Ephesians 1:6

“to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved”

“To the praise of the glory of His grace”: An oft repeated expression in this section (Ephesians 1:12). “That we might learn to praise that glorious generosity of His” (Phi).

The result of being adopted into God's family should result in "praise" from those adopted. “How can the man who has been adopted into God's family fail to praise him? Appreciation demands it!” (Caldwell p. 24). Colossians 3:15 “and be ye thankful”. “The glory of God is the revelation of God, and the glory of His grace is His self-disclosure as. gracious God. To live to the praise of the glory of His grace is both to worship Him ourselves by our words and deeds as the gracious God He is, and to cause others to see and to praise Him too” (Stott p. 50). Some Christians seem to have forgotten that our purpose is to declare to others the marvellous nature of the God we serve (1 Peter 2:9). “Yet such Christian talk comes into violent collision with the man-centeredness and self-centeredness of the world. Man, imprisoned in his own little ego. has an almost boundless confidence in the power of his own will, and an almost insatiable appetite for the praise of his own glory. But the people of God have at least begun to be turned inside out. The new society has new values and new ideals. For God's people are God's possession who live by God's will and for God's glory” (Stott p. 50).

“Of His grace”: This is exactly what the sinner needs, God's unmerited favor! Grace, the word means that God is always in touch with the human condition, He is not unkind or cruel, demanding or unreasonable, rather He is willing to forgive and give people. second chance.

“Freely bestowed on us”: This grace was freely given, completely undeserved and unmerited (Romans 5:6). “In the beloved”: Such grace is only found in Christ. Christ is the object of the Father's love, par-excellence (Matthew 3:17). Therefore to attack Jesus, is to attack the most precious object of the Father's love. While grace is unmerited, it is conditional. Such grace is only found "in the Beloved"(Ephesians 1:3), and how does one get into Christ? (Galatians 3:26). Hence faith and baptism stand between everyone and the grace of God. We were lost sinners, on the brink of eternal destruction, completely unable to save ourselves. We were self-centered, deceived, and living by our own wits, which only seemed to further entangle us in frustration, misery, and unhappiness. God came along, offered to adopt us into His own family. He offered us. new name, new friends,. new life,. new purpose for living, and. new way to live. Well what are we going to do in light of such truths? Shall we turn our back on it?