For this post
I am going to use an excerpt from my journal on Ephesians that reveals God’s
great love for us and gives us a reason for living.
Ephesians 2:4-7 “But God, who is rich
in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in
sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath
raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the
ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness
toward us through Christ Jesus.”
Almighty God,
our Creator, is an amazing Being. His
defining characteristic is love.
1John 4:8 “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.”
Nothing about our God is
small or limited in any way; He is rich in every attribute. His love is great and His mercy
abundant. Beyond my understanding, His
love toward every sinner is “great”—so great that He determined to provide for
our spiritual rebirth through His Son, Jesus Christ, before He created anything. God loves every sinner with the greatest love
even though He hates their sin. It’s by
His grace, His gracious loving influence on our heart, that we are saved from
His wrath, the just judgment of our sin.
I never get tired of
repeating the precious old adage that grace is God’s Riches At Christ’s
Expense.
God has
created man to think in reference to time.
“The ages to come” is a reference to what we would call broad segments
of time. Because the context is in
reference to our sitting in heavenly places, I believe this is a reference to eternity. I don’t think one can discount the evidences
of the richness of God’s grace towards His children in this life, but scripture
seems to indicate that these riches are nothing compared to what is to come.
1Corinthians 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath
not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things
which God hath prepared for them that love him.”
We are going to be blown
away and greatly humbled as we consider how little we evidenced our gratitude
in this lifetime for such provision.
Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace are ye
saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
“By grace” –
God’s divine influence upon your heart
“are you” –
the sinner
“saved” –
delivered from the wrath of God to restored fellowship with Him
“through
faith” – implicit belief in God’s truth and authority
“and that not
of yourselves” – Absolutely everything necessary to provide our
salvation is done by God.
“it” – your
salvation
“is the gift
of God” – an undeserved present from God the Father that only needs
to be accepted
“not of
works” – There is absolutely nothing we can do to add to the value of
God’s gift. His gift alone is sufficient to redeem us.
“lest any man
should boast” – It is God’s purpose for man to recognize that his whole life is
dependent upon God. Nothing man can do
is a basis for bragging or considering himself deserving of glory. ALL glory belongs to God.
Isaiah 42:8 “I am the LORD: that is my name: and
my glory will I not give to another….”
Ephesians 2:10 “For we are his
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before
ordained that we should walk in them.”
I love the way
the NLT expresses this verse: “For we
are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can
do the good things he planned for us long ago.”
God is the
master of everything He does, and it stands to reason that His workmanship
produces only work of the highest quality, a masterpiece. I couldn’t help but think of the lyrics to
one of my favorite songs, “A Picture of Grace” by the Gaithers.
Who painted this picture of me
He saw with the eye's of a master
How beautiful my life could be
Where once was a portrait of gloom and despair
This masterpiece hangs in it's place
It's signed with his blood and it's framed with his glory
This beautiful picture of grace
Because we
have been created anew in Christ Jesus, we have been imputed His righteousness
and declared of the greatest value to God the Father.
2Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ,
he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become
new.”
2Corinthians 5:21 “For he hath made him to be sin
for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
John 16:27 “For the Father himself loveth you,
because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God.”
Each person that places his/her
faith in Christ Jesus as Savior has been created to follow His example and do
good works. In fact, it is only in
Christ that we can do “good” works—works that have eternal benefit. Any actions men perform on this earth that we
classify as “good” I think is better classified as kind. It may bring temporary benefit to the flesh
for the recipient, but has no eternal benefit unless it leads to salvation,
restored fellowship with the Lord or encouragement and edification in the body
of Christ. It has no eternal benefit to
the “doer” unless done “as unto the Lord.”
“God hath before
ordained” – Again, this goes back to God’s omniscience—an attribute I can
define, but I can’t really comprehend.
God knows everything there is to know and has always known it. I know that there have been many in Christendom
who have denied that God could have known every choice we would make, reasoning
that such knowledge would deny man’s ability to choose since what God “knows”
is locked in, so to speak. I strongly
disagree with that reasoning. In my
thinking they are limiting God’s abilities—not man’s. They are reasoning with man’s logic and labeling
God with the same limited reasoning ability.
Not so. His ways and
understanding are far beyond our capabilities to understand.
Isaiah
55:8-9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,
saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways
higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
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