GOD'S FAVOR ON YOU
Ephesians 1:6-7 NKJV
6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. 7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace
The Book of Ephesians is one of the deepest theological letters from Paul. It is rich with content regarding the blessings that are ours through our union with Jesus Christ—blessed, chosen, adopted, and forgiven, all because of what Jesus did for us.
Verse six says that through the glory, the magnificence of God's grace, we have been made accepted in the Beloved. What a joy to know that we are not rejected by God; we are accepted in Christ. Our race, age, gender, background, and parental heritage have nothing to do with our acceptance. Our works, our efforts, and our attempts to be perfect are certainly valuable but do not cause us to be accepted by God. Our acceptance became a reality when we accepted Christ.
And there is another way of looking at this verse. The margin of my Bible says that He bestowed grace or favor upon us in Christ. God's favor is on our life. Maybe that seems too out of reach for you. Maybe you were never the favorite of your parents or teachers. The idea of having God's favor on you seems like a truth that may belong to some special Christians but not you. But the only reason these "special" Christians are special in the first place is because of their relationship with the Lord. God does not play favorites. When we accepted Christ, we all became His favorites. That's all about the glory of His grace.
In Jesus, when we made Him our Lord and Savior, we were purchased by God. The price paid for our forgiveness and freedom was the blood of His son. Again, this is about grace. We did not earn a thing. But if God paid such a price for us, it's easy to see why we are His favorites and why He has bestowed His favor on our lives. We did not come cheap.
APPLICATION
I have known people who knew they were favored. Many were talented athletically or beautiful physically, or both, but they knew they were special. Conversely, I have known many more who believed there was nothing special about them. They carried a sense of inferiority or the belief that they were less than and certainly not favored.
That's why these verses are important. Whether or not you felt like you were favored, this spiritual truth can change things for you. The key is not to take the image you had of yourself before Christ and carry that into your spiritual life. This is where we all have to walk by faith, not by sight or feelings. And if we declare that we are forgiven of our sins because of our union with Christ, then we can also declare that we are accepted and God's favor is on us in Christ.
This process of accepting what God says about us in Christ is called being renewed in our minds. And renewed minds lead to transformed lives living in the favor of God.
PRAYER
Father, thank You for what You designed and did for me in Christ. I am accepted, forgiven, and favored by You!