To the Praise of His Glorious Grace

To the Praise of His Glory

When we read the opening paragraphs of Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus, it is helpful to slow down and highlight the repeating words and phrases. These are at least three things we should remember on Resurrection Sunday. Those three are: 1) Who does the work; 2) What we receive; and 3) Why is this so?

First of all, the One who does all the work to make it possible to have a relationship with God is God. None of us merits this. We all approach God with nothing to offer and we receive what he offers by faith. He says it, it is the word of truth, so we must believe Him.

Secondly, we should ponder all that those who view the cross and the empty tomb correctly receive from God. We don’t deserve every spiritual blessing, being made holy and blameless, adoption into his family, forgiveness, salvation or an inheritance.

Finally, we need to realize that this isn’t about us. Yes, God loves us, and he desires to have a relationship with us, but it isn’t because he is lacking anything. His work reveals his glory. He is worthy, therefore, of all praise.

All scripture passages are from the English Standard Version except as otherwise noted.