In The Book of Ephesians the apostle Paul declares that God has revealed
a mystery to him and in chapter one he gives us a brief outline of that
mystery. It is here that Paul provides a definition of the New Covenant
which has been given us in Christ.
We read the words declaring: we are blessed, chosen, predestined, adopted,
accepted, redeemed, forgiven, and we have an inheritance and a guarantee
in the presence of the Holy Spirit. We have a Covenant with God!
Then Paul said that he prayed for us.
Eph 1
15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and
your love for all the saints,
16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers:
17 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,
18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened;
What Paul prays for when he prays for you and me is that we would have
a revelation like the one he had experienced.
It’s difficult to understand the experiences of another person unless
you have experienced something very similar. Give me your attention and
let me demonstrate:
There is a mute who wants to buy toothpaste. By imitating the action
of brushing one's teeth, he successfully expresses himself to the shop
keeper and the purchase is completed. So, do you think you could do what
this man did?
Now imagine … there is a blind man who wishes to buy a pair of sunglasses.
How should he express himself? Think about it first before you give your answer.
Times up! He would just simply ask for the sunglasses, because he isn’t mute!
Reading about someone else’s experiences is something like that! You
aren’t in their shoes and it doesn’t always make sense to you! It’s like
reading a description of what an orange taste like. If you have never
tasted an orange … you just can’t imagine it! Knowing Christ and knowing
the power of God is like that, it must be experienced first hand!
The apostle Paul wants us to have a spirit of wisdom and revelation
that we may be able see how great the things are which God has provided
for us! Faith arises in us when God enlightens our minds with His Holy
Spirit. We pray and we read the Word and it becomes a living instrument
in our hands as God speaks to us through it!
When we have the Spirit of revelation … we begin to see with eyes of
faith!
But what did Paul want us to see?
18 “… that you may know what is the hope of His calling,”
He wanted us to know the Hope which is ours because of God’s calling.
Our hope lies in Him alone and without Christ we are without Hope!
Much of the world lives without hope. They have nothing good to anticipate.
There is not expectation of change or fulfillment. But Jesus did not
intend for any of us to live without hope! Hope declares that we have
a future … we have a destiny!
Satan does all that he can to destroy hope! In his world he creates
dreams, expectation and possibilities and then does his best to pull
them out from under you! All of Satan’s expectations are like the euphoria
of a hallucinogenic drug. You feel things that are not real, you see
things that are not real, your senses are heightened … and then you come
down to withdrawals, pain, and emptiness! The pleasures of sin are delightful
for a season … but then reality sets in and the pain begins!
The hope in Christ is not like that at all! The hope that Christ provided
for us comes from His calling. Jesus is the real Dream Giver! His has
given you a calling … a dream! You have a specific reason for living
which God has given to you and you alone! You have been chosen by Him
from before time began to fulfill your destiny! No one else will ever
do the same things which you do! In His calling there is fulfillment
and joy!
You have been blessed with a calling, God’s dream. He has chosen you
for His purposes, having predestined you before time to be adopted into
God’s family, and you have been accepted by Him! When we lose hope it
is because we have lost sight of this calling of God! Our dream dies!
It therefore becomes necessary that we return to the Lord time and time
again and ask for our eyes to be opened again! We must carry a vision
in us of the calling which God has given to us! That is where hope lies!
Paul wanted our eyes to be opened so we can see our hope. But he also
wanted our eyes opened so we see …
18 “… what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,”
Paul wanted us to see the riches bestowed upon us in Christ! Some people
may get carried away with the idea that God wants all of us to become
wealthy with money in this life, but I think if God had wanted us to
be rich He would have seen to it that Christians of all time would have
been wealthy. But history reveals that God chooses to call both the rich
and the poor, yet he bestows HIS RICHES on them all!
The richness of the glory of God’s inheritance is so much more than
money!
Paul began describing the riches of our inheritance in verse seven of Ephesians
chapter one.
Eph 1
7 In Christ we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of
sins, according to the riches of His grace
Our riches are found in knowing that a King, the God of all Creation,
took our punishment in order that we could be forgiven of our sins! That
is rich! We were guilty and He was innocent! Peter exclaimed that we
were not redeemed with silver or gold, but by the precious blood of Jesus
Christ. We are loved that much by God! How can you put a price on that?
Then again--
10 … in the of the fullness of time He will gather together in one all
things in Christ,
God’s plan is to gather us together in His love. Our sins forgiven,
our wounds healed, and He would draw us all together as His Family in
a way that is pure and lovely where we will all be able to walk together
in harmony! Being rich is to be cherished by God and by your fellowman!
Lord, open our eyes to your calling, to your riches, and to your power!
Paul included one more item which we need to see with spiritual eyes:
19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe,
There is a power from God that is working in His Church which destroys
the power of sin and brings deliverance to the captives! We may see ourselves
as being helplessly caught in the situations of life and having no hope
of deliverance. That is not true! Through faith in Christ, you and I
have “exceeding great power from God to overcome!
Does that mean that we are in charge of the universe? No. God is. But
as we follow the dream He has given to us … obey the calling … we can
meet the challenges of life with a voice of victory! We have been made
rich in the love of God and we can be loving and kind and powerful in
prayer!
Paul describes this power as being …
19 ….. according to the working of His mighty power
20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated
Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,
21 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.
Talk about power! When Christ was raised from the dead it was an act
of creation similar to the one of creating the world! God the Father
gave Him the authority to be seated as God in heaven and have authority
over everything in the spirit realm and in the realm of the natural!
That is the mighty power that is at work in us as we follow the calling
which God has given to us!
Note: The calling and the riches and the power are all connected! When we are
involved in our calling and acknowledging our riches, we begin to see the
reality of the power. This is not power given to us to bedazzle people with
“magic tricks” … but it is power given to us to enable us to obey the calling!
It is power given by God so you can fulfill God’s dream for your life!
It all has one objective: to bring glory to Christ!
22 And (God the Father) put all things under (Jesus’) feet, and gave
Him to be head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the
fullness of Him who fills all in all.
When God enables you with His power to partake in the riches and fulfill
God’s dream for your live … that is hope for joyful fulfillment!
That is what Paul’s prayer is all about. He prayed
That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give
to us the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Christ,
and that the eyes of our understanding would be enlightened.
So we would have hope, riches, and power!
!
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