Ephesians 3:14-21
14)
For
this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
15)
Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth
is named,
16)
That
he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened
with might by his Spirit in the inner man;
17)
That
Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in
love,
18)
May be
able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth,
and height;
19)
And to
know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge,
that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
20)
Now
unto him that is able to exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think,
according to the power that worketh in us,
21)
Unto
him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout
all ages, world without end. Amen.
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cripture is designed to point us to
whom glory belongs. Without committing the pre-eminence of the Lord into our
spirit, there is always the danger of seeking and expecting recognition for
ourselves.
We find a popular teaching of the
world infiltrating the church today. Well-meaning but misguided (by the devil),
teachers heavily emphasize that each individual has
"self-worth" and that this awareness needs to be nurtured and
cultivated. The world teaches that it is important to be aware of one's
self-importance. After all, if we aren't, no one will be. What no saint should
have a problem understanding is that no one can be aware of his own importance
while at the same time giving God His glory, too.
We cannot be too diligent in
remembering that whatever God does through our service or through us, we, as
the individual, are not important. Because God is God, He will give His glory
to no other, so no matter how many times we are used, or in what capacity, we
are immaterial. At best, we are used because the Lord finds us a willing
vessel.
So, once we are reminded that our
individuality is not important to the Lord, from where are we to get any
"self-esteem'? Are we worthless before and after salvation? The answer is that
we are made "worth" something as we place ourselves in the hands of
God and allow Him to use us.
We would do well to really learn to
give God praise for all that confronts us in this life. The people and
The fact that "unto (God must) be
glory" means that all else upon which we would focus has got to be
relegated to its proper place in our lives—behind Jesus. Too many hold to
family ties over ties to the Lord. But according to verse 14 and 15 of our
text, if we become a member of the family of God, then we must take on His
name. This means that our tie to and affiliation with Him needs to receive our
primary focus and attention. After all, who really wants to trade eternal for
temporal ties?
Perhaps we do not ask ourselves
often enough who we really think is worthy of more glory than Jesus. He is the
head both the visible and invisible Church. He is our strength. That means, He
is our sustainer—He is responsible for every breath we draw. Should He fail to
touch us, we would cease to exist. He is our provider and is responsible for
everything we put into our mouths, everything we put onto our backs, and every
cent we make. No, it is not our employer or our ability to get up in the
morning to get to our jobs.
In that Jesus is our strength, our receiving strength from Him is dependent upon
knowing Who He is: specifically, what He has done for us and from where He has
brought us. Being strengthened by the Lord is also a result of us acknowledging
that we are one with Him. That is to be an indefatigable source of strength.
Imagine being one with the One Who created and sustains all things.
In order for us to be able to give
God the glory which He deserves, it is necessary for us to be rooted and
grounded in love for Him. The only love which lasts through all is agape love—and this is the love He has
for us. Believing and accepting that He does, indeed, love us and has only our
best interest at heart will enable us to glorify Him no matter what!
You’ve heard the old axiom about
what “hard heads make”? Well, don’t be counted in this number. God will use
only one from whom He can easily and readily get His glory. No one should allow
himself to be eliminated from the blessings of God trying to protect a “point.”
God is not glorified in our living as
we want, doing as we want, thinking as we want, or feeling as we want. He is
glorified when we show the rest of the world that our lives are hidden in Him.
Like it or not, we owe God. We owe
Him for the Holy Ghost, we owe Him for His love and care, and we owe Him just
for creating us. But in order to understand just how much we owe, we have to
come to understand how great and glorious God is. And guess what? To come to an
understanding of this, we must be willing to go through tests. The tests, in
turn, teach us to what lengths the Lord will go to protect and keep His people.
The depth of the love of the God to
whom we owe glory knows no boundaries. The height of the love of God (as
referred to in scripture) represents His willingness to save—which knows no
limit.
Christ insists upon and gives us a
Solid Foundation to keep us from blowing with the winds of doctrine and change.
“Unto Him be glory” for being the only One who does not change, providing
for the faithful an oasis of calm and peace in the chaos of a world dead but
for the hope of redemption.