“Wherefore I also, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which is in you, and the love which ye have toward all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you, making mention of you at my prayers, that the God of our Lord, Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, would give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him, being enlightened in the eyes of your heart, so that ye should know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of the might of His strength in which He wrought in the Christ in raising Him from the dead” (verses 15-20, JND).
As we read this epistle, do we not realize how far beneath the thoughts and purposes of God are man’s thoughts, and even the thoughts of many believers? What wonders, if the Holy Spirit has been our guide, have been discovered to our hearts in a prayerful study of the first chapter alone! Of course, one must be a believer in the Lord Jesus, as we read in verse 13, “having heard the word of the truth, the glad tidings of our salvation”; consequent upon believing, you were “sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise who is the earnest of our inheritance to the redemption of the acquired possession to the praise of God’s glory” (verse 14). And if not saved, how awful your position, awaiting eternal judgment!
In verse 16 and following, is a prayer of the apostle’s, introduced by these words,
“Wherefore I also, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which is in you, and the love which ye have toward all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you.”
We see how suitable it was for the apostle to begin with a reference to the operation of faith, which casts us upon the love of God, instead of his second word, “the love which ye have toward all the saints”, which might have led to high thoughts of self, always unsuitable in the believer. Christ must have the first place in our hearts, and next, “all the saints.”
Paul’s desire was that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ (speaking of Him as man), the Father of glory, would give the saints the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him. We have already noticed the titles of “the God” and “the Father” of the Lord Jesus found in this epistle, used by the Lord on the morning of His resurrection (John 20). We may refer also to John 4:2323But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. (John 4:23) and 24; where the divine titles are separated.
“God of our Lord Jesus Christ” is used in the prayer of Ephesians 1 because the basis of what is asked is the glory of God who has raised Christ from the dead and exalted Him as man at His right hand.
“The Father of glory” brings to our minds God as the source and fountain head of all heavenly blessedness. In becoming God’s children, we acquired a knowledge of Christ, but the apostle’s prayer is directed toward full knowledge.
The eyes of our heart need to be enlightened, that we may know the hope of His calling, spoken of in verses 3-5, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, a subject which was brought out in verse 11; and with these blessings God would let us know what the surpassing greatness of His power is toward us who believe. Shall we seek to explain a little, these three things of which verses 18 and 19 speak?
The hope of His calling, of course, brings in the coming of the Lord; that is the Christian hope as in the eighth chapter of Romans, and elsewhere. As another has said,
“The hope is founded on the full blessedness that pertains to us, according to that purpose of God which is already ours in Christ—already made known to us and received by our hearts—the calling of God that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.”
“The riches of the glory of God’s inheritance in the saints”, connects us in thought with verse 11. He means to have the entire universe blessed and happy under Christ; all things in heaven and earth are to be put under Him, and we, the heavenly saints, have obtained in Christ this inheritance. The inheritance of God applies to that which is below us, to created things, which are all made subject to Christ, and when God expels the wicked spirits from any connection with the heavenly spirits, when He puts down all power upon the earth, the heavenly saints are chosen to take the whole universe in His name, as Israel once were directed to take for God the land of Palestine.
And we are to know, in further answer to the apostle’s prayer, what is “the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of the might of His strength in which He wrought in the Christ in raising Him from among the dead; and He set Him down at His right hand in the heavenlies, above every principality and authority and power and dominion, and every name named, not only in this age, but also in that to come; and has put all things under His feet and gave Him to be head over all things to the assembly which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (verses 20-23, JND).
In the verses last quoted is the desire that the saints may know the power already exhibited, which has given them part in this position of blessing and glory. Just as they were, by God’s grace, brought into the position of Christ before God His Father, so the work wrought in Christ, and the display of God’s power in raising Him from the grave to His right hand are the expressions and the model of the action of the same power which works in us who believe, which has raised us from our former state of death in sin, to share in the glory of Christ.
But feebly do we enter into these truths which the apostle desired in his prayer for us. It has been said, Let me look at Christ, and I see there the very life that God has given me, and the hope of it too, even as to the inheritance. God loves and delights in Him as man so well that He could not keep back a single thing He has made, from Him. He is the heir of it all, and we, hidden in Christ, can enter into the fullness of His calling, and into the inheritance, because we merge into union with Christ. And as you can only know the calling and the inheritance in the full knowledge of Christ, so it is also with “the exceeding greatness of His power.”
No matter what could be conceived of the highest angel or archangel, Christ has (as man) received a higher dignity, and this place He holds in present association with us while we are here. Therefore, it is added that He has also been given to be head over all things to the assembly. The assembly shares His place of headship over all, but as His body, in inseparable union with Him. We belong to Him, and He would have our heart lifted up above all the present scenes.
The assembly is His body, the fullness of Him that filleth all in all. It is the complement, or that which fills up Christ, looked at as man risen from the dead. He would no more be complete in His resurrection without the assembly, than Adam would have been without Eve.