A Note from Our Pastor:

“That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.”

Ephesians 2:7

Good Morning Dearly Beloved,

Ephesians 2:7 is another example where understanding the distinction between the words grace and mercy becomes important to rightly dividing the word of truth.

Again, as Paul and Luke both use it, grace applies to our eternal salvation.

Knowing this, the Apostle here tells us that in some future time God is going to show us the riches of his salvation through Jesus Christ. It should arrest us in reading this verse to think of our salvation and home in heaven as exceeding riches. Any attempt to quantify or try to explain the magnificent nature of our eternal home is futile. It far exceeds anything we can imagine in this life. There is just simply no ability within our minds to explain what we will inherit.

With this understanding, the period of time being discussed becomes clear. The ages to come do not refer to ages as we understand them. In our history we refer to different periods of time as ages — such as the middle ages or the dark ages. However, that implies a time bound on these periods. When it comes to God’s time and when it comes to heavenly time there is no time bounds.

Rather the ages refer to two things one of which the latter does not have an end. The first age is the time that the soul and spirit are in heaven after mortal death on this earth. We understand and believe that when we draw our last breath here, that the soul and spirit are immediately at home with Christ. The soul and spirit then remains there until the time of the second coming in which it will be reunited with the body.

The second age then is the time after the second coming and the resurrection of these bodies. This age does not have an end and time will no longer exist. The point the Apostle is making though is that in both of these ages we will be able to know and understand the true beauty of our salvation and inheritance of heaven.

Let us rejoice here in Christ and long for that full understanding.

Our Prayers are with you daily,

Brother Jeremiah