A crowded United flight was canceled. A single agent was rebooking a long line of inconvenienced travelers.
Suddenly an angry passenger pushed his way to the desk. He slapped his ticket down on the counter and said, "I HAVE to be on this flight and it has to be FIRST CLASS."
The agent replied, "I’m sorry sir. I’ll be happy to try to help you, but I’ve got to help these folks first, and I’m sure we’ll be able to work something out."
The passenger was unimpressed. He asked loudly, so that the passengers behind him could hear, "Do you have any idea who I am?"
Without hesitating, the gate agent smiled and grabbed her public address microphone. "May I have your attention please?" she began, her voice bellowing throughout the terminal. "We have a passenger here at the gate WHO DOES NOT KNOW WHO HE IS. If anyone can help him find his identity, please come to the gate."
It is important to know who we are. When we do, we will know what we are entitled. As believers in Jesus Christ there is a vast expanse of entitlements which are not available to those who do not have a personal relationship with Jesus.
The Apostle Paul knew who the believers were in Ephesus. That knowledge produced prayers for their well being and their future which could only be granted to those who believed. He said in Ephesians 1:15, 16 15For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.
It has been four years since Paul was physically in their midst. Now he writes from a prison cell commending them on their faith in Jesus Christ. What is this faith which Paul has heard rested upon them?
Martin Luther said “faith is God’s work in us, that changes us and gives
new birth from God. (John 1:13). It kills the Old Adam and makes us
completely different people. It changes our hearts, our spirits,
our thoughts and all our powers. It brings the Holy Spirit with
it. Yes, it is a living, creative, active and powerful thing, this
faith.
Even away in prison, the faith of the believers in Ephesus is so noteworthy Paul receives messages from others concerning how well they are holding up. He sends them word concerning his knowledge then launches into a prayer for their behalf, a prayer which I pray for you also and in that prayer there is four things Paul prays believers will understand.
Paul prays believers will
1. Understand God. Verse 17, I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.
Em Griffin in the Mind Changers told how a kindergarten teacher asked the class to draw something that was important to them. In the back of the room Johnny began to labor over his drawing. Everybody else finished and handed in their picture but he didn’t. He was still drawing. The teacher graciously walked back and put her arm around Johnny’s shoulders and said, “Johnny, what are you drawing?” He didn’t look up; he just kept on working feverishly at his picture. He said, “God.” “But Johnny,” she said gently, “no one know what God looks like.” He answered, “They will when I’m through.”
I wonder, how many Johnny’s do we have today, who can say when people look at the portrait of my life they will see God in me because I understand who God is.
Paul prayed they would have wisdom and understanding to know God. Charles Swindoll said “Wisdom is the ability to see with discernment, to view life as God perceives it. Understanding is the skill to respond with insight. Knowledge is the rare trait of learning with perception—discovering and growing.”
Paul not only wants us to understand God, secondly he wants us to…
2. Understand God’s Promise
He wrote in verse 18 in the New Living Translation, I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the wonderful future he has promised to those he called. I want you to realize what a rich and glorious inheritance he has given to his people. We touched on the inheritance last week, I like the words rich and glorious. In Paul’s culture, the heart was considered to be the center of knowledge, understanding, thinking and wisdom. Our culture views the heart as the place of emotions and feelings. In the days, the intestines or bowels were considered the emotional, feeling place.
There is nothing wrong with emotions, God gave them to us but understand but to have a reliance on our feelings over wisdom and the knowledge of God’s plan will cause us to distort or miss what God is seeking to accomplish. That is why I am a believer in gaining knowledge, in participating in community groups where you go deeper in the word. Anyone ever been betrayed by their emotions? Emotions change, the truth never changes and Jesus Christ is the truth. So Paul prays we as believers will be enlightened, our hearts will provide us with knowledge, understanding and wisdom so we will know the hope of our calling, the riches of God’s glory which is our inheritance.
When you know the plan of God for your life, you will be less likely to jump ship and head off in another direction. In our day there is too much spiritual drift because people have not locked onto the promise of God, we need knowledge and wisdom to help us overcome, to have the light of God shine in the dark recesses of our lives to direct us in the right pathway of His plan.
Paul prayers that believers will understand God, they will understand God’s promise and in verses 19-20 that they will…
3. Understand God’s Power.
19and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, 20which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms,
An American with an English gentleman was viewing the Niagara whirlpool rapids, when he said to his friend: “Come, and I’ll show you the greatest unused power in the world.” And taking him to the foot of Niagara Falls, “there,” he said, “is the greatest unused power in the world!” “Ah, no my brother, not so!” was the reply. “The greatest unused power in the world is the Holy Spirit of the living God.
Paul’s prayer is one that we will begin to understand the power available to believers in Christ, the same power he points out that raised Christ from the dead.
Paul prays we as believers will understanding the greatness of His power. The Greek word is dynamis, the spiritual and living force of God which is at work in the lives of believers.
Paul points out the power is the working of God’s mighty strength, the word working in Greek used here means energetic power. This is a power that overcomes resistance such as in the working of Christ’s miracles. This power was exerted by God in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and raised him up to be seated at the right hand of the Father in the heavenly realm. It is the same power which is available to believers, to those who are in Christ Jesus. Do you understand the power of God that is available to you? Imagine the possibilities if just those of us in this room truly understood the power and tapped into it, what would happen in our world today as a result? What would happen in our own lives? Paul prays that believers will fully understand and utilize the power of God. Will it be you?
Finally, Paul prayers believers will…
4. Understand Christ’s Position.
Verses 20-23: which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
When you understand Christ’s position, you understand your own. You will never realize who you are in Christ until you understand Christ.
Have you had doubts about God? I think most of us at times have wondered if God could do something in circumstances we are familiar with and our minds have taken us to doubting the possibilities. We have that moment where we pray, “I believe, help now my unbelief.” What helps in moments such as this is to look at what God has done through the life of Jesus Christ.
In these final verses of chapter one, as Paul is praying for believers, his prayer makes it clear Christians have a role, Christ is the head of the church and the church, composed of those who believe He is the Son of God, that He paid the price for our sins, died and rose again on the third day and is now seated at the right hand of the Father in heavenly places making intercession on behalf of the said, are his hands extended to a work which needs to know Him. The church completes Christ. This is quite a responsibility and a practical application for how we should live our life.
There is an illustration of this point which has been told over the years, a legend if you will, which tells how Jesus went back to heaven after his time on earth. Even in heaven he bore upon him the marks of the Cross. The angels were talking to him and Gabriel said: “Master, you must have suffered terribly for men down there.” “I did,” said Jesus. “And,” said Gabriel, “do they all know about how you loved them and what you did for them?” “O no,” said Jesus, “not yet. Just now only a few people in Palestine know.” “What have you done,” said Gabriel, “to let everyone know about it?” Jesus said: “I have asked Peter and James and John and a few others to make it the business of their lives to tell others about me, and the others still others, and yet others, until the farthest man on the widest circle knows what I have done.” Gabriel looked very doubtful, for he knew well what poor stuff men were made of. “Yes,” he said, “but what if Peter and James and John grow tired? What if the people who come after them forget? What if away down in the twentieth century people just don’t tell others about you? Haven’t you made any other plans?” And Jesus answered: “I haven’t made any other plans. I’m counting on them.” To say that the Church is the Body means that Jesus is counting on us.
To understand God’s position is to understand our own. Would you stand with me as I pray this prayer of Paul’s over you today.
15Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for Christians everywhere, 16I have never stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, 17asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. 18I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the wonderful future he has promised to those he called. I want you to realize what a rich and glorious inheritance he has given to his people.[c]
19I pray that you will begin to understand the incredible greatness of his power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power 20that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. 21Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else in this world or in the world to come. 22And God has put all things under the authority of Christ, and he gave him this authority for the benefit of the church. 23And the church is his body; it is filled by Christ, who fills everything everywhere with his presence.
