Have you ever been on an online treasure hunt – or played a hidden objects game? It usually involves spending some good time poring over the same picture for a while, trying to ensure that nothing was missed. That is how I feel when spending lots of time unpacking a portion of scripture time and time again. Sometimes siblings, I think I’m done. Then, during the day after I have posted, in the middle of the night, or even in the morning before I start the new reflection, God’s Spirit drops a new revelation in my heart and mind, and I am back at the same text, seeing it and making biblical connections I hadn’t made before. For those of you who wonder about me spending time with minutiae (no one has said so), I hope this helps to explain the process. It also explains why we continue with our reflection on God’s glory in Today’s Holy Nougat.
Ephesians 3:20-21 AMP
[20] Now to Him who is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly more than all that we dare ask or think [infinitely beyond our greatest prayers, hopes, or dreams], according to His power that is at work within us,
[21] to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever. Amen.
God’s Glory in the Church and Christ Jesus
Scholarship suggests that Ephesus was a major economic and shipment port in the Roman Empire, thus it was diverse, with people living there, and originating from various regions and cultures. As a major trade route, and with its strategic location, they had access to a variety of goods, learnt many novel fads (ideas). Given that they were a cosmopolitan society (a very mixed society in every sense of the word). Thus, although there were several converts to Christianity, for some it might have been a ‘flavour of the month’. Paul left nothing to chance. He was ensuring that if the Ephesians never saw him again, they would have a clear grasp of the issues he thought they needed to address. In so doing, Paul offered clarity on the nature and ‘source’ of the glory to which he referred. It was the reputational glory, and the glory was to be seen in the church and in Y’shua.
Self-Check
If the human tends toward self-praise, how easy is it for the Church to glorify God?
Application
In this week when we commemorate Y’shua’s crucifixion, we recall that part of the glory Christ offered God involved sacrifice, literally unto death. God being glorified in Y’shua makes loads of sense – Jesus is the Son of God. Most Children find it easy to praise their parents. For Y’shua, it was literally His nature to do so. He always pointed the way to God, His Father. (Perhaps we should pause for a moment to glorify/praise our parents for one thing, especially if we’re estranged). To offer ‘doxa’ to God as a parent should also come naturally to us – we begin with what God has done for us.
The Church however, is God’s space of governance. Strong’s commentary on Matthew 16:18 tells us that the word ‘church’, which in ancient Greek culture was, “ekklēsia“, referred to a civic assembly of citizens called out for a specific purpose, such as decision-making or governance. That’s why the gates of hell can’t prevail against it. Moreover, part of the church’s duty is to glorify God. This includes the praises and honour referenced in Psalm 29, as well as the sacrifice of our bodies and renewing of our minds in Romans 12.
Siblings, glorifying God is work. Whether we view ourselves as children or as the ‘sent’ ones, it requires sacrificing our desires (and ambitions) to reveal God’s nature and maintain God’s reputation. In light of all that is happening in the world, this is a very good time to reveal God’s glory to the world.
Point to Ponder
We are part of God’s ‘special ops’, sent to be the difference for others to see. How does that resonate with our purpose today?
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May all we seek be found in Christ
