It is easy to read Ephesians 1:3–14 and come away thinking, Look at everything God has given me! We have been blessed, chosen, adopted, redeemed, forgiven, given an inheritance, and sealed with the Holy Spirit. And certainly, we should rejoice in every one of those blessings.

But Paul is showing us something even greater.

The great message of Ephesians 1:3–14 is not simply, “Look at everything God has given me.” It is, “Look at the munificent purpose God is accomplishing in Christ—and by His grace, He has brought us into it.”

Before the foundation of the world, God’s purpose was centered in Christ. His plan was not reactionary but provisionary. And that purpose reaches toward the magnificent goal Paul reveals in verse 10: “to gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him.”

Redemption, then, is about more than rescuing me from my past. God is bringing me into His purpose for the future.

In Christ, I have redemption and forgiveness. In Christ, I have an inheritance. Having heard the Gospel and believed, I have been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. But none of these blessings terminate on me. They are all part of something God is doing that is infinitely larger than me.

Christianity becomes terribly small when the Gospel is reduced to what God can do for me. Grace does not merely bring God’s blessings into my life; grace brings my life into God’s purpose.

And perhaps that is one of the greatest reasons for praise in Ephesians 1. We are not standing outside watching God accomplish His eternal purpose.

By grace, He has brought us into it. ©

–PGR