In verse 20 Paul speaks of “Him Who is able to do superabundantly above all that we ask or think.” Strictly speaking, “ask or think” here refers to the spiritual things related to the church, not to material things. For these spiritual things, we need not only to ask, but also to think. We may think more than we ask. God fulfills not only what we ask for the church, but also what we think concerning the church, and God is able to do superabundantly above all that we ask or think for the church through the power which operates in us.
God’s ability to do superabundantly above all that we ask or think, as revealed in verse 20, is different from His ability in creation. Verse 20 refers not to creation, but to the church. A number of times I have heard the saints quote verse 20 in testifying concerning their experience of God’s material blessing. To quote this verse for such a purpose is to misapply it. Paul’s concept here is related not to what God does outside of us, but to what He does inside of us. He specifically mentions “the power which operates in us.” This is the inward power, the resurrection power, as mentioned in 1:19 and 20.
God’s creating power is the origin of the material things in our environment (Rom. 8:28), whereas God’s resurrection power accomplishes the spiritual things for the church within our inward being. In order for God to give us a good job, there is no need for resurrection power to operate in us. God’s being able to do superabundantly above all that we ask or think is related not to His acts in our environment, but to His working organically and metabolically within us. As far as the environment is concerned, there may be times when God apparently does nothing for you. You may pray for a promotion, but He allows you to be laid off from your present job. During this time of unemployment, God may operate within you to enable Christ to make His home in you. When we are in a favorable environment, there may be very little opportunity for Christ to spread Himself in our hearts. But when we are placed in a difficult environment, the Lord may have more of an opportunity to spread within our inward being. From our side, it may seem beneficial for us to be in a good environment, but from the Lord’s side, it may be better for us to be in a difficult environment, for then He may have greater opportunity to work within us.
The asking and thinking referred to in verse 20 should be applied to the church. We need to ask and to think concerning the church, not concerning trivial things related to our environment. Our asking and our thinking should be focused on God’s economy to dispense Himself into us to produce the church as the expression of Christ. When our asking and thinking concern the church, God will always do superabundantly above all that we ask or think. We need to ask and to think concerning Christ making His home in our hearts and concerning the church being filled unto all the fullness of God. If we ask and think in this way, we shall certainly be in the spirit. Then whatever we ask concerning the church will be answered, and it will be answered superabundantly. How we need to ask and to think concerning the church!
Verse 21 says, “To Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus unto all the generations of the age of the ages. Amen.” God’s glory is wrought into the church, and He is expressed in the church. Hence, the glory in the church is to God; that is, God is glorified in the church.
God’s glorification is not only in the church, but also in Christ. Hence, the word “and” is used here to emphasize this point. In the church the sphere of God’s glorification is narrow, limited to the household of faith. But in Christ the sphere is much broader, because Christ is the Head of all the families in the heavens and on earth (1:22; 3:15). Hence, God’s glorification in Christ is in the realm of all the families created by God, not only on earth but also in the heavens. Not only is the sphere in Christ much broader than that in the church, but the scope in Christ is eternal, as indicated by the phrase, “unto all the generations of the age of the ages.” All the generations of the age of the ages constitute eternity. God’s glorification in the church is mainly in this age, whereas God’s glorification in Christ is for eternity.
The church is just one of the many families in the universe. The other families include the angelic family, the family of mankind, and the family of Israel. According to verse 15, God is the source of the angelic family in the heavens and of all the human families on earth. Of course, He is also the source of the church, which is the family, the household, of the believers. To say that God is glorified in the church means that He is glorified in just one of the many families. But to say that God is glorified in Christ means that He is glorified in Christ as the Head of all things. Christ is the Head over the angels, over mankind, over Israel, and also over the church. If God were glorified only in the church, He would not be glorified in an all-inclusive way. For Him to be glorified all-inclusively, He must also be glorified in Christ.
God will be glorified not only in this age, the age of the church, but also in the coming age, the age of the kingdom, and in the age of the ages, which is eternity. For God to be glorified in all the ages, from the present age throughout eternity, He must be glorified both in the church and in Christ.
As the household of the believers, the church, we take the lead to give the glory to God the Father by having God’s glory wrought into our being. In order for the glory of God to be wrought into us, we need to be strengthened into our inner man according to the riches of God’s glory. Then this glory will come to us with God and, after being worked into us, will return to God with us. By means of this two-way traffic the church takes the lead to give the glory to God. In this universe, as the believers, we are the firstfruit. If we take the lead to give glory to God, all the other families both in heaven and on earth will follow us to glorify Him.