The list of the ways in which God has blessed us seems never-ending.
- He forgave us (Ephesians 1:7). No longer do we need to feel guilty before God. Every sin is forgiven–not only those that we have committed in the past, but also those that we may commit in the future. All sin is covered! There are no shadows any more. We can stand faultless before God with a true sense of dignity.
- He lavished his grace upon us (1:8). There is no stinting with God! He didn’t just give us a dose of his grace. He poured it out upon us!
- He made known to us the mystery of his will (1:9). The word ‘mystery’ means something like ‘secret’. In other words, God has let us in on his great plan for the world which is ‘to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ’.
- He included us in Christ (1:13). In other words, just as Jesus Christ is acceptable to God the Father, so are we, because we are included in him. It is as if God sees us through Jesus. As there is no fault in him, so there is no fault in us.
To read more on this topic see Living in the Image of God, Barry Chant (Miranda: Tabor, 2012 available in eBook and Paperback) from which this edited extract is taken.