«　WEEK 1　DAY 6　»

　　Eph. 1:5-6 Predestinating us unto sonship through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, with which He graced us in the Beloved.

　　2:7 That He might display in the ages to come the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

　　Now we need to consider what the glory of God’s grace is … If you carefully study the subject of glory in the Bible, you will find that glory is God expressed. Whenever God is manifested, that is glory. We may use electricity as an illustration. Electricity is hidden, but when it is expressed as light, that light is the glory of electricity. Likewise, when God is hidden, we cannot see His glory. But when He is expressed, His glory is made visible. Hence, glory is God expressed … No man has ever seen God, but we have seen the glory of the only begotten Son.

　　The glory of God’s grace is that His grace, which is Himself as our enjoyment, expresses Him. God is expressed in His grace, and His predestination is for the praise of this expression. As we receive grace and enjoy God, we have the sense of glory… Sometimes after an excellent meeting we are full of grace and say, “That was glorious!” This is God expressed in His grace. (Life-study of Ephesians, p. 49)

　　When we realize that we have been chosen to be holy and predestinated to sonship; that we have the Spirit of the Son, the life of the Son, and the position of the Son; and that we shall be conformed to the image of the Son, have the completion of sonship, the redemption of our body, and inherit the full sonship, we shall say, “What a glory!” We need to consider six items prayerfully: the Spirit of the Son, the life of the Son, the position of the Son, the image of the Son, the completion of sonship, and the inheritance of sonship. If you do this, you will be in glory and praise God for the sonship.

　　What is the praise of the glory of God’s grace? Have you ever praised God for the sonship? We, the sons of God, do not praise God very much. Usually we simply thank Him. When we say, “Praise the Lord,” we often mean, “Thank the Lord.” To thank God means that we have received a certain benefit and thank God for it. But when we praise God, we praise Him primarily for what He is or what He does, no matter whether or not we have received any benefits from Him. In praising God you need to forget yourself and get outside of yourself. When you are truly praising God, it seems that you do not exist. You see only God, what He is, and what He does. Therefore, you praise Him and speak well concerning Him.

　　God’s predestinating us to sonship is for the praise of His expression in His grace. Probably the angels will be the first to praise God for this. As the angels are praising God for our sonship, the demons may be shocked and say, “Those sinners who were usurped by us have become the sons of God.” Not only will the angels praise God for our sonship, but also every positive thing in the universe will praise Him. This will take place at the time of the manifestation of the sons of God (Rom. 8:19). The church is produced in the present age; the ages which are coming are the ages of the millennium and eternity future. To display the riches of God’s grace is to exhibit them to the whole universe publicly. The riches of God’s grace surpass every limit. These are the riches of God Himself for our enjoyment. They will be publicly displayed for eternity.

　　Ephesians 2:7 says that the surpassing riches of God’s grace are in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Kindness is a benevolent goodness which issues out of mercy and love. It is in such kindness that the grace of God is given to us. (Life-study of Ephesians, pp. 49-51, 182-183)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1972, vol. 3, “The Consummation of God’s Salvation,” ch. 3; CWWL, 1959, vol. 4, “Life and Building in the Gospel of John,” ch. 10