Get the appFinding Grace In Ephesians: A 6-Day Bible StudySample
All the Credit Goes to God
Keep reading in the first chapter of Ephesians, and you will see that plan unfold. The gospel story moves on, and we see God is a redeemer. He rescues. He recovers. He has done so from the beginning.
During a time of difficulty last spring, God planted me firmly in the pages of Isaiah. Guess who I found there in Isaiah 44?
I found the heart of our redeemer crying out for his children, calling them home, once again wooing them back to himself.
This is God’s covenant promise to his family: I will help you, whom I have chosen. I will not forget you.
The beauty of the gospel story is that now in Christ we are part of that family too. This has always been God’s plan.
Close your eyes and listen to the heart of your redeemer. Can you hear the same echo of God through Paul from the words of Isaiah?
He will not forget us. He has chosen us and redeemed us. He forgives all our transgressions, and they disappear as though a vapor in Christ.
Israel’s redeemer and the Ephesians’ redeemer are one. These passages tell the same story. God chose us in him before the world was formed. He purposed for us to be holy and blameless. He adopted us into his covenant family. He made this possible through Christ.
He not only chose us, but he planned it beforehand. We weren’t an afterthought.
Do you ever feel left out and alone?
Does it seem like the world has passed you by?
You can be assured that your redeemer has not. Maybe you feel not only left out, but weak and small. This is not a problem for Jesus. He purposely seeks out the common.
I love the reassurance Paul gave to his friends in Corinth on this same topic.
In 1 Corinthians 1:27-31 as well as in Ephesians 1:1, Paul wrote that all the credit goes to God, who has redeemed us in Christ. He is our righteousness and holiness and redemption. God knew what he was doing when he chose the weak, foolish, and insignificant in this world.
The world may view us as nothing more than common and as castoffs, but when God sees us, he sees Christ. This is a beautiful and freeing truth. We do nothing here. We simply boast in him “to the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:12).
About this Plan
We know God's grace is absolutely necessary for our lives—but once we've encountered Jesus and accepted His path to salvation, it's hard to know what grace should look like shining in and through us. In this 6-day study of Ephesians chapter 1, Stacey Thacker unpacks Paul’s letter and provides insight on how you can apply his teachings to your life today.
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