Ephesians 1:15 For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 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 also 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 the saints, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, 20 which he exerted in Christ when he raised him 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 title that can be given, 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.
This is an awesome prayer that is great to pray over ones personal life and family. Paul commends the believers on their faith in Yeshua/Jesus and also in their love for all the saints (whether Jew or Gentile). Their priorities are just what God the Father would want them to be and this is commended by Paul. Their love for all the saints is essential to everything we are talking about. It is because they have faith in Jesus our Messiah that they know obeying His command to love one another must be followed, and follow it they do. Because of this evidence of faith that Paul continually gives thanks for them and expands his prayers for them.
The prayer of Paul in this chapter is amazing when you take a close look. He begins with a very interesting statement, “I keep asking”. This is not a one time prayer for Paul on their behalf. If is one he prays for them time and time again. Therefore, one might say that this is very much on his heart for these believers, not just a casual thought now and again.
He asks the glorious Father, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ – that’s right Jesus worshiped, honored, obeyed, prayed to, praised, and glorified His Father during His earthly life, God the Son did all these things in regard to the Heavenly Father – for the Holy Spirit to give wisdom and revelation to the believers. He offers this prayer so that they will know God better and thereby so that they would be able to properly acknowledge their God.
In this knowledge and acknowledgement of Him, as they gaze at His glory and brilliance, Paul asks that the God would shed His rays of light on them. In other words, “that the eyes of [their] heart may be enlightened”. Or to put it another way, as the believers looked upon God’s light that God would share that light with them or reflect it upon them. Our glory is not our own, it is merely a reflection of His. We would do ourselves a great service to remember this.
Paul asked for this reflection of God’s glory in their lives for three reasons: 1) that they would know the hope to which they were called 2) that they would know the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints and 3) that they would know His incomparably great power for all (Jew or Gentile) who believe. Let’s break them down one at a time.
The first one, that they would know the hope to which they were called, reveals the foundation of their faith. The hope that Paul speaks of here is a confidence, not wishful, in the promised expectations. Knowing that they can fully rely on the promises of God with joyful anticipation and steadfast confidence. This hope is unshakable. This hope or joyful and steadfast anticipation is firmly imbedded in their calling or God’s invitation in their lives. God’s invitation to wholeheartedly follow Him in all His ways. Just as Jesus called the disciples. He did not just say, “come”, He said, “come follow me”. We come to God through Jesus and then proceed to follow Him.
The second reason God reflects His glory on us, making us more like Him, is so that we can know the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints. These riches are the abundant life in our Messiah. As we know the abundant life is not just for the here and now, but also for eternity. It is the life lived to the full forever. A life lived to the full, think about that for a moment. To know this life that can only be lived with His glorious inheritance that He has placed in His saints. This refers back to the love He has commanded to have toward one another and ahead to the power of the Spirit in our lives. However, for this particular point it is important to note that the whole of the saints are in view here, not individuals. We, as the saints of God, can only live the life to the full, the abundant life, or experience God’s glorious riches in our lives when we live within the whole of the body of Christ. We cannot forsake the assembly of ourselves together as the writer of Hebrews to eloquently put it.
Lastly, on this list, is to know the power and not just a little power, but super dynamite power for us who believe. To say it another way, a super-duper magnitude of power for us who come and follow. Power that goes beyond anything that you and I can comprehend and yet that is the vastness of power that He has placed in His people. It is also not an arbitrary power, but it is His power. Then just to make sure his readers understand the true magnitude of this power Paul describes it. And what a description.
A power that is according to God’s mighty strength, or strength strength, or power power, or might might. The two Greek words used here could have easily been translated this way. They are two different words with very similar meanings. In other words, Paul was driving home the enormity of God’s power, strength or might. It was this power that God used to raise Jesus from the dead and to seat Him at His right hand. No small task to be sure. Again to be clear, Paul explains the powerful seat of the Messiah. Yeshua is above all and not just a little above them, but far above or super-duper above. It is the same Greek prefix used above on “immeasurably”, it is the “hyper” prefix. So Jesus is “far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.” Needless to say, that is a High Seat.
Paul does not stop at just how high that seat of power is, but also let’s us know what God placed under His (Yeshua’s) feet. He placed everything or “the whole” under His feet. He is the head, the One to take hold of, of the church or the “assembly” of His saints. He was given this position by His Father, to say it another way, this position was committed to Him by His Father. He is our head, He is the One we take hold of, in everything – absolutely everything – that concerns His people. He is our Rock, our Firm Foundation, our Anchor, our Cornerstone and He is the One who holds us steady in any storm. He has absolute supreme authority over His body.
What a body it is, it is what He died for – it is of utmost importance to Him. His body, His people, are the fullness of Him – the One who fills everything in every way. WOW, the fullness of Him. That is who we are. Do not let that escape you. The whole of the body or bride of Christ is the fullness of Him. We were given His fullness when He gave us His Holy Spirit. We lack nothing in Him. Everything we need for life and godliness has been given to us. We are His reflection to a lost world. Let us live a life worthy of that calling!
According to His Power That is at Work in Us Who Believe,
13 When you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed in Him, you were also sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. 14 He is the down payment of our inheritance, for the redemption of the possession, to the praise of His glory.
I want to concentrate on the term “down payment” today. In the Greek this word is ἀρραβώv (arrabōn) and the definition comes from the Hebrew root `arabown meaning a pledge as part of the purchase, money or property given in advance as security for the rest, or become engaged (a promise of more). The Holy Spirit is the engagement ring so to speak. He is the pledge given for the full inheritance.
Now we have the Holy Spirit in us as Jesus promised the disciples in John 14 and as was promised in Jeremiah 31 with the New Covenant. The Holy Spirit is the one who puts the law, the word of God, on our hearts and minds. It is by His power we are able to live a godly life to the praise of His Glory. Yet the full inheritance is yet to come.
That full inheritance is the return of our Lord Jesus and the wedding of the Lamb. Followed, of course, by the wedding supper and our life together in the presence of God forever in the New Jerusalem. It is no wonder that at the end of Scripture in the book of Revelation it is both the Spirit and the Bride who say, “Come”, together.
This is a very important point because it is the giving of the Holy Spirit that binds us together with each other and with our Lord, our glorious Bridegroom. It is the power of the Spirit that makes the two one body and brings the unity of the body. All based on the blood and resurrection of Christ, his payment of the bridal price and the Father’s approval of that payment. Our full inheritance is coming, coming quickly.
We will discuss further the role of the Holy Spirit in later posts, I just wanted to cover the concept of “down payment” with you in order to continue to lay our foundation of Biblical Unity.
EPH 1:11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession–to the praise of his glory.(NIV)
OR
11We have also received an inheritance in Him, predestined according to the purpose of the One who works out everything in agreement with the decision of His will, 12 so that we who had already put our hope in the Messiah might bring praise to His glory. 13 When you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed in Him, you were also sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. 14 He is the down payment of our inheritance, for the redemption of the possession, to the praise of His glory.(HCSB)
Our last post was our first discussion on the “mystery”, making us one with each other and with Him — or bringing “all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.” Then comes verses 11 through 14. What I want to do is connect these verses to what came before them.
If you noticed the versions above start out different. One uses the word “chosen”, while the other uses “inheritance”. The more accurate word is “inheritance”, which connects it to the word that comes next, “predestined”. Remember “predestined” had to do with adoption in our earlier content and one who is adopted does receive an inheritance. The latter part of these verses also speaks of inheritance, but we will get to that in a minute.
That inheritance they were predestined for as adopted sons was according to the plan and purpose (or decision) of His will. It was going in a direction of working out everything to that end, the plan an purpose of His will. So that those who already believed in Christ, in the Messiah(Jews) might be to the praise of His glory. But Paul does not stop there, he goes on to say that the believers in Ephesus (Gentiles) were also included in Christ, in that inheritance, when they heard the word of truth and believed. Paul says they too received or were marked in Christ with a seal, the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is God’s down payment of “our” inheritance. Notice the word “our”. Paul is not speaking in terms of “we” and “you” or Jew and Gentile any more, but bringing the two groups together by the seal of the Holy Spirit, the promised Holy Spirit. Together, as God’s possession, they will all be redeemed, to the PRAISE OF GOD’S GLORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What an awesome direction we are moving in. Don’t you think?
Praise be to God our Father and Jesus our Messiah!
I learned something very valuable this past week. Do not start a major endeavor, such as this blog, right before a big week. This past week was Vacation Bible School week for us. I did not write last week, and as a result God changed my direction a little.
I found myself in the book of Ephesians. It has many of the themes we will be dealing with in this blog, and God made it clear to me that that is really where we need to start. I remember what my speech teacher in school used to tell us, “tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them and then tell them what you told them”. Ephesians is going to stand as this blogs equivalent to “tell them what you are going to tell them”.
Let’s get started.
EPH 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will– 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. 9 And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment–to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.
After Paul’s introduction, he begins offering praise to the Father and Jesus Christ and says that He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ in the heavenly realms. Then he goes on to describe those blessings. Being chosen to be holy and blameless in His sight. Let that one sink in a little. We were not just chosen, but chosen with an end result in mind, being holy and blameless. What does that look like? That is just what this blog will be discussing and what Ephesians does such a good job at fleshing out.
He adopted us as sons through Jesus Christ according to His pleasure and will. He gave us His grace, redemption and the forgiveness of sins. Then He made known to us the “mystery” of His will according to His good pleasure. It is this “mystery” that is the focal point of Ephesians and what we will spend our time on this blog exploring. What is that mystery? Look down a little further to the second part of verse 10. That mystery is to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. To bring us together — make us One in Christ and with Christ. And notice when this will take place. When the times will have reached their fulfillment.
Some of you might have found it frustrating that I did not mention “before the creation of the world” and “predestined” from earlier verses. These are connected to our being chosen and adopted. Just as the fulfillment of time has to do with the mystery, God does things in His time and in His time things often find a fulfillment in the heavenly realms before they work themselves out in the earthly realm. Bringing all things together under Christ found it’s spiritual fulfillment in the heavenly realms when Jesus died and rose again, however, I believe we are even now seeing the earthly fulfillment of this heavenly reality. God is bringing those who place there faith in Jesus Christ together as one under Christ. In other words, He is making us holy and blameless in His sight – a spotless bride.
WE live in an Blessed time! WE are seeing something no other generation has ever seen. More and more of the Jewish people are being grafted back into the spiritual people of Israel. As they come, not only are they learning from Gentiles about the gospel, but the Gentiles are also learning from them the foundation of the faith. Their fullness, their acceptance of the Messiah, is bringing a vast richness back into the body (Romans 11:12). Learning the great depth of the riches of God’s Word and of those things, such as the festivals, practiced by our Savior. WE are living in a miraculous time in history. The mystery of reconciliation between the Jew and Gentile in Jesus, in Yeshua the Messiah, is becoming reality in our time. Our faith is becoming sight The Holy Spirit is making us one with each other and with Jesus and the Father.
As this occurs, not only will the Jews and Gentiles be reconciled to each other, but it is my hope that even the Gentile denominations will begin to come together more and more in true Biblical unity of the Bride. I heard a statement the other day about those theological issues that divide us. Basically, the person said that they do not really matter. But if they do not matter, then why do they separate us and have separated us for centuries. They do matter, but we have let the enemy divide us so that we no longer pray together, study the word together, worship together and therefore do not know how to lovingly speak on these matters together.
This site will attempt to study the word of God from the focal point of the ministry of reconciliation, the mystery of making us one. We can learn so much from each other when spoken in the power of the Spirit. WE are here for such a time as this…
Esther's Legacy 