Ephesians 1:15-

Ephesians 1:15–23 (NKJV)

15Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 

16do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: 

i. Faith and love do not earn us participation in this great work of God. They are evidence of our participation in God’s plan.

I think a lot of times we have it a bit backward. We follow the American health program mentality when we should be copying that of the ancient Chinese. That is, in our culture, we don’t go to the doctor until we’re sick. But in ancient China, people paid a doctor an annual stipend to keep them well. I think we need to learn from Paul and pray for people who are doing well because Satan doesn’t use his heavy artillery on the guy who’s getting drunk and indulging his flesh. He saves it for those who are walking with the Lord, loving the saints, and believing in Jesus. Many times, we see strong people fall hard. Could it be that perhaps we could have propped them up, been a shield around them, a blessing for them if we had followed the example of Paul and prayed for them while they were doing well?

17that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 

All of us crave wisdom and revelation. Each of us longs for instruction and insight in knowing how we should walk, what we should do, and where we should go. But notice what Paul tells us. It is profoundly simple and simply profound, for he says that the wisdom and revelation you and I so desperately desire is found solely in the knowledge of Him. Peter and John found this to be true. The singular explanation for their ability to boldly and intelligently address the multitude was the acknowledgment that they had been with Jesus (Acts 4:13). When people ask, “What should I do? What is God’s will in this situation?” the answer is very simple. The wisdom you need, the revelation you seek is found in knowing Jesus. How do we know Jesus? By spending time in the Gospels. You may be working your way through Ezekiel, or chewing on Romans. Make sure, however, that you daily take in something from Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John. I believe a real key to understanding God’s will for your life is to continually focus on Jesus. There’s only one Isaiah, only one Hebrews—but there are four Gospels. Could it be that, in this, God is saying, “I don’t want you to miss this. Whatever else you’re learning, the key to it all is My Son”? Just as Jesus said on the Emmaus Road, all Scripture points to Him (Luke 24:27). If you’re spending time with Him in the Gospels, the rest of the Word will become clear.

18the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 

19and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power 

18the eyes of your understanding being enlightened;

i. Paul used a great expression when he speaks of the eyes of your heart (heart is more literal than understanding). Too many Christian hearts have no eyes (places where they gain real knowledge and understanding), and too many Christian eyes have no heart—God wants both to be combined in us.

that you may know what is the hope of His calling i. The hope of His calling has its perspective on the future. The believer has a glorious future of resurrection, eternal life, freedom from sin, perfected justification, and glorious elevation above the angels themselves.

what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 

ii. Knowing our spiritual poverty, we wonder how God can find any inheritance in the saints. Yet God can make riches out of poor men and women because He invests so much in them. He has invested riches of love, riches of wisdom, riches of suffering, riches of glory. These things accrue to a rich inheritance in the saints.

greatness of His power toward us

Ephesians 3. Paul Prays that They Would Understand Everything God Gave Them in Jesus Christ (18–19a)

i. Many Christians do not know this power—or they only know it from a distance. God wants resurrection life to be real in the life of the believer. “The very

20which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 

21far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. 

22And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, 

23which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

Chapter 2

1And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 

2in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 

3among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. 

4But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 

5even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 

6and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 

7that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 

8For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 

9not of works, lest anyone should boast. 

10For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.