Three Things

The Apostle Paul prayed an incredible prayer for the Ephesian believers, recorded in his letter to them. He prays that their spiritual eyes will be opened so that they will see three things that will change their lives.

Ephesians 1:18-19

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe.

The first thing is Hope, “that you may know the hope to which he has called you, (Eph 1:18).

Paul wants each of us to have a clearer vision of “the hope God has personally made available to us. Our hope, unique to each individual, has its source in the fact that we were chosen before the creation of the world. God saved us by his grace through faith and has given us the Holy Spirit as a down payment of what is to come. This hope is “the hope of the glory of God.” Living in this troubled world, we each need that hope. Hope is what fights away despair.

C.S. Lewis writes in Mere Christianity

“Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists. A baby feels hunger: well, there is such a thing as food. A duckling wants to swim: well, then; there is such a thing as water. Men feel sexual desire: well, there is such a thing as sex. If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing. If that is so, I must take care, on the one hand, never to despise, or be unthankful for, these earthly blessings, and on the other, never to mistake them for the something else of which they are only a kind of copy, or echo, or mirage. I must keep alive in myself the desire for my true country, which I shall not find till after death; I must never let it get snowed under or turned aside; I must make it the main object of life to press on to that other country and to help others to do the same”

Without hope, we get stuck. Only with the hope of heaven can we navigate the complexities of life with purpose and resilience. Despair is a devastating enemy. This world is broken, and it has always been broken, and it will always be broken. That does not mean we should crawl into our shells and do nothing to make this world right. It does, however, mean we do not put our hope in this world. Our world is in another place. It is in Christ and what he has prepared for us. We need this hope daily—to get out of bed and fulfill our obligations. We need this hope to stand in the face of a depraved world and not cave into its demands.

The second thing is the Riches: “the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people” (Eph 1:18). Paul prays that our eyes will be opened to the riches God has for us.  What he wants us to see is that we are God’s riches—“his possession.” He owns all the heavens, but we are his treasures. The redeemed are worth more than the universe. What makes one truly rich are wisdom, truth, gentleness, kindness, love, joy, peace, contentment, self-control, and many other attributes and not material wealth.

The third thing is Power, “and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms” (Eph 1:19-20). This power changes us and gives us victory over sin in our lives. We will see it visibly someday in the resurrection of our bodies, but of now that power helps us navigate life.

Once, the prophet Elisha was pursued by an enemy army. They surrounded his house in an attempt to capture him. However, that would be more challenging than they thought. Elisha’s servant rose early and went outside, and when he saw the enemy, he was gripped with fear,

“Oh no, 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.” Elisha, calmly prayed for his servant: “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha” (2 Kings 6:15-17).

This is a picture of what is available to us in our scary world. We need hope, God’s riches, and his power to be victorious.