Ephesians 1:3–14 (ESV) — 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. 11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

What’s the deal? 3 times in this opening passage Paul says God is doing what He is doing in regard to our salvation “to the praise of His glory.” Does God have an ego problem?

The answer is in two things.

First off, God’s glory is not something we give or add to Him, it is simply the revelation of who and what He already is. It is seeing His holiness, immensity, power, knowledge, omnipresence, love, grace etc., for all the limitless wonder it is. We can’t make Him any bigger, any better, any more glorious or wonderful than He already is. We can only come to grasp what He already is. That, is to glorify Him – to reveal Him. So God in doing all these things in salvation for His own glory, does it that we might truly know Him for who and what He is – not that we might give Him cosmic pats on the back.

But why is this important? Why does He care that He is glorified? Because He can give us nothing more glorious, more wonderful more blessed, than Himself. He is both the source and the sum of all goodness and blessedness. And if He wants the best for us – which in His love He clearly does – then He must conspire to make Himself known to us in the fullest possible way. Which way is most fully demonstrated in saving grace through the substitutionary atonement of Jesus on the Cross, applied to unworthy, rebellious and undeserving sinners, through grace alone.

God is concerned for His glory – that we might be ultimately blessed.

What an amazing God He is.