In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. Ephesians 1:7-10
The Spirit does not let us escape the somber reality of our redemption—it is only through the blood shed by the incarnate Son of God. Such revelation should undo the arrogant pretensions of the prideful heart as quickly as morning’s first light undoes the darkness of night. The ground upon which our hearts would boast of our perceived goodness and merit has given way so that if we boast at all, we must boast only from the humility of the shadow of the cross of our King. The cost of our redemption is too high, the debt of our trespass too great. It must be assumed and paid for by another. And here is the great mystery of God’s will—though merited in His condemnation of our sin, it fit and agreed with the riches of His grace to design our redemption in Christ before the foundation of the world, to purchase our redemption in Christ in the fullness of time on the cross and to complete our redemption in Christ when God at last redeems us as His own at the end of the age. And this was not done whimsically or haphazardly. God acted in infinite and perfect wisdom and insight. Seeing all of time and human history as a present moment, God looked upon His work to unleash the bounty of His grace upon undeserving sinners and echoed the affirmation that blessed the Garden, “It is good.”
The ground upon which our hearts would boast of our perceived goodness and merit has given way so that if we boast at all, we must boast only from the humility of the shadow of the cross of our King.
And it is not only our redemption that is in Christ but the redemption of the cosmos. God is redeeming the fullness of His creation—things in heaven and things on earth—by the blood of His Son. So then, we who are the first to hope in Christ have become first fruits of God’s new creation. We now serve God’s creation as foretastes of the redemption that awaits to be revealed to it. So may we praise the God who delights to undeservedly apply the blood of His own Son as the great healing balm to all that sin has laid to waste. May we live in the present testifying to the better and truer and more lasting future that God’s grace revealed on the cross of Christ has fashioned. May we seek with all the more eagerness to know the mystery of His will revealed in Christ that we might all the more joyfully exist to the praise of His glory.
