Chosen Before the Paperwork

In 2019, Marcus and Elena Rivera of Portland, Oregon, walked into their spare bedroom and began painting the walls a soft blue. They assembled a crib, folded tiny clothes into drawers, and hung a wooden sign that read the name they had already chosen: Gabriel. Their son had not yet been born. They had not yet been matched by the adoption agency. But Marcus and Elena had already decided — this child, whoever he would be, was theirs.

Seven months later, a social worker called about a three-day-old boy in a hospital across the state. When the Riveras arrived, Elena whispered to the infant bundled in her arms, "We've been waiting for you. Your room is ready. Your name is ready. You were ours before you even existed."

Gabriel Rivera will grow up and eventually learn that his parents did not choose him as an afterthought. They chose him first. They prepared a place, selected a name, and set an inheritance aside — all before he drew his first breath in their home.

This is the breathtaking claim Paul makes in Ephesians 1. Before the foundation of the world, the Almighty chose you. Not as a reaction. Not as a backup plan. God predestined you for adoption, prepared every spiritual blessing, and set your inheritance in place before time itself began. You were wanted before you were born. Your name was known before you knew His. And all of it was done, Paul says, to the praise of His glorious grace.