7. In Him we have redemption through His
blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His
grace. In Him, that is to say, the Beloved, we have
redemption. This word, as in Colossians 1:14, indicates
deliverance as a result of the payment of a ransom. We who
were in bondage to sin have been set free by God's grace through
our connection with the blood of Christ. Although the Beloved did
many wonderful things while He was in this world, for example, he
stilled the tempest, cast our demons, cleansed the lepers, opened
the eyes of the blind, unstopped the ears of the deaf, fed the
hungry, healed the sick, and even raised the dead, His ultimate
mission was to seek and save the lost, to give Himself a ransom for
many (Isaiah 53:12; Matthew 20:28; Mark 10:45; Luke 19:10; I
Timothy 1:15). As we contemplate this wonderful sacrifice, we join
with the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders who are
forever exclaiming, “You are worthy...for You were slain, and have
redeemed us to God by Your blood” (Revelation 5:9), and the ten
thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands of angels
lifting up their voices in enthusiastic worship, shouting, “Worthy
is the Lamb who has been slain...to receive honor and glory and
blessing!” (Revelation 5:12).
8. Which He made to abound toward us in all
wisdom and prudence. God's grace is still under discussion. He
causes it to abound or overflow in our direction. In a similar
passage, Paul wrote, “And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly
abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ” (I Timothy
1:14). Consequently, as God's wonderful grace abounds toward us, it
not only provokes faith and love in Christ, but it
also produces wisdom and prudence in the faithful
saint. A parallel to this is found in Colossians 1:9, which reads,
“For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease
to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the
knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.”
Wisdom, of course, is knowledge plus. It is the ability to
apply knowledge to the best advantage. Prudence, or spiritual
understanding, is penetrating insight into what is true from
God's standpoint.
9. Having made known to us the mystery of His
will. All this wisdom and spiritual insight comes from God's
revealing to us the “mystery of His will,” which, according to
verse 10, was God's eternal purpose to gather together in one all
things in Christ. According to His good pleasure, which
He purposed in Himself. In verse 5, we were told that we were
predestined “according to the good pleasure” of the Father's will.
Again, we learn that in eternity it was the Father's good pleasure
to set forth His plan to redeem fallen mankind through His only
begotten Son, Jesus Christ.
10. That in the dispensation of the fullness
of the times. In the Father's eternal plan, there was a
specific period of time when He would send forth His Son, “born of
a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the
law, that we might receive the adoption of sons” (Galatians 4:4,5).
Here, and in verse 10, as in other places, the expression “fullness
of times” or “last days” is often applied to the period of Christ's
first coming (cf. Hebrews 1:2; I Peter 1:20). All the previous time
periods reached their fullness when this dispensation (the
Christian era) began. More specifically, ever since the death,
burial, resurrection, and coronation of Jesus Christ, this
dispensation of the fullness of times has been in effect. It will
not end until the Lord returns and has executed judgment (I
Corinthians 15:24,25). He might gather together in one all
things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on
earth. The plan was that all things would come under the
authority of “the Christ of God.” Consequently, the resurrected
Lord said all authority was given Him in heaven and earth
(Matthew 28:18). And in Philippians 2:9-11, we learn that Christ
Jesus has been given a “name which is above every name, that at the
name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of
those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue
should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the
Father.” —Him. That is, Jesus Christ, King of kings and Lord
of lords.
11. In whom also we have obtained an
inheritance. Note the word also, meaning: not
only did we, in connection with Christ, receive such blessings
as redemption, forgiveness of sins, and spiritual understanding
(wisdom and prudence), benefits which have already been mentioned
(vv. 7-10), but, in addition to these (which, although they have
last
