4. The ultimate goal of spiritual strength
Eph 3:20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,
Eph 3:21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
We have to make a few observations here:
–God must receive all the glory in the church and in Christ
–God must receive glory throughout all time and eternity
–Firstly, God is to receive all the glory in the church.
He is the source of salvation and strength; when we pray, he supplies the power and the sanctification and the healing and the restoration. He is the fountain of life and salvation, and we drink from this fountain and are refreshed from this fountain, and from this fountain, we get an abundance of love, peace, joy and hope. He is our food and our drink. And because God is all of these things and so much more in salvation, because we receive grace from Him, as we read in Ephesians 2, all the glory belongs to Him. He should get all the praise in the church. We don’t sing the praises of the church or the pastor or the music team or the elders or deacons or whoever; we sing the praises of Christ. Christ bought his church with his own blood; we are his treasured possession. He revealed himself to us, and He entrusted the gospel to the church and gives us energy and strength to fight the good fight of faith. He supplies the grace, we receive the power, and he receives the glory. To Him belong the glory in the church.
–And secondly, to Him belong the glory in Christ.
This repetition, “in Christ,” is significant in Ephesians.
All spiritual blessings we find “in Christ.”
Election
Adoption
Redemption
An inheritance
The Holy Spirit
Regeneration
Reconciliation
Grace
Peace
All we have for life and godliness come to us in Christ, and because all come to us through Christ, in Christ, in union with Christ, all the glory in the church belongs to Christ. He is preeminent in the church, not us.
The first three chapters of Ephesians explain our salvation in Christ and unpacks for us, as it were, the glories and the excellencies of Christ. Nowhere in Scripture do we find this formula repeated so much, “in Christ”, so the conclusion is that we must give all the glory where it belongs: to Christ. Because of His love, his cross and his death. All the glory belongs to Him,not for this lifetime only. What does the text say?
Eph 3:21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen
To God and Christ belong the glory throughout all generations, forever and ever. That means from Adam to the Second coming. Adam and those in his generation would have been saved through Christ by believing in the promise of the Messiah to come. And throughout all ages, all those who were saved and received eternal life were saved by believing in Christ; this has always been God’s plan, God’s purpose, God’s eternal decree, from before creation (Eph 1:4). Christ was the seed that crushed the serpents head (Gen 3:15), He was the offspring of Abraham (Gen 12:1-3), the son of David (Psalm 132), the scapegoat, the Passover lamb, etc.
And to Him will be the glory forever and ever.
In eternity to come, we will still be giving the glory to Christ, not to Charles Spurgeon, John Calvin, or the elders of a church; the glory will belong to Christ because He is the One acting through the church. He is the one who saves, sanctifies, renews, builds us up, changes us, and gives us hope through the word and through the Spirit. He is using the church and the members to do what He pleases. He is working and willing through the church (Phil 2:12, 13). He is the primary one who is acting, who is making us willing and able through the Spirit to do his good pleasure, and therefore in eternity, for whatever we have, we will give him the glory.
INTERETHNICMISSIONS 