Tuesday
Tuesday
Knowing God’s Power
I pray … that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know … his incomparably great power for us who believe … like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead.
Ephesians 1:18–20
Ephesians 1 is divided into two parts. In part one Paul blesses God for blessing us in Christ. In part two he prays that God will open our eyes to see the fullness of this blessing. It is very important to keep praise and prayer together. Some Christians do little but pray for fresh blessings, oblivious to the blessings they have already received. Others emphasize that all spiritual blessings are already theirs in Christ, and they have no appetite for any more. Both positions are unbalanced.
Paul’s prayer is essentially that the Ephesians may know (both in understanding and in experience) the hope of God’s call, the glory of his inheritance, and meanwhile the greatness of his power. It is on God’s power that the apostle concentrates. So certain is he that God’s power is sufficient that he accumulates words, writing of the energy of the might of his strength. And he prays that the Ephesians may know the immeasurable greatness of his power. How might they know it? Because he has given a public demonstration of it in the resurrection, enthronement, and coronation of Christ. This great power, which God exerted in Christ, is now available for us.
The whole thrust of Paul’s prayer is that his readers might have a thorough knowledge of God’s call, inheritance, and power, especially the latter. But how did he expect his prayer to be answered? Firstly, by the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, who is “the Spirit of wisdom and revelation” (v. 17) in our knowledge of Christ. And secondly, by our reflection on the objective revelation of God’s power in the resurrection and exaltation of Jesus. Once again we note Paul’s healthy combination of the objective and the subjective, of revelation and illumination, of history and experience, of Christ and the Holy Spirit.
For further reading: Ephesians 1:15–23