As I was thinking about what to share with you all this time about the many reasons we love our Godease that love, I was drawn to our Sunday morning Bible class, where we are studying Ephesians. (Which I love!) Now, I can’t share all of Ephesians with you in one little article, but I can in the next few. Let’s start in verse 3 at the beginning of the letter as I tell you why I love our God.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, in Christ” – Ephesians 1:3
You may be thinking, I love God because he has blessed me with spiritual blessings. But that would be “self-focused.” Don’t get me wrong, I am over and abundantly blessed with those spiritual blessings, and I am SO grateful for them. The emphasis is NOT on the person receiving the blessing, the focus is that God is the one doing the blessing. The reason I love God is not just because he chooses to bless me but because he alone is the one who can bestow that blessing. And!!! He does it, not because of anything I have done to deserve it, but because I am in Christ! Because of this, I have been bought back, out of sin, out of darkness, by the blood of Jesus. Jesus, his son, whom he sent so that I could receive those spiritual blessings! Gotta love that!! I need to point out right here that he mentions spiritual blessings, not material blessings. We know God is the ultimate provider and we are all thankful for our material blessings, but these are spiritual blessings. Peace, hope, joy…… Blessings that keep us out of constant turmoil. Why do I love God? Because he is the One and Only provider!! No one else cares for me like him.
Look at the way Paul explains God’s love for us through this first chapter of Ephesians:
- Verse 4 – He chose us
- He chose us, in Christ, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.
- Verse 5 – He predestined us to adoption as sons
- God had a plan from the very beginning to bring us, his children, home to him.
- Verse 6 – He freely bestowed his grace on us
- We don’t earn his grace. It is a blessing.
- Verse 7 – We have redemption and have been forgiven of our sins because of his grace.
- Verse 8 – “Which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight.”
- I know I am SO undeserving of his grace, yet he LAVISHED it upon me!!!!!
- Verse 9 – He made known to us the mystery of his will.
- We get to be in on the mystery!!!
- Verse 11 – We have obtained an inheritance.
Go on and read verses 12-14.
We have the Holy Spirit as a pledge of our inheritance. It is an inheritance that includes us getting to bring praise to him by being his children. Look at the phrase “to the praise of His glory” in verses 6, 12 and 14. That is part of our inheritance. It’s not just about receiving; it’s about the glory he receives when we are faithful.
Do you see why I love him? He had been caring for me before I was even a thought in my grandparents’ mind!
Again, I have to bring you to Jesus. Jesus is the connection between us and God. In this first chapter of Ephesians, Paul shares that connection. Let’s look at it again.
- Verse 3 – Every spiritual blessing is given to those “in Christ.”
- Verse 4 – He chose us “in Him.”
- Verse 5 – Predestined as adopted sons “through Jesus Christ.”
- Verse 6 – Grace was freely bestowed on us “in the Beloved.”
- Verse 7 – “In Him,” we have redemption.
- Verse 7 – “Through His blood,” the forgiveness of our sins.
- Verse 9 – Mystery was made known “in Him.”
- Verse 10-11 – “In Him,” we obtain an inheritance.
This letter is so rich! It should fill your heart with overflowing love for our God! It would be a cruel creator that would put us on this earth with no hope and no way out but death. That is not my God! You can see just here in the first chapter of Ephesians how many spiritual blessings he wants to give us. Paul is drawing their hearts back to Jesus with this letter. He is reminding them that the God they serve has made a sacrifice for them so that they can be with him and be blessed by him.
I love Paul’s prayer starting in verse 18, where he says, “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what the hope of his calling is, what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of his power toward us who believe.” Go to Ephesians and read the rest of that prayer as Paul draws them to the authority of Jesus.
This is my prayer for you and me: that our hearts see the love God has for us through what he has done for us in Jesus. Spend some time in Ephesians today, and let the Spirit work in your heart!
Why do I love God? How can I not?
