For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.
~Romans 11:36
As a writer, I’m a grammar nerd—always have been. Because my mom immigrated to the US from Italy as a teenager speaking no English at all, she worked very hard to quickly master the language of her new home country and became an exacting stickler for proper English. From the time my brothers and I started talking, my mom ensured that our speech followed all the grammar, syntax, and diction rules.
So, while diving into the last part of Romans, chapter 11, the richness of several prepositional phrases jumped off the page to paint an inspiring picture of God and His glory. [As a quick reminder: A preposition is paired with an object of a preposition to form a prepositional phrase. Prepositional phrases are phrases that can be used to modify nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. Examples are at, by, for, from, in, of, on, to, with, above, over, through—to name a few.]
Now, Paul’s letter to the Romans delivers crazy depth and breadth of the gospel—the problem of sin, God’s judgment, God’s free justification, and the transformed life of believers. Chapter 11 wraps up a three-chapter discussion primarily about Israel: their rejection and God’s plan for their ultimate redemption per His promise. It’s Paul’s closure of this chapter that reminds us all—Jew, Christian, and unbeliever alike—who He is. Let’s nerd out together, shall we?
“For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things” (emphasis mine).
In looking at all parts of this phrase, I turned to the original Greek language (per Strong’s Concordance) to be sure that our current English understanding doesn’t cloud Paul’s intention. And since all the prepositional phrases modify something, it’s vital to address this first. Here, it’s “all things”. Every time an exposition of Scripture has “all”, I hear in my head the words of a former pastor of mine: “In the Greek, all means all, and that’s all all means.” I looked it up, and yes, that’s accurate! “All” is “in an absolute sense, all things collectively, the totality of created things.” So, let’s wrap our heads around that for a minute. We’re talking about everything that exists! Now, onto those weighty prepositions…
- from (out of, by means of): a primary preposition denoting origin (the point whence action or motion proceeds), from, out (of place, time, or cause; literal or figurative; direct or remote). In other words, everything is from—by means of—God. He is the Source of it all. And everyone, even though they might not admit it outright—knows this and will be held accountable to this truth (see Romans 1).
- through (because of, for the sake of, on account of): a preposition pointing to one who is the author of the action, as well as its instrument, or of the efficient cause. So, God not only is the Source, but He is also the Creator/Doer (Genesis 1; John 1:3; Colossians 1:16).
- to/unto (so, toward, for): answering to the final cause; indicating the point reached or entered (of place, time); to or into a purpose (result, etc.). This prepositional phrase is the “why” portion of this verse. Why did God source and then make all things? For Himself and His own pleasure (Psalm 135:6; Colossians 1:16; Revelation 4:11).
Once the prepositional modifiers describe the existence of all things, the rest of verse 36 answers the “so what/now what” question for us: “To Him be the glory forever.” We can actually get a running start on this glorious praise in verses 33-35, where Paul bursts out in mind-blowing exaltation (my summary): “God’s ways and whys are unfathomable! We can’t even start to wrap our heads around His thoughts, wisdom and knowledge!” Putting all of 11:36 together, especially if taken in context of Paul’s entire letter to the Romans, it’s enough bigness to keep us occupied for days (years!):
God is the Author, Architect, Source, Cause, Creator, Purpose. Of Everything. And the awe we experience upon seeing a sunrise, basking in the starry sky, looking into a child’s eyes, laughing with friends, tasting something delicious, inhaling a flower’s aroma or sweet pine…it all points to One Person—and to the glory of the One from whom, through whom, and to whom it all exists. Oh, beloved, may we never cease to be amazed by Him. Amen? Yes, amen!
Oh Lord, how majestic is Your Name in all the earth—and beyond! May I see everything around me with the eyes of awe.
encouraged by grace 