There are several places in the Scripture we can go to answer this question. In my opinion, Ephesians 1 is one of the best, if not the best, portion of Scripture to look at when speaking about the focal point of our redemption. Here are the relevant verses...Ephesians 1: 3-14:
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 would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation - having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory.
(Ephesians 1: 3-14 NASB...Emphasis added is mine)
In these few verses notice everything God did, to whom He did it and the reason for doing what He did. You will also notice everything that the human being DID NOT DO....
Verse 4---He chose us, before the foundation of the world, so that we would be holy and blameless
Verse 5---He predestined us to adoption...according to the kind intention of His will...TO THE PRAISE OF HIS GLORY
Verse 7---In Him we have redemption ACCORDING TO THE RICHES OF HIS GRACE
Verse 9---He made known to us the mystery of His will ACCORDING TO HIS KIND INTENTION WHICH HE PURPOSED
Verses 11 & 12---We have obtained an inheritance having been predestined ACCORDING TO HIS PURPOSE WHO WORKS ALL THINGS AFTER THE COUNSEL OF HIS WILL...TO THE PRAISE OF HIS GLORY
Verses 13 & 14---Having believed the message of truth, the gospel, you were SEALED IN HIM WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT OF PROMISE...GIVEN AS A PLEDGE...TO THE PRAISE OF HIS GLORY
These few verses show the progression, from beginning to consummation, of our salvation. God does it all. God the Father chooses and predestines, God the Son provides the redemption and God the Holy Spirit effectively calls and seals. All of this is done to the praise of His glory, mentioned 3 different times in these few verses. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are the center and focal point. Mankind is not.
In the Old Testament we see the same thing as well. In Deuteronomy 7 we read:
The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but because the LORD loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the LORD brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
(Deuteronomy 7:7-8)
Notice it says He didn't choose the Israelites because they were greater in number. In other words, there was nothing special about them. It wasn't because of them in any way. Rather, it was because the LORD was faithful to keep His oath He swore to their forefathers. That's why He brought them out of Egypt...the sake of His own glory. He did not do it because they were so lovable. He did it because He was so faithful.
The church is filled with people who think they are so incredibly lovable and God simply cannot live without them in heaven at His side. He just loves them SOOOOOOO much. To an extent, this is true. However the love, mercy and grace of God are perfectly balanced along side His justice, righteousness and wrath. Quite frankly, a human being within the church, or without for that matter, cannot understand how much God loves them until they understand how much they do not deserve it. Romans 3:10-18 emphatically states this:
THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE;
THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS GOD;
ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE;
THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE, WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING, THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS
WHOSE MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS;
THEIR FEET ARE SWIFT TO SHED BLOOD,
DESTRUCTION AND MISERY ARE IN THEIR PATHS
AND THE PATH OF PEACE THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN
THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES
(Romans 3:10-18)
You are not so incredibly lovable that God cannot live without you. In fact, you are so incredibly wicked and vile that there is no fear of God in you. In spite of all that, however, God still did everything listed in our opening verses of Ephesians 1: 3-14.
Make no mistake. Salvation is centered on God and His glory, not on mankind and his lovableness or anything mankind thinks he may deserve. Mankind deserves nothing but condemnation from a holy, sinless God. Romans 3:10-18 is a perfect description of every human being that is dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1). Does this passage describe you? Are you dead in trespasses and sins? It need not be that way.
God is holy and righteous.
You are not holy and righteous. You were born in sin (Psalm 51:5) because of our first parents, Adam and Eve. Because of their disobedience in Genesis 3, every human being after them is born with an inherently sinful nature that is predisposed to disobedience and sin and deserves God's just wrath and judgment.
There is absolutely nothing that you can do to save yourself from this sinful condition except perfect obedience to God's law. This is totally impossible. Isaiah 64:6 tells us that our best deeds are like a filthy garment. In the original Hebrew, this "filthy garment" is a menstrual cloth used during a woman's period. That is the picture God the Holy Spirit chose to paint to describe your works. Your works are that bad in His sight.
Jesus Chris was born of a virgin, conceived of the Holy Spirit so as to bypass the sinful nature of mankind.
He lived a life on this earth that was sinless, perfectly obeying the law of God, in your place and for your benefit, because you could not.
Because He lived a sinless, perfect life, Jesus Christ was able to offer Himself as the spotless sacrifice needed to satisfy the just wrath of God against sin.
Jesus Christ was nailed to a cross. He shed His perfect blood on that cross to take away the sin of all who would believe in Him. He died on that cross and 3 days later, according to the Scriptures, He was raised from the dead and now sits at God the Father's right hand, interceding on behalf of the redeemed.
If you will place your trust in Him for the forgiveness of your sin, He will give to you His perfect righteousness in exchange for your sinfulness. God the Father will accept Christ's sacrifice on your behalf and will declare you to be righteous for Christ's sake. When God the Father looks at you, He will not see your sinfulness. He will see the blood of His Son covering your sin. Because of this, when you die, you will not suffer the just wrath of God in hell against sin for all eternity but will enter in to the blessed rest that God has prepared for those that love Him.
That is the good news of the gospel. That is what God has done on behalf of His people. Trust Him with your soul today.
