EPHESIANS 1:18  And what is the riches of the glory of his inheritance...

A further reason for Paul's prayer was that they might know the riches of the glory of HIS inheritance. Oh! how wondrous must this glory be and how great this inheritance. So much so that Scripture tells us;

EPHESIANS 2:7  That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

HIS grace is so rich towards us that it will require the ages to come just to show it. How insignificant Satan's hindrances become when overshadowed by HIS greatness towards us.

A parallel in the Old Testament to HIS glory might be that of Solomon and his vast kingdom. When we are finally with Him there, our hearts may very well faint, as did the queen of Sheba after she beheld the glory of Solomon's kingdom.

2 CHRONICLES 9:5-6  And she said to the king, It was a true report which I heard in mine own land of thine acts, and of thy wisdom: Howbeit I believed not their words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the one half of the greatness of the wisdom of thy greatness was not told me: for thou exceedest the fame that I heard.

Likewise, the half of HIS greatness has not been told to us either, of this we can be sure. While here, in our "own land" how little we must truly understand what GOD has prepared for us. Howbeit, when we do come, and our eyes have seen it, we can also say, "Behold...thou exceedest the fame that I heard".

Even from before the foundation of the world HIS grace towards us was abounding. Paul writes in EPHESIANS that since the beginning of the world a mystery had been kept secret by GOD. It began with us being chosen "in Him before the foundation of the world" (EPHESIANS 1:4).

Only two other places in Scripture is such a reference to before the foundation of the world found. Both refer to our Lord Yeshua (Jesus), and each brought together, equal the one reference made to us in EPHESIANS 1:4.

JOHN 17:24  Father...thou lovest [agapao] me before the foundation of the world.

1 PETER 1:19-20  But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish [amomos] and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world...

These two scriptures refer to Yeshua, one in reference to the Father's love (agapao) for Him and the other that He would be without blemish (amomos). With these two combined, we find the Apostle Paul revealing the mystery concerning us;

EPHESIANS 1:4  According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame [amomos] before him in love [agape].

GOD chose us before the foundation of the world to be in Him, in Christ. We are members of His Body of which He is the head. On what day that becomes a reality, no one on earth or in heaven knows, not even the angels of heaven but the Father only (MATTHEW 24:36). These are the times and seasons which the Father hath put in HIS own power and it is not for us to know (ACTS 1:7). But HE does give us an idea of what to expect when we finally do enter into HIS glory.

The riches of this glory of HIS inheritance is deeper than simple salvation. If all there was to it was to get saved and then wait for the sands to slip through the hourglass, where would be earned the inheritance, or the rewards, or the crowns, we read about so often in these epistles? Or what of the solemn warnings such as in COLOSSIANS 2;

COLOSSIANS 2:18  Let no man beguile you of your reward...

GOD tells us here that if we allow them, men will beguile or cheat us out of our reward. It's a pretty sobering thought that we could live our lives and wind up before the throne of Christ to find we had lost all of our reward. But that is precisely what Scripture warns.

1 CORINTHIANS 3:14-15  If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

When our works are put to the test, if they do not hold up they will offer no reward. We ourselves shall be saved yet stripped of all rewards. Make no mistake, Scripture is very plain about it. Nearly every Church epistle reminds us "lest we forget".

2 CORINTHIANS 5:10  For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

GALATIANS 5:19,21  Now the works of the flesh are manifest...of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

EPHESIANS 5:5  For this you know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

ROMANS 8:16-18  The Spirit Itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ: if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

For a surety, our reward, crown, or inheritance is "exceeding abundantly above all we could ask or think". GOD's ability to thrill us throughout the ages is evident. That's why, some man depriving us of our eternal rewards ought to wake us up to the importance of a realization of the spiritual battle waging beneath the surface. The devil is real, have no doubt about it. Yet he is only able to deprive us of our reward if we walk in darkness and have not the light of the word.

Rewards and crowns are not our motivation to pursue GOD's purpose for our lives. Our thankfulness to GOD for all HE has done is motivation enough. The fact that GOD places such emphasis on rewards and that we could be deprived of them, simply shows the seriousness of the competition we find ourselves in.

  The Appearing

All Believers throughout history have looked for their Savior, the Christ. In the Old Testament they looked forward to His coming. In the ACTS, after His ascension into heaven, they looked forward to His Second Coming, His return as promised in ACTS 3:20. However, the nation of Israel didn't repent, so GOD didn't again send Yeshua and won't until the period described in REVELATION (ACTS 3:19-21). For us today, living in the period between ACTS and REVELATION, GOD has something more glorious in store.

We shall be resurrected (PHILIPPIANS 3:11) to be seated in the heavenlies (EPHESIANS 2:6). He doesn't return for us, we join Him there.

PHILIPPIANS 3:20 NIV  But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Not once in the post-ACTS epistles are we told that Christ needs to return for us, rather He will return with us.

The parousia that so many Christians look for today is never referred to in the epistles written after ACTS 28:28. A new age, a new dispensation was then ushered in and the offering of Christ's Second Coming (the Parousia) was withheld until GOD again takes up HIS dealings with Israel as a nation. During the last nineteen hundred and some years, "the salvation of GOD is sent unto the Gentiles".

What the Parousia was and will be for Israel, the epiphaneia is for us today. Epiphaneia means to shine or to be manifested and is generally translated "appearing".

2 TIMOTHY 4:8  Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

It's to those that love His appearing, His shining, His manifestation that this crown is laid up for.

TITUS 2:13  Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ;

Looking for that...appearing. But we are not told He will come to us and appear. It is all the other way. We shall go to be with Him, and with Him appear in glory.

COLOSSIANS 3:4  When Christ, Who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory.

When He returns in all of His glory, we shall already be there with Him in glory. Not so with others. They may meet Him in the clouds, or enter into their heavenly Jerusalem; but by then, we shall have already been there, "far above all", far above the clouds, yes even far above the heavenly Jerusalem which "cometh down out of heaven".

We shall be with Him, "far above all" and far above every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come".