Eph 1:15 | KingComments | STEP | . With this verse the final part of chapter 1 starts. That part is a prayer. The apostle Paul prays here for the believers in Ephesus. The content of his prayer is rich, instructive and also necessary. Because to know God’s counsels is one thing – Paul explained that in ; but it is something else to honor and cherish that in your life. And for that Paul is going to pray. He doesn’t ask God to give the believers something, but he asks if He would give them more insight into all that they already possess. The purpose of his prayer is to focus the hearts (“the eyes of your heart”, ) of the believers on the Source of the counsels. He wants us to look, beyond all the wonderful gifts, at the glory and riches of the Giver. The believer who lives in a conscious relationship with Him, will understand more and more of God’s (“His”) calling ( ), God’s (“His”) inheritance ( ) and God’s (“His”) power ( ). The apostle could pray this prayer for the Ephesians, because they had the right mind. He had heard about their faith in the Lord Jesus and that they love all the saints. You might think: ‘What’s so special about their faith in the Lord Jesus? Isn’t that normal that believers do that?’ You are right, but it is important to notice that “faith in the Lord Jesus” characterized their whole attitude. To them faith was not only a matter of being saved from hell. Recently somebody said to me: ‘Of course I believe, for who would choose to go to hell?’ That was somebody who was seriously deviated from the Lord and in whose daily life there was no contact anymore with the Lord. That was not the case with the Ephesians. Faith meant to them: confidently living from faith and putting it into effect in all aspects of their life. In our days ‘faith’ is too much secondary. It is treated as certainly important, but not the main thing and not all pervasive. If, in your case, the Lord Jesus is the all determining Object of your faith, then you will also love your fellow believers. The one results from the other. There is no better proof of a living faith in the Lord Jesus than practical love that goes out to the saints. . From the moment Paul heard that from the Ephesians, he started to thank God for them. Is that also familiar to you? To thank God for the believers in whom you see that the Lord Jesus means everything to them and that they also commit themselves for their fellow believers? Paul doesn’t stop at thanksgiving, he adds intercession. . The apostle turns to “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ”. In chapter 3 his second prayer is written. There he turns to “the Father” of our Lord Jesus Christ ( ). There it is about the Lord Jesus as the Son of the Father, about the love of the Lord Jesus and about the fact that He dwells in our hearts. Here it is about the counsels of God and how we received a place in these counsels. In the explanation of , where both names ‘God’ and ‘Father’ are being mentioned, I already pointed to the difference between them. When God is called ‘the God of the Lord Jesus’ we see the Lord Jesus as Man. Because He Himself is Man, the Lord Jesus can share the blessings that He has received from God, with man. You and I could only be related to Him if He became Man. In this prayer, the issue is about the Lord Jesus as Man, and you can also derive from this, the fact that we read about His resurrection from the dead ( ). As Man He could die, as God the Son He of course could not. So Paul is praying to the God of the Lord Jesus, of the Man Jesus Christ Who is the center of all the counsels of God. God has never made any decision toward any man or any case, in heaven or on earth without the Lord Jesus being the center. We shall see this more clearly in the following verses. If we want to understand how God has made us partakers of His calling and of His inheritance, we should especially look at His power as it has become visible in raising the Lord Jesus. It is that power that was put into effect in us. What God did with the Lord Jesus, He also did with us. Paul also calls that God “the Father of glory”. That means that He is the source of glory and that it came from Him, He is the Distributer of it. To get a good perception of the glory of God’s counsels, Paul asks the Father of glory to “give the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him”. Imagine: God has unfolded the most profound thoughts in His Word. We could, for instance, learn them by heart. But what would be the use of it if He wouldn’t give us the ability, the capacity to understand those things? We then would not even be able to ever thank and glorify Him for that. And after all, God is all about us getting there: to the praise of His glory. That purpose will not be achieved by giving us an intellect to get to know God intellectually. To know and understand Him is only possible through “the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him”. In general terms you may say that God has provided every believer with all wisdom and understanding ( ). Yet, learning to know and enjoy God’s counsels consciously is quite different. To do that you not only need to possess wisdom, but you also need the ‘spirit of wisdom’; that makes you desire to spiritually intrude in getting to know Who God is. True wisdom is learning to know God in order to let this knowledge penetrate your whole life. He, who knows Him, also knows His counsels. Yet that is certainly not everything. We also shall have to be aware that to know God not only depends on our own efforts, but that it also depends on the revelation He gives of Himself. Here the desire of the believer and the work of God go hand in hand. If we desire to know much of God, it will not come naturally. And if we may know much of God, we can never boast on our own efforts. When we get to learn to know more about the truth of God, there is a great risk that we forget that to understand that spiritually, we have to be and remain dependent on Him. The danger is greater the more we have good intelligence and can remember well. It is important to keep in mind: what we know, we know because He has revealed it to us. Furthermore, it is not insignificant to understand that Paul does not pray for the knowledge of truths or dogmas. It is not about getting to know the truths, doctrines and teachings, but about the ‘full knowledge’, as it literally says, of God . If we may get to know the hope, the riches and the power of what has been given to us, then we should always relate that to Him Who is the origin of it. You may read this explanation and receive a good overview of what God shows us of His counsels, but it doesn’t make you to know God as He wants to be known. I would love to join Paul and pray that God will give you and me “the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him”. Now read Ephesians 1:15-17 again. Reflection: Thank and pray for yourself and for the believers you know after the example of Paul here.

‏ Ephesians 1:15

Faith and Love, Wisdom and Revelation

Eph 1:15. With this verse the final part of chapter 1 starts. That part is a prayer. The apostle Paul prays here for the believers in Ephesus. The content of his prayer is rich, instructive and also necessary. Because to know God’s counsels is one thing – Paul explained that in Eph 1:3-14; but it is something else to honor and cherish that in your life. And for that Paul is going to pray.

He doesn’t ask God to give the believers something, but he asks if He would give them more insight into all that they already possess. The purpose of his prayer is to focus the hearts (“the eyes of your heart”, Eph 1:18) of the believers on the Source of the counsels. He wants us to look, beyond all the wonderful gifts, at the glory and riches of the Giver. The believer who lives in a conscious relationship with Him, will understand more and more of God’s (“His”) calling (Eph 1:18), God’s (“His”) inheritance (Eph 1:18) and God’s (“His”) power (Eph 1:19).

The apostle could pray this prayer for the Ephesians, because they had the right mind. He had heard about their faith in the Lord Jesus and that they love all the saints. You might think: ‘What’s so special about their faith in the Lord Jesus? Isn’t that normal that believers do that?’ You are right, but it is important to notice that “faith in the Lord Jesus” characterized their whole attitude.

To them faith was not only a matter of being saved from hell. Recently somebody said to me: ‘Of course I believe, for who would choose to go to hell?’ That was somebody who was seriously deviated from the Lord and in whose daily life there was no contact anymore with the Lord. That was not the case with the Ephesians. Faith meant to them: confidently living from faith and putting it into effect in all aspects of their life. In our days ‘faith’ is too much secondary. It is treated as certainly important, but not the main thing and not all pervasive.

If, in your case, the Lord Jesus is the all determining Object of your faith, then you will also love your fellow believers. The one results from the other. There is no better proof of a living faith in the Lord Jesus than practical love that goes out to the saints.

Eph 1:16. From the moment Paul heard that from the Ephesians, he started to thank God for them. Is that also familiar to you? To thank God for the believers in whom you see that the Lord Jesus means everything to them and that they also commit themselves for their fellow believers? Paul doesn’t stop at thanksgiving, he adds intercession.

Eph 1:17. The apostle turns to “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ”. In chapter 3 his second prayer is written. There he turns to “the Father” of our Lord Jesus Christ (Eph 3:14). There it is about the Lord Jesus as the Son of the Father, about the love of the Lord Jesus and about the fact that He dwells in our hearts. Here it is about the counsels of God and how we received a place in these counsels.

In the explanation of Eph 1:3, where both names ‘God’ and ‘Father’ are being mentioned, I already pointed to the difference between them. When God is called ‘the God of the Lord Jesus’ we see the Lord Jesus as Man. Because He Himself is Man, the Lord Jesus can share the blessings that He has received from God, with man. You and I could only be related to Him if He became Man. In this prayer, the issue is about the Lord Jesus as Man, and you can also derive from this, the fact that we read about His resurrection from the dead (Eph 1:20). As Man He could die, as God the Son He of course could not.

So Paul is praying to the God of the Lord Jesus, of the Man Jesus Christ Who is the center of all the counsels of God. God has never made any decision toward any man or any case, in heaven or on earth without the Lord Jesus being the center. We shall see this more clearly in the following verses.

If we want to understand how God has made us partakers of His calling and of His inheritance, we should especially look at His power as it has become visible in raising the Lord Jesus. It is that power that was put into effect in us. What God did with the Lord Jesus, He also did with us.

Paul also calls that God “the Father of glory”. That means that He is the source of glory and that it came from Him, He is the Distributer of it. To get a good perception of the glory of God’s counsels, Paul asks the Father of glory to “give the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him”.

Imagine: God has unfolded the most profound thoughts in His Word. We could, for instance, learn them by heart. But what would be the use of it if He wouldn’t give us the ability, the capacity to understand those things? We then would not even be able to ever thank and glorify Him for that. And after all, God is all about us getting there: to the praise of His glory.

That purpose will not be achieved by giving us an intellect to get to know God intellectually. To know and understand Him is only possible through “the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him”. In general terms you may say that God has provided every believer with all wisdom and understanding (Eph 1:8). Yet, learning to know and enjoy God’s counsels consciously is quite different. To do that you not only need to possess wisdom, but you also need the ‘spirit of wisdom’; that makes you desire to spiritually intrude in getting to know Who God is. True wisdom is learning to know God in order to let this knowledge penetrate your whole life. He, who knows Him, also knows His counsels.

Yet that is certainly not everything. We also shall have to be aware that to know God not only depends on our own efforts, but that it also depends on the revelation He gives of Himself. Here the desire of the believer and the work of God go hand in hand. If we desire to know much of God, it will not come naturally. And if we may know much of God, we can never boast on our own efforts.

When we get to learn to know more about the truth of God, there is a great risk that we forget that to understand that spiritually, we have to be and remain dependent on Him. The danger is greater the more we have good intelligence and can remember well. It is important to keep in mind: what we know, we know because He has revealed it to us.

Furthermore, it is not insignificant to understand that Paul does not pray for the knowledge of truths or dogmas. It is not about getting to know the truths, doctrines and teachings, but about the ‘full knowledge’, as it literally says, of God. If we may get to know the hope, the riches and the power of what has been given to us, then we should always relate that to Him Who is the origin of it.

You may read this explanation and receive a good overview of what God shows us of His counsels, but it doesn’t make you to know God as He wants to be known. I would love to join Paul and pray that God will give you and me “the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him”.

Now read Ephesians 1:15-17 again.

Reflection: Thank and pray for yourself and for the believers you know after the example of Paul here.