Ephesians 1:15-23
Dear RTB’ers,
…that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation … 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, and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His great might… (vv. 17-19) Paul’s writing often has a number of clauses and participial phrases in his sentences, such that it is often difficult to pick out the essence of a sentence that he has written. Somewhat hidden in the verses quoted above are three aspects of God’s relationship with us, His church – our hope, our inheritance, and His power. First, the hope to which He has called you (note that very personal “you”!). This is a hope that is an expectation, not some remote wish like “I hope I win the lottery.” Second, our inheritance, expressed as His inheritance for us (the saints). That inheritance is our eternal reward, living with Him in Heaven forever! Finally, His power, reflected in His raising Jesus from the dead. Then Paul adds four more verses glorifying Christ.
Don’t misunderstand me – those clauses and participial phrases in Paul’s writing include a lot of worthy content! But let’s not get caught up in all the verbiage such that we miss the main thought. Paul is often a tough read!!
Blessings!
Yes, indeed, Paul’s writing can be challenging, but I hope that, rather than dismissing it as “too hard” we would all instead spend that much more time contemplating what is said here. And then we should ask ourselves whether we really believe it or whether Paul is simply spouting lofty language that we discard as flowery fluff, with no real relevance to our daily lives. Do you, in fact, know what is the hope to which He has called you? Do you, in fact, know the riches of His glorious inheritance? Do you, in fact, know the immeasurable greatness of His power? If we do not, then we need to join in Paul’s prayer that the eyes of [our] hearts [might be] enlightened. And we need to pray that earnestly.