A Closer Walk
"I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe ..." Ephesians 1:18-19 NASB. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling. This passage tells us that as believers we have available to each of us the hope of the Lord's calling, the knowledge of the riches of the glory of Christ's inheritance, and the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. But we may not know that. Or at times we may not feel like a child of the King.
So in writing this letter to the believers in the local church at Ephesus, the Apostle Paul prays that the eyes of their hearts might be enlightened, or opened. Why? Because Paul wants them to know about and be aware of the things that their God, and ours, has already provided for them. He wants them to know about the hope of their calling. Through this calling they, and we, understand that this earth is not our home. We are merely sojourners here. We are simply passing through on our way to our eternal Heavenly home. The hope of the calling is the knowledge that when our time on earth is complete, we will go to be with God in our eternal home. What wondrous knowledge!
Not only did the Apostle Paul want the believers at Ephesus to know about the hope of their calling, but because our God chose to include Ephesians in the canon of Scripture, our Lord wants us, you and me, to know this as well. The Lord also wants us to know about the riches of the glory of Jesus' inheritance in the saints of which we, you and I, are joint heirs. “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs with God and fellow heirs with Christ ...” Romans 8:14-17 NASB. So the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints includes us, you and me.
Paul wanted the believers at Ephesus to also know “... what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe ...” The surpassing greatness of His power. “I am the Lord, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God ... For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens (He is the God who formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited), I am the Lord, and there is none else,” Isaiah 45:5 and 18 NASB.
What is the surpassing greatness of His power? A seed in the ground God causes to sprout and grow. Thereby making it possible for our farmers to feed us. An acorn in the ground our Lord causes to grow into an oak tree, from which we can obtain beautiful and very strong wood for buildings and furniture. A seed and an egg in a mother's womb our God forms into a beautiful baby. This baby can grow and become another Mozart or Beethoven. Or another Albert Einstein or Thomas Edison. Or this beautiful baby can grow to be a farmer or a teacher. And this baby can grow to become a father or a mother. What is the surpassing greatness of our Lord's power? What indeed?
“All hail the power of Jesus name! Let angels prostrate fall. Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all. Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all! Let every tongue and every tribe responsive to his call, to Him all majesty ascribe, and crown Him Lord of all. To Him all majesty ascribe, and crown Him Lord of all!” Words Edward Perronet, 1721-1792; music “Miles Lane” by William Shrubsole, 1760-1806, organist at Spa Fields Chapel, London.