“…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; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.”
—Ephesians 1:17-18
NOTICE IN OUR text that Paul prays to “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory.” You see, there is only one true and living God, and Scripture tells us that the only true God is the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory! To pray to any other is a false god, a god of your own imagination. People say Christianity and all other world religions pray to the same God. That is false! If someone does not pray to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, then they are an idolater. Psalm 96:5, “For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the LORD made the heavens.” Isaiah 45:21-22, “There is no other God besides Me, a just God and a Savior; there is none besides Me. Look to Me and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God and there is no other.”
PAUL PRAYS THAT the eyes of our heart would be enlightened to know God so that we would desire Him above all the sinful things we are tempted with in this world. 1 John 2:15, “love not the world or the things in the world.” James 4:4, “friendship with the world is enmity towards God.” You see, if we don’t think rightly, we won’t live rightly. Proverbs 23:7, “As a man thinks in his heart so is he.” And so, Paul prays that God would enlighten our hearts so that our greatest desire would be God and His truth, rather than the lies of this world. He prays that every believer would have a passion to know God in a fuller and deeper way to glorify Him in all our words and works. This can only happen as we seek the Lord in His Word.
AND PAUL GOES on to mention three things that he wants for every believer. First, he says, “so that you will know what is the hope of His calling.” Paul prays that the Holy Spirit would give us a greater understanding of why God called us out of darkness into light. Through this calling God has given believers hope amidst this fallen, rebellious world. Paul knows that believers can’t go through this life without hope. There are so many hopeless people in this world, but every believer ought to realize that we are never without hope! Christ is our hope! So, Paul prays that God would enlighten the eyes of our hearts so we will know the hope of our calling – that we would live as we ought as the redeemed of Christ.
LASTLY PAUL PRAYS that we “would know what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.” Paul reminds the Ephesians of the riches bestowed upon them by God in Jesus Christ, riches of mercy, grace, and righteousness beyond comparison. Paul wants every believer to have eyes to understand that we are co-heirs with Christ, that we inherit all that belongs to Him. How often do you think about what Christ accomplished so that we would be called God’s own special people? How often do you think about the sinless Christ being punished on your behalf? Do you realize the wrath we have escaped because of the work of Christ? We certainly don’t think about this enough! But it’s this knowledge that the Apostle Paul prays that God would give to every believer in order that we “would know what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.” Do you know these riches in Christ?
Tuesday Encouragement: May 14, 2024
In Christ,
Pastor S. Henry