“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, ACCORDING TO THE RICHES OF HIS GRACE, WHICH HE MADE TO ABOUND TOWARD US IN ALL WISDOM AND PRUDENCE” --Ephesians 1:7-8
“Wisdom and prudence”…hmmm…..This is an interesting thought. The idea of a holy God granting forgiveness to sinful Man, at the expense of His own Son’s life, does not seem very wise, at least not to mankind. In this world, we are taught that you don’t get something for nothing. Even my own father, when I shared the gospel with him, struggled with the truth that forgiveness is a free gift from God. He said, “In all my life, I’ve never had anyone give me anything without expecting something back in return.”
But take a look at what Paul wrote in I Corinthians 1: “God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are” (verses 27-28).
Why would God operate in such a way? Why would desire to confound and confuse men in such manner? Part of the answer is given up in verse 25: “Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” In like manner, Isaiah 55:8-9 tells us that the ways of God and the thoughts of God are far greater than the ways and the thoughts of Man.
But still, there has to be a more concrete answer than merely acknowledging that God’s ways are far superior to ours. And there is. Let me turn your attention back to I Corinthians 1. Verse 29 completes the thought begun in verses 27 & 28. Paul says, “that no flesh should glory in His presence.” Ah, there we go. In light of the fact that God does all things to preserve and display His glory, so that men may praise Him, it makes perfect sense that He would grant forgiveness according to the riches of His grace.
Those of us who have received the grace of God cannot help but praise Him. We know from whence we came. We know full well that, were it not for the grace of God, we would spend eternity in hell. We also know that it is impossible for us to earn our salvation. Therefore, we echo Paul’s sentiment found in Galatians 6:14; “God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of Christ.” This, our act of offering praise to God, is the chief end of our lives and is the purpose of all God has done for us. What marvelous wisdom, indeed.