“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, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”
Ephesians 3:20-21
I love the way this passage (Eph 3:20-21) ends: “…to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen” If there is one thing you can count on despite the instability of this broken, twisted world, it is that Christ reigns! He reigns now. He will reign forever. His Kingdom cannot fail. His every purpose will prevail. And chief among those purposes is that He will get all the glory and then share it with His church for all eternity. Did you notice that in the passage quoted above? It says His power is at work in us, why? So that His glory will be displayed “in the church” and in Christ Jesus forever. Not only in Christ – who of course is worthy to receive all glory, but also in us – His church – who get to share that glory with Him!
This morning we’ll be looking at the place of Christ’s Church in God’s plan from Mt 28:18-20; Eph 3:1-11; and Acts 2:42. Every once in a while it is good to go back and remember some of the basic truths that undergird our faith in Christ. One of those truths is that God’s plan of redemption in Christ centers, not on the individual believer, but on the church as the Body the Christ (1 Cor 12:27), the Bride of Christ (Rev 21:8), His beloved people called out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Pet 2:9). It is for the church that Christ gave His life. And it is through the church that Christ will accomplish His purposes in the world. And we here at Rockport, are a local expression of that church which He loves and through whom He is working today. That’s amazing!
So this morning, as we prepare for this afternoon’s congregational meeting, we need to remember what we are as Christ’s church are what we’ve been called to do. (Lord willing, we will return to our study of John in John 15 next Sunday.)
May Christ who is worthy receive all the glory through His church, forever!
Pastor Scott