Ephesians 1:6: To the praise of the glory of His grace

I was reading recently about the various ways we humans are motivated. It appears that we fall into 3 basic categories: affiliation, achievement, and recognition. Some folks are excited just to be part of the team. They are "affiliation" driven. Others find the greatest satisfaction, not just by being on the team, but in achieving success. I guess that means winning. But there are still others aren't really satisfied until they are recognized for winning. They are motivated by recognition. I think all this is pretty interesting, and probably relevant as well, but in reality, doesn't everyone really, deep down want recognition? Don't we long for someone to come along and affirm that we're worth something, that we're appreciated and recognized as bringing worth to this world? When I look in the mirror I have to put myself in the "recognition" category. While I love being on the team, the am not satisfied just try hard, I'll admit that the satisfaction in winning comes when everyone has to acknowledge that my team won!

As we read all the blessings God has bestowed on us in Christ it is so easy to start feeling very proud to be the recipients of such gracious gifts. And when we realize that there are those around who don't share these blessings, a bit of pride can creep in. If we're not careful, we'll start feeling that our well-being was the end-goal of God's redemptive plan. That God has done all this for our benefit, and that we're so special! We might even begin growing a sense of entitlement, since now that we've entrusted our lives to Jesus, He has a certain responsibility to make sure our lives turn out the way we want them to.

Of course, this is way off track. Somewhere we missed a crucial point in this whole salvation story. But here Paul corrects our thinking before we even have the chance to run down the "its all for me" path. Paul declares that all the blessings of our salvation - God's gracious choice and sovereign predestination - were done "to the praise of the glory of His grace." Don't miss this! God has done all of this, not so you and I will be recognized and praised, but so that He will be!

Jesus put it this way, long before Paul: "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 5:16). What Jesus and Paul are saying, if we put it into contemporary illustrative language is this: "Go out as part of the team, play the game to win, and when you do, make sure all the glory goes to the Coach!" And I know what you're thinking: "that doesn't seem quite fair, after all we did all the work, scored all the points, did all the running. Shouldn't we get some of the credit?"

But remember, when the game started we were dead. We were unable and unwilling to play at all, let alone win. And the Coach breathed His own life into us, gave us both the will and the power to work out His game plan, and was in, under and around our every move. It was only our pride that kept us thinking we were doing it all independently.

This is only the first of many places in Ephesians where Paul will feel the need to remind his readers that God's glory is the end purpose of God's redemptive plan. Turns out God didn't really save us for us, but for Him. And before you go thinking that this means we'll miss out on something, remember John Piper's great distillation of an essential truth: We will be most satisfied when God is most glorified. When all the glory flows to Him, we will overflow with the gladness and joy that can only come from being recognized as a reflection of His grace. Now that's a motivating recognition!

Hope this helps,

David