To the Praise of the Glory of His Grace

To the Praise of the Glory of His Grace

Today's Three-minute Bible Study
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Title: To the Praise of the Glory of His Grace
Keywords: “doxology”
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Passage: Ephesians 1:3-14*

3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,

4. just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love

5. He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will,

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

7. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace,

8. which He lavished upon us. In all wisdom and insight

9. He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him

10. with a view to an administration suitable to the fulness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things upon the earth. In Him

11. also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will,

12. to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.

13. In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation-- having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,

14. who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory.

Questions

1. According to verse 3, how many spiritual blessings is the believer in Jesus Christ lacking?

2. What phrase is repeated in this passage three times (see verses 6, 12, 14)

Practical help

Without listing all of the blessings we have received, Paul begins the book of Ephesians (in the passage quoted above) by claiming that God has not left out even ONE small spiritual blessing that we might think of. In Jesus, we have received EVERY spiritual blessing that might be available in heaven — NOW! Ephesians 1:3-14 does list some of these blessings, but time and energy would fail us if we tried to list everything God has supplied to those who have trusted in Jesus.

And for what purpose have we been so blessed? Our Creator had a very particular purpose for each one of us fulfill.

There is one legitimate function for every created thing, and that is the function envisioned by its Creator/creator. Clocks were designed by their creators to tell time, lawn mowers to trim grass, axes to chop trees, and cars to transport people from Point A to Point B.

People were also designed for a specific purpose, and we don’t "run right" until we are aligned with our Creator’s design. According to Ephesians 1 we were designed to lead lives that are doxologies to God!

Of all the purposes to which we might give ourselves — self-satisfaction, self pleasure, philanthropy, scientific advance, literary greatness, athletic prowess, you name it! — nothing is more critical for personal health than that we live for the glory of God. THAT was what we were made for.

Troubles with porn melt when a man or a woman embraces the over-riding life purpose of bringing honor and glory to God. Make a conscious decision right now to adopt as your life goal to honor God — and watch the changes that result.

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*"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, © Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission."