Ephesians 1:6 Graced

… to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. Ephesians 1:6

As we have already seen, God’s divine purpose in all that He does from eternity past, to the present, and on to the eternal future, is toward the attainment of praise for His own glory. As it has been said, God’s chief end is to glorify God … ‘Glory,’ as it is used in the Bible describes the manifestation of God’s saving presence. Though we have seen it similarly phrased in Ephesians chapter 1 verses 12 and 14, here in verse 6, the word ‘glory’ is used adjectivally to describe one particular aspect of God’s presence, namely His grace (in Greek, charis). It may be accurately understood to translate this phrase as, “to the praise of His glorious grace” (as the ESV and RSV do). To say that God’s grace is glorious, means that it is a reflection of His glory, that is, His revealed character. To praise God’s grace then is to praise His name.

“Grace!” Phillip Doddrige wrote, “’tis a charming sound, harmonious to the ear.” John Newton sang it, “Amazing Grace how sweet the sound!” Pastor Tim James wrote…

“Grace is such a singular and absolute thing that it will countenance no rival and tolerate no adornment. It stands alone. No words can do it justice. No song can encompass its true melody. No sermon or theological treatise can expound the depths or heights of its glory. Every redeemed sinner rests in it and is motivated by it. … Those who have experienced the beauty and the power of it find their minds and hearts consumed by it. Grace is mystery and revelation. Our language is salted with it. Our relationships are monitored and measured by it. Our souls are permeated with it. God’s grace is his glory.”

Our text in Ephesians doesn’t end here, but rather drives us on with a relative clause which emphasizes another aspect of God’s glorious grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. This statement prepares us for the following verses which declare the manifestation of God’s grace in history, in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ (the Beloved), in whom we then trust and believe. This reminds us once again that all of God’s blessings, including most of all His grace, come only in Christ, “the Beloved” – Can there be a more appropriate name and title for the glorious Bridegroom of our soul! Blessed is the one who can say of Him, with a heart of faith, “I am my Beloved’s and my Beloved is mine.” (SS 6:3) Is Jesus Christ your Beloved? If so, then be encouraged by His promise here in this verse.

He made us accepted in the Beloved. With these words, the Holy Spirit declares one of the most beautiful and comforting truths in all of Scripture, the fact that there is an inviolable, immutable union between Jesus Christ and His people. This union is entered into upon the initiative of God who “accepts” (in Greek the verb is, charito-o) literally, “favors” or “graces” us. The verb, e-charit-osen (from the noun charis which remember means grace) is an aorist indicative verb, which describes a past tense single action taken by God, which in turn, changes our position. I Corinthians 15 speaks of our either being in Adam or in Christ; this positional change initiated by God, is because He has graced us in the Beloved. Chosen from all eternity to be the bride of Christ, when we come to faith in Him and are born again, we enter into a marriage covenant – a vital union whereby everything that is His is ours. To be “graced in the Beloved” means that, as objects of His love, we become highly favored. We become pleasing to the Father and He accepts our offerings in Christ (1 Pet 2:5).

This week read the Song of Solomon – as you do, consider your relationship with Christ, with whom you have been brought into union, by grace.

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Judges 4 No Honor

As we open the curtain on chapter 4, we find the enemy within God’s people. Notice verse 1 – God’s people did evil again in the sight of the Lord. God’s people swallowed Satan’s lie, that “sin is satisfying.” This week, study Judges 4 and see for yourself whether sin really is satisfying. As we enter chapters 4 and 5 of Judges, we find the spiritual merry-go-round continues to go around in circles. As we have already seen, as God’s people forsook the Lord they went into bondage for eight years; God raised up Othniel to deliver them, and the land had peace for forty years. They later forsook the Lord again and went eighteen years into bondage; God raised up Ehud to deliver the people, and the land rested eighty years. By this time, you would think God’s people would have noticed the pattern – that when they rebelled against God, they’re lives began to fall apart. They lost their freedom and were thrown into bondage, but as they followed the Lord, they found peace and rest.

Christians today act and live the same way. Some fail to pray, read and obey the Bible, go to church, tithe, or in general live for Christ; others harbor sin or bitterness, and then wonder why things aren’t going well in their life and why they are often so miserable. They wonder why it is that their life is in turmoil and they have no peace. Make no mistake about it – when Christians rebel and disobey the Lord, it leads to a life of frustration, failure, fear, and fighting. When we obey the Lord, even though we may suffer trials, it leads to a life of serenity, spiritual success, stability, strength, and significance. Israel failed to learn this! Have you learned this?

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Ephesians 1:5-6 The Praise of His Glory

… according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace…

Ephesians 1:5-6

From God’s past eternal decrees in election and predestination to the present display of saving grace among His church, on to the future eternal enjoyment of the inheritance of the saints, God’s ultimate goal and purpose in all He does is single. More than any of His magnificent attributes – above mercy, justice and even love – there is one overriding motive which God reveals as the supreme reason and intent for all He accomplishes in history. Taking off from the answer of the Shorter Catechism’s opening question, “What is the chief end of man?” John Piper turned the answer around suggesting that it is, “God’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy himself forever.”

Is this so? Certainly it cannot be questioned that we ought to praise God and that He is worthy of our highest praise. Scripture often calls upon God’s people to praise and glorify His name because of His spectacular benevolence and good will toward us. But have you ever considered the idea that the praise of God’s glory is not merely the result of His action but is in fact the goal and purpose of all of His works. God governs the world in such a manner to the end that He might be admired, marveled at, exalted and praised (2 Thess 1:10) – that His glory be praised, especially the glory of His grace.

Are you uneasy with this premise? Have you become so indoctrinated and enamored with the idol of today’s religion, who seems to do all that he does for the sake of man, that it does not seem right to you that the end of that which God does would be to seek praise for Himself? Be sure that our God’s clear purpose, as revealed in Scripture, is to exalt Himself in the eyes of man.

Piper observers: “God is the one Being in all the universe for whom seeking His own praise is the ultimately loving act. For Him self-exaltation is the highest virtue. When He does all things “for the praise of His glory” as Ephesians 1 says, He preserves for us and offers to us the only thing in all the world which can satisfy our longings. God is for us, and therefore has been, is now and always will be, for Himself.”

If you have a hard time accepting this, perhaps you should renew your mind, proving what is God’s will and intent is in all of his wonderful creative and salvific deeds. Read the cross-references below and permit the Scripture to determine what is on God’s mind in His eternal decrees and acts in time. If your existing notions of God’s motives differ from that which the Scripture reveals, then repent and conform your thinking to what God reveals about Himself.

Cross-References: Ex 9:16; Ps 83:17-18, 106:7-8; Pr 16:4; Is 43:7,21, 48:11, 61:11, 63:12-14; Dan 4:35; Lk 10:21; Rom 9:11-16,22-23; 1 Cor 1:21; Eph 1:9, 2:7, 3:10; Phil 2:13; 2 Th 1:10; 1 Pet 2:9, 4:11, Rev 4:11

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Judges 3:12-30 What’s That in Your Hand?

Once again God’s people did evil in His sight, so the Lord strengthened Eglon of Moab against Israel because of their wickedness. Israel was not sold over by the Lord this time, but they were smitten by Moab; and Jericho, the city of palm trees, was occupied by the enemy. Why was Israel doing evil once again? Had they not learned their lesson? Perhaps Israel thought that there would be no danger of oppression from an old enemy whom they had already conquered and considered to be weak. But it was soon clear that they were not as weak as they thought. The same truth holds true for our lives; we must be on guard as old sinful habits have a way of luring up on us again if we are not careful.

The nation of Israel knew better than to go off into sinful living; God had already slapped their hand once for their disobedience, and here He slapped again a little harder. The Biblical principle that applies here is this: as the intensity of sin increases, the intensity of judgment increases. As Hosea had written: they sow the wind and reap whirlwind.

When not properly dealt with, our sin will have the tendency to get worse, becoming even more powerful and taking more control of our lives. Reuben, Gad and half tribe of Manasseh failed to thwart the attack from Moab, Ammon and the Amalekites; then their failure and defeat affected the other tribes. Likewise, our sinful failures affect others too. Our influence is for good or for bad whether we like it or not.

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Ephesians 1:5 Adopted

in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself

Among the truths which Paul expresses great amazement over as one spiritual blessing after the next gushes forth from his pen, is the matter of adoption. Nestled here in the midst of verse 5, following the grand and sublime doctrines of election and predestination – before we read the glorious expression, to the praise of the glory of His grace and learn of our being accepted in the Beloved – is the equally glorious, though admittedly less often considered, subject of our adoption as sons. Paul is ravished by the joy of being a son of God, and he cannot leave that matter out of his doxology here in Ephesians 1. John with similar enthusiasm writes in 1 John 3:1: Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Just a bit of reflection and meditation on the doctrine of adoption will bring us a great thrill. We have been adopted into a better lineage than one who is able to trace his genealogy to an uninterrupted line of princes and kings. Luther said that if we but knew what this privilege [of adoption] was, all the riches of all the kingdoms of the world would be but filthy dung to us.

Just as it could be overlooked here in the midst of verse 5, the doctrine of adoption has also been neglected by much of the church throughout its history. With the exception of John Calvin, and some of the Puritans, this beautiful truth has often been forgotten amidst discussions about other doctrines which surrounded the formation of creeds, confessions and statements of faith. One shining exception to this rule was when the Westminster Assembly’s Divines decided to include a statement on adoption in their resultant confession. Chapter XII of the Westminster Confession of Faith states:

All those that are justified, God vouchsafeth, in and for his only Son Jesus Christ, to make partakers of the grace of adoption: by which they are taken into the number, and enjoy the liberties and privileges of the children of God; have his name put upon them; receive the Spirit of adoption; have access to the throne of grace with boldness; are enabled to cry, Abba, Father; are pitied, protected, provided for, and chastened by him as by a father; yet never cast off, but sealed to the day of redemption, and inherit the promises, as heirs of everlasting salvation.

Richard Sibbes has written, “All things are ours by virtue of our adoption because we are Christ’s and Christ is God’s.  There is a world of riches in this, to be sons of God.  And what a prerogative is this . . . that we have boldness to appear before God, to call him Father, to open our necessities, to fetch all things needful, to have the ear of the King of heaven and earth, to be favorites in the court of heaven.”

William a Brakel beautifully writes on the glory of adoption, “From being a child of the devil to becoming a child of God, from being a child of wrath to becoming the object of God’s favor, from being a child of condemnation to becoming an heir of all the promises and a possessor of all blessings, and to be exalted from the greatest misery to the highest felicity—this is something which exceeds all comprehension and all adoration.”

Christians are not sons of God by nature; we lost our status and privilege as God’s image-bearers with Adam’s fall in the garden. But as God chose us in Christ, in eternity past unto adoption as sons, our status and privileges are returned to us based upon the merits of our older brother, Jesus Christ. As adopted children we belong to a family with which we have no right to belong, but because of a legal transaction which has occurred, we are freed from the obligations of the family from which we came, having become vested into a new family, with all of its rights, privileges and advantages.

In Christ, you are a child of God by faith! What an amazing fact! May you take comfort in this fact in the face of the reality of your own unworthiness, poverty, infirmities, afflictions, and persecutions. Samuel Willard concludes: “Be always comforting of your selves with the thoughts of your Adoption: Draw your comforts at this tap, fetch your consolations from this relation; be therefore often chewing upon the precious privileges of it, and make them your rejoicing. … Let this joy dispel the mists of every sorrow, and clear up your souls in the midst of all troubles and difficulties.”

This week chew on the doctrine of Adoption – pick up a Systematic Theology and read the chapter on Adoption. One good one that is available on the Internet is that of James P. Boyce: http://www.founders.org/library/boyce1/ch36.html. Look up the cross references below and take pleasure in the fact and privileges of being an heir of God in Christ!

Cross References: John 1:12, Rom 8:14-17, Gal 3:23-26, 4:4-7, 28, Eph 5:1, Heb 12:5-6, 1 John 3:1.