To the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved (Ephesians 1:6).
The Divine nature knows no want. And wherefore then would He have us praise and glorify Him?
It is that our love towards Him may be kindled more fervently within us.
He desires nothing we can render; not our service, not our praise, nor anything else, nothing but our salvation; this is His object in everything He does.
[...] Which He freely bestowed on us, he says. He does not say, “which He has graciously given us”, (ἐχαρίσατο) but, “wherein He has shown grace to us” (ἐχαρίτωσεν).
That is to say, He has not only released us from our sins, but has also made us meet objects of His love.
It is as though one were to take a leper, wasted by distemper, and disease, by age, and poverty, and famine, and were to turn him all at once into a graceful youth, surpassing all mankind in beauty, shedding a bright lustre from his cheeks, and eclipsing the sun-beams with the glances of his eyes; and then were to set him in the very flower of his age, and after that array him in purple and a diadem and all the attire of royalty.
It is thus that God has arrayed and adorned this soul of ours, and clothed it with beauty, and rendered it an object of His delight and love.
Such a soul Angels desire to look into, yea, Archangels, and all the holy ones. Such grace has He shed over us, so dear has He rendered us to Himself. The King, says the Psalmist, shall greatly desire your beauty (Ps 45:11).
Think what injurious words we uttered heretofore, and look, what gracious words we utter now.
Wealth has no longer charms for us, nor the things that are here below, but only heavenly things, the things that are in the heavens.
When a child has outward beauty, and has besides a pervading grace in all its sayings, do we not call it a beautiful child? Such as this are the faithful.
Look, what words the initiated utter! What can be more beautiful than that mouth that breathes those wondrous words, and with a pure heart and pure lips, and beaming with cheerful confidence, partakes of such a mystical table?
What more beautiful than the words, with which we renounce the service of the Devil, and enlist in the service of Christ?
John Chrysostom (c.347-407): Commentary on Ephesians 1:6.
