I wrote this a while back as part of Bible study I was doing with my daughter, but it goes along with a post that was written in another group, and it brought this to my my mind, so I decided to post it here. Before I get started with this message, I want to note that all brackets are mine, and I added what is said inside the brackets. 

So anyway, here is a portion of what I wrote for that Bible study, and it started with verse 11, but before I get into that let's let's first back up to verse 9 (Ephesians 1:9) so we can build a bit of context, "God has now relvealed to us his mysterious plan regarding Christ, a plan to fulfill his own good pleasure.  (10) And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everytihng together under the authority of Christ--everything in heaven and earth. (11) Furthermore because we have been united with Christ, WE have received an inheritance from God.  For he chose us [those that are in Christ] in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan.”  Or in the KJV “…who worketh all after the counsel of his will.”   Well let’s keep reading to find out what God’s plan was, that he worked out according to His will:

Ephesians 1:12 “God’s purpose [plan] was that the Jews [Israelites] who were the first to trust in Christ would bring praise and glory to God.  (13) And now you Gentiles [non-Jews/non-Israelites] have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago.  (14) The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people.  He did this so we would praise and glorify him.”

Then in verse 15-23 Paul goes into an explanation about praying for these people, and that he wants them to understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for those that believe.  But in chapter 2 he continues telling us about God’s plan, and he is talking to the Gentiles/non-Israelties:

Ephesians 2:1-20 “Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins.  (2) You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world.  He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God.  (3) All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature.  By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.  (4) But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, (5) that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead.  It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved. (6) For he raised us from the dead with Christ and seated us with him in heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. (7) So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.

(8) God saved you by his grace when you believed.  And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.  (9) Salvation is not a reward for good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.  (10) For we are God’s masterpiece. He created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things that he planned long ago.  (11) Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders… (12) In those days [before Jesus died on the cross] you were living apart from Christ.  You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them.  You lived in this world without God and without hope.  (13) But now you have been united with Christ Jesus.  Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.

(14) For Christ himself has brought peace to us.  He united Jews [Israelites] and Gentiles [non-Israelites] into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us.  (15) He did this by ending system of the law and its commandments and regulations.  He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups.  (16) Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death. 

(17) He brought this good news of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near.  (18) Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us. 

(19) So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners.  You are citizens along with all of God’s people.  You are members of God’s family.” 

So Ephesians 1:11 told us that God makes everything work out according to His plan, and we asked the question, what was His plan that He worked out?  I think the passage we just read make it pretty clear, when we read everything in context that God chose the Israelites or the Jews that first trusted in Christ to bring Him glory, and after the cross the Gentiles were welcomed into the family and God united the two groups together into one new people.  So now everyone has access to God, anyone can be a part of His family through Christ.  This was God’s plan.  

If we look at the book of Galatians it also talks about God’s plan to make this happen.  Galatians 3:8-9 in the KJV says, “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen [Gentiles] through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham saying, in thee shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. (9) So that they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.” 

That same passage in the NLT says, “What’s more the Scriptures looked forward to the time when God would declare the Gentiles to be righteous because of faith.  God proclaimed this good news to Abraham long ago  when he said, ‘All the nations will be blessed through you.’ (9) So all who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of faith.” 

Drop down to Galatians 3:26-29 “For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.  (27) And all who have united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes.  (28) There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female.  For you are all one in Christ.  (29) And now you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham [it says Abraham’s seed in KJV].  You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.” 

So this was always God’s plan, He even preached His plan to Abraham that there would come a time when the Gentiles could be made righteous through their faith in Jesus, and that is the plan that God made work out according to His will.  I think Scripture makes it clear over and over that we have a choice in the matter of whether or not we choose to accept Jesus as our Savior and be “in Christ.”  God didn’t predetermine who would accept His Son, He just predetermined the inheritance and the blessings for those that do choose Him, and God made a plan that included all people in the human race, so we can all be included in Jesus blood line, and be counted as Abraham’s seed/descendants and be adopted as God’s children, and not only the Israelite people. 

I believe Mark 16:15-16 confirms this:

"He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.