you. God picked you to be his own people, and he wants his mob to be good people, so we ask God to keep making you better people. You believe in Jesus, and you want to do good things, so we pray that God will work powerfully in you, and we pray that he will give you the power to do all those good things that you want to do.