Grace

Ephesians 1.7-10 (3)

Pray Psalm 123.1, 2.
Unto You I lift up my eyes,
O You who dwell in the heavens.
Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters,
As the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress,
So our eyes look to the LORD our God,
Until He has mercy on us.

Sing Psalm 123.1, 2.
(Darwall: Rejoice, the Lord Is King)
To You we lift our eyes, O God enthroned above!
With longing gaze and heaving sighs we plead Your love!
Refrain v. 2
We look to You! Have mercy, LORD,
upon us by Your sovereign Word.

Read Ephesians 1.1-10; meditate on verse 7.
Compare the word “grace” here with what we saw in verse 6. In what sense is grace “glorious”? What are the “riches” of grace?

Preparation
1. How did God redeem and forgive us?

2. How does Paul describe the grace of God?

Meditation
This is now the third mention of God’s grace in just seven verses. What is grace? It seems rather important, so we ought to make sure we know what it is.

Grace is first a divine disposition. It’s an attitude or inclination of favor that describes how God is generally disposed to us. Grace is glorious (v. 6) because it has its origins in God and it radiates, as it were, from Him. When we look to God or think of Him, grace is what should be first in our mind.

But second, grace is a form of divine communication. Grace “reaches” us, we say. We are “lifted” or “buoyed” by grace, like a gentle breeze lifts a kite or a tide lifts all boats. We are empowered by grace to show grace to others in all kinds of ways. Grace is “rich” because God “spends” it on us, communicates it to us by His Word and Spirit, and lavishes upon us that same disposition of favor to enable us to see all things through a “soulset” of grace.

Finally, grace is divine working power. That is, grace gets things done in a loving and edifying manner. It accomplishes our election, predestination, acceptance, redemption, and forgiveness. Nothing else, no power anywhere in the cosmos, can do this work. Only grace. And God spends grace lavishly on us so that we might invest His grace in others. Paul to the Corinthians: “And I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved” (2 Cor. 12.15).

And here is the irony of grace: The more you spend of it, the more you will have to spend. That’s right, where grace is concerned, you can’t outspend God.

Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
Down goes the gavel. Boom sounds the voice, “Guilty!”

And we are. 

Yet, according to the bountiful riches of His grace we have:
Redemption through the blood of the perfect Lamb—Jesus.
And, forgiveness for all we are guilty of—past, present, and future (Eph. 1.7).

In need of mercy. Yet redeemed.
Unworthy. But forgiven.

The world is in desperate straits. We too, need a Savior.
Like Noah—and all his neighbors—all the “damnèd crew”.
“Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, 
and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 
And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, 
and He was grieved in His heart” (Gen. 6.5, 6).

But then a reprieve for Noah. 
In God’s mercy Noah experienced election, predestination, acceptance, redemption, and forgiveness. 
“But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD” (Gen. 6.8).

“Now you are free from the power of sin and are slaves of God, and 
His benefits to you include holiness and everlasting life.
For the wages of sin is death, 
but the free gift of God is eternal life 
through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 6.22, 23 TLB).

He [Satan] feels from Juda’s land
The dreaded infant’s hand;
The rays of Bethlehem blind his dusky eyn;
Nor all the gods beside
Longer dare abide,
Not Typhon huge ending in snaky twine:
Our Babe, to show His Godhead true, 
Can in His swaddling bands control the damnèd crew.
(“On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity”, stanza XXIX, John Milton, 1629)

Jesus Christ, the Holy Lamb of God, has overcome all the damnèd crew—to show His Amazing Grace—and His Godhead true.

Reflection
1. How would you explain grace to a non-Christian friend?

2. How do you experience the grace of God? How does God’s grace move you?

3. What can you do to know more of God’s grace each day?

Riches, and the corresponding word overflow, in the following verse, are intended to give us large views of divine grace. The apostle feels himself unable to celebrate, in a proper manner, the goodness of God, and desires that the contemplation of it would occupy the minds of men till they are entirely lost in admiration. John Calvin (1509-1564), Commentary on Ephesians 1.7

Pray Psalm 123.2-4.
Praise God for His truly amazing grace, which He spends lavishly on you every day. Be specific in all your praise, until you become more mindful of God’s grace and Presence with you always.

Sing Psalm 123.2-4.
(Darwall: Rejoice, the Lord Is King)
As servants strain to see their earthly lord’s command,
So we would in Your Presence be and firmly stand!
Refrain v. 2
We look to You! Have mercy, LORD,
upon us by Your sovereign Word.

Have mercy, LORD, we pray; our souls are weary, worn.
The wicked world condemns our way and heaps up scorn.
Refrain

Our souls are sore oppressed by this world’s ease and pride.
In You we would be healed and blessed, and in You hide.
Refrain

T. M. and Susie Moore

If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).

Other columns of interest this week: In our ReVision series on “The Kingdom Economy” we are looking at grace, which is the currency we use to make our way in the divine economy. In our Read Moore podcast this week, we continue our readings from the book, Such a Great Salvation.  Our Crosfigell series on Brendan of Clonfert finds the saint preparing for his second voyage to visit The Promised Land of the Saints. Click here to see all the other columns and writers available to you.

And please prayerfully consider supporting The Fellowship of Ailbe with your prayers and gifts. You can contribute online, via PayPal or Anedot, or by sending a gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, P. O. Box 8213, Essex, VT 05451.

Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.