KNOWING GOD
Ephesians 1:15-23
1. (15-16) Paul’s statement of prayer and declaration of thanksgiving.
Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do no cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers:
When Paul hears of the faith and love of the Ephesians, he can nothing else but to give thanks for them, because their faith and love is evidence of their participation in this great work of God.
Jesus said in Matthew 5:14-16, “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bushel. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
It says in James 2:17-20, “In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that – and tremble.
You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?”
Significantly, Paul gives thanks not for their love for God, but for the love for all saints. The real evidence of God’s work in us is not our claimed love for Him, but our observable love for His people. (1 John 4:8, 11-12 and John 13:34-35)
“Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” “Dear friends, since God loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”
John 13:34-35 says, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
So God’s work in our lives is evidenced by our love for one another.
This is what marks the Christian’s life. Colossians 3:12-14 says, “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”
Do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: Paul did not only give thanks for God’s work among the Ephesians; he also prayed that it would continue with greater strength, as the prayer in Ephesians 1:17-23 makes clear.
2. (17) Paul prays that they would know God.
That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,
Paul prays that the Father would grant the Ephesians the spirit of wisdom and that He would give them revelation.
In Colossians 1:9 Paul prays a similar prayer. “For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.”
Psalm 111:10 say, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”
James 1:5-6 says, “If any on you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.”
In the knowledge of Him:
Our Christian life must be centered on His purpose – to know God as He is in truth, as revealed by His Word. THE BIBLE is the revelation of God. He reveals who He is through his Word.
JUST BECAUSE YOU MIGHT BE BETTER INFORMED IN RESPECT TO WHOM GOD IS DOESN’T MEAN THAT YOU KNOW HIM ANY BETTER. In that respect my prayer is that we would each come away knowing Him better.
There’s a difference between knowing about someone and knowing that person personally. It’s one thing to have the facts in your head about who God is. It’s another thing all together to know God, or for the Christian: to know Him all more fully. This is what Dr Grey Allison calls mouth professors but not heart possessors. As it says in Jude 4, “They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.”
Vs 17-19, “But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own godly desires.” These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.”
Also in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 it says, “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self control, brutal not lover of good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lover of God – having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.”
Jesus said in Matthew 24:12, “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the en will come.” What will keep you from all this is knowing Him intimately and studying His Word.
The Bible tells us that all people, everywhere, an in every age have known about God and yet only a few have known God or rather have had a relationship with Him.
Knowing God or having a relationship with God is what we were created for. The person who “knows” God has a relationship with Him.
Jesus is the way to knowing God and having a relationship with Him.
In the book of John, Jesus tells his disciples that they know the Father because they know him. A relationship with Jesus means a person has a relationship with God the Father because Jesus and God are One. In John 14:9 Jesus says “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.” In John 17:3 Jesus says, “And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” A relationship with God is only through a relationship with Jesus Christ. John 14:6 says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Acts 4:12 says, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
A famous writer named Alexander Pope wrote, “Know then thyself, presume not God to scan; the proper study of mankind is man.” Charles Spurgeon responded to this famous statement: “It has been said by someone that ‘the proper study of mankind is man.’ I will not oppose the idea, but I believe it is equally true that the proper study of God’s elect is God; the proper study of a Christian is the Godhead. The highest science, the loftiest speculation, the mightiest philosophy which can ever engage the attention of a child of God, is the name, the nature, the person, the work, the doings, and the existence of the great God whom he calls his Father.”
3. (18-19a) Paul prays that they would understand all that God has given them in Jesus Christ.
The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe,
If the Ephesians will know all God has given them in Jesus, it will take a supernatural work; it will require that God enlighten the eyes of their understanding. In 2 Kings 6:15-17 we read, “When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots that surrounded the city. “Oh, my lord, what shall we do?” the servant asked. “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes so he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servants eyes, and he looked and the hills were full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.”
1 John 4:4 says, “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”
Paul uses a great expression when he speaks of the eyes of your heart (heart is more literal than understanding). Too many Christian hearts have no eyes (places where they gain real knowledge and understanding), and too many Christian eyes have no heart – God wants both to be combined in us. We sing the chorus “Open the eyes of my heart Lord, open the eyes of my heart, I want to see you, I want to see you. To see you high and lifted up, shining in the light of your glory, pour out your power and love as we sing Holy, holy, holy, I want to see you.
A. Paul wants them to know the hope of his calling. Few things give us a more secure, enduring hope in life than simply knowing that God has called us and has a specific calling for us to fulfill. You were called to one hope when you were called.
Colossians 1:27 tells us, “To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
Titus 2:13 says, “While we wait for the blessed hope – the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.”
B. Paul wants them to know the riches of the glory of His (God’s) inheritance in the saints. We usually think of our inheritance in God, but Paul wants the Ephesians to understand that they are so precious to God that He considers them His own inheritance.
The fact that God has called us to be His people through faith in Jesus Christ is the greatest. It says in Hebrews 12:2, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith…”
Heaven is ultimate consummation of that faith. Revelation 21:1-5 says, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down from Heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write these down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
When we all get to Heaven what a day of rejoicing that will be. When we all se Jesus we’ll shout and sing the victory.
C. Paul wants them to know how great the power of God is toward us who believe. Christians should know they serve and love a God of living power who shows His strength on behalf of His people.
4. (19b-21) A description of the great power of God that Paul wants the Ephesians to know.
According to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.
According to the working of His mighty power: the power that works in us is the mighty power that raised Jesus from the dead. There never needs to be a “power shortage” in the Christian life.
Ephesians 2:6-7 says, “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus. In order that in the coming he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.”
Romans 8:11 says, “And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.”
“If the death of Christ is the supreme demonstration of the love of God…the resurrection of Christ is the supreme demonstration of his power.” (Bruce)
And seated Him at His right hand: It is the mighty power that raised Jesus to heaven after His resurrection, raising Him above all demonic foes and every potential enemy of all time – this same power is at work in Christians.
The Spirit equips us to be His witnesses. Acts 1:8 Jesus said, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit is come on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
In Acts 4:31 it says, “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.”
5. (22-23) Where this great power has placed Jesus.
And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
A. He put all things under His feet: This great resurrection power has placed Jesus above all things. Now all things are under His feet. It has placed Jesus as the head over all things, including the church. Paul establishes the supremacy of Christ. Colossians 1:15-18 says, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created; things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.”
B. The church, which is His body: If Jesus is the head, then the community of Christians make up His body. The idea of the fullness of Him here is probably connected to the manner in which Jesus fills His church with His presence and blessings.
Ephesians 5:30 says, “For we are members of his body.”
And as members of His bodies we have different functions. And these are for the edifying of the body of Christ. Ephesians 4:11-17
