says in his song of praise: "To give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins"[ 18 ]; God makes diamonds out of our mud and filth.
Verse 9 starts introducing us to the mystery with which the rest of this epistle is filled. "And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ," The significance of this is not only that the second Person of the Trinity is put into a certain supreme office, but that the headship of all is bestowed upon a man: Jesus Christ and that we are included in this mandate. Christ is seated upon the throne of the universe, and we are placed with Him. That is basically what the rest of this paragraph says.
Watchman Nee has given a very interesting outline of the epistle to the Ephesians in his booklet SIT, WALK, STAND. We sit with Christ in the heavenlies; we walk worthy of this Gospel and we stand against the powers of evil in the heavenly places.
For the second time in this chapter the Apostle uses the word predestined here. (See Verse 5). Our sharing of power with Jesus Christ on the throne of the universe is not an afterthought, a touch of kindness, but one of the basics of God's plan when He created man. I believe that it was God's intent in the creation of Adam to have him subdue Satan, who had fallen previously and to bring back under God's dominion that section of God's creation that had fallen with the enemy. When Adam failed through falling in sin himself, God transferred the mandate to the new man He created, Jesus Christ. The plan remained the same and through redemption the mandate is falling back on our shoulders, in communion with Jesus as our Lord. Paul does not speak in these verses particularly about victory over the evil one, but he speaks about things that will be "put in effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment." The struggle against the devil will not be an everlasting one. It is hard to imagine what our active role will be. Jesus describes our part in heaven as being responsible for the "true riches." "So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?"[ 19 ]
A very important principle in connection with our responsibility as man under the leadership of our Lord Jesus Christ is the fact that God will be justified by His own creation in the face of Satan. It would of course have been no effort at all for the Almighty to crush the devil at the first sign of rebellion. But it could always have been held against God that He had not given His opponent a fair chance. The enemy must have claimed equality with God, as we read in Isaiah's prophecy: " I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High."[ 20 ] God has given him more than a fair chance. And at the end of time it is man, who fell into sin, and who will stand up and condemn the evil one and justify God.
As man we play a part in the demonstration of God's humility. But then comes that which exceeds our wildest imagination, the fact that God will demonstrate His glory through us and in us. Twice Paul states that we, who put our hope in Christ, will be to the praise of His glory: (vs. 12) "In order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory." and 14 "Who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession; to the praise of his glory." The link between the day of glory to come and our present life on earth is the Holy Spirit. Paul says that the Holy Spirit seals us for the inheritance. He is a deposit, guaranteeing our inheritance. Paul says that God: "Set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come."[ 21 ]
It seems to me that this is the real predestination in the sense in which Calvin uses the word, the eternal security. God puts His seal, the Holy Spirit, the proof of His ownership upon our lives as a guarantee. "Christ in you, the hope of glory."[ 22 ] Again, as Paul puts it: "However, as it is written: 'No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.' "[ 23 ] Moses asked to see God's glory. The only thing he received was a partial rear view, but it was enough to shine through him, so that Israel could not stand the sight of it. What will it be when we will be to the praise of His glory? "No eye has seen, no ear has heard!."[ 24 ]
Nowhere does Paul refer to our exalted position in Christ as something that draws the glory to ourselves. We will be glorious, but it is the glory of God. We are what we are "to the praise of His glory." The irony is that Satan wanted to make himself like the Most High, and he fell because he sought his own glory. We will receive what he failed to grasp, because we will be His glory. All honor and glory we will receive, will be for Christ's sake. This is more realistic and it is safer anyhow. Let us not fall into the same trap as the enemy of our souls did.
1:15-23
For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.
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.
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, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 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.
And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
This next section starts with the words "for this reason," which obviously refers to the content of the preceding verses. Paul prays for the church he addresses, which we believe to be the Laodicean, and he utters an intercessory prayer which consists of three requests.
The prayer is a prayer of thanksgiving. As in the epistle to the Colossians, Paul goes by reports by others. Other people told him about the faith of this church.[ 25 ] The intercessory prayer is more concise than the one in Colossians, where it is the main body of the epistle. In a certain way this epistle is also basically an intercession, but the emphasis is different. The glory of the hope is presented more elaborately and the tone and color are richer.
The word that reached Paul was that these people believed in Jesus Christ and that this faith was demonstrated in a healthy love for all the saints. Faith was demonstrated in works. It was their love that gave Paul the full assurance that their faith was real. Because of this, Paul doesn't stop thanking God for them. This kind of gratitude should be the basis of all intercession for fellow believers.
On the other hand, the fact that Paul intercedes means that he does not consider them to have arrived. He has not, so why should he think they have. He says in Philippians: "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect ... Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it."[ 26 ]
He asks for three things for them, which should keep them on the right track, and which are essential in our Christian life.
Verse 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." He prays for the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives, "so that you may know HIM better." That is the core. Nothing is more important than knowing God. Jesus defines this as the essence of eternal life: "Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent."[ 27 ]
Verse 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," The second thing of importance is to know the hope which is the content of the first part of the chapter.
Verse 19: "And his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength," and the third is the power.
Knowing God is both the basic and the eternal goal. Knowing the hope draws us into the right direction to reach the goal. Knowing the power provides the fuel for our daily operation. All three persons of the Trinity are mentioned in vs. 17. The glorious Father is the God of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God was known in the Old Testament, of course. He comes to us as the Creator and as the Savior of His people, that is Israel. There are prophetic indications of the coming of the Messiah. But it isn't until we come to the New Testament that things fall in place and we see the Father revealed in Jesus. Nobody explains this better to us than the Apostle John, when he says: "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him."[ 28 ] The NIV translates "the only begotten Son," with "God the one and only," which does not seem to clarify the relationship. Jesus specifies the "declaration" even more clearly in John. Upon Philip's question He answers: "Do not you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?"[ 29 ]
But there is also the human aspect of Jesus' relationship with the Father, which is of the utmost importance to us. God is the God of the man Jesus. Jesus did not only show us Who the Father is, He also demonstrated in His relationship with God, who man is. His perfect obedience, His love, His faith in God, His communion with the Father, His prayer life show us what it means to be human and how to live in relation to our Creator. In that sense the Holy Spirit reveals just as much about ourselves to us as about God. The Spirit of wisdom and revelation makes us grow in this understanding. Growing in knowledge about God goes together with growing in knowledge about ourselves.
This is quite different, of course, from the modern fad about finding our identity. Finding ourselves without finding God keeps the attention drawn to ourselves. Knowing God results in inner healing, deeper surrender, and being filled with the Holy Spirit. The knowledge of God will be the only topic in eternity to keep us occupied eternally. We are faced with the marvelous fact that we may make a small start now in time and space.
We have to realize the importance of intercessory prayer in connection with this. If the knowledge of God were an automatic process, there would be no need for Paul's prayer. The working of the Holy Spirit in our lives will increase with the measure of our surrender to Him. The enemy will make every effort imaginable to thwart this kind of surrender. This is were prayer for each other comes in. The recipients of this epistle had faith in God and love for the saints, as we see in vs. 15, but this doesn't mean that they knew the glory of God. With them we should all strive for God's glory.
In vs. 18 Paul draws the attention to man, which is the logical consequence of what we saw in the preceding verse. He speaks about the hope to which He called us and the riches of His inheritance in the saints. So the focus is not merely, or even mainly upon ourselves. The saints are the others. There is a not-so-subtle danger in being preoccupied with the crown we will receive. If we concentrate, however, on the glory that will be revealed in other people, we give the devil less chance to inflate our ego.
The tendency in considering others is usually to exercise our critical faculties. Thinking about Christ's inheritance in the saints gives us a positive attitude. This may be hard to imagine in some cases. I think of the humorous couplet:
"To live above, with saints we love, that will be bliss and glory.
To live below with saints below, is quite a diff'rent story."
The problem is that we use the wrong organ to look at others. Our natural eye sees only the outside of things and people. Remember what God said to Samuel: "The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."[ 30 ] When the eye of our heart is enlightened, Paul says, we start seeing things in other people that our natural eye does not observe. How different would our world of humans be if we would start looking at each other in the right way. How different would the church be! This does not imply that we have to be blind to other people's sins and failures, but, generally speaking, this danger is not too great.
There is a connection between the way we live with others and the realization of the hope within ourselves. At least Paul puts both in one sentence.
The third thing Paul prays for is the experience of the power of Jesus' resurrection in our daily life, our present condition. Vs. 19 and 20 capture this truth: "And his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, Which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms."
The experience of this power is always linked in Paul's epistles with our identification with the death of Christ. We read in Romans: "Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him."[ 31 ] The same is true in Galatians: "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."[ 32 ]
The recognition of the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, working in our daily lives, is the second result of the enlightening of our spiritual eyes. We should try to examine how this power manifests itself in our daily experience. The first result of the power of Jesus' resurrection is our justification. That is not only the forgiveness of our sins, but the rehabilitation of our relationship with God, including the return of our honor and dignity. Paul says in Romans: "He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification."[ 33 ]
Secondly this power is manifested in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. This Jesus promised in Acts: "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses ..."[ 34 ]
Thirdly, the resurrection power of Jesus is His enabling us to serve Him. This is already implied in the Romans: "But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code."[ 35 ]
Fourth, the resurrection power working in the present condition of our bodies is a power of healing. We read in Romans: "And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you."[ 36 ] This may imply more than physical temporary healing, but it does not exclude this either.
Finally, it is through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, that we shall be raised from the dead and our bodies will be transformed. Paul confirms this in Philippians: "Who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body."[ 37 ] This does not exhaust the content of the power of Jesus' resurrection in our lives. It gives us merely a rough outline of what we can look for. Obviously, the subject is so vast that we cannot even start to exhaust it in the context of this study. If some of the excitement of the thought gets through, it will be enough to lift our spirits for days to come.
The knowledge of this power in all its aspects is first of all the result of the enlightenment of the eyes of our heart. In the same vein Jesus tells Nicodemus that one has to see the Kingdom of God before he can enter it and that the key to seeing and entering is the new birth through the Holy Spirit. "In reply Jesus declared, 'I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.' "[ 38 ] And again: "Jesus answered, 'I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.' "[ 39 ]
It is obvious that Paul is speaking to born again Christians, but it is also clear that experiencing the power of Jesus' resurrection is not the automatic result of conversion and regeneration, otherwise the explanation would have been superfluous and there would have been no need for intercessory prayer. It is good to pray for one another in this way, but how can we ask for others what we have not received ourselves? Elisha could only ask for his servant's eyes to be opened because he saw the heavenly reality himself. We read that Elisha prayed: "O LORD, open his eyes so he may see." Then the LORD opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha."[ 40 ]
But the most important of all is that when we start seeing the power of Jesus' resurrection at work on earth, our eyes will be drawn to heaven, where the source of the power is. The resurrection power of Jesus could corrupt us in the same way that all power corrupts man. "Absolute power corrupts absolutely," as Lord Acton said. But if we stop gazing at what is happening on earth and start looking to what happens in heaven, as Paul suggests in the vs. 21-23, we see how the picture fits together. The safeguard per excellence against corruption is to see Christ, seated on the throne of the universe, as the highest authority over all authority. And then, we realize that this Man, the Second Person of the Trinity, is the head of the church, His body, of which we are members. We then understand that the working of God's power in us is not just meant to make us feel good, but to make us function. Feel good we will, but that is not the point. We have been predestined and elected in Him to shine forth His glory. We are His bride, the New Jerusalem of which John says: "I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband." "It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal."[ 41 ]
As we said at the beginning, Paul pulls us up to heights that surpass by far our daily experience. We cannot even imagine a fraction of this reality in our present condition, but there is no argument against it. It is true and there is no reason that we should not, from time to time, get a taste of eternity and long for more
This vision of reality is also the best stimulant for worship and adoration. Who can see the glory of Christ and not fall on his face? The first chapter of Revelations describes Christ: "And among the lampstands was someone 'like a son of man,' dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: 'Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last.' "[ 42 ] Finally, Paul says that the power that works in us now is the same power which worked in the dead body of our crucified Lord and which raised Him from the dead. We understand as little about death as we do about life. The only thing we know is that when man severed the relationship with God, death came into the world. In Romans Paul says: "Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned."[ 43 ] Jesus overcame death by paying for our sins. Sin is obviously the only grip death has upon us. Therefore, we can conclude that the power that works in us is the power to overcome sin and eradicate it eventually completely. It is the power Jude describes: "To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy ..."[ 44 ] Some of what happened in the realm of death, when Jesus descended into "the prison" and wrenched the keys from the hands of the devil, is replayed in the lives of those who are in Christ. Restoration of fellowship with God, which was ruptured when Adam and Eve sinned, means victory over death and subsequently glory.
[ 1 ]
John 3:3
[ 2 ]
Heb 7:7
[ 3 ]
Heb. 6:19
[ 4 ]
I Chr. 4:10
[ 5 ]
Rev. 3:17
[ 6 ]
Rom. 3:23
[ 7 ]
I Kings 10:7
[ 8 ]
Gen. ch. 6-8
[ 9 ]
II Pet. 2:5
[ 10 ]
Isa. 6:3
[ 11 ]
Heb. 1:3
[ 12 ]
John 16:27
[ 13 ]
Col. 1:13
[ 14 ]
II Cor. 5:21
[ 15 ]
Luke 15:21-23
[ 16 ]
James 1:5
[ 17 ]
Ps. 103:13,14
[ 18 ]
Luke 1:77
[ 19 ]
Luke 16:11
[ 20 ]
Isa. 14:14
[ 21 ]
II Cor 1:22
[ 22 ]
Col. 1:27b
[ 23 ]
I Cor. 2:9
[ 24 ]
Cf. Ex. 33:18 and 34:29-34
[ 25 ]
See Col. 1:4
[ 26 ]
Phil. 3:12,13
[ 27 ]
John 17:3
[ 28 ]
John 1:18 (KJV)
[ 29 ]
John 14:9
[ 30 ]
I Sam. 16:7
[ 31 ]
Rom. 6:8
[ 32 ]
Gal. 2:20
[ 33 ]
Rom. 4:25
[ 34 ]
Acts 1:8
[ 35 ]
Rom. 7:6
[ 36 ]
Rom. 8:11
[ 37 ]
Phil. 3:21
[ 38 ]
John 3:3
[ 39 ]
John 3:5
[ 40 ]
II Kings 6:17
[ 41 ]
Rev. 21:2,11
[ 42 ]
Rev. 1:13-17
[ 43 ]
Rom. 5:12
[ 44 ]
Jude vs. 24
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