God OUR Father

Eph 1:2 Grace be to you, and peace, from God OUR Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Notice how Paul wrote, “our Father.” God is not our Father just by virtue of being creator. Because of our rebellion, He’s given us up and given us over to reprobate thinking, allowing us in our free wills to walk according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind being alienated from the life of God.

However, when we accept His Son by faith, He becomes our Father.

Plus, He is not just our Father but a Father who blesses us with all spiritual blessings in Heavenly places and makes us accepted in the beloved, as beloved as His Son. God’s acceptance of us, Scripturally speaking, doesn’t simply mean God is saying to us, “Yeah, I accept you.” God’s acceptance of us, Scripturally speaking, means that we’re receiving the fulness of His divine love. God makes us objects of His grace according to all the love that’s in Him, and all is “to the praise of the glory of his grace.” This praise encompasses all the heights and depths of the grace of God the Father in how He blesses us in His Son.

Eph 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: Eph 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Eph 1:5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, Eph 1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

First, we find that God the Father is the author of all blessings.

Second, we learn the blessings are made possible in Christ. All is in Christ. We’re blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.

Thirdly, we read what kind of blessings we receive in Christ, “all spiritual blessings,” that is, blessings given by the third person of the trinity, the Holy Spirit. God the Father has the entire triune Godhead involved in our redemption and He shows us as much favor as He shows His only begotten Son. He could not do more, and He would not do less. He has risen up to the fullest character of His love by blessing us in all this grace where He regards us as His dearest Beloved, as dear as His Son.

Not only that, God the Father loved us so much that He had us in mind before the foundation of the world and He willed for us to live in this amazing victory program of grace made possible by the all-sufficient sacrifice of His Son on the cross whereupon all those who place their faith in Him get the righteousness of Christ imputed to them and they become holy and without blame before God in love and predestinated to be full grown adopted sons of God and joint-heirs with Christ. This victory program we’re in by God’s grace was willed by God the Father, made possible through the sacrifice of Christ, and made complete through the baptism of the spirit.

In vs. 6, we have “the glory of His grace,” whereas in vs. 7, we have “the riches of His grace.” It may be noticed that there is a difference between “the glory” and “the riches” of His grace.

The riches of His grace is a warehouse so vast, the riches cannot be inventoried.

The glory of His grace is the magnificence, the brilliance of His grace.

The riches of His grace displays the vastness of His love in all His blessings to us, but the glory of His grace displays the brilliance of all that He is, His holiness, His righteousness, His justice when it comes to sin, and His love, His mercy, and His unfathomable grace. The praise of the glory of the grace of God the Father flows from what He feels and will do in order to manifest Himself to us and to have an intimate, loving relationship with us, and the riches of His grace is the vastness of His love in all His blessings to us.

Conclusion

I think it’s interesting to consider the way the world views God vs. what the Bible reveals about God the Father. The world views God as unapproachable, whereas the Bible reveals that God the Father has not only given us access by the Spirit but that He loves us so much He is in us and we are in Him. The world views God as this powerful entity, whereas the Bible reveals that He is personal, our Father. The world views God as fixed in judgment, whereas the Bible reveals that God the Father is forgiving. The world views God as fearful, whereas the Bible reveals God the Father as a source of our security. The world views God as a merciless judge, whereas the Bible reveals that God the Father is rich in mercy and grace who’s given us an everlasting consolation. The world views God as a taskmaster with all these rules you have to obey, whereas the Bible reveals that God the Father has given us liberty in Christ Jesus. The world views God as unknowable, whereas the Bible reveals God the Father as a teacher. The world views God as ruler, whereas we come to God the Father in terms of a relationship. The world views God as distant, whereas the Bible reveals that God the Father as intimate. The world views God as unconcerned about us, whereas the Bible reveals that God the Father had us in mind before the foundation of the world. The world views God as steadfast in His unwillingness to help us, whereas the Bible reveals God the Father as sympathetic, one who cared enough to address our deepest needs at its root through the sacrifice of His Son on the cross at Calvary.