2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. (Ephesians 1)
Paul's letter to the Ephesians has more mentions of Grace, pound for pound, than any other Biblical book. He begins with his usual greeting of "Grace and Peace" and then launches into this list of spiritual blessings we have in Christ: God's choosing us to be His children; His sanctifying us in holiness; His adopting us to legally be His heirs; His making us a part of His plan and purpose. These, of course, are preceded by His redeeming us, forgiving us, having revealed to us our need of Christ as Savior. His grace plan also includes our future, bringing together all His people in one united kingdom, joining together His saints in heaven and earth. All of this causes Paul, and should move us, to praise God for His glorious and overflowing grace. It just keeps coming. May we receive it joyfully, thankfully, and willingly.
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