The Glory of His Grace Ephesians 1:5-6

In love He (YHVH) predestined us to adoption as sons through Y'shua haMashich (Jesus Christ) to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the beloved.

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To the praise of the glory of His grace.

Glory: four or five word study tools later, the best definition of GLORY that I can come up with is, "Manifestation of Deity." We talk about grace because we who believe are sometimes overwhelmed with the love of God that we do not deserve. But glory? Do you think of it much? My friend Barb studied glory for a couple of years. She discovered amazing bits about the word and might disagree with my simple definition, but for now it works for me.

In love YHVH predestined us. Technically "In love" is part of verse 4 but it is also part of this sentence, so I am including it here. The Almighty predestined us because of his love for us. How is that even possible? Honestly, I don't know, but somehow God knew me even before the foundation of the world. Don't get me wrong, I know about God being outside of time, I know it, but I don't really understand the wonder of it. The bottom line, before I was even a twinkle in my daddy's eye (or before he was one in his daddy's eye) the Almighty loved me and predestined me to be his own child. He already loved me.

To Adoption as sons. The first man the Almighty created, Adam, was a Son of God, just like the angels... but different. That was lost when he sinned. No one who is in the flesh since Adam has been a Ben Elohim, a son of God (Luke 3:38). Our everyday normal, like the normal life of everyone who came before us, has been separate from the Almighty. So complete is our separation that believers seem a little weird to us.

For us to be adopted to YHVH, our sin had to be paid for. The price was the death penalty. In love, God sent His only begotten Son, the second Adam. The Son of God, Y'shua-Jesus as the second Adam, another Ben Elohim, the Son of God in the flesh. Stop and think about that! God so loved us that He gave his only begotten  Son (John 3:16)! He gave Him because we needed a Ben Elohim - a Son of God, to pay for our sin with his blood. There is only one way to give the blood of redemption, death, it is a penalty, a price that must be paid... but that is a story for another day. For now it is enough to know that the Father accepted the blood, the death of Y'shua, on our behalf. The original proof was Y'shua's resurrection from the dead. He never sinned, so He did not owe the penalty. That is why he could pay it for us. It is why YHVH, the Father would resurrect Him.

Scripture declares Y'shua, "the first born from the dead," because of the resurrection. We who believe are also born from the dead. He was first, we will follow.

To the praise of the glory of His grace. Back to glory. When I was born again I did not become religious or join a group (church). I eventually did those things, but thousands of religious people who are not born again do those activities too. What makes being born again different?

We become a new creature in Christ. This is huge! We go from being a rather exceptional animal (which we were not created to be) to a Son of God! Think of Y'shua at his baptism. When He was immersed, heaven opened and the Holy Spirit came upon Him. He probably didn't look any different, but He was different. The Spirit of God filled Him. Y'shua knew what to do with that filling! Glory! The power to manifest deity. That is what happens when we are born again. We don't know how to use it or how different we have become. I knew that I was living my new life dependent on the five senses of my old life. There was a learning curve for me .

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding (5 senses). In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6

To the Glory of His Grace which He has freely bestowed on us in the beloved. The grace of God required the glory of God. It was so simple for me to receive Salvation because "He freely bestowed (it) on us in His beloved." Because it was so easy for me, I did not often think about the high price of my adoption as a Ben Elohim. Unlike earthly adoptions, which are also expensive, being adopted as a Son of God is not just a simple matter of a change of name and location.

I am a new creature in Christ, a Ben Elohim! Can I describe that? What it looks like, what it feels like? I've tried before. It seems like my description is about as sharp as a pre-born infants description of life outside of the womb. My eyes have not seen the wonder of it all yet! An infant can hear momma's voice but until she is born into the light she has no idea about who mom is. We know her voice in the womb, but nothing else.

The Holy Spirit is YHVH's voice to those of us who have not yet come into His presence. We are learning daily from hearing, but...

Beloved, now we are Children of God (Ben Elohim) and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as he is. 1 John 3:2

Until that Day, Debs  August 23, 2017
All Scripture references are from the New American Standard Update (NASU)