To the true Christian one of the most wonderful passages in the Bible is Eph. 2:7, where we read of Godβs purpose, βThat in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.β This passage appears the more wonderful when viewed in the light of its context.
Verses 2-6 tell how we were all once the βchildren of disobedience,β and therefore βby nature the children of wrath, even as others.β But then we read those wonderful words of hope, βBut God.β βBut God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love wherewith He loved usβ¦β And the next verses tell how He has taken believers in Christ from the lowest position of condemnation and wrath and given them the highest place of favor and blessing in Christ at His own right hand in the heavenlies.
The simplest, humblest believer in Christ has been given this position in the heavenlies, for God no longer sees him in himself, but in Christ, who died for his sins. This is why St. Paul so often writes about βthose who are in Christ Jesus.β
It is for the believer now to occupy this exalted position, to appropriate by faith the βall spiritual blessingsβ which are his in Christ (See Eph. 1:3). Like Paul, he may be lifted by grace, through faith, above the troubles and sorrows of βthis present evil ageβ and enjoy his position and blessings in the heavenlies in Christ. And even this is not all, for looking far ahead to the future the Apostle, by divine revelation, goes on to say (in Eph. 2:7) that God has done this all for us, βthat in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.β source
