This week, we are looking at a section of a letter that
is recorded for us in the New Testament of our Bibles called the book of
Ephesians. Yesterday, we saw Paul reveal for us the timeless and true principle
that our identity as a follower of Jesus should result in
us praying in light of our identity.
In
Ephesians 1:16, we discovered that Praying in light of our identity results in
us expressing appreciation to God for His activity in the lives of others.
Praying in light of our identity as a follower of Jesus will result in us
expressing appreciation to God for others who have placed their confident trust
in Jesus. Praying in light of our identity as a follower of Jesus will result
in us expressing appreciation to God for the love that others have for one another.
And, as we spend time expressing our appreciation to God for His activity in
the lives of those around us, we will be led by the Holy Spirit to pray for
others.
Today,
we will see Paul reveal for us
a second result that occurs when followers of Jesus
pray in light of our identity in verse 17:
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the
knowledge of Him.
Here we see Paul, after expressing appreciation for God’s
activity in the lives of the members of the church at Ephesus, pray that God
would give to the members of the church of Ephesus a spirit of wisdom and of
revelation in the knowledge of Him? But what does that mean?
To understand what Paul is praying here, we first need to
understand a few things. First, when Paul refers to God as the Father of glory,
he is referring to the splendor and radiance of God in terms of His nature and
character. In other words, Paul is asking God, who rules and reigns in His
splendor, majesty, and radiance, to give something to the members of the church
at Ephesus.
And what Paul is asking God to give the members of the
church at Ephesus was a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of
Him. As we have talked about, in the Bible, wisdom
refers to a developed skill for living life that produces positive results. So Paul here is praying that the
Holy Spirit would give the members of the church of Ephesus the capacity to understand
and live their lives in light of who God really is.
The
word revelation, in the language that this letter was originally written in,
literally means to make something fully known. So Paul is praying that the Holy
Spirit would make fully known to the members of the church of Ephesus who God
is.
And it
is here that we see Paul reveal for us that reality that praying in light of
our identity results in us asking God to give us the capacity to understand and
function according to our identity as a follower of Jesus. When we pray in
light of our identity as a follower of Jesus; when we pray with an appreciation
of all that God has done for us in Jesus, the result will be that we will be
motivated to ask God to give us the capacity to understand and live our lives
in light of who He is.
And
when we pray in light of our identity as a follower of Jesus; when we pray with
an appreciation of all that God has done for us in Jesus, the result will be
that we will be motivated to ask God to make fully known to us who He is in
terms of His character, and conduct.
So here
is a question to consider: Does your appreciation for all that God has done for
you through Jesus to give you your identity as a follower of Jesus motivate you
to ask God to give you the capacity to understand and follow Jesus in your day
to day life?
Does
you appreciation for all that God has done for you through Jesus to give you
your identity as a follower of Jesus motivate you to ask God to make Himself
fully known to you?” Because praying
in light of our identity results in us asking God to give us the capacity to
understand and function according to our identity as a follower of Jesus. Paul then reveals for us a third result
that occurs when followers of Jesus pray in light of our identity in verse 18:
I
pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will
know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His
inheritance in the saints,
Now to fully understand what Paul is communicating in
these verses, we first need to define some terms. When Paul refers to the eyes
of the heart here, this phrase was a word picture used to describe an inner
awareness or understanding in the core of our beings. The word enlightened, in
the language that this letter was originally written in literally means to shed
light upon something in order to make something known. So Paul here is praying
that God would shed a light in the core of the members of
the church at Ephesus beings so that they would grasp the significance of something.
And
what Paul was asking God to shed light upon at the core of the members of the
church at Ephesus beings was that they would grasp the significance of the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory
of His inheritance in the saints. Now when Paul uses the word hope, the word
hope means to look forward to something with a confident expectation of its
future fulfillment. Paul wanted God to shed light, at the core of the members
of the church at Ephesus beings, upon the confident expectation for the future
that they had as a result of God’s saving and transformational activity in
their lives for all eternity.
When Paul uses the phrase “the
riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints”, he is referring to the
wealth and abundant splendor and radiance that we have received and possess as
a result of being chosen by God the Father to be His children, rescued by Jesus
Christ from the selfishness and rebellion that separated us from God and having
the Holy Spirit’s ongoing activity in their lives. Paul wanted God to shed
light, at the core of the members of the church at Ephesus beings, upon the
reality that they possessed the abundant treasure and wealth that lasts for all
eternity as a result of their relationship with God as a part of the family of
God that was given to them by God.
And it is here that we see Paul reveal for us that
reality that praying in light of our identity results in us asking God to shed
light upon the significance of our identity as a follower of Jesus. When we
pray in light of our identity as a follower of Jesus; when we pray with an
appreciation of all that God has done for us in Jesus, the result will be that
we will be motivated to ask God to shed light upon and grasp the significance,
in the core of our beings, of the confident expectation that we have for the
future as a result of our identity as a follower of Jesus.
And when we pray in light of our identity as a
follower of Jesus; when we pray with an appreciation of all that God has done
for us in Jesus, the result will be that we will be motivated to ask God to
shed light upon and grasp the significance, in the core of our beings, of the
radiance and splendor of the salvation we possess as a result of our identity
as a follower of Jesus.
Friday, we will see Paul reveal for us a fourth
result that occurs when followers of Jesus pray in light of our identity as a
follower of Jesus...
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