Ephesians 3
We are still in the first chapter of this letter to the Ephesians and we are going to think today of the first of two prayers which there are in the letter. In the earlier part of this chapter you will remember that Paul has been speaking of all the blessings God has for us in Christ Jesus. Now, in verse 15, he starts to pray for them. Because of the promised blessings and because he has heard of their faith, he says, “I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.” He is continually praying for them. I wonder whether we pray for each other in the same way? But what does he pray? What does he want god to do for them? If you read the prayer carefully you will see that Paul is praying that they will have a real experimental knowledge of the Lord. He wants all the blessings he has been speaking of to be made thoroughly real in them.
Paul is speaking of knowing. There are several kinds of knowledge. There is knowing with our minds, understanding things. We call this intellectual knowledge. There is practical knowledge, knowing how to do things. There is also experimental knowledge. This refers to things we know by experience; we live in them; they become part of us. This is the way we know a person. It is by living with them, seeing and experiencing how they act and how they react in different circumstances. Paul says clearly that we are to know Christ in this way. In John’s Gospel chapter 17, at the beginning of his prayer in the upper room, Jesus says that eternal life is knowing God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent. That is what it means to be a Christian. It means to know him with our minds, with our hearts and in our real experience of his presence with us.
Paul says also that this knowledge comes to us by revelation. It is not just learning truth with our minds, nor is it just believing a creed, it is having Christ revealed in our hearts. It is that deep inner part of being enlightened, lit up by God. You see, we do not really know each other except by revelation, do we? None of us really knows what the other is like unless we reveal ourselves. Sometimes we do it by what we say, sometimes by the attitudes we show, and sometimes by just sharing with each other what we are like and how we feel.
God has revealed himself to us so that we may know Him. In the Bible, his word, He speaks to us and has revealed Himself to us in the Lord Jesus. He also speaks by his Spirit within our hearts. He reveals the awfulness of sin and the awfulness of our own sin. He reveals his great love in giving his only begotten Son to die for us and bear away our sin. When we put our faith in Him as our Saviour, his holy spirit speaks to us within and gives us the assurance that our sins are forgiven and we are his children. It is a delightful thing that we can know the lord Jesus in this way.
Paul goes on to tell us three things we can know concerning God.. They are the hope of his calling, the riches of his inheritance and the greatness of his power. The first things we are to know then is, “The hope of his calling”, or we could say “the hope to which He has called us.” This is God’s calling, not just something we have planned for ourselves. So much more is included in it than being called to forgiveness or called to be his children. God calls us and beckons us on to holiness, to be like Him, to be pure in heart, to be filled with his fullness. He has also called us to serve Him, to be witnesses to what He has done for us, wherever we may be. Finally He has called us to be with Him one day in all his glory. Read what john says in his first letter chapter 3 verse 2: “Beloved we are God’s children now. It does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when He appears we shall be like Him for we shall see him as He is”, and John adds, “everyone that has this hope in him, purifies himself as He is pure”.
The second thing they are to know is “the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.” Notice that it is His inheritance in the saints. God has something that He wants from us. He gave his only son for us; we are his joy. He therefore expects something in return from us. He wants our love. He wants us to love him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. He wants us to praise him. He wants us to lift our hearts in worship to him whatever the circumstances. In Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 15 we are exhorted to continually offer up our sacrifice of praise to God. Then He wants all there is of us and all we possess to serve Him, so that by all we say and do, we make take the good news of God’s saving grace to others.
The third thing Paul wants the Ephesians believers and us to know is the exceeding or immeasurable greatness of God’s power in or towards those who believe. Notice that his power is in our direction; it is toward or for us. We who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ are the ones who can share it. Then he tells us what the dimension or measure of this power is. The measure that he gives us is that of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. The power, Paul says, is that which God used to raise Jesus from the dead and make Him sit at his right hand far above all rule and authority, power and dominion. This is the power He wants us to know.
What does Paul means by all this? Does he mean we are to be lifted out of this world, above it all? Does he mean that we will continually be able to perform miracles? No, I do not think so. He is saying rather that this power is to enable us to live in fellowship with our Lord so that we may be able to face life and cope with it. We may live in victory in all temptation, trial and stress, and may know fellowship with the Lord through them all. Notice again that this power is for those who believe. It is not just one act of faith, but the power flows as we constantly believe and open ourselves to the Lord.
So this is what Paul prays for the Ephesian believers and what a prayer it is! If he were here today, he would pray just the same for us. May the Lord help us to know in our hearts and lives all that Paul prayed for the Ephesians.