Daily Word of Grace # 197 (December 16, 2020)
Near the beginning of his Letter to the Ephesians the Apostle Paul is effusive about the innumerable blessings God has given us in Jesus Christ: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us” (Ephesians 1:3-8). What was true for the Ephesians is true for you. God has chosen you and destined you for adoption as one of his beloved children. Why? Because God wanted to, or as Paul put it, “according to the good pleasure of his will.” Through Jesus Christ God has freely bestowed upon you grace, redeemed you through Jesus’ blood shed on the cross, and forgiven you your trespasses…all “according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us.” When it comes to giving you grace, God is not stingy or miserly, but overwhelmingly generous. In Jesus Christ God has not just given you a tiny bit of grace, but has “lavished” you with grace—and still does.
Love and Prayers,
Dave