Now we come to the matter of the New Testament believers being to the praise of God’s glory (1:11-12). Ephesians 1:12 says, “That we should be to the praise of His glory who have before hoped in Christ.” This verse does not mean that we shall praise God. It means that so much will be worked out for us and in us by God’s abounding grace that all the angels and positive things in the universe will praise God. They will praise God because we, the sons of God, will be the center, the focal point, of God’s operation in the universe. We shall be like the hub of a wheel. If the hub is taken away, the wheel will collapse because the spokes have no support. The angels and the positive things in the universe are like the spokes, and we, the sons of God, are like the hub. Without such a hub the universe cannot be held together. We on whom, for whom, and in whom the abounding grace is accomplishing so much will become the cause for the praise uttered by the positive things in the universe. This is the right meaning of verse 12.
The little word “that” at the beginning of this verse is very meaningful. It indicates that the many things that have been taking place in the preceding verses have a certain result: that we should be to the praise of God’s glory. This praise will mainly be in the millennium and ultimately in the new heaven and the new earth. If we read Revelation 21 and 22 in the light of these verses from Ephesians, we shall see that the New Jerusalem is a constitution of the sons of God; it is the center of the new universe. The angels, the nations, and all the positive things surrounding us will behold us and spontaneously utter praise to God. Therefore, the sons of God, the constituents of the New Jerusalem, will be the cause of universal praise. The whole universe will praise God for us as those who have been worked upon by God’s abounding grace.
However, many, including us, may read Ephesians again and again without seeing this because they do not have the proper concept. We understand the Bible mainly according to our concept. If a third-grader reads Ephesians, he may be able to say all the words, but he cannot grasp the real meaning because he does not have the proper concept. How much we grasp of the divine revelation depends mainly on the concepts we have. We should not trust in our natural concepts; instead, we should drop them. If we are willing to drop our concepts, the spirit of wisdom will replace our natural concepts with something spiritual, heavenly, and eternal. Our knowledge of doctrine will cause us to be veiled when we come to the book of Ephesians. Our concepts become veils over our spirit. But if we drop our concept, our spirit will be open, and we shall also be poor in spirit. In Matthew 5:3 the Lord Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” Those who are poor in spirit seem to know nothing, for they have been emptied of every concept, doctrine, and teaching. If we come to the pure Word poor in spirit, we shall see something new.
In verses 11 and 12 we see that the New Testament believers will be a cause of universal praise. Praise is the utterance of appreciation. We do not praise clay because we do not appreciate it. On the other hand, we do praise our dear Lord Jesus because we appreciate Him so much. Our appreciation becomes our praise. The day is coming when we, the sons of God, will be appreciated by all the angels. The more they look at us, the more utterance they will have that will flow out as praise to God. Their appreciation of us will become their praise to God. They will realize that what we are is the work of God’s abounding grace. The amount of praise depends upon how much work the abounding grace has done. If the abounding grace accomplishes more work upon us, the angels will have a greater appreciation of us. The Bible says that even the trees will rejoice (Psa. 96:12) and praise the Lord (Psa. 148:7, 9). If the trees did not see anything in the universe that was wonderful, they would not rejoice. But seeing us, the sons of God, will be the greatest surprise to the trees. Because of us, the trees will rejoice and praise. The fact that we shall be to the praise of God’s glory does not mean that we shall praise God. It means that we shall be the cause of the praise uttered by the angels and all the positive things in the universe.
Eventually, we shall become the glory of God. Some may wonder how we could become the glory of God. In 1 Thessalonians Paul says, “Ye are our glory and joy” (2:20). Paul was speaking here as the representative of God. Therefore, if the believers were the glory of Paul, then they were certainly the glory of God, for Paul was God’s sent one. If the believers are the glory of the sent one, then they are surely also the glory of the Sender. In the millennium and especially in the new heaven and new earth, God will be able to say, “Angels, nations, and all created things, look at My glory. My sons are My glory.” In a human sense, this is even true in a large family. Suppose a certain father has many good children, all of whom love the Lord very much. If all these children would one day sit around their father, he could say, “This is my glory. My children are my glory.” One day the Father will gather us all together. At that time, we all shall have been saturated with Him, transformed, and transfigured. Then with joy He will be able to say to the angels and all the positive things in the universe that we are His glory.
Glory is God expressed. At the fullness of the times, all the sons of God will be fully saturated with God and will express God. God will be expressed through us. This expressed God is glory. All the angels and positive things in the universe will praise the expressed God. This is what it means to say that we shall be to the praise of His glory.