Knowledge In Christ
Text: Eph. 1:15-23
Introduction
1. Illustration: A sailor once took a group of young people boating for the day. One young man bragged the whole way about all he knew about the sea. Every time the sailor began to give instructions this young man would interrupt with his supposed knowledge. After some time a squall blew up. The sailor began to hand out lifejackets. “Where’s mine?” cried the know-it-all. “Don’t worry son,” replied the old sailor. “You don’t need a life jacket. With a head as full of hot air as yours you will float forever!”
2. The prophet Hosea tells us, Hosea 4:6 (NIV)
"my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. "Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you..."
3. Paul, being a pastor at heart, prays for his people to have knowledge. He prays that they have:
a. Knowledge of Hope
b. Knowledge of Power
c. Knowledge of Authority
Propostion: We need to come to a knowledge of who we are and what we have in Christ.
Transition: We need to come to a...
I. Knowledge of Hope (15-18)
A. Spiritual Wisdom
1. After describing the glorious blessings given to believers (1:3-14), thoughts of the great promises of God led Paul to give praise and to pray for the church—the people chosen to receive those blessings (Life Application New Testament Commentary).
2. He says that he is thankful to the Lord for their "Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for God’s people everywhere..."
a. Paul was thankful because he had received encouraging reports about them concerning two important aspects of the Christian life.
b. He uses the expression, faith in the Lord Jesus, because Christ is the aim and object of faith (Calvin’s Commentaries).
c. That is the reason that faith is so powerful, because its object is so powerful.
d. Faith means "to have confidence; to have assurance; to have reliance; to have conviction.
e. Faith also means both to believe and to be faithful to the belief (Practical Word Studies in The New Testament).
f. So Paul is saying that he is thankful for their trust, confidence, and conviction about Jesus as Lord, and because they had remained faithful to that belief.
3. The proof of their faith is their "love for God’s people everywhere..."
a. Faith and love always seem to go hand in hand.
b. Jesus said if you love me you will keep my commandments, and He also said, "I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other."
c. You cannot say that you have faith and not have love for other Christians. That would be a contradiction in terms.
d. Likewise, you cannot say you love and not have faith because if it wasn’t for Jesus we wouldn’t know anything about love.
e. It is no accident that they often appear together in Scripture for faith and love are foundational principles for all Christians.
4. It was for these reasons that Paul tells them "I have not stopped thanking God for you."
a. Can you imagine someone saying to you, "I have not stopped thanking God for you?"
b. What an encouraging thing that would be for us.
c. Paul was thankful to God for what He was doing in the lives of these fellow believers.
5. Paul adds that because of his thankfulness he never stops praying for them. His prayer is that God would "give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God."
a. The intent of Paul’s prayer is clear: that people will receive revelation to know what they have in Christ (Snodgrass, NIV Application Commentary, New Testament: Ephesians, 72).
b. Throughout this letter Paul makes constant reference to "spiritual" things, and the wisdom that he is praying for here is "spiritual wisdom."
c. It is not worldly wisdom, but it is spiritual wisdom with a spiritual purpose, specifically to know God better.
d. Spiritual wisdom and insight can only come from the Holy Spirit (Bruce, NICNT, 269).
e. He gives us wisdom and insight so that we can see things from God’s perspective.
6. Paul adds, "I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance."
a. For the Jew, the heart was the core of personality, the total inner person, the center of thought and moral judgment.
b. The imagery of hearts flooded with light pictures an ability to see the reality of our wonderful future. (Life Application New Testament Commentary).
c. In other words, the apostle prays the lights will go on inside people so that they know God and understand the benefit of the gospel.
d. That we would know the confident hope that we have. In the NT the word hope never indicates a vague or a fearful anticipation, but always the expectation of something good (NIDNTT).
e. An essential characteristic of Christianity is its tilt toward the future, and Paul desires his readers to have a sense of what God’s present call means for their future (Snodgrass, 74).
f. We expect a wonderful future.
g. We expect a glorious inheritance.
h. We expect abundant life here and now.
B. Understanding Our Hope
1. Illustration: A couple from north Oklahoma decided to go to Florida for a long weekend to thaw out during one particularly icy winter.
Because they both had jobs, they had difficulty coordinating their travel schedules. It was decided that the husband would fly to Florida on Thursday, and his wife would follow the next day.
Upon arriving as planned, the husband checked into the motel. He decided to open his laptop and send his wife an e-mail back home. However, he accidentally left off one letter in her address, and sent the e-mail without realizing the error.
In Houston, a widow had just returned from her husband’s funeral. He was a pastor of many years who had been called home to glory. The widow checked her e-mail, expecting messages from relatives and friends. Upon reading the first message, she fainted and fell to the floor.
The widow’s son rushed into the room, found his mother on the floor, and saw the computer screen which read:
TO: My loving wife
FROM: Your departed husband
SUBJECT: I’ve arrived!
MESSAGE: I’ve just arrived and have been checked in. I see that everything has been prepared for your arrival tomorrow. I am looking forward to seeing you then! Hope your journey is as uneventful as mine was.
P.S. Sure is hot down here.
2. As Christians, we have a confident hope.
a. Hope that God will provide for us here.
b. Hope that God will sustain us here.
c. Hope that He has prepaid a great and glorious future in a place much better than here.
3. As Christians, we have assurance of hope.
a. Our faith assures our hope.
b. God’s word assures our hope.
c. Romans 15:4 (NLT) Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled.
d. Our relationship with the Lord assures our hope.
4. As Christians, we have an advocate that gives us knowledge of that hope.
a. The Holy Spirit tells us that we are in Christ.
b. The Holy Spirit tells us about are present in Christ.
c. The Holy Spirit tells us about our future in Christ.
5. As Christians, we possess the one thing the world desires the most, but can’t obtain - hope.
a. They can’t buy it.
b. They can’t steal it.
c. They can’t earn it.
d. Hope for the present
e. Hope for the future
Transition: Another thing that we receive because we are in Christ is a...
II. Knowledge of Power (19-20)
A. Understand the Incredible Greatness
1. The next thing that Paul tells the Ephesians is "I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him."
a. With the mention of power, Paul makes explicit a subject that has been implicit from the first and is central to the letter.
b. In fact, statistically Ephesians focuses on words for power more than any other New Testament letter (Snodgrass, 74).
c. Ephesians 3:20 (NLT)
Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.
2. Paul’s desire is that they know the power of God.
a. God is on their side, ready to help them meet each and every obstacle.
b. God’s power is never stagnant or out of commission—it is always actively working on their behalf.
c. God is always fighting against the forces of evil on believers’ behalf.
d. No human strength or spiritual power from the evil world (not even Satan himself) can deter or change God’s inherent power (Life Application New Testament Commentary).
3. Paul also wanted them to know that this power is available to them.
a. The focus on God’s power here is not on God’s inherent power or on some cosmic display of force. Rather, it is on God’s life-giving power as it is specifically available for believers(Snodgrass, 75).
b. He wanted them to know that they were not inferior or second class citizens, but that they were a mighty army of the living God.
c. He wanted them to know that Jesus gave His church the power to overcome.
d. Romans 8:37 (NIV)
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
4. He wanted them to know that this was no ordinary power, but that it "is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms."
a. 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, 271).
b. It is so powerful that the grave cannot hold it.
c. It is so powerful that decay cannot corrode it.
d. It is so powerful that death cannot end it.
5. Not only did this power raise Christ from the dead but it seated Him in the place of honor.
a. The position to a ruler’s right was a position of great honor and authority; to be seated at God’s right hand was to be enthroned as ruler of the cosmos (Bible Background Commentary - The IVP Bible Background Commentary – New Testament).
b. Paul’s point was that there was no power in the universe that could compare to the power of Christ.
c. There was no force that could overcome Him.
d. There was no circumstance that could surprise Him.
e. There was no enemy who could de-throne Him.
B. Knowing God’s Power
1. Illustration: There are three kinds of Christians:
(1) Row-boat Christians—struggling in their own power; stop to rest for a while, only to find that the current has taken them back where they started.
(2) Sail-boat Christians—let the wind do all the work; enjoy the high moments, But what happens when the doldrums come?
(3) Steam powered Christians—take the water of the Word and combine it with the fire of the Holy Spirit and there is constant power no matter what the conditions!
2. We need to realize the power of God.
a. Philippians 3:10 (NIV)
I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection...
b. We need to realize that His power is greater than our problems.
c. We need to realize that His power is greater than our circumstances.
d. We need to realize that His power is greater than our fears.
e. We need to realize that His power is greater than our hurts.
3. We need to tap into the power of God.
a. The light doesn’t come on until we flip the switch.
b. The power doesn’t work until we plug it into the outlet.
c. There is no power until we tap into the source.
d. Acts 1:8 (NLT)
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.
e. God’s power source is the Holy Spirit, and the outlet of the power is the baptism in the Holy Spirit.
Transition: Do you know the power of God?
III. Knowlege of Authority (21-23)
A. Far Above
1. Paul moves from Christ’s power to His authority. He says "Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come."
a. Notice that he says that Jesus is "far above" any other power. Not only above, but far above.
b. Also notice the stacking of terms: ruler, authority, power, leader, and then "anything else." These stacking of terms indicate that Christ’s victory over them is total.
c. Paul in essence is saying that they are not even in the same ballpark as Christ.
d. Furthermore, Paul says not only here and now, but through all eternity.
2. He goes on to say, "God has put all things under the authority of Christ..."
a. The word "authority" means to bring something under the firm control of someone (Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Symantic Domains).
b. That means that God has placed everything under the firm control of Christ.
c. That means demonic forces, disease, weather, governments, and anything else you can think of are under His control.
3. Now notice why God has done this: He "has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church."
a. He did it for the benefit of the church.
b. No other letter is so specifically focused on the theology of the church as Ephesians, and no other letter expresses such a high regard for the church.
c. Whereas Paul’s other letters normally use "church" to refer to an individual congregation, all occurrences in Ephesians are universal in scope (Snodgrass, 78).
d. This is why Jesus can say in Mark 16:17-18 (NIV) "And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well."
e. He can say we can do these things because He has authority over all these things, and now He has given us authority over all these things.
4. However, we cannot miss what Paul says in verse 23: "And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself."
a. The church is not an institution but an organism. It exists and functions only by reason of its vital relationship with the risen Lord who is its Head (Expositor’s Bible Commentary, The, Pradis CD-ROM).
b. We do not have authority in and of ourselves, but only as long as we stay connected the head which is Christ.
c. If at anytime or for any reason we distance ourselves from Christ then they forfeit our authority.
d. That’s the reason it is so important to maintain a right relationship with Christ.
B. Authority of Christ
1. Illustration: We all feel like a nobody sometimes, and some of us feel like a nobody all the time. Some time ago a new employee at a Wal-Mart had an unusual experience. The young man had just been at work three days and was the low man in the pecking order at the store. He was standing with a broom in his hand near the entrance when an irate customer came into the store. The customer had made a purchase that had not turned out satisfactorily and was coming back with a complaint.
“Young man,” the customer growled, “I want to speak to someone with a little authority around here.”
The new clerk looked around to the left and right and leaning on his broom said, “Well, sir, you might as well talk to me, I guess I got just about as little authority as anybody in this whole place.”
2. We need to realize that we have authority in Christ.
a. We have authority over spiritual forces.
b. We have authority over physical problems.
c. We have authority over circumstances.
d. We have authority over problems.
3. We need to take the authority we have in Jesus name.
a. It is time to stop running and start fighting.
b. It is time to stop losing and start winning.
c. It is time stop settling and start expecting.
4. However, we need to come to grips with the fact that our authority is wrapped up in our relationship to Christ.
a. John 15:5 (NLT)
“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.
b. Our authority is only because we are in Christ.
c. Our authority is because of Christ.
d. We must make sure that we stay connected to the vine.
Transition: Our authority is in the name of Jesus!
Conclusion
1. Our knowledge in Christ involves:
a. Hope
b. Power
c. Authority
2. What do you need a greater knowledge of today?
3. What do you want from God?
