The Hope of Your Calling (Ephesians 1:15-23)

How well do you know God? Is it even possible to know him? I usually brush off ideas of knowing God, assuming that I know him because I know about him. When someone tells us about someone else, we may feel like we know them, but we don't know them. There is more to someone than what they have said or what they have done. There is more to someone than what they look like in a photograph or a video recording.

If we want to know someone, we have to spend time with them, ask them questions, listen closely to what they say, and study what is in their hearts. We really don't know anyone like we know our spouse. I can't tell you how many times I have spoken to someone who says they thought they knew their spouse before marriage, but it was a totally different experience to live with the person as husband or wife. How well do we really know God?

Recap

In the last lessons, what did we learn about God? We learned that he is worthy of our blessing because he has blessed us by choosing us to be his adopted children. He has lavished his grace upon us and redeemed us with the blood of his son. This is a remarkable statement of the love that God has for us. He paid to set us free from our sin and offers us complete forgiveness. God planned to do this for us from the beginning because he wants us to be his. He wants us to put our hope in Christ and become his treasured possession. God has also sealed us with the Holy Spirit to guarantee that we will be blessed with an eternal inheritance when this life is over. By telling us all of this information, Paul has given us some understanding of who God is. But is that all we need?

Now, let's look at the next sentence in Ephesians. Remember, verses 3-14 were all one sentence. Now, verses 15-23 is another sentence.

Paul's Prayer

Ephesians 1:15--16 (ESV) --- 15 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,

Paul has heard of their faith. They have great faith, a faith that is spoken about. They also have a great love for all the saints. These are two essential things Christians must have. We get the impression that these Christians don't need anything. We might assume that these are Christians who have everything. Paul thanks God for them, but he also prays for them.

Ephesians 1:17--19 (ESV) --- 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

In these verses, we see that Paul prays for God to give them the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. Some translations make spirit uppercase, referring to the Holy Spirit. That would seem to imply that Paul wants the Ephesians to have some additional spiritual gifts. That could be the case, but the context points us to the lowercase version of this word. What would that mean, and why would Paul pray for them to have that? This is similar to praying for someone to have a wise and discerning spirit. He wants their attitude or disposition to be full of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. Paul is asking God to transform their demeanor so that they can grow in their understanding.

When we were at school, there was always the silly child who didn't care to pay any attention. Then, there was always the studious one who took school too seriously. Everyone else was somewhere in between these two. The Ephesians have love and faith, but they need to move closer to the more academic one. They need a wise spirit that sees the truth while maintaining their love and faith.

Colossians 1:9--10 (ESV) --- 9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;

Then, he says this in another way. He says he wants "the eyes of their hearts to be enlightened, that you may know." In our society, the heart is where our feelings come from, but that wasn't the case in their society. They would talk about their feelings being their bowels. The heart represented their mind. Remember Jesus said, "Out of the heart come evil thoughts" and "Out of the mouth the heart speaks." When I read heart, I always think about desires, what we fixate on, and think about all the time. Paul wants these Christians to have the eyes of their hearts enlightened. In other words, he wants their minds to be open to taking in this information with wisdom. Who is God, what has he done, and what does that means for the Ephesians? Do they know God? If the Ephesian brethren still need to know God more than they already do, so do we. We need to see him more intimately and understand him with a spirit of wisdom and open our hearts up to the light of the truth.

What Do They Need To Know?

In verse 18, he starts to describe three things God has done for the Ephesians to grasp. Now, as we look at these three things, we will tend to focus on ourselves. We want to think about what God has done for us, but Paul wants them to see and know God. They need to know about the hope of God's calling, the riches of God's inheritance, and the immeasurable greatness of God's power toward them. These three great blessings will help them.

1. God's Calling To Hope In Christ

The first thing Paul wants the Ephesians to know is the hope of God's calling. God's calling for the Ephesians and the hope of that call have been discussed at length in verses 3-14. These verses tell us repeatedly that God chose a group of people to be holy and blameless before him. He called them to make them his own. He would forgive them, adopt them as his children, and pay all their sin debt in Jesus' blood. Why? So that they can be to the praise of his glory. That is their calling. The Ephesians are a part of that group. That is the hope of their calling. Paul wants them to know that and know God more intimately through that knowledge.

Most would see the word hope and think of the hope we have of heaven. But Paul is talking about the hope of our calling on earth. Christians have hope for an eternal relationship with God as a child in his house. That is true. But this is the hope of our calling. God has called us to a purpose. God hasn't given us hope to come together four times a week, sing songs, pray prayers, and listen to me. This is about God's call for us to be totally transformed into his image. We need to see the magnificence of this hope! This is not a hope to go through some ritual and routine. This is a hope that has been promised to us by God himself. We have hope that God wants us to become more than we ever imagined we would be. What do we hope will happen in our life? I love the way Peter puts it.

2 Peter 1:3--11 (ESV) --- 3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. 11 For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Do you see that as our hope? We have hope that God would take us to the praise of his glory through our spiritual growth. I believe that is the ultimate hope Paul wants the Ephesians to grasp. This is at the core of God's calling them into Christ. We are the scum of society, but, by God's grace, there is hope for us in Christ to become the most excellent examples of love, tolerance, and righteousness. There is hope that we might be to the praise of our savior's glory.

We might say, "I hope I can make it to the NBA," without any real understanding or confidence about what the future might hold. We might have hope for a happy future with our spouse or hope for a successful career/retirement. But those things are up in the air and not promised. This is not a whimsical hope like someone hoping to go to Hollywood and become an actor or someone hoping to be an NBA All-Star. The hope that Paul is talking about is the hope we have for God to fulfill his promises to make us like him. This is the greatest hope that anyone could have on earth. God can make every person who comes into Christ be to the praise of his glory! Open the eyes of our hearts to see the hope of your calling, Lord.

2. God's Rich and Glorious Inheritance In The Saints

The second aspect of God that Paul wants them to know is the riches of God's inheritance in the saints. This is connected to the first aspect. We said back when we looked at verse 11 that we are God's inheritance. We are his possession. God wanted them to see themselves as treasured by God when they become to the praise of God's glory. We have to take some time to wrap our minds around this. What does this tell us about God? Do we understand God better by understanding that God feels rich when he has a people living to the praise of his glory?

We cannot pay God back for what he has done for us, but God is joyful over us when we see what he has done and transform into his likeness. Open the eyes of our hearts to see the riches of your inheritance in us, Lord. We don't know how you could take us to the praise of your glory but transform us so that you find joy in us. Thank you for making us your people and treasuring us.

3. God's Immeasurable Power Toward Us

The third aspect of God they need to know is the "immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe." There is too much to say about this idea. I have to be brief here for the sake of time, but we are supposed to dwell on these three things. We are supposed to spend additional time considering the reality of all this. Consider the immeasurable greatness of God's power. We have been looking at this throughout the Old Testament. God has demonstrated his power by providentially working throughout the earth repeatedly. Paul referred to that power as he said, in verses 4-12, that he did what he purposed to do. He worked everything according to the purpose of his will. God has the power to do whatever he wants to do. But Paul has a specific demonstration of God's power for the Ephesians to focus on.

Ephesians 1:19--23 (ESV) --- 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 fullness of him who fills all in all.

God has used his power to raise Jesus from the dead, seat him at his right hand, and put all things under his feet. Can you imagine the amount of power it would take to accomplish such mighty works? Paul wants us to see and understand that level of power is in our God. God contains more power than we can imagine.

But Paul wants us to consider God's power TOWARD US. The same power that rose Jesus from the grave is used to raise us from spiritual death. The same power that seats Jesus at his right hand and puts all things under his feet will fight for us and seek to keep us as his treasured possession. God is working "all things for the good of those who love God and are called according to God's purpose." (Rom 8:28). "God is working in us, both to will and to work for his good pleasure" (Phil 2:13). We need to see God as working on our behalf in a dark and twisted world. He is trying to help us shine as lights to the praise of his glory. It is encouraging to see that God is for us, and no one can stand against us. (Rom 8:31-39)

He wants us to know God intimately by meditating on the hope of our calling, the riches of God's inheritance in us, and the greatness of his power toward us.

How Do We Come To Know Him?

Now, we should ask the question, "How do we come to know God better?" The answer is that we need to slow down. As we have studied through this section of Ephesians, we haven't rushed at all. We looked at each phrase and asked questions. What does he mean by that? Why did he say it in that way? We even have to go down to the lowest level and ask, "Why is that word there?" It's easy for us to look at the text and try to find out as much as we can about ourselves. What do we learn about God and Jesus? These are the questions that help us draw nearer to him. That's what Paul wants the Ephesians and us to do.

So what do your studying habits look like? Do you look at the Bible once in a blue moon? When you look at it, do you spend much time meditating on it, or do you assume you know what it means? We will never become what God has called us to be without a greater understanding of God and Christ. God doesn't treasure a people who refuse to change. Paul will talk about that change more in the next section.

Notice that change begins with a focused study to know God. Too often, we make our study about knowing information or memorizing key facts. God wants us to know him and become intimately acquainted with him. Study is not about having an answer to every question. It's about knowing God more personally through meditating on what he has said and done. It's about developing a greater love for God through Jesus, his ultimate image. If we are wiped out by the end of the day, our study should be in the morning or at lunch. We need to meditate on these things and ask good questions.

Conclusion

To end, I want us to notice, again, what is said in verses 22 and 23. God has given Christ as the head of the body. We are his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. We have been given a greater understanding of God so that we can be like him. Let's be sure to fulfill God's call for our lives and live for him.