{"id":2882,"date":"2011-11-08T18:33:44","date_gmt":"2011-11-09T02:33:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ministryofgrace.com\/blog\/?p=2882"},"modified":"2012-02-20T11:39:27","modified_gmt":"2012-02-20T19:39:27","slug":"ephesians-321-praise-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/ephesians-321-praise-god\/","title":{"rendered":"Ephesians 3:21 – Praise God!"},"content":{"rendered":"

to Him be<\/em><\/span> glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Truth to Learn<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

God deserves all our praise!<\/p>\n

Behind the Words<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

The word “glory<\/span>” is translated from doxa<\/em><\/span>, from which we get our English word doxology. It is derived from the verb doke\u014d<\/em><\/span>, meaning “thought or opinion, especially favorable human opinion.” The word doxa<\/em><\/span> refers to “honor, praise, glory, splendor, excellence, or renown.”<\/p>\n

“Church<\/span>” is from the Greek word ekkl\u0113sia<\/em><\/span>, a compound word made up of ek<\/em><\/span>, meaning “out” or “out of” and a form of kale\u014d<\/em><\/span>, meaning “to call someone.” Therefore, ekkl\u0113sia<\/em><\/span> refers to “a called out group of people.” It was a common term for a congregation or “citizens who were called out to assemble for a public meeting.”<\/p>\n

The word “generations<\/span>” is translated from genea<\/em><\/span>, which is derived from the verb ginomai<\/em><\/span>, meaning “to come into being.” Initially this word simply meant “a generation,” but later it came to refer to “a space of time” or “a circle of time.” As it is used in this verse, it clearly refers to “generations.”<\/p>\n

“Forever and ever<\/span>” is an interesting expression. The Greek words are tou ai\u014dnos t\u014dn ai\u014dn\u014dn<\/em><\/span>, which literally translate to “of the age of the ages.” So technically, “forever and ever” is a paraphrase, but it is probably the closest English expression to expressing the idea of the Greek words.<\/p>\n

Meaning Explained<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Paul is now closing the prayer for the members of the church in Ephesus (and by extension for all Christians). This prayer, which began in verse fourteen, contains four petitions:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. That the Father would strengthen us internally by the Holy Spirit<\/li>\n
  2. That Christ would dwell in our hearts through faith<\/li>\n
  3. That we might experientially know the love of Christ<\/li>\n
  4. That we would be filled with all the fullness of God<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Take a minute to recognize how effective Paul’s prayer is. All of us who are committed Christians experience all four of those things that Paul prayed for. Thank you, Paul!<\/p>\n

    In closing his prayer, the Apostle first proclaimed that God has more than enough power to do far more than we could ever ask or think, indicating how mighty He is. Now he proclaims a statement of the recognition that God deserves.<\/p>\n

    Notice that Paul proclaims the renown, the honor, and the praise that God is due (and which He receives) within the church. Outside the church, however, we see that God receives very little recognition for who He is or for what He has done. For the most part, those outside the church want to ignore God. Like ostriches, they think that if they hide their head in the sand by denying their own sinfulness or God’s sovereignty, they won’t have to face the consequences of their sins. How wrong they are, and how horrified they will be when they finally discover the truth and their fate.<\/p>\n

    Application<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

    Like Paul, let us give God the recognition, honor, and praise that He is due. He deserves it all, and we owe Him all that we can possibly give to Him.<\/p>\n

    In God's service, for His glory,<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Copyright ©<\/span> 2011 Will Krause. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Truth to Learn God deserves all our praise! Behind the Words The word “glory” is translated from doxa, from which we get our English word doxology. It is derived from the verb doke\u014d, meaning “thought or opinion, especially […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[1806,1387,1807,2098,2156,2157],"class_list":["post-2882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-church","tag-doxa","tag-ekklesia","tag-genea","tag-generation","tag-glofy"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pd5geA-Ku","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2882"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2882\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3347,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2882\/revisions\/3347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}