Word Live: See What We Have
Pray for opened eyes, that you may see the gospel truths in these verses (v 18).
Bible passage
Ephesians 1:15–23
Thanksgiving and prayer
15 For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, 16 I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. 17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
Holy Bible, New International Version® Anglicized, NIV® Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Explore
There have been times when I’ve been asked to get the butter from the fridge only to find myself staring uselessly at its shelves for ages! Sometimes we fail to see what’s right in front of our noses. The same happens with gospel realities. Today, Paul’s words overflow with gratitude to God for the Ephesians’ walk with Christ (v 15). This quickly flows into prayer for them.
Verses 15–19. There is no ‘graduation’ in the Christian life. We are all disciples – lifelong learners. So what lies at the heart of Paul’s prayers? The key comes at the end of verse 17: knowing our Father better. Paul calls the Holy Spirit the ‘Spirit of wisdom and revelation’, not because we constantly need new things, but because we need to know God better. That means both his character and his purposes. Only then will we be able to rest confidently. In the future, we look forward to a glorious inheritance (vs 18,19). In the present, his cosmos-creating power is actually at work for us now!
Verses 20–23. See what this same power did for Jesus (v 20): it raised him to life and lifted him up to heaven. So everything in the world is under his authority. That same power will get us there too (look back at verse 18).
Author
Mark Meynell
Respond
Did last week bring stresses or challenges? What difference would having these gospel truths at the forefront of your mind have made?
Deeper Bible study
Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father, / there is no shadow of turning with thee’.1
What is the difference between faith and hope? Like the unnamed readers, we already have faith. Paul prays that we might also have hope. Faith is ‘in the Lord Jesus’ (v 15), faith is in the here and now, entrusting our lives to Jesus today. Hope is about the future, about where our faith in Jesus will take us. We are called to be people of hope. Hope is not merely an intellectual thing. Yes, learning and study are helpful: study of the world, study of ourselves, study of the Bible. In the end, however, hope is not held in the mind like logic or physics. Hope is about our true destiny and, as the writer puts it, hope is perceived by ‘the eyes of your heart’ (v 18). The writer’s pen furiously inks inspired phrases onto the parchment, dripping with the deepest of meanings – ‘riches’, ‘glorious inheritance’, ‘incomparably great power’, ‘mighty strength’ (vs 18,19).
Our faith is in Jesus, living, dying, rising and ascending. Our hope is in the all-powerful and eternal God who raised Jesus from death and restored him to his rightful place in the universe, above all that is, above all that ever will be. Paul shares with us an amazing new and inspired vision. In Paul’s writings, the body of Christ is the local church, the local believers.2 In this striking new image, Christ is the head of a body which fills the whole universe. This image is not some kind of esoteric information for insiders. It is an immense vision, but it is not a secret. This image gives the suffering church a vision of the power of the everlasting God and, through that same God, a vision which eclipses all other visions, the vision of what Jesus has become: ‘the fullness of him who fills everything in every way’ (v 23).
‘Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow, / blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!’1
1 Thomas Obadiah Chisholm, 1866–1960, ‘Great is thy faithfulness’ 2Rom 12:4–8; 1 Cor 12:12
Author
John Harris
