With Me In The Winepress- Ephesians 1:6-7
We are continuing our Bible study in the book of Ephesians with an excerpt from our look atEphesians 1:6-7.
Ephesians 1:6 (KJV)
6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
2 Corinthians 3:18 (KJV)
18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
I’ve written about this before so I won’t spend much time here except to say that God is not seeking His glory out of ego, a need for reaffirming His status, or any intent other than our benefit. When we are in His Presence, when we experience Him, when we worship, we are changed.
God’s glory isn’t only because He is worthy of praise, but because praising Him enhances us. Worshipping Him honors God, but it also blesses my soul. I have never left a service where The Presence Of God flowed through me without being better for it.
With that being said, now let us focus on the Glory of His Grace. Holy Men and Women of God, songwriters, musicians, and Saints of old have so eloquently and passionately expressed the Glory of His Grace far better than I can. However I will not be silent because I get to praise Him!
I get to share how He picked me up from where I could not pick myself out of. How Jesus patiently dealt with all the mess I was in, and how Christ has patiently worked with me through the years. He doesn’t only rescue us from the practice and destination of our sins, Jesus elevates our lives and our thinking.
He takes us from where we are to places that we could never be in Him. This is true whether you end your walk with God in the palace or the pit. In the pit with Jesus is far better than in the palace without Him. Just ask James, Simon Peter, and Herod.
One was killed with the sword, but Jesus was with Him through the process, and was the first face he saw on the other side. Peter walked out of the prison house with a death sentence, while Herod was judged and struck dead on his throne. Whatever we face with Him, we face it with Him, that alone is reason to rejoice.
He made us accepted in Him. We are rescued, not by our righteousness which is at best filthy rags, but by His righteousness. His death, burial, and resurrection spared all those who would accept His love and mercy.
I know the pit He brought me out of. I know the nature of my sins, faults, and failures. I know where my motives were wrong, my thinking corrupt, and my dreams at best proud filled and vain. I also know how it felt when He cleansed me, began the process of changing me, and transforming my life.
That alone is more than enough reason to praise Him, but Jesus didn’t stop there. Everything good in my life, everyone special in my life were a direct result of serving Jesus. How could I not praise The One Who has given me everything that means anything to me?
In case you’re wondering, that doesn’t mean that we never face burdens, or that we are resting in some palatial circumstances. We have been blessed, but we have also faced trials yet through it all Jesus has been worth far more than we’ve ever endured. He is worth the fight!
Ephesians 1:7 (KJV)
7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
In Whom, those two words are as of as much importance as any other words in this verse. Everything we are, everything we have, and everything we ever hope to achieve or to be is in Him. Those two words are a continuation of verse six, we are accepted in The Beloved, The One In Whom we have all hope, and the only One there is hope in.
The next word I would like to talk about here is redemption. The word here is the Greek word apolytrōsis which is a compound word. It is made up of apo and lytron, one meaning separation and the other ransom.
He separated us from our sins, and ransomed us with His sacrifice into His Kingdom. The word apolytrōsis means redemption, deliverance, and liberation procured by the paying of ransom. Our sins not only contaminated our souls, they bound us. Christ’s sacrifice both redeemed, liberated us, and allowed us to become His children.
