Studies in Ephesians No.2 1:15-23
Studies in Ephesians No.2 1:15-23
Referring back to what he wrote in the first 14 verses of this chapter, namely that the Ephesians to who had written were true believers who had been sealed with the Holy Spirit, Paul adds that He has heard of their faith and their love for the people of God.
Ephesians 1:15–23 (NASB 2020)
15 For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints,
Faith is the way of the Kingdom. Faith is the necessary element that guarantees that our choice to love God is freely made. It is for this reason that we read in Hebrews 11:6 that, “without faith it is impossible to please Him, for the one who comes to God must believe that He exists, and that He proves to be One who rewards those who seek Him.” (NASB 2020) No one who does not believe God would come to Him, nor would they believe He rewards those who seek Him. If they did, they would come to Him. Consequently, we read in Ephesians 2:8 that it is, “by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;” (NASB 2020)
It is faith, trust in God, belief that He exists and will do what He promises, that saves us. His grace is extended to all humanity. It is a gift sitting on the porch of everyone’s life. All who trust the sender and accept the gift obtain the promised contents—eternal life.
Paul then mentions the love the Ephesian saints have for one another and for all the saints. Faith accepts God’s gift. God’s gift produces love. In John 13:34–35 Jesus said, “I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all people will know that you are My disciples: if you have love for one another.” (NASB 2020)
If you are like me, you may be thinking, “how on earth am I going to do that?” The answer is that apart from Jesus, we can’t (see John 15:5) and so Father has graciously set things up to ensure our success.
Romans 5:5 tells us that God’s love has been poured into the soft loving news hearts that Father gave us. If His love is poured all over, or shed abroad in, our hearts, we can not fail to obey His new command to love one another. I bet you’ve noticed that in yourself. Haven’t you grown more compassionate and loving over the time since you were reborn?
Having recognized the faith and love being shown by the Ephesians, Paul begins to tell them how he is praying for them.
16 do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers;
17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.
Thankfulness is Paul’s starting point with God. Watch this.
Romans 1:8 “First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the world.” (NASB 2020)
1 Corinthians 1:4 “I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus” (NASB 2020)
Philippians 1:3 “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you” (NASB 2020)
Colossians 1:3 “We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you” (NASB 2020)
1 Thessalonians 1:2 “We always give thanks to God for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers” (NASB 2020)
2 Thessalonians 1:3 “We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters, as is only fitting, because your faith is increasing abundantly, and the love of each and every one of you toward one another grows ever greater.” (NASB 2020)
1 Timothy 1:12 “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service” (NASB 2020)
2 Timothy 1:3 “I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience the way my forefathers did, as I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day” (NASB 2020)
Philemon 4 “I thank my God always, making mention of you in my prayers” (NASB 2020)
This is just a sampling, of course. Paul spoke often about being thankful and he often begins his discussions about his prayer with thankfulness. He doesn’t stop there, however.
He goes on to pray, “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.”
This is an interesting verse because it calls to mind for me the verse in 1 Peter 3:18 where we are encouraged to grow in grace and the knowledge of the Lord. I’ve been on a sort of mental treadmill with this idea recently. I am intrigued by the ramifications of growing in the knowledge of the Lord. Clearly, we are not being told to learn more facts about God. Rather, we are being instructed to know Him relationally, intimately, personally.
This is a process for us. We experience it with spouses, family members, and friends. The longer we have known someone, the more we know what to expect from them. This is the way that trust is built. Wisdom and revelation come from God, and Holy Spirit within us is the source from which we are supplied with them. As we live with God over time, our knowledge of Him increases as the wisdom and revelation of God work in us and our minds are renewed.
Picking up at verse 18 (Ephesians 1)
18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
19a and what is the boundless greatness of His power toward us who believe.
The King James renders verse 18 this way, “Ephesians 1:18 “The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,” (KJV 1900)
This small difference in the expression about the eyes of our hearts happens because the underlying Greek can be read in two ways. The NET Bible agrees with the King James here that the passage is essentially acknowledging that as believers the eyes of our hearts are enlightened.
I tend to agree, and one piece of evidence that comes to mind is 1 Corinthians 2:12, where we find, “Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God.” (NASB 2020)
The three things Paul prays that the Ephesians (and we) would know are:
the hope of His calling
the riches of the saints’ inheritance
the extraordinarily great power toward us.
I love what the NET Bible notes say here. “There is a natural cadence to the three genitive expressions (hope of his calling, wealth of his glorious inheritance, and extraordinary greatness of his power). The essence of the prayer is seen here. Paraphrased it reads as follows: “Since you are enlightened by God’s Spirit, I pray that you may comprehend the hope to which he has called you, the spiritual riches that await the saints in glory, and the spiritual power that is available to the saints now.” Thus, the prayer focuses on all three temporal aspects of our salvation as these are embedded in the genitives—the past (calling), the future (inheritance), and the present (power toward us who believe).” (NET Bible)
The prayer goes on in the second half of verse 19 to declare, “19b These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might
20 which He brought about 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 every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.
Imagine for a moment the power required to raise Jesus from the dead and to seat Him at the right hand of God. That is life-giving power. Only God has life in Himself. Here is how Jesus put it in John 5:26 “For just as the Father has life in Himself, so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself” (NASB 2020) This is the power required for anyone to live a life pleasing to God.
Some may have wondered why they kept failing in their attempts to live an upright and godly life. This is the explanation. When we read in Matthew 5:48 that the standard of God is “be perfect like your Father in heaven is perfect” we quickly understand that no power we have in ourselves is going to suffice.
As is His way however, Father has graciously set things up to ensure our success. Romans 5:5 says that the Holy Spirit was given to us and filled our hearts with His love. 8:11 tells us that the same Spirit who raised Christ from the dead lives in us, and Galatians 4:6 says, “Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba! Father!” (NASB 2020)
Finishing up Ephesians chapter one, verses 22 and 23 say this.
22 And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and made Him head over all things to the church,
23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
Jesus is the name that is above every name. Philippians 2:9–11 reiterates this.
“For this reason also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (NASB 2020)
The Church is His body. That may seem like an odd idea, or it may seem like something we just sort of skip over when we read it, but it is so important to understand.
The body of Christ is made up of many parts, as we are told in 1 Corinthians 12. We comprise the Church. We comprise the body of Christ. God is so big, so unfathomable, so loving and holy that He can never be expressed fully by finite beings. Each member of the body of Christ is unique and each member expresses, or manifests, Him in a unique way that no one else since the beginning of time has been able to do. In this way, He is more fully, though still to the smallest degree, made known in the world.
All the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Jesus, we also dwell in Jesus, and Jesus dwells in us. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in us, and our lives are hidden with Jesus in God. This passage in Ephesians provides us with only the tiniest inkling of a description of how great, gracious, and glorious our Lovely Lord Jesus is.
Oh yeah, and He has given us His glory.
John 17:22–23 “The glory which You have given Me I also have given to them, so that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and You loved them, just as You loved Me.” (NASB 2020)
