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We are
going to pick up with chapter one, verse 17. After
introducing himself, praising the Lord, teaching
them about God the Father, and Messiah Yeshua
the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and all that they
have and are when they are in Messiah, joined
to the One who is fully God and fully Man, and
because they are precious to God, and precious
to Paul, this emissary that the Lord sent to us
gives thanks for them, and then prays for them,
that God gives them a spirit of wisdom and
of revelation in the knowledge of Him.
Here’s
the problem: the reality is that we come into
this world alienated from the One who is the Source
of Life and Truth. We are in spiritual darkness.
We are far from Him and confused about Him. Human
beings don’t naturally know God the way
they need to, and the knowledge of God is the
most important knowledge there is. If you don’t
know God the way you need to, you won’t
know enough of the truth. And, if the truth sets
you free, you won’t be set free from ignorance,
and the satanic slave market of sin and death
which holds you captive. You won’t think
right, act right or live right. You won’t
please the Lord. You won’t experience salvation.
If you don’t know God in the way that you
need to, you will not live forever.
Not only
do we need revelation of the truth about who God
really is, but we also need wisdom about Him.
Wisdom is knowledge that is properly applied.
So, first we must get knowledge about God, and
them we must take that knowledge and with wisdom,
apply it to every aspect of our lives. If we really
know God, that He is real, personal, holy, pure,
eternal, loving, kind, gracious; that He inspired
the Holy Scriptures and sent Messiah to save us,
and we apply that knowledge, our lives will reflect
the light of God, and will be eternally blessed,
won’t we?
Just as
Paul prayed for the Ephesians, we need to pray
for ourselves, and for each other, that we would
come to know who God truly is - that we would
really come to know Him - and not going by what
our tradition, our religion, our church, our synagogue,
our priest, our rabbi, our pastor, our father,
mother, sister, or brother, aunt or uncle says
- which may be wrong, or which may be a little
truth combined with a lot of error, a little understanding
mixed up with a lot of confusion. We need to know
God as He truly is, because if we don’t
know God as He really is, an army of problems
will follow - in this life, and maybe after this
life. So, let’s be praying for ourselves,
and for one another, that we receive a spirit
of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of
God.
This man
of God then prays that the eyes of their heart
may be enlightened because Paul knew that
there is a shallow kind of knowing, and there
is a deeper kind of knowing that has its source
at the very core of a human being. So, this master
theologian prays that the eyes of their heart
would be enlightened - that deep down, at the
core of their being, in their hearts, in their
souls, the Creator would enable them to see, to
really know, to genuinely understand, the following
three truths:
What is
the hope of God’s calling.
What are
the riches of the glory of God’s inheritance
in the saints.
What is
the surpassing greatness of God’s power
toward us who believe.
Let’s
start with the first - what is the hope of
His calling. The hope of His calling involves
all the things that God is calling us to be and
to do. He has called us to be with Himself. He
has extended an invitation to us to be His friends;
to enjoy His friendship and His love - think of
it! - to be His beloved children who are partakers
of the divine image; He has welcomed us to live
forever; He has promised to enrich us beyond the
wealth of the wealthiest capitalist, sheik or
king; He called us to share in the adventure of
ruling over a new universe that He will create.
Our calling
goes beyond this life, beyond this world, beyond
time and into eternity! Paul talks about the hope
of our calling, because we haven’t fully
entered into it yet. Its fulfillment awaits us
in the future. But is this invitation to be and
to do these amazing things is real, and they will
most certainly happen. And, we need to embrace
the hope of our calling now, and understanding
the hope of our calling now, and act on the hope
of our calling now.
Do you
believe, do you know way down deep, so that you
are sure of them, so that they affect the way
you live now, so that they impact your values
and your decisions now - these great things that
God has called us to be and to do?
Consider
this: if God has called you to be an eternal ruler,
do you need to strive to be in the highest position
now? If God has called you to be His everlasting
friend, should you feel the same degree of loneliness
that those who are not in Messiah feel? If you
are a son or daughter of God, should you ever
feel worthless?
Second,
the spiritual titan from Tarsus prays that they
might know what are the riches of the glory
of His inheritance in the saints. This is
understood in two ways, and both are true. First,
that the Lord has given the saints, the ones He
set apart for His good purposes of salvation,
a rich and glorious and eternal inheritance to
enjoy. And second, that the saints are the Lord’s
inheritance.
Let’s
begin by considering this second aspect. A.W.
Pink eloquently and powerfully writes: “This
verse brings before us a most blessed and wonderful
line of truth, so wonderful that no human mind
could possibly have invented it. It speaks of
the mighty God having an "inheritance,"
and it tells us that this inheritance is in His
own people! God refused to take this world for
His inheritance - it will yet be burnt up. Nor
did heaven, peopled with angels, satisfy His heart
...
Not only
do the saints obtain an inheritance in God, but
He also secures an inheritance in them! How overwhelming
the thought that the great God should deem Himself
the richer because of our faith, our love and
worship! Surely this is one of the most marvelous
truths revealed in Holy Writ - that God should
pick up poor sinners and make them His "inheritance"!
Yet so it is.
This man
of God goes on to reminds us that an inheritance
is obtained through death: so God’s inheritance
is secured to Him through the death of His beloved
Son. It was a the a very high price that God was
willing to pay to secure His inheritance, which
shows the how precious we are to Him.
Also,
an inheritance is for possession. It is something
which is entered into, lived upon, enjoyed. Zephaniah
3:17 is a marvelous statement that reflects this
reality : “The Lord your God is in your
midst, a victorious warrior. He will exult over
you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He
will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.”
This indicates possession, proximity and pleasure.
The great God will yet say, “I am satisfied:
here will I rest. This is Mine inheritance that
I will live upon forever, even the glory which
I have bestowed on redeemed sinners.” Surely
we have to say with the Psalmist, “Such
knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high,
I cannot attain unto it.”
The riches
of the glory of His inheritance in the saints
can also be understood as the gloriously rich
inheritance that we will receive that will enrich
us and make us wealthier than the richest man
who ever lived on Earth; that incorruptible and
undefiled inheritance, that lasting inheritance
that won’t fade away or be used up which
we will enjoy forever, that inheritance that is
reserved for us to enjoy in perfect health, that
we will enjoy in the presence of God the Father
and Messiah the Son, with the saints and the angels.
Do you
know, really know, way down, in your heart, and
in your soul, at the core of your being, so that
it permeates your thinking, what are the riches
of the glory of His inheritance in the saints?
If you do, does it make sense to spend so much
of your time and energy and effort building up
wealth here on Earth? Doesn’t it make much
more sense to sacrificially serve the Lord, and
store up treasures in Heaven? Since God’s
holy sons and daughters are so precious, so exceedingly
valuable, and so rich, and will last when everything
else on Earth is destroyed, doesn’t it make
more sense to love them more, and make serving
them and helping them and encouraging them one
of your highest priorities?
Third,
this master teacher prays that we might know what
is the surpassing greatness of His power toward
us who believe. Will I make really it to
Heaven? Will I get my fabulous inheritance? Will
I really live in that eternal home that King Yeshua
has gone on to prepare for me? Will I experience
eternal life in the New Heavens and New Earth
and New Jerusalem? Will I truly become a child
of God? What about all the forces arrayed against
me? The gates of Hell, demonic powers and principalities,
sin and death, my own weaknesses, temptations
and trials? I’m afraid that I am not strong
enough. I am afraid of losing my salvation and
all these amazing blessings.
Have
you ever thought these things? You can relax my
dear brother and sisters. Be assured that, if
you are a genuine believer, and are in Messiah,
in spite of all of the obstacles, regardless of
all of the forces arrayed against you, you have
a mighty ally! You have the Lord of Hosts at your
right hand! You have El Shaddai, the Almighty
God at your side! He has power; in fact He has
great power; He has surpassingly great power,
so much power that He can create this beautiful
planet, and its mighty sun, and the huge Milky
Way galaxy, and the millions of other galaxies,
this entire universe and everything in it; in
fact, He has infinite and almighty power, and
all that power, all that divine energy is directed
at you - to protect you from all these dangers,
to keep you safe, to renew your strength when
you are weak, to encourage you when you are discouraged,
to fight off the satanic and demonic powers, and
the traps and snares set by evil men, to give
you victory, to get you safely to the goal!
With His
amazing grace, with His almighty and infinite
power, you will make it to Heaven! He is not going
to let go of, or forfeit, or give up anyone that
He predestined from before the beginning of time,
and brought into being, someone for whom the Son
of God shed His blood, and purchased at such an
exceedingly high price! Lose your salvation? Not
make it to Heaven? Not experience life in the
new Jerusalem? Not receive your inheritance? Never
- provided that you truly believe! Provided that
you are in Messiah!
Are the
eyes of your heart enlightened, so that you
are enjoying this deeper kind of knowing that
has its source at your very core, what is the
surpassing greatness of His power toward us who
believe?
What kind
of power is God directing toward believers that
will bring us to these goals? That makes our calling
so sure? That makes our inheritance completely
and utterly certain? These are in accordance
with the working of the strength of His might
which He brought about in Messiah, when He raised
Him from the dead and seated Him at His right
hand in the heavenly places, 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. And He put all things in subjection
under His feet, and gave Him as head over all
things to the church, which is His body, the fullness
of Him who fills all in all.
From Messiah’s
death - a horrible death, a death preceded by
mockery and humiliation and torture; a cruel death
by crucifixion; a most painful death that resulted
in mangled wrists and feet, and a side pierced
with a spear; a death that was followed by burial
in the earth; a death that normally would result
in the decay of the body - so contemplate with
me the dead body of Yeshua of Nazareth, truly
dead, buried in a grave; His body powerless so
that it couldn’t do anything; from that
place of supreme humiliation and weakness, the
mighty strength of the God of Israel was activated,
and directed to Messiah Yeshua, and the Prince
of Life was raised from the dead. He came back
to life in a resurrected body, glorious new body,
a powerful body, an healthy and strong body and
mind equipped to live and function on a much greater
level, forever.
And that’s
not all - then the mighty power of God went further,
and the Son of God was brought back into the glories
of Heaven. There He was honored. There He was
seated in the place of highest possible honor
- at the right hand of God.
God’s
strength, might and power brought Yeshua back
to life from the dead.
God’s
strength, might and power brought Yeshua from
His tomb on Earth all the way to Heaven.
God’s
strength, might and power brought Yeshua great
honor.
God’s
strength, might and power brought Yeshua to His
inheritance and gave Him great wealth.
God’s
strength, might and power brought Yeshua everlasting
exaltation.
God’s
strength, might and power brought Yeshua to His
position of leadership as ruler over all things,
including the called out ones, the Church, those
men and women, those Jews and Gentiles, who make
up a living and eternal community headed by our
loving and powerful and glorious Messiah Himself.
God’s
strength, might and power brought Yeshua to completely
to the goal.
That same
strength, might and power that did all these great
things for our Eldest Brother will do the same
for you - provided you genuinely believe!
Don’t
misunderstand me - you won’t receive the
same degree of wealth, or enjoy the same honor
and glory; you won’t experience the same
level of rulership, or the same degree of exaltation,
but great wealth, tremendous honor, eternal glory,
and exaltation and rulership will be yours!
All of
these wonderful realities will be ours because
the same power is working for us that was at work
when God the Father did all these great things
for His beloved Son.
We need
to believe these things; we need to know these
realities deep down at the core of our being.
May this
same God help us to understand the hope of our
calling.
May this
almighty and good God cause us to understand the
glorious riches that the saints have and are.
May this
Three-In-One God, the God of Israel, bless each
one of us so that we understand the surpassing
greatness of God’s power that is directed
to those who believe.
And, to
those who do not believe? Won’t you muster
up the courage to tell them the Good News about
the salvation that is only found in the Messiah,
so that they to may be joined to Yeshua, and be
recipients of all the goodness and grace of God?
Shalom,
Rabbi Loren |
