As we have listened to Paul speak of the surpassing power of God for us who believe, and of His lavishing of His riches upon us, we must ask what is His motivation in doing such things for those who are merely His creatures? In Ephesians 1:6, we read that this is all “to the praise of His glory and grace.” Today we are going to examine what the “glory” of God is.
The Apostle uses the Greek word for “glory” 7 times in his letter to the Ephesians. Six of those instances are in reference to God’s glory. They are in 1:6, 12, 14, 17, 18; 3:16, and 21. So what does “glory” (Gk. doxa) mean? The term itself means “splendor, brightness, excellence, honor, majesty, pre-eminence.” However, the definition alone does not seem sufficient to explain what Paul (and the Biblical writers in general) had in mind when they use it in reference to God. Here are a couple of fairly brief articles where the authors try to give a sense of the Biblical use of this term “glory of God.”
We saw in Lesson #5 that Paul wanted the believers in Ephesus to know God’s power at work for and in them. In that same passage (Ephesians 1:17-19), he also prayed that they would know “the riches of His glorious inheritance.” Today’s message reflects the core theme of this study series – “Riches Beyond Measure!” As we listen to Paul tell of the many ways God has made his treasure and wealth available to us, we should recognize how rich we truly are in Christ.
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ–by grace you have been saved– and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. – (Ephesians 2:4-7, ESV)
Last lesson we saw how God’s power was demonstrated in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Not only was God’s power demonstrated in His creation and in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, it is also displayed in what He has and is doing for all those who believe. In Ephesians 1:17-19 Paul prayed that the Christians would know (Greek: oida) “His incomparably great power for us who believe.” Oida meant “to perceive, know about, realize, recognize.” Today’s message looks at the five ways Paul says God’s power is at work for us.
“Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever.” – Ephesians 3:20-21
(This message was delivered on “Easter Sunday, 2013.) As detailed in Lesson Two, “Ephesus – The Great City,” riches, glory and power were proudly on display in Ephesus. Much of the success and splendor of the city was credited by the residents to the goddess Artemis. However, the Apostle Paul wanted the Ephesian believers to know that the power at work in the gospel and in their lives was vastly superior to that claimed for Artemis. Today we want to see that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead was the power at work in their (and now our) lives!
Acts 19:34 – “…they all shouted in unison for about two hours: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
The Apostle Paul’s work in Ephesus was the last extended work of his we have recorded. It consumed most of what we call his Third Missionary Journey, and covered some three years – the longest period he spent working in any city during his journeys. It seems as if all he did before was in preparation for this time. And what a time it was! These three years were marked by large numbers of conversions, numerous miracles, and riots. Join us today as we review the work of Paul in Ephesus.
“To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things; so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 3:8-10)
With these words Paul speaks in his letter of the goal of his work in Ephesus… and indeed summarizes what this epistle itself is about.
In the First Century, Ephesus was the second largest city in the Roman Empire, and by many estimations, the second most important and influential as well. In addition to being the world center for the worship of Artemis, it was also a great commercial and governmental center, a great educational center, and a melting pot of many cultures, languages, races, religions and philosophies. If the Gospel of Christ was going to truly reach the world, it had to be effective in large cities like Ephesus! Today’s lesson introduces us to a city not very different than many great cities in our world today.
It is a great benefit to check some good Bible dictionary articles on Ephesus to learn more about the city. For example, we can read this in the Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary:
This is the first of 26 sermons I delivered on the Epistle to the Ephesians. They were presented at the Tanglewood Church of Christ in Odessa, Texas in 2013.
Of Paul’s 13 Epistles in the New Testament, two are commonly called “masterpieces” by biblical scholars. All recognize Romans as a masterful presentation of salvation by faith. In Ephesians by contrast, the Apostle provides a magnificent description of the riches God has provided by His mighty power for His people by grace through faith, and to His own glory and honor.
Recently I was addressing a group of young men who wanted to learn the Scriptures in greater depth. I was about to speak to them about the value of having and using great Bible resources. By resources I mean books and other physical and digital materials beyond the Bible itself which help illuminate and explain aspects of the Biblical text.
I asked the group of about 18 how many of them owned a Bible dictionary: one. How many owned a Bible commentary: two. How many owned or used Bible software: zero!
While I firmly believe the Bible alone is sufficient to teach us all we need to know in order to be saved and pleasing to God, that is not the same as saying we do not need anything else to understand (and teach) it better!
On February 5, 2020 I recommended the “Today in Christian History” daily email newsletter published by the Christianity Today Magazine. This daily email is a must-read for me every single day. Of course, this is because I am both a student and a teacher of Christian History, and love to always be learning more about the people and events that have shaped Christianity over the centuries.
So, starting today, I am going to frequently “borrow” ideas from “Today in Christian History” to write mini-posts for this site. These will not be “copy and paste” plagiarized articles, but simply posts inspired by things I read in that newsletter. I hope that these articles will inspire and educate you, my readers, as they do me.
Having looked at the New Testament documents – and particularly the four Gospels – as reliable historical records of the existence, life and teachings of Jesus, we now want to briefly consider evidence outside the pages of these documents which help corroborate their record. A common misconception and erroneous criticism about Christianity is that there is no evidence outside the New Testament about Jesus. We hope to illustrate the error of that view in this message.
The New Testament documents, and specifically the four Gospels, have withstood the test of almost 2,000 years of intense scrutiny, criticism, and efforts to discredit them as historical records. And a significant part of this discrediting effort involve questions about their authorship.
In this third lesson in our series we want to spend a little time talking about this issue, and the confidence we can have in their trustworthy nature. Below I have reproduced a short form of Part III – Their Authorship outline. If you want to skip the outline and just listen to the audio of the sermon, you can go directly to the page I have created forThe Jesus Documentshere.
This is Part II of “The Jesus Documents,” a series presented to inform and remind believers that our faith in Jesus and the Gospel records is justified and well founded. Our intent in this series is not to give an exhaustive or overly in-depth presentation of all the evidence in support of our confidence, but an overview to build confidence and encourage more study by those willing. (You can email us at rcravy@effectivebiblestudy.com if you want a list of great resources.)
“Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” (I Peter 3:15) Many, perhaps most, believers are unable to articulate good reasons for their faith.
Having looked at the New Testament documents – and particularly the four Gospels – as reliable historical records of the existence, life and teachings of Jesus, we now want to briefly consider evidence outside the pages of these documents which help corroborate their record. A common misconception and erroneous criticism about Christianity is that there is no evidence outside the New Testament about Jesus. We hope to illustrate the error of that view in this message.