Eph 1:19-20 | KingComments | STEP | . Paul also asks God to give the Ephesians that “the eyes” of their “heart may be enlightened”. So he doesn’t pray for ‘eyes to enlighten their intellect’. As remarked already, knowing the things of God and to bring them into practice is not merely about our intelligence, but about our mind, our desires. The word ‘heart’, here means the inner man, the place where all the considerations take place. The ‘heart’ is about the emotions and desires: the motives that lead someone in his speaking and acting. Just as the heart as a body part is the center of physical existence, Paul uses the word ‘heart’ here as the center of the spiritual existence. He is now asking God to supply this center with ‘enlightened eyes’. Only then can you look further to what follows and also understand it. If you desire to know what your blessings are, you will also receive spiritual insight for that. The Holy Spirit will meet your desire by instructing you in the things of God and present them in an understandable way for you. You will get to know, sense with your heart, and also enjoy what is meant by God’s calling, God’s inheritance and God’s power. Because that is finally the purpose of his prayer: “So that you will know.” Next he doesn’t ask that the believers would know which wonderful blessings they have received. Then it would be written ‘ our calling’ and ‘ our inheritance’. If we think of our blessings, we often only think of the great privileges that we have received as a result and the great joy we experience from them. Of course that was also why God gave them to us, but this is not what is being presented to us in these verses. Here the issue is that we rise above all the benefits and joys that these blessings bring us . Paul prays that the Ephesians (and we also) get around to it that it all came from God and that it is His purpose that He is being glorified thereby. If you think of it this way, you can better sense how necessary the prayer of Paul is. To look at our blessings in this way, so in relation to the Source, the Father of glory, demands from us that we forget about ourselves. That is quite difficult, but if Paul’s prayer has effect, that will be an enrichment of our spiritual life. And now the essence of Paul’s prayer. He prays that they would know three things. First, “the hope of His calling”, that is actually the calling of God. God has called us. For what? What we have read about in the of this chapter. There it is written that God has chosen us that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love; He has predestined us to adoption as sons to Himself. Because He has called us now, being chosen and our predestination have become a reality. Do you see how wonderful, how great, how overwhelming that calling of His is? From eternity it has been in God’s heart to give this to us, you and me. And when it was His time He called us and made us partakers of it. We shall only know and enjoy the full result of His calling when we are with Him in His glory, in the Father’s house. Hence it says “the hope of His calling”. Don’t you also think that the only right response that we can have is to worship Him for that? The second thing for them to know is “what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints”. Paul wrote about that inheritance in the of this chapter. There you see that we, as heirs, together with Christ will take possession of this inheritance. But the issue here is to see that it is God’s inheritance. That means that God will own everything. He will be praised by the whole creation and every knee shall bow before Him . God will take His inheritance through us, His saints, the believers of the church. You can compare it with how God took possession of Canaan, which He mentions His land ( ). He used His people Israel for this. They took possession of it by expelling all enemies from there so that they as His people could dwell there and He could dwell in their midst. This is what will happen with creation. Christ will rule over it, together with the church. When the ‘saints’ are ruling, God has taken possession of the inheritance. And the saints will reign forever and ever ( ). Then the time will have come that God will be all in all ( ). In the whole creation that there will be then, no more discord will be heard. There will be nothing that is in contradiction with God’s holy and righteous Being. God will fill everything with His glory. How great must be its riches, that wherever we look, we only see the glory of God. Don’t you desire to know more of that now already? . The third thing Paul is praying for is that we shall know “the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe”. Here a new section starts that continues till chapter 2:10. In this section we are told how God could and will give us the blessings in the . How could God give us, who were dead in our trespasses and sins ( ), such wonderful blessings? He could do that only because of the exceeding greatness of His power. And to know how great the power is “toward us who believe”, we should pay attention to what He did to Christ: “He raised Him from the dead” and then He gave Him a place above every imaginable power. There we may see what God did to us ‘who believe’. The first thing we read in this letter about Christ, regarding His life on earth, is that He was dead. About His perfect life on earth we read nothing here. The reason He is presented in this way here is because He thereby took our place. Before God could give us His blessings, it was necessary that Christ would seek us and identify Himself with us in the situation we were in. We were dead because of our trespasses and sins. But He voluntarily went into death, and all that God then did to Christ, He also did to us. That is what chapter 2:1-10 shows us. God could do that because this Man glorified Him perfectly in everything on earth. . “The surpassing greatness of His power” that God showed toward us, He first brought about Christ “when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly [places]”. Here we see God’s power in action with a power that is also active in us. But first Christ is being presented. That is to make clear to us that we will never comprehend anything of our blessings if we do not learn to look upon the Lord and the place He now has as Man , the place at God’s right hand in the heavenly places. Now read Ephesians 1:18-20 again. Reflection: For which things is Paul praying that we should know them?

‏ Ephesians 1:19-20

God’s Calling, Inheritance and Power

Eph 1:18. Paul also asks God to give the Ephesians that “the eyes” of their “heart may be enlightened”. So he doesn’t pray for ‘eyes to enlighten their intellect’. As remarked already, knowing the things of God and to bring them into practice is not merely about our intelligence, but about our mind, our desires.

The word ‘heart’, here means the inner man, the place where all the considerations take place. The ‘heart’ is about the emotions and desires: the motives that lead someone in his speaking and acting. Just as the heart as a body part is the center of physical existence, Paul uses the word ‘heart’ here as the center of the spiritual existence. He is now asking God to supply this center with ‘enlightened eyes’. Only then can you look further to what follows and also understand it.

If you desire to know what your blessings are, you will also receive spiritual insight for that. The Holy Spirit will meet your desire by instructing you in the things of God and present them in an understandable way for you. You will get to know, sense with your heart, and also enjoy what is meant by God’s calling, God’s inheritance and God’s power. Because that is finally the purpose of his prayer: “So that you will know.”

Next he doesn’t ask that the believers would know which wonderful blessings they have received. Then it would be written ‘our calling’ and ‘our inheritance’. If we think of our blessings, we often only think of the great privileges that we have received as a result and the great joy we experience from them. Of course that was also why God gave them to us, but this is not what is being presented to us in these verses. Here the issue is that we rise above all the benefits and joys that these blessings bring us.

Paul prays that the Ephesians (and we also) get around to it that it all came from God and that it is His purpose that He is being glorified thereby. If you think of it this way, you can better sense how necessary the prayer of Paul is. To look at our blessings in this way, so in relation to the Source, the Father of glory, demands from us that we forget about ourselves. That is quite difficult, but if Paul’s prayer has effect, that will be an enrichment of our spiritual life.

And now the essence of Paul’s prayer. He prays that they would know three things. First, “the hope of His calling”, that is actually the calling of God. God has called us. For what? What we have read about in the Eph 1:3-6 of this chapter. There it is written that God has chosen us that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love; He has predestined us to adoption as sons to Himself. Because He has called us now, being chosen and our predestination have become a reality. Do you see how wonderful, how great, how overwhelming that calling of His is? From eternity it has been in God’s heart to give this to us, you and me. And when it was His time He called us and made us partakers of it.

We shall only know and enjoy the full result of His calling when we are with Him in His glory, in the Father’s house. Hence it says “the hope of His calling”. Don’t you also think that the only right response that we can have is to worship Him for that?

The second thing for them to know is “what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints”. Paul wrote about that inheritance in the Eph 1:10-14 of this chapter. There you see that we, as heirs, together with Christ will take possession of this inheritance. But the issue here is to see that it is God’s inheritance. That means that God will own everything. He will be praised by the whole creation and every knee shall bow before Him.

God will take His inheritance through us, His saints, the believers of the church. You can compare it with how God took possession of Canaan, which He mentions His land (Lev 25:23). He used His people Israel for this. They took possession of it by expelling all enemies from there so that they as His people could dwell there and He could dwell in their midst.

This is what will happen with creation. Christ will rule over it, together with the church. When the ‘saints’ are ruling, God has taken possession of the inheritance. And the saints will reign forever and ever (Rev 22:5). Then the time will have come that God will be all in all (1Cor 15:28).

In the whole creation that there will be then, no more discord will be heard. There will be nothing that is in contradiction with God’s holy and righteous Being. God will fill everything with His glory. How great must be its riches, that wherever we look, we only see the glory of God. Don’t you desire to know more of that now already?

Eph 1:19. The third thing Paul is praying for is that we shall know “the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe”. Here a new section starts that continues till chapter 2:10. In this section we are told how God could and will give us the blessings in the Eph 1:3-14.

How could God give us, who were dead in our trespasses and sins (Eph 2:1), such wonderful blessings? He could do that only because of the exceeding greatness of His power. And to know how great the power is “toward us who believe”, we should pay attention to what He did to Christ: “He raised Him from the dead” and then He gave Him a place above every imaginable power. There we may see what God did to us ‘who believe’.

The first thing we read in this letter about Christ, regarding His life on earth, is that He was dead. About His perfect life on earth we read nothing here. The reason He is presented in this way here is because He thereby took our place. Before God could give us His blessings, it was necessary that Christ would seek us and identify Himself with us in the situation we were in. We were dead because of our trespasses and sins. But He voluntarily went into death, and all that God then did to Christ, He also did to us. That is what chapter 2:1-10 shows us. God could do that because this Man glorified Him perfectly in everything on earth.

Eph 1:20. “The surpassing greatness of His power” that God showed toward us, He first brought about Christ “when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly [places]”. Here we see God’s power in action with a power that is also active in us. But first Christ is being presented. That is to make clear to us that we will never comprehend anything of our blessings if we do not learn to look upon the Lord and the place He now has as Man, the place at God’s right hand in the heavenly places.

Now read Ephesians 1:18-20 again.

Reflection: For which things is Paul praying that we should know them?