“That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.”
—Ephesians 1:17-18
LAST TIME WE saw from Ephesians 1:15-16 how the Apostle Paul gave unceasing thanks to God for the Ephesian believer’s faith in Christ and for their love for all the saints. And Paul did this because he knew that faith and love are both gifts of God (Eph. 2:8; Gal. 5:22). We also noted how faith and love are the two qualities manifested in the lives of true believers. 1 John 5:1: “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God and whoever loves the Father loves the one born of Him.” A mark of a true believer is true faith in Christ and love for Christ and other believers. This is not practical perfection, but it is the practical direction of the believer’s life.
BUT IN OUR text today, the Apostle Paul moves from giving thanks to God for the Ephesians faith and love to offering prayer to God for the continual blessings in the life of these believers. Verse 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 of revelation in the knowledge of Him.”
THE APOSTLE PAUL prays that these believers, whom he already said are sealed by the Holy Spirit, would be granted a saving knowledge of God and a great appreciation for the sovereign, redeeming love of God. In other words, Paul prays that God, by the Holy Spirit, would give these believers a greater knowledge of Himself.
YOU SEE, PAUL is not referring to redemption but sanctification. Now, it’s true that no man knows God savingly apart from the work of the Spirit of God, but Paul is writing to believers and believers know God in salvation. What Paul is saying in vs. 17 is that all those who know God, those who have a saving relationship with God through Christ, need to know God in a greater, deeper way. They need to understand, appreciate, appropriate, and experience the greatness of God’s holiness, love, grace, and mercy more fully. A problem with our worship today is that too many professing Christians are infants, and they worship as infants! The more we grow as believers the less we argue, fight, and complain about the little things in the church and in our life. You see, to be a grumbling, complaining person demonstrates spiritual immaturity – not maturity!
AND PAUL’S PRAYER for these Ephesian Christians is that by God’s Word and Spirit they would increase in their knowledge of God. Because increasing in the knowledge of God and understanding in a greater way who God is and what He has done for us in Christ is the key to Christian maturity, which is manifested by humility. May every believer pray this same prayer for Christ’s church here on earth.
Tuesday Encouragement: May 7, 2024
In Christ,
Pastor S. Henry