In this message we shall consider the praise of the glory of God’s grace (Eph. 1:6). This may appear to be a very simple subject, but actually it is very difficult. We may think that we are familiar with the words praise, glory, and grace, but if we are honest, we shall admit that we do not adequately know what they mean.
Ephesians 1:6 says, “To the praise of the glory of His grace, with which He graced us in the Beloved.” This verse does not stand by itself. Rather, it is the issue of predestination unto sonship mentioned in the preceding verse. This means that the praise of the glory of God’s grace is the result, the issue, of the sonship. Therefore, in order to understand the praise in verse 6, we must know the sonship in verse 5. If we do not know the content of the sonship, we may merely understand verse 6 in a natural way.
What is God’s grace? It is very difficult to define grace. I have been puzzled by this for many years, and even today I am still studying it. According to the New Testament, grace is what God is to us for our enjoyment (John 1:16-17; 2 Cor. 12:9; 1 Cor. 15:10). John 1:17 says that the law was given through Moses, but that grace and reality came through Jesus Christ. In 1 Corinthians 15:10 Paul says that he labored more than the other apostles, yet not he, but the grace of God which was with him. Gal. 2:20 is parallel to 1 Corinthians 15:10. Galatians 2:20 says, “Not I, but Christ,” and 1 Corinthians 15:10 says, “Not I, but the grace of God.” This indicates that grace is Christ Himself. Other portions of the New Testament emphasize grace. For example, 2 Corinthians 13:14 says, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.” Furthermore, Paul opens all his Epistles with a reference to grace; he also ends them all with a word about grace. Galatians 6:18 says, “Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.” Second Timothy 4:22 says, “The Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit. Grace be with you.” In this verse Christ and grace are parallel. For the Lord Jesus Christ to be with our spirit is equal to grace being with our spirit. This indicates that grace is virtually equal to Christ. When we have Christ, we have grace. When Christ came, grace came. This is the reason John 1:17 says that grace came through Jesus Christ, indicating that grace is somewhat like a person. It is personified. This personification of grace is God Himself.
Although this may sound strange to some ears, it is nevertheless a fact. If you get into the spirit of the New Testament concerning grace, you will realize that grace is somewhat personified. When Paul said, “Not I, but the grace of God which was with me,” grace was a living person to him. In Paul, a Person became the very grace to labor. Therefore, grace is actually God Himself; it is what God is to us for our enjoyment. When God is enjoyed by us, that is grace. Grace is the very God in His Son Jesus Christ to be our portion so that we may enjoy all that He is.
God is love. If we do not enjoy Him as love, we do not have grace. But if we enjoy God as love, we have grace. Again I say, grace is what God is to us as our portion for our enjoyment. We should sing not only of God’s mercy enduring forever, but also of God’s grace. We need to compose some songs about God being grace to us, songs to express what God is for our enjoyment. If we praise God only for His mercy, we remain on an elementary level. We need to go on from God’s mercy to God’s grace. Grace issues from mercy, just as high school is the continuation of elementary school. After elementary school, we need to go on to high school. We need to go on and not remain in elementary school so long. Many of today’s Christians, however, remain in the elementary grades, even though they may have been Christians for many years. Let us go on to the higher grades and praise God for His grace.
Now we need to consider what the glory of God’s grace is. Perhaps you have read the book of Ephesians many times without noticing the phrase “the glory of His grace.” Hebrews 1:3 says that Christ, the Son of God, is the effulgence of God’s glory. God has a glory, and the effulgence, the shining out, of this glory is His Son. If you carefully study the subject of glory in the Bible, you will find that glory is God expressed. Whenever God is manifested, that is glory. We may use electricity as an illustration. Electricity is hidden, but when it is expressed as light, that light is the glory of electricity. Likewise, when God is hidden, we cannot see His glory. But when He is expressed, His glory is made visible. Hence, glory is God expressed. As soon as the tabernacle was erected, it was filled with the glory of God (Exo. 40:34). That glory was the expression of God. In the same principle, the Son of God came as the effulgence of the glory of God, which means that He is the expression of God. No man has ever seen God, but we have seen the glory of the only begotten Son.
The glory of God’s grace is that His grace, which is Himself as our enjoyment, expresses Him. God is expressed in His grace, and His predestination is for the praise of this expression. As we receive grace and enjoy God, we have the sense of glory, although we may not have the words to express this sense. Sometimes after an excellent meeting we are full of grace and say, “That was glorious!” This is God expressed in His grace.
When we realize that we have been chosen to be holy and predestinated to sonship; that we have the Spirit of the Son, the life of the Son, and the position of the Son; and that we shall be conformed to the image of the Son, have the completion of sonship, the redemption of our body, and inherit the full sonship, we shall say, “What a glory!” We need to consider six items prayerfully: the Spirit of the Son, the life of the Son, the position of the Son, the image of the Son, the completion of sonship, and the inheritance of sonship. If you do this, you will be in glory and praise God for the sonship.
We have seen that grace is God Himself as our enjoyment, that glory is God manifested, and that the glory of God’s grace is God expressed in our enjoyment of Him. Now we must come to the most difficult aspect of this message: the meaning of praise in verse 6. What is the praise of the glory of God’s grace? Have you ever praised God for the sonship? We, the sons of God, do not praise God very much. Usually we simply thank Him. When we say, “Praise the Lord,” we often mean, “Thank the Lord.” To thank God means that we have received a certain benefit and thank God for it. But when we praise God, we praise Him primarily for what He is or what He does, no matter whether or not we have received any benefits from Him. In praising God you need to forget yourself and get outside of yourself. When you are truly praising God, it seems that you do not exist. You see only God, what He is, and what He does. Therefore, you praise Him and speak well concerning Him. To use an extreme illustration, could you praise God if He sent you to hell? If you truly knew God, you would be able to say, “O God, even if You send me to hell, I will still praise You because You are God.” Oh, how we need to learn to praise Him!
God’s predestinating us to sonship is for the praise of His expression in His grace. Probably the angels will be the first to praise God for this. As the angels are praising God for our sonship, the demons may be shocked and say, “Those sinners who were usurped by us have become the sons of God.” Not only will the angels praise God for our sonship, but also every positive thing in the universe will praise Him. This will take place at the time of the manifestation of the sons of God (Rom. 8:19). Presently the creation is groaning under bondage, waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God. When that takes place, the entire universe will praise God. Thus, Ephesians 1:6 will be fulfilled at the time of Romans 8:19. At that time all the positive things in the universe will praise God because the glory of God’s grace will be seen in the revelation of the sons of God. We, the sons of God, may be surprised by the praises offered to God by the angels, for they will be praising God because of our sonship. This is the praise of the glory of God’s grace.
Sonship means a great deal. According to Romans 8, the whole creation is waiting for the revelation of the sons of God. The liberation of creation from the bondage of corruption depends upon our revelation. To repeat, at the time of that revelation, Ephesians 1:6 will be fulfilled.
Ephesians 1:6 says that God has “graced us.” The word “graced” is a very unusual expression. For God to grace us means that He has put us into the position of grace that we may be the object of His grace and favor, that is, to enjoy all God is to us. In order to receive anything, we need to be in the proper position. Thus, God has positioned us in His grace. Having positioned us in grace, He makes us the object of grace. Here in the position of grace and as the object of grace we are fully accepted by God. Because we are in the position of grace and are the object of grace, God is pleased with us. His delight is in us, and we are happy with Him. Eventually, there is a mutual enjoyment: we enjoy Him, and He enjoys us. Here, in grace, He is our joy and satisfaction, and we are His joy and satisfaction. All this is implied in the term “graced us.”
Today we are not merely under God’s mercy, but we are the object of His grace in the position of grace. We are enjoying Him and becoming His enjoyment. Hence, there is a mutual delight, mutual enjoyment, and mutual satisfaction. We should no longer consider ourselves sinners, for we are no longer bound to earth or to time. Rather, we are in the heavenlies and in eternity. We are not in our condition — we are in the desire of God’s heart. This is what it means to say that God has graced us. Therefore, we should no longer look at ourselves, but lift up our eyes to the heavenlies and to eternity. Instead of talking so much about ourselves and thinking about ourselves, we should speak of God’s grace and think of how He has graced us.
Finally, 1:6 says that God has graced us in the Beloved. Here Paul does not say “in Christ” or “in Him”; he says “in the Beloved.” The Beloved is God’s beloved Son in whom He delights (Matt. 3:17; 17:5). We have seen that for God to grace us is to make us an object in whom He delights. This is altogether a pleasure to God. In Christ we have been blessed by God with every blessing. In the Beloved we were graced, made the object of God’s favor and pleasure. As such an object we enjoy God, and God enjoys us in His grace in His Beloved, who is His delight. In His Beloved we also become His delight.
God delights in the Beloved, and He delights also in us. The phrase “in the Beloved” conveys the full delight, satisfaction, and enjoyment God the Father has in us because we have been made the object of His grace and delight. In this sense we should all appreciate ourselves and ever esteem ourselves highly because we are the object of God’s delight. You should say, “Because God delights in me, I appreciate myself. I even esteem myself highly because I have been positioned in grace and made the object of God’s grace.” We should have such a view about ourselves, not according to our natural state, but according to the fact that we have been chosen, predestinated, regenerated, and graced. God delights in us, not in ourselves, but in His Beloved.
