Ephesians 1: 15-23 (ESV)
For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fulness of him who fills all in all.
First response:
- What things immediately stand out to you?
- If Paul were standing here now, what would you ask him about this letter?
This is another passage written as a single sentence, this time building to a crescendo of glory; it is one of a couple of ‘apostolic prayers’ in this letter.
- Why does Paul write his prayer into his letter?
Paul is both praying for them as he writes, and also providing a model of ‘strong’ prayer.
Paul’s Prayer
1. For this reason (15). Paul’s prayer springboards out of his celebration of God’s revealed mystery in Christ in the first section of the Chapter.
2. He links himself to the Ephesian believers (15): I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints.
3. He gives thanks for them (16): I do not cease to give thanks for you.
4. Then he prays for their spiritual insight (v.17): that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him…
…and then for three specific things:
5. that you may know … the hope to which he has called you;
6. what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints (v.18), and
7. what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe (v.19).
Let’s unpack those a bit to see what we can learn from them.
This is the kind of prayer that has the potential to change our lives. Paul is encouraging the Ephesian believers, and us through them, to align ourselves with the risen Christ. To see things from his perspective, and to see our lives in the context of his victory.
Paul has heard about them
In the New Testament we see quite a lot of the churches in Asia (modern day Turkey). In Revelation 1-3, written about 20 years or so after this letter, we see a very mixed picture. Some of the churches are doing well, even in the face of hot opposition, others are compromising or seem apathetic and comfortable. In Revelation 2: 4 we learn that the Church at Ephesus has abandoned the love they had at first.
… but this is not what Paul has heard:
I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints (v.15).
- How can we be sure we haven’t abandoned for ‘first love’?
Their faith is more than a set of beliefs, it is making them stand out as distinct in their culture. They love God’s people, and this is a sincere commitment to put other people’s well-being ahead of their own … which is what Jesus did for us.
He does not cease to give thanks for them.
Paul is praying for them regularly. Prayer isn’t supposed to be about crisis management—Remember Tim, he needs our prayers. Of course, we should pray for people who are facing difficulties, but maybe it’s more important to pray for people when they are not having problems.
And Paul is giving us a template here, a model prayer.
He prays for their spiritual insight.
[I pray] that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him… (v.17).
‘The Spirit of wisdom and revelation’ is a strong phrase. What does it mean?
Paul doesn’t pray for their circumstances. He might have prayed that they would be spared persecution, poverty or sickness—but he doesn’t. Instead he asks for the breath of God (the Spirit) to give them wisdom. Specifically (vv.8-10) this is about making known … the mystery of his will … as a plan for the fulness of time, to unite all things in him [Christ].
And revelation. That is: ‘the ability to see things that are hidden’, through their relationship with Jesus Christ.
In part, this is the same thing, to understand the will of God, but also, they—and we—must understand what is going on around them, spiritually.
- Are they struggling against Demetrius the Silversmith (Acts 19: 24)?
- Are they struggling against evil men, or the demonic spirit of Artemis, or Caesar?
- Or the Roman governor, or the religious Jews?
As they witness for Christ in the great city of Ephesus, they need a strategic picture, a sense of how we fit into the big picture. And so do we in the Dove Valley, or Stoke on Trent, or wherever we find ourselves serving Christ.
- How do we see our strategic position?
Paul goes on to pray that the eyes of their hearts would be enlightened. This is in line with the Spirit of revelation, but more specifically:
Hope
That you may know what is the hope to which he has called you…
In other words that their present circumstances, good or bad, won’t define their lives, that they will live in the light of their salvation. This is important for their spiritual health.
We need hope for ourselves, but (as we shine like lights in the world), we must also be a source of hope to others.
- How can we be a source of hope to others?
Inheritance
what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints …
Much of the Bible speaks of inheritance. A promise of inheritance is what defined Israel—and in v.14 Paul has mentioned their inheritance, which the Holy Spirit guarantees.
This is a big topic—too big to do anything like justice to here. I know I promised to look at it this week, but I’m going to put it on a back burner right now and hope of being able to pick it up again at another time.
But suffice it to say this:
There is our inheritance in Christ, which Paul mentions in vv. 11 and 14) … and there is Christ’s inheritance in the saints (that’s us), which is what he is talking about here.
So, finally:
Power
what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe…
We like the idea of power. The power to get wealth, right? The power to defeat our enemies. Gifts of power in the church?
What power is Paul talking about here?
- The power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him at the right hand of the Father. The power that transforms death into resurrection life.
That is—our death, as well as Christ’s. Check Gal 2: 20.
- The power over every ‘name’ anywhere, ever. Paul contrasts the present age and the age to come, where the risen, glorified King Jesus, who isn’t tainted by sin, is already invading the present age though his people. They don’t see it fully, yet (and they will lose their ‘first love’), but this is why they need the Spirit of wisdom and revelation.
- The power to take ordinary people—the most tragic and broken people—and make them life-givers.
- It’s a hope beyond the present world; the power to heal and transform sin into eternal life.
This is the kind of thing we should be praying for each other.
In the dark and brutal world of Ephesus in the pagan Roman Empire, the ‘church’, this little community of Christ-followers, were demonstrating what the kingdom of God was like.
- There, Caesar reigns. Here, Jesus reigns.
- There, the ultimate power is the fear of death. Here, the ultimate power is self-sacrificing love.
- There, the winner takes it all. Here, we especially value the broken, the poor, the isolated, the weak and the infirm.
The Powers
He raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.
We’ll discuss these in more detail later (cf. 2:2 and 6:10-20).
As Paul teaches us very clearly in Philippians 2, Christ Jesus was in the place of God and ‘emptied himself’, descending to the lowest place, embracing death, and so God has raised him up to the highest place.
He—Jesus—is the ultimate authority in the universe.
And finally
He put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fulness of him who fills all in all (vv.22, 23).
How do we start to understand that?
Christ’s ultimate authority in the universe is expressed through the church. He takes ordinary flawed people like us and makes us his dwelling place. (He takes our mess and makes it his message.)
We (take a good look around) are the mean of delivery for God’s power in this world. The body of Christ: the demonstration of God’s sovereignty to the world. And this is also a demonstration to the heavens.
This is incredibly deep and far-reaching. The church is the place where Jesus is king—the literal kingdom of God.
The church is the place where every aspect of earthly ‘power’ comes under the sovereignty of Christ.
But we do need to have a conversation about how we understand that word … church.
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