Isaiah - Verse By Verse

Walking through Ephesians - Day 6

versebyverse | October 16, 2007 22:43

Thought:  To me, God's arrangement that we all praise Him for what He has done for us is not vain or self-centered; it is completely appropriate.  Oh that we might truly understand how very worthy He is to receive all glory and all praise all the time!

Question:  How can the tremendous gift of God's grace, as displayed in our adoption, be free?

Scripture:  Ephesians 1:6 (NIV):  "to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves."

This predestined adoption is to His praise.  We are not praised for becoming adopted, the Adopter is praised for reaching out.  It is all His great effort and wonderful idea to come after us.  We're just there, lost and alone, doing nothing, powerless to help ourselves.  We needed His help.  The assignment of free will upon all of us by God, and the entrance of sin into the world through Adam, condemns us all to the same "orphaned" state.  God knows we need Him, and His "glorious grace."  He seemingly, to me, allows us to need Him this way, so desperately, that we have no other recourse.  Then when He extends Himself, demonstrating His Nature of Love, all the praise will be His.  He knew it!  He helped us so that praise would become greater toward Him.

This grace that God gives is free.  (Free to us, but not free for God to give!  It cost God His dear Son!)  We have nothing worthy enough to offer as payment.  Any payment we may extend to earn grace would be an insult to its value, therefore we cannot extend any kind of barter or payment.  We just must receive grace as it is--incomparably valuable and priceless.  It comes to us "in Christ", "in the One he loves."  God loves His Son and, in a sense, loves only His Son the way He does.  But God so loved us, the world, that He gave up His Son so that, I believe, the very love He had for His Son then spread and became the same love for us.  We are loved "in Christ."  We must be.  We are unlovely totally without the covering of the body of Christ upon us, neutralizing our sinful natures.  Thus grace is our free gift, but also Jesus Christ is our free gift, because Jesus embodies grace and love, as given by the Father to us.

Prayer:  Praise to You, Oh Father, for how Your adopting love is all wrapped up in Jesus Christ because of Your love for Him.  And praise to You again, Father, that this love reaches and touches me.  Amen. 

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