Long ago, even before He made the world, God loved (you) and chose (you) in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes. (Ephesians 1:4, NLT)
Long before He laid down earth’s foundations, He had (you) in mind, had settled on (you) as the focus of His love, to be made whole and holy by His love… (Ephesians 1:4-6, The Message)
He wanted (you) to enter into the celebration of His Lavish Gift Giving by the hand of His beloved Son.
…to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. (Ephesians 1:6, NKJV)
Did you know that here in verse 6 the work GRACE can be correctly translated HIGHLY FAVORED?
I was so excited when I found in the scriptures where my pastor Joseph Prince coined this beautiful declaration! YOU ARE GREATLY BLESSED, HIGHLY FAVORED, DEEPLY LOVED!
The only other place it is found is in Luke 1:28 talking about Mary who would be the One who would carry GRACE HIMSELF. ☺
Now we too HAVE THIS TREASURE IN OUR EARTHEN VESSELS! NOW WE TOO CARRY THE PERSON OF GRACE HIMSELF IN OUR HEARTS! NOW WE TOO ARE HIGHLY FAVORED!
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. (2 Corinthians 4:7, NKJV)
CHRIST IN YOU!
So the Ephesians 1:6 tells us that by God’s GRACE (unmerited favor), He has made us accepted or HIGHLY FAVORED in the BELOVED!
THAT’S RIGHT YOU’RE HIS FAVORITE!
I am overwhelmed by how loving the language of the translators are here!
… So we praise God for the glorious grace He has poured out on us who belong to His dear Son. (Ephesians 1:6, NLT)
- …to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. (NIV)
- … to the praise of His glorious grace that He favored us with in the Beloved. (HCSB)
- … to the praise of the glory of His grace that He has freely bestowed on us in His dearly loved Son. (NET)
- …to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He has taken us into favour in the Beloved. (DBY)
- …to the praise of the glory of his grace, by which he freely bestowed favor on us in the Beloved. (HNV)
- …by which He has taken us into His favour in the person of His Beloved Son. (Knox)
- …That we might learn to praise that glorious generosity of His which has made us welcome in the everlasting LOVE HE BEARS TOWARDS THE SON. (Phil)
Even as [in His love] He chose (you) actually picked (you) out for Himself as His own in Christ before the foundation of the world, that you should be holy (consecrated and set apart for Him) and blameless in His sight, even above reproach, before Him in love.
For He foreordained (you) destined (you), planned in love for (you) to be adopted (revealed) as His own child through Jesus Christ, in accordance with the purpose of His will [because it pleased Him and was His kind intent]… (Ephesians 1:4-5, AMPC)
That phrase, His KIND INTENT just gets me every time! The word INTENT means from the Webster’s 1828 edition means, “having the mind strained, or bent on an object or person.” Literally “stretching the mind towards”! Hence, a design; a purpose; intention; aim applied to persons or things. We know exactly what God was thinking about before He created the universe! He was thinking KINDLY of you and of me! His mind bent on us in loving favor! Wow! Imagine that for a minute the Bible being so clear on what was on the mind and in the heart of God as He was contemplating creation! WE WERE THE FOCUS OF HIS LOVE even before you and I were born!!! Before He made the world!!! He knew you and you were BEAUTIFUL IN HIS EYES! And gentlemen that means YOU, too! Acts 7:20 (Amplified) says that Moses was exceedingly Beautiful in God’s sight! Really just as the life impacting words of Lauren Daigle’s Beautiful song, ‘How can it be’….BEAUTIFUL IN HIS EYES SIMPLY MEANS….
“IN HIS EYES THERE IS ONLY GRACE NOW!”
When I was asked to contribute to Parresia Grace Nuggets. I decided to look up the word Blog and I really liked the sense of one of it’s meanings. That is a online journal written in a informal personal tone. A personal tone….. I like that! And I am so looking forward to experiencing this journey with you through Parresia’s Grace Nuggets! As we together continue to fathom the riches of His grace and the depths of His love! SEEING THROUGH HIS EYES THE EYES OF GRACE!
