“Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.”
Ephesians 3:21 concludes the first part of Paul’s teaching concerning the churches inheritance in Christ.
The Holy Trinity is glorified in the person and atoning work of our resurrected and ascended Lord Jesus Christ. His glory is manifested in his church through-out all ages. Each generation of Christians has built on the foundation of the Apostles, Prophets and Jesus Christ, the Chief Cornerstone of his Holy Temple.
Each generation has added to his glory through particular progressive revelations of his love and understanding.
The church is becoming greater and more powerful with the passing of the centuries. We might not see it, because we have a limited vision as to what the church is doing in our own locality and country. For instance, the strong faith of African Methodists recently saved the American Methodism by upholding God’s law and church tradition on one of the main moral issues of our time.
The last three chapters of Ephesians deal with practical application of knowing our position in Christ by encouraging righteous living.
Christ is going to present to himself a glorious church, sanctified and holy and without blemish.–Ephesians 5:26-27.
Jesus asked, “When the Son of Man returns will he find faith on the earth?”
Yes, he will! He is not returning for a weak and defeated church barely hanging on in a world. He is returning for a mighty church, which is ruling and reigning over the earth with Christ. We are his body on earth; he is the head of the body sitting at the right hand of the Father, where spiritually we sit with him. Can Christ be defeated? No way!
What does Paul mean by “world without end” in the light of prophetic utterances, which speak of the end times?
Gloria Patri, also known as the, the Glory Be, is a doxology, a short hymn of praise to God in various Christian liturgies. In the Methodist Church in which I grew up, it was our Sabbath benediction. The inspiration for this doxology, which goes back to the time of the Council of Nicaea, is Ephesian 3:21.
