Paul's Prayers, #s 9-10

For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that 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 rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. (Eph. 1:15-23)

This passage, one of Paul's most eloquent, has been the subject of many sermons and entire book chapters! I encourage you to delve deeply here; there is far more than I can cover in a blog post.

This prayer is really two prayers:

1) Gratitude to God for the faith and love of the Ephesians (v. 16)
2) Supplication for God to give them a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him (v. 17), and open their hearts to know (vv. 18-19):

• The hope to which He calls them
• The riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints
• The immesasurable greatness of His power toward believers - the same power that raised Jesus from the dead.

First, Paul has seen the faith and love of Ephesus. He spent over 1 1/2 years there (Acts 18) and had a special audience with their elders on his journey to Jerusalem and arrest (Acts 20). This is a church he knows and loves, and is thankful for.

Their existing faith and love is, I believe, the foundation for the depth of revelation Paul requests God give them. Jesus taught that our response to the truth He reveals will determine whether we are enabled to understand more truth (Matt. 13:12). Ephesus had a strong foundation, and Paul wanted to see them go even deeper.

Paul's request, then, assumes that God wants to reveal Himself to them. He wants them to know more about Jesus, and He will give them the spirit of wisdom and revelation to grasp hold of that knowledge. In the process, their spiritual eyes will be opened to know three specific truths:

* The hope to which He calls them. People want hope. Tomorrow in my country we will inaugurate a president who made that word one of two key words in his campaign. Yet ultimately those who hope in Barack Obama - or any other politician - will be disappointed. They are looking for a hope that only God can give ... the hope He calls us to in Christ. Paul wants the Ephesian church to grasp hold of that understanding.

* The riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints. We have no way, apart from divine revelation, to truly grasp what it means to be "joint-heirs" with Jesus. Unlike the false prosperity Gospel teaching that this applies to earthly wealth, the reality is that what awaits us is the true inheritance. Yet this verse speaks to more than our part of the inheritance. It also - in fact, primarily - speaks to His. Note that it is HIS inheritance "in the saints". What is His inheritance? Psalm 2:7b-8 (NASB) tells us specifically: "The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, and the ends of the earth your possession." The nations are Christ's inheritance! And on what glorious day were they given? A study throughout Scripture of "Begotten" as it applies to Christ, and a study of the uses of the Greek word, reveals that the plainest understanding is "brought forth" - in other words, when God "brought forth" Christ from the grave, the nations became His inheritance! And it is an inheritance "in the saints" - which has profound implications for missions. The close context of this passage to the next one about Christ's inheritance only underscores to me that we are talking about His inheritance of the nations.

* The immeasurable greatness of His power toward believers - the same power that raised Jesus from the dead. God's power raised Christ from the dead, and Paul wants the believers to wrap their minds around the fact that the same power is available to them! The implications of this are staggering. At the very least, as my pastor said yesterday while teaching on 1 Cor. 15, the resurrection means "Our past no longer paralyzes our present". Our sins are truly forgiven and we can truly move on as recipients of grace. But further, we should be encouraged that nothing can be harder than raising the dead - and God's already proven He can do that one!

How does this relate to becoming world Christians? First, we have to grasp that Paul is operating from a missiological context here. He is wanting the Ephesians to know Christ more, but he is also wanting to see their faith and love expand to others. As they "go" or "send" they will need that deep relationship with Christ. They will need to know that there is a hope - that they don't go and send in vain. They will need to know that the nations they are reaching have already been given to Christ as an inheritance - as Abraham Kuyper said, "There is no square inch of earth over which the Lord Jesus does not cry, 'Mine.'" And they will need to know that His power is available to them - the same power that raised Jesus from the dead.

Second, we have to grasp that all those things are true for our churches as well. We need to prioritize knowing Him. We need to recognize the hope in dark situations. We need to know that the nations belong to Him. And we need to know that He will give power to fulfill the Commission.

Prayer: Open the eyes of our hearts, Lord, that we may know You more. Reveal to us the hope you've called us to; the reality that the nations are yours; and the beauty of the resurrection power available to us. And give us hearts to go and send radically.