En Tois Epouranios
In the Heaven Far Above All Heavens
Resuming our look into the wonderfully formidable term En Tois Epouranios, "In the Heaven Far Above All Heavens" (Eph. 1:3; Eph. 1:20; Eph. 2:6; Eph. 3:10; Eph. 6:12).
In review of previous articles, it would be good to make a few comments to all of you as faithful "sons of God;" As we move forward with this study, many "subjects" in Scripture will be touched upon; for example, so far, we have referred to the Heaven(s), Sonship Adoption, Predestination, Right Division, Wisdom, The "Evil Day," Satan (his destructive power), Creation (the foundation of the universe), "Out-Calling" (being chosen out), The Father's Complete Plan, etc... and we've hardly gotten started! The more we understand these unfolding subjects interwoven into our calling, the more we realize how truly awesome our "inheritance in the light" is. Also, don't be afraid of Greek words; they just take some getting used to. The more you see them, the more familiar they will become.
"To the praise of the glory of His grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved..." (Eph. 1:6)
Our being chosen out as adopted sons, being blessed with every spiritual blessing possible in the Heaven far above all heavens, will be "to the praise of the glory of His grace" (Gr. charis = an affectionate willingness of the giver to grant favor on the receiver). With our puny egos in the way at times, we forget that as fallen pitiful wretches, the progeny of the sinful nature of Adam, we deserve nothing as far as a favor is concerned; yet the striking beauty of our Heavenly Father's Love is that, in fact, He will pour out His grace on us for eternity in and thru His Son - and even more, the Father will have delight in doing so!
There is "glorious praise" involved in the actions of God the Father here; to emphasize this, "made us accepted" in Eph. 1:6 is the Greek (charitao) which means much graced or better "highly favored"... used only one other time in the N. T. (Luke 1:28) speaking of Mary, the Virgin Mother of our Savior the Lord Christ Jesus... can we imagine what it was like to bear the Savior of the world (John 4:42) and the Creator of the universe (John 1:3)! Favored beyond compare yet the Holy Spirit has used this term applied to only one other entity - persons called out and blessed as members of The Church which is Christ's Body in the Heaven far above all heavens! Our dear Heavenly Father was and is delighted in His Son, our Head Christ Jesus. He is and will be, delighted in us as His Church, as His adopted sons through and in the "Beloved One" (Eph. 1:1-9). Study these verses carefully. By these Scriptures, we know (Gr. = epignosis) that our Heavenly Father loves us with a remarkable, superabundant love!
