It is thrilling to feel the excitement and joy of the apostle Paul as, under the direction of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he bursts into jubilant praise and thanksgiving over the glorious salvation we have in Christ! It is his burden, yea, his privilege, to communicate the wonder and amazement of a salvation so sensational and so secure to his Christian readers, as it became my privilege to be able to communicate this glorious message to someone just yesterday. I felt this person's joy as the Spirit enabled him to apprehend what salvation secured really meant, so I know the joy of Paul when people in his time understood. It is the joy that any of you experience when the Spirit is there with you using your words to open hearts to the gospel truth.

Thus Paul wrote: "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ." And Paul goes on to show the involvement of the Trinity, the Triune God, in our salvation: the Father chose us in him before the creation of the world and predestined us to be adopted as his sons. But he chose us in Christ, predestined us through Jesus Christ, freely gave us this glorious salvation in Christ, the One whom he loves. It is in Christ that we have redemption through his blood, meaning that this salvation was secured through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. God placed us before time began in his Son, so that the death and resurrection of the Son became our experience, and we are heirs with the Son. The Father has lavished his grace on us with all wisdom and understanding and made known to us the mystery of his will, and the Holy Spirit has now marked us with his seal, his deposit, which guarantees our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession - to the praise of his glory." (Thus Ephesians 1:1-14)

It really is GOOD NEWS! Salvation is not our work, it is the outworking in our personal lives of the eternal purpose of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit! Does the force, the power, the sweetness, the wonder, the warmth, the love, the eternal nature of this message grip not only your mind but your heart and soul and all that you are?