“Pray that I get it”

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,  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 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  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.

-        Ephesians 115-23 - ESV

Do you remember the last time that you were given detailed instructions only to find yourself lost by the time you were half-way through the presentation?  This could have been when you started a new job, asked someone for directions, bought a new phone, or were trying to learn how to use Excel.   It happens often in life, and most of the time we settle for never fully understanding what we needed to know.  We simply didn't “get it”. 

This could be the reason Paul moves immediately to prayer following his doctrinally rich doxology in verses 3 through 14, which contain crucial doctrine essential for the spiritual well-being of every Believer. So important, that Paul moves immediately to prayer asking ^“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”.  Paul’s prayer is that the through the work of the Holy Spirit, the Father would give wisdom and a clear knowledge that is rooted in the heart – he wants us to really “get it”.  Simply put, Paul is asking for spiritual eyesight - “Having the eyes of your hearts enlightened”.

So what does this spiritual eyesight involve?  First, it looks to the past with a true understanding of God’s call – “that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you”.  Paul is clearly praying that the Ephesians would understand the blessing that they have in being chosen by God in eternity past.  John Stott puts it this way, “He called us to Christ and Holiness, to freedom and peace, to suffering and glory.  More simply it was a call to an altogether new life in which we know, love, obey and serve Christ, enjoy fellowship with him and with each other, and look beyond our suffering to the glory that will one day be revealed”.

Second, Paul’s prayer includes a request for spiritual eyesight looking into the future or, “What are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints”.  Remember the best is yet to come when all things on heaven and on earth are made new and united in Christ.  Again form John Stott, “God’s inheritance will not be a little private party for each individual but rather “among the saints” as we join the “great multitude which no man could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb”  That is good news!

Third, Paul prays for spiritual eyesight for the present when he asks that they know “the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might”.  This is what enables the Believer to have a genuine hope . . . it is the power behind the hope, literally “the energy of the might of his strength”.   So how can we know this power?  Paul gives three examples.  1) God’s power is shown in the resurrection of Christ.  God has done what no human being can do: conquer death.  That is to take a rotting, decomposing corpse, and restore it to life.  2) God’s power is evidenced when He seated Christ at His right hand in heaven and put all things under Christ feet. That is to say, God placed Christ in the place of supreme honor and executive authority. In doing so He fulfilled Psalm 110:1. “The Lord says to my Lord: Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” This also takes us back to Genesis 1:26 where God gave Adam “dominion” over all the earth.  This time someone was put in charge who would not mess it up! 3) God’s power is seen in His divine appointment of Christ as the head of the Church. In making Christ the head of the church, God not only gave Christ ownership and authority of it, but it is through Christ that Church has life.  He sustains it with “The fullness of Him who fills all in all”

This is a prayer for a deep understanding of the Gospel.  When “the eyes of your hearts [are] enlightened” so that the Believer understands that they were loved in eternity past and will be loved through eternity future and because the Triune God loves us, we will not just be sustained or kept by His power, but are being transformed day by day, little by little!  “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:3-4).

Father, grant me the grace to have the wisdom and clear knowledge to get it . . . really get it! 

A Guaranteed Inheritance

In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:11-14 – ESV).

It has been many years since I slept in a tent.  If my memory is correct, my last tent adventure was on my sister and brother-in-law’s farm in Whitwell, Tennessee when my son and his two cousins decided to camp out down by the pond.  Camping however, was a big part of my childhood as we regularly went on scenic and adventurous camping safaris on the Serengeti Plains, by the beach in Mombasa, and at the foot of Mt. Kilimanjaro.  Trust me, we had some crazy adventures that involved everything from flesh eating army ants (siafu), to elephants, to intense rain storms that come with the start of the rainy season. Part of the reason these trips were so fun was because our tent was not our permanent residence.  Despite how crazy it got, we could always go home.  And more than once we were forced to do so.

Sadly, there are many in our world who are homeless and consider themselves fortunate if they even have a tent to live in.  The circumstances of life have resulted in the loss of job, home and family.  They literally have no place to go.  Though they desire a home where there is warmth, protection from the elements, and a comfortable bed to sleep in, for many, it is only a dream.  The difference between their camping and mine is that I always had the promise of a warm dry bed to go home too.

In 2 Corinthians 5 the Apostle Paul compares our human bodies to a tent as we long for the “building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (v.2).  This is the inheritance that Paul speaks of here in Ephesians.  It is one that comes through faith in Jesus Christ. We who are God’s inheritance look forward to the day when we will receive our own inheritance.  That is our hope!

Unfortunately, we tend to be a hopeless bunch of people, as we get distracted by the ups and downs of life and therefore have a tendency to doubt God’s promises, looking to this inheritance as if it were the lottery. However when Scripture speaks of hope it is based on a reality rooted in God’s sovereignty.  Despite the fact that we are “prone to wander” and prone to doubt, Paul encourages the Believer by reminding us that God the Holy Spirit lives in every Believer and has been given to us as both a seal and a guarantee of the promised inheritance – “whom you were sealed for the day of redemption”(Ephesians 4:30).  In addition the Holy Spirit “bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Romans 8:16).  

In being a guarantee of our future inheritance, the Holy Spirit is the deposit, down payment, or earnest money where God has made a binding contract that His promises are true.  Notice how Paul bring this together in 2 Corinthians 2:21-22, “And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed s, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee”.  Now that is a promise you can count on, one you can have a genuine hope in!

So if this camping trip we call life is not going well for you, or just a little too adventurous for your liking, remember that the God of all grace who called you, will get you home!  That is guaranteed! 

Losing Perspective

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth” -  (Ephesians 1:7-10).

Somewhere on the African Plains - Where's the road?

Growing up on the periphery of the great Serengeti Plains was a fantastic privilege.  If only I had my I-phone!  Well, on second thought, I am glad I didn't have one because I have noticed a growing reliance on the thing.  Not only am I obsessed with staying in constant communication with far too many people, but I am increasingly becoming more reliant on Siri’s voice in my ear bud to tell me how to get places! 

Most of you may not see any problem with that, but too me it is a big deal.  To understand, why let me take you back to my childhood in Tanzania.  First, understand that in those days there were many times that the roads we traveled were nothing more than tire tracks across the Savannah, and at times even they would disappear.  A game my father would play with me was once out in the middle of nowhere, he ask if I could find my way home. He was amused by my uncanny ability to get back to where we needed to be without the help of a map, compass or even an I-phone.

Truth be told, I have always had decent directionality, but the key to my success was that my father taught me to be aware of my surroundings.  Therefore when you head out into the bush it was essential to be are aware of hills, trees, etc., so they can be used as points of reference to get yourself back. 

To this day I use landmarks to remember where I am to the point that I often can’t tell you the names of the roads.  But sadly, I am concerned I am starting to lose that skill.  Yes, it may be the aging process, but I think it is because I get caught up in my thoughts and simply trust the voice in my ear bud to tell me where to go.  The problem comes when Siri loses that essential GPS signal and all of sudden you have to figure out where you are! When you haven’t been paying attention and don’t carry one of those old fashioned paper maps, that’s a problem!

I have found that many of us live our spiritual lives in the same fashion.  We get so caught in the present that when even a minor glitch occurs it is tremendously disruptive.  No, this not the fault of all of our gadgets, but has been a problem since the Fall when sin polluted our lives and consequentially we gained a tendency toward self-absorption.  The more into ourselves we become, the less we are aware of our surroundings and specifically for Believers the more we miss that God is doing something glorious.  As a result we often feel spiritually lost, not know where we are, or what to do.   We lose perspective.

However, the God of all grace who has forgiven His children of the all their trespasses, also promises grace to help us see the picture when all is lost.  In fact, He lavishes us with wisdom and insight into what He is about.  On the micro level that is an awareness of our sin, and His wealth of grace that covers every sin, past, present, and future.  He has always loved us and always will!  On the macro level it is that He has a plan that is being worked out right now for “the fullness of time”.  Pause and think about that for a minute.  God loved His children “before the foundations of the world” and has a plan that takes them through the “the fullness of time”.  That is incredible!

This “fullness of time” began when Christ came to earth (Galatians 4:4), where He began a glorious re-creation process of taking us back to a big and better garden where there is a uniting or reconciling of all things in Christ.  The new heavens and the new earth will be free of the consequences of a fallen world.  In fact, ““For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now” (Romans 8:22).

Here is my point.  As you look around please understand that if you are a Believer in Jesus Christ you are not lost!  He has you in His hands, and as we will see in the next blog, He has given you something far superior to an I-phone to get you home!  If you are looking around and are concerned that our world or our country is lost, please know that King Jesus reigns over all things and His kingdom is expanding right now!  Nothing can stop it!    

You are not lost, and all is not lost!  Now that is good news!