Articles
The Glory of God Through the Church
The Glory of God Through the Church.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3)
“He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:5-6).
“ to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:12).
who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:14)
“… to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen” (Ephesians 3:21)
“… so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Ephesians 3:10–11)
HOW is this glory of God be shown by the church?
We are told that All spiritual blessings are to be realized IN Christ - for BOTH Jew and Gentile. NOTE the ‘we’ — ‘you also’. I understand the ‘you also’ to be identified by Paul in 2:11 to be the Gentiles, thus I take the ‘we’ to be the Jewish believers. BUT, now in Christ, BOTH share ‘all spiritual blessings’. 1 — We are chosen (v. 4); 2— We are predestined to be adopted (v. 5); 3 — We are given grace (v. 6); 4 — We are redeemed (v. 7); 5 — We are told the secret of his will (v. 9); 6 — We are made a heritage (v. 11); and 7— We are sealed with the Spirit (vv. 13–14).
ALL of these blessings are said to be ‘IN Christ’. This is stated at the beginning of this sentence (1:3) and is repeated throughout the next 14 verses. [Interestingly, in the Greek this is all one big long sentence!] Those who are NOT now in Christ have no part in these blessings - whether Jew or Greek. Those in Christ, whether Jew or Greek, all have the same share in the blessings. Hence, we are ONE body of people in Christ. THUS our salvation and reception of the promised inheritance is “to the praise of his glory’ (Eph. 1:14).
Thus, when WE as the church, love one another and live together in true unity regardless of our race, education, status, country, etc., we show forth the glory of God unto the praise of His glory! It is God who planned this. It is Jesus who died for us. It is the Spirit who revealed this. It is God that added us together. Let us “walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Eph. 4:1-4) Are you living together to the praise of His glory?
Hugh DeLong
