Vs. 15, 16
Because of all this, now that I have heard of the faith you have in the Lord Jesus and of the love you bear towards all God's people, I never cease to give thanks for you when I mention you in my prayers.
Paul constantly prayed for the churches he had set up, and for individual people in them. He gives thanks to God when they're showing spiritual growth (no credit for himself - he knows it is God who grows his church)
What Paul has heard about the Ephesian church that makes him give thanks to God:
I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the all-glorious Father, may give you the spiritual powers of wisdom and vision, by which there comes the knowledge of him. (NEB)
...ask the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, to give you the Spirit, who will make you wise and reveal God to you, so that you will know him. (TEV/Good News Bible)
Paul's prayer for the Ephesian church: that they may have spiritual power of wisdom and vision - two of the gifts given to Christians by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit brings power into our lives - power to know God more intimately. When the Spirit becomes part of our lives, God enters into our lives in a way that becomes very real to us.
Our prayer for ourselves and for others should be for increased wisdom and vision, leading to a closer relationship with God.
V. 18
I pray that your inward eyes (the eyes of your heart - NIV) may be illumined (enlightened), so that you may know what is the hope to which he calls you, what the wealth and glory of the share he offers you among his people in their heritage.....
(NIV) the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.
The Message: to make... your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what is is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for Christians,...
The 'heart' - a synonym in the Bible for mind, will and spirit - our centre of perception and decision.
Why does Paul pray for the inward eyes to be opened? And why do we need our inward eyes to be opened? Do we want to miss out on all God offers to his people - the wealth and glory of the share of his riches he offers us (not necessarily earthly riches, wealth and glory), the riches of our spiritual inheritance, the glorious way of life he has in store for us? Paul didn't want anyone to miss out on all that.
Paul wanted the Ephesians (and us) to understand the hope brought by faith in Christ, to be able to live the enriched life God intends for us, and to experience in the future the glory that is to be inherited by his church.
What's God's inheritance?
The Old Testament gives us some clues.....
Deuteronomy 4: 20 - You
are the people whom the Lord brought out of Egypt, from the smelting furnace,
and took for his own possession...
(care, protection & security)
Psalm 33: 12 - Happy
is the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people he has chosen for his own possession.
(happiness, contentment)
Isaiah 63: 17 - Why,
Lord, dost thou let us wander from thy ways
and harden our hearts until we cease to fear thee?
turn again, for the sake of thy servants,
the tribes of thy patrimony.
(free choice in our lives)
Jeremiah 10: 16 - God,
Jacob's creator, is not like these; (note: idols created by man)
for he is the maker of all.
Israel is the people he claims as his own;
the Lord of Hosts is his name.
(mutual belonging in a relationship of love and care)
Sounds pretty good to me!
V.19
...and how vast the resources of his power open to us who trust in him.
(The Message: ...oh! the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him - endless energy, boundless strength!)
God's power - the power of
the creator of the universe - is available to those who trust in him.
Acts 1: 8 - Jesus told his
disciples 'You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you,'
The Amplified Bible describes
this 'power' as ability, efficiency and might.
Vs.20, 21
They are measured by his strength and the might which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead, when he enthroned him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all government and authority, all power and dominion, and any title of sovereignty that can be named, not only in this age but in the age to come.
How great is God's power? Who has more power than to raise someone from death? Not only that, but then to give that person a much higher position than any human authority in all the earth for ever?
God's power has been proved by the raising of Jesus from death and elevating him to such a position of power.
V. 22
He put everything in subjection beneath his feet, and appointed him as supreme head to the church,...
Jesus reigns over everything.
He is the absolute ruler of the church.
The church was never meant
to be a democracy!
V.23
...which is his body and as such holds within it the fullness of him who himself receives the entire fullness of God.
The church is the body of Christ, with Christ himself as the head.
What does the head do? -
plans, thinks, commands, sees, hears all.
What does the body do? -
feels, creates, puts into action what the head envisages.
The church is a TEAM with Jesus as the leader and the rest of us being a very important part of the team. As the body of Christ, the church shares in his power and authority, as well as responsibility.