June 25th, 2014 THE BELOVED To the praise of the glory of His grace, with which He graced us in the Beloved. Ephesians 1:6 In the Gospels the word beloved is used mainly as an adjective. But here Beloved is not an adjective, but a participle (a verbal adjective). A participle is an action word, indicating that something is happening. This participle is in the perfect tense, describing a present state that is going on. Actually, it describes something that began to exist in the past, that exists in the present, and that will continue to exist in the future. Thus, when Ephesians 1:6 declares that we have been graced in the Beloved, it refers to Christ in a state of actively being loved by the Father. In other words, this love is not a static kind of love, motionless, or unmoving. It is dynamic. It is constant. It is going on all the time. It never ceases. It is a radiating love that is in the Father all the time, just beaming out. When Paul says that we are graced in the Beloved, he is speaking of Christ as the present, living concentration and embodiment of the divine love. He is describing Him as continuously and perpetually being the object of the Fathers love. There is a love- flow going on all the time between the Father and the Son, and we have been escorted by grace into this flow. To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved [Eph. 1:6]. Since all is for the glory of God, Paul sings this glorious doxology, this wonderful psalm of praise. All is done on the basis of His grace and the end is the glory of God. The inception is grace; the conception is adoption; the reception is for His glory. Wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. Who is the Beloved? It is the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the Lord Jesus who said, Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world (John 17:24). God sees the believer in Christ and He accepts the believer just as He receives His own Son. That is wonderful. That is the only basis on which I will be in heaven. I cannot stand there on the merit of Johnson A. Chacko. I am accepted only in the Beloved. God loves me just as He loves Christ, because I am in Christ. Jesus said, I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me (John 17:23). There has been, therefore, a threefold work performed by God the Father. He chose us in Christ. He predestinated us to the place of sonship. He has made us accepted in the Beloved. It is all to the praise of the glory of His grace. He is the One who gets the praise. He is the One who did it all. All of this is for your good and my good. I just like to revel in this, I like to rejoice in this, and I talk about this because it is worth talking about. It is so much more valuable than a lot of the chitchat that I hear today that goes under the name of religion. How we need to see the grace of God as it is revealed in Christ! June 25 MORNING When he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, [even] to them that believe on his name.-- Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. Since the beginning of the world [men] have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, [what] he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him. Now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.-- Christ... shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.-- As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness. 1 JOHN 3:2. Jn 1:12-- 2 Pe 1:4. Is 64:4. 1 Co 13:12.-- Phil 3:20, 21.-- Ps 17:15. June 25 EVENING The man [that is] my fellow, saith the LORD of hosts. In him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.-- I have laid help upon [one that is] mighty; I have exalted [one] chosen out of the people.-- I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people [there was] none with me. Great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh.-- Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. The brightness of [his] glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.-- Unto the Son [he saith], Thy throne, O God, [is] forever and ever. Let all the angels of God worship him. KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. ZEC 13:7. Col 2:9.-- Ps 89:19.-- Is 63:3. 1 Ti 3:16.-- Is 9:6. Heb 1:3, 8, 6. Re 19:16.
Posted on: Tue, 24 Jun 2014 19:49:42 +0000