Soli Deo Gloria

Our Scripture lesson this morning is taken from Ephesians 1:3-23. In the Greek, these twenty verse are one long sentence! I am going to divide this lengthy text into two readings this morning. As you are finding this text in your bibles, let me introduce our topic of “To God Alone Belongs All Glory”.

This morning’s message is the last in our series on the Solas of the Reformation. On the surface, no one who claims to be a Christian would argue that all glory belongs to God alone. Rome during the time of the Reformation would certainly not have debated against the idea that all glory belongs to God. However, as we will see it is one thing to confess that all glory belongs to God and another thing to actually give all glory to God. The theology and practice of the Roman church steals glory from God by making salvation a work of both God and man.

We have already spent much time in Ephesians 2 in this series. In the last three sermons we have seen that God’s plan of salvation excludes all human boasting. Verses 8-9 of that chapter makes this abundantly clear.

Ephesians 2:8–9 ESV

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Why is God so concerned that “no one may boast” in their salvation? It is because God will not share His glory with anyone or anything else! When God explains to Israel why He will save them, He reminds them how sinful and undeserving they are and then He adds.

Isaiah 48:11 ESV

For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.

God has made promises to His people He will not break and we can bank on His mercy and grace, not because we are worthy, but because God is jealous for the glory of His Name! This link between God’s grace and God’s glory is made clear in our text this morning.

Ephesians 1:3–14 ESV

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

If you were paying attention you would have noted that in the space of just 12 verses Paul uses the phrase, “to the praise of his glory” three times! Clearly, God has devised His of salvation so that He will be praise and glorified. But before we talk about why God has done this and how we can give Him the glory that is due His name there is something very important we need to understand about God’s glory and this is found in verse 17.

Ephesians 1:17 ESV

that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him,

Paul calls God, “the Father of glory,” he does this to teach us that...

God is Glorious, in and of Himself

This is very important to remind ourselves of because we easily fall into the temptation that we make God more glorious by glorifying Him. This is what happens on the human level.

For example: Consider the show American Idol. The contestants are the best of the best, when Kelly Clarkson, the first winner of American Idol, competed and won, 10,000 people had auditioned that year! Kelly Clarkson won because she had a glorious voice and a winning personality, but until she received the praise of the American people she was a nobody—she was a failed actress working in a cocktail waitress at a comedy club! The praise of others made her more glorious.

God does not need anyone to make Him glorious, He is glorious! Hear what Jesus says about His glory.

John 17:5 ESV

And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

Before people, before angels, before anything the Triune God was glorious—Father, Son and Holy Spirit!

However, as Scripture makes clear God delights in revealing His glory to His creatures.

All of God’s Works, Especially His Work of Salvation, Reveal His Glory

Psalm 19 is famous for teaching us that all of creation reveals the glory of God.

Psalm 19:1 ESV

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

As glorious as the heaven are, the most glorious manifestations of God’s creation are angels and men.

Psalm 8:1–5 ESV

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger. When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.

Of course we don’t see that glory in man because humanity has fallen into sin, but not all is lost. The author of Hebrews writes after quoting Psalm 8:

Hebrews 2:9 ESV

But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

The great storyline of the bible is this: It is not through the heavenly beings in their untarnished perfection that God will most magnificently display His glory, but through His Son Jesus, who took on human flesh, in order that He might redeem sinners! In the book of Revelation the curtain that hides heaven from us is draw back and this is what we see and hear:

Revelation 5:11–14 ESV

Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

It is Christ’s redemption of fallen human beings that most magnificently displays the glory of God! The glory of God revealed in creation is a dim shadow compared to the glory of God revealed in the redemptive work of Christ!

The message of not only Ephesians, but all of Scripture is clear, we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, on account of Christ alone so that God alone receives all the glory! But there is more to the story. Let me continue reading from Ephesians 1 where I left off.

Ephesians 1:15–23 ESV

For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

God Glorifies His Elect, That They May Glorify Him

In a surprising turn of events, we find that God reveals His glory by glorifying us! Twice in chapter 1, Paul speaks of our glorious inheritance, first in verse 14 and then in verse 18. This is such a surprising turn of events that Paul prays that God would open his readers eyes “that they may know the hope to which they have been called.” Earlier I read for the prophet Isaiah, who wrote that God will not share his glory with another. On the surface it seems that God is contradicting Himself, how can God glorify us without sharing His glory?

The answer lays in what Paul says about Christ.

Ephesians 1:19–20 ESV

and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,

Just think about what Paul is saying: God glorified Jesus’ human flesh and raised Him and now HUMAN FLESH sits in the highest position of authority and glory! The Apostle John had the privilege of seeing Christ’s throne and this is what he saw:

Revelation 22:3–5 ESV

No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

The glory of Jesus and His Father out shine the sun and moon!

But speaking of the moon, I think we have in the moon a good illustration of how our glorification does not steal glory from God. A full moon gets its glory from the Sun alone. A “new moon” cannot be seen because it has no light to reflect. It is dark and without glory.

Mankind, was created in the image of God. We were created to be “glory reflectors,” but sin through us into the dark! Have you ever wondered why Adam and Eve, suddenly felt naked? The Shechinah glory cloud of God which once covered them was gone!

Now, in the person of Jesus Christ, the Shechinah cloud of glory shines forth from human flesh not as a reflection, but in its full glory! The hope that Paul wants us to see is that we will be covered by the Shechinah glory of God once again, but this time the reflection will be more powerful and more brilliant!

Paul speaks of this same hope to encourage the Corinthians.

2 Corinthians 3:18 ESV

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

And in the next chapter.

2 Corinthians 4:16–17 ESV

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,

Do you catch the irony in this? The only way to truly be glorified is to humbling accept the gift of salvation in Christ by faith alone. We can only shine as the moon does. As soon as we try to light our own candle, we are thrown into darkness. There is no salvation, there is no glory, without all glory going to God!

Let us pray...