“This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.”
Paul tells us in Ephesians 3 that we don’t have to be afraid of God anymore.
That doesn’t mean God has changed. He is still holy, awesome, extraordinary, magnificent, and exists in inapproachable light. He radiates pure power. In a word he is glorious. Nothing dark can come near him. The disobedient and rebellious gain no admittance and have no hope of entry into his presence. The “good” can never be good enough to overcome the distance that separates Him. Those who try to approach God based on their own credentials (whatever one might think those to be — family of origin, intelligence, morality, religiousness, etc), will be turned away.
Yet, Paul reiterates that we who have trusted Christ need not fear. We don’t have to cower or grovel. We don’t have to fret that he might not accept us. We don’t have to wonder if he hears us when we pray. When we approach God on the basis of Christ’s credentials — his righteousness, goodness, sinlessness — we are met with acceptance. We can come boldly before him. We can approach him with confidence because Christ’s favored status gains us access to God. It’s like being a VIP or having an “all-access” backstage pass. You see, with God the old adage holds: It’s not what you know, but Who you know that matters.
You really are accepted in God’s Beloved Son. So come to him boldly and with freedom to receive what he desires to give you. And what is that? Paul, in prayer, articulates it this way:
“I ask God to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you’ll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.” (Eph 3:16-19 The Message)
upword 