Last week I posted about the first three paragraphs in Ephesians 1, and discussed them somewhat. Today, I'd like to take a look at verses 15 through 21, and see what God has to say to us in them.
Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened;
God wants us to have understanding and knowledge of Him - He wants us to know Him. The more we read and study the Bible, the more we get closer to understanding just who He is, and the wonderful purity of His character. He is completely holy, without fault or blemish, and He calls us to this holy standard.
Now certainly, this side of glory we are still influenced by our sinful natures and fall far short of His standard. Don't forget, that is why Christ came to live and die for us: we couldn't do it, so He did it for us. And even in eternity there will always be more and more to know about God, for He is infinite, as we are not.
But God does not want us to be ignorant and blind in our faith. He has given so much evidence in the world - in science, in nature, in human nature, in beauty, etc. - of who He is and that He is, but we often ignore or dismiss it. One thing He has been doing for me this past year is teaching me to have an "attitude of gratitude." I find that I am looking for things for which to return thanks, and I think this is helping me to see His hand in every possible aspect of my life.
Nevertheless, without true knowledge of Him, any effort we make in an attempt to please Him will go astray. Thus, it is critical that all Christians be diligent in prayerful study of His Word, expecting to learn more about how our Savior wants us to live, and coming to a deeper understanding of His wonderful love and the riches of His grace.
that you may know what is the hope of His calling,
God wants us to know the incredible hope found in His sovereign call. In my earlier post, I referred to God choosing us from before the foundations of the earth, and the guarantee of the Holy Spirit, who dwells in the heart of every Christian. Put together with this phrase from Ephesians, it reminded me of another wonderful verse, this time from Colossians:
To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Inside each Christian is the Holy Spirit, sealing us for the Day when we meet the Lord. He is the guarantee, the down-payment, from God that His calling will be effectual and will usher us in to glory. And in that Day, all our sins and all our imperfections will finally be completely removed from us. Although Christians have been saved from the power and the penalty (eternal penalty, that is - not the earthly consequences) of sin, we have yet to be saved from the very presence of sin.
On that Day, when we finally see Him face to face, this glorious hope of eternity with Him and salvation from even the very presence of sin will be realized. And how wonderful that will be! How often I have wished, with many Christians before me, that there was a magical button: "Press here for instant sanctification!" On that Day, I will finally - FINALLY - be able to get it right, 100% of the time with a proper attitude and with an undivided heart!
So, God wants us to know not only the hope of God's calling, but also
what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe,
As Christians, we have an inheritance in God's kingdom.
Now, consider that, for a moment. This kingdom is owned and ruled by God Most High, the Creator of all the Universe. The Bible says that
All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.
God owns EVERYTHING! And part of what he owns, part of His inheritance, is His saints - each member of the true Church, the Bride of Christ. Do you begin to understand what that means? God, who owns everything, has called us the "glory of His inheritance." And if that isn't enough for you, He adds that word, "riches."
When God calls us into His family, when He removes us from the kingdom of darkness and sin and places us into His Kingdom, He goes all the way. We are fully adopted and counted as evidence of His glory! Do you see the phrase "exceeding greatness of His power"? God is omnipotent. There is nothing He cannot accomplish according to His will... And He focuses that power towards US! All of that incredible power is working in us to make us like His Son, so that we shine with His glory and grace. The more we step away from our selfish and sinful nature and obey His will in our lives, the more we work with Him, the more we succeed in revealing the very glory of God here on earth.
The marvelous thing is that He has chosen to use these vessels of clay and mud to be His earthly temples, to dwell in as He once dwelt in Solomon's Temple. He has chosen to use us to be lights in the darkness, to be that lighthouse which shows ships tossed by the raging sea where there is danger and where there is safe harbor. We are called to reflect His glory, to let it shine through our lives, so His holiness and purity and love are evident to the world.
according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.
Not only does God work in us with exceeding greatness of power, but He also works in us according to the MIGHTY power which was used to raise Christ from the dead. Now, again, consider that. When something - or someone - is dead... they're dead. The only way life can come again is for the shell to be returned to the soil and reprocessed to provide nourishment for the next cycle. But Jesus didn't "reincarnate" like that - His actual, physical body was resurrected. Not "resuscitated" - for there was no more decay, aging or death in His new body. But it was His body; it wasn't "recycled."
What kind of power must be required for that? Death hasn't been transformed, defeated, or avoided - it has been transcended. This sort of power is... incredible! To make the power of death so inconsequential that it cannot even touch the resurrected body take POWER, and a power of the kind we just cannot begin to grasp, because it is so gigantic.
God used His power not only to raise Christ from the dead, but this same power has also placed Christ at God's right hand, "far ABOVE all principality and power and might and dominion." If you really think about this, though, it's really not so surprising. Jesus is the Christ - God-the-Son - and therefore has all of the attributes of God and all His power. Yet this level of power is pictured as being supreme, superior to anything which might even think of usurping it.
This is the power which is working in the children of God: the infinite power which sustains the universe! And because we are in Christ, because we are covered by His blood, because we have been placed in Him - we are partakers of that infinite, sovereign, unstoppable Power.
Christian (and I speak to myself, before I address you), why haven't you submitted yourself to this? Why haven't you abandoned yourself to the God who created you, who loves you, and will work His holy will in your life?! Look at the incredible future which is waiting for you? This gracious blessing, this indescribably awesome outcome is yours - why worry about the temporary slings and arrows of the world?
All I can do is remind you of the last verses of one of the most inspiring passages of the Bible:
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written:
“ For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Praise be to the God and father of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Praise to Him who has lifted us out of the miry pit, and set us upon the firm foundation of his love and grace. Praise the Name above all names, and - O Lord God! - come soon!
Maranatha!
