The prayer in Ephesians 1:15-2315Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, 16Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; 17That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: 18The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, 19And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, 20Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, 21Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: 22And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, 23Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. (Ephesians 1:15‑23) is to the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, because He is viewed as man, yet the object of all God’s thoughts. The prayer in Ephesians 3:14-2114For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 17That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 19And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. 20Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 21Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. (Ephesians 3:14‑21) is to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ because He is viewed as Son. The first prayer dwells on three great themes: (1) the hope of His calling, (2) the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and (3) the greatness of the power that has put us in the calling. To understand these, the eyes of our heart must be enlightened. The heart of the Apostle overflowed in worship, ascribing blessing to the One who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings. Notice that it is His calling, the calling of God, not our calling. The hope of His calling is not specially the Lord’s coming, but the realization of all that God has called us to, in Christ, as the fruit of His purpose. Even as the calling causes us to look towards heaven, the inheritance directs attention to the earth.
Originally, His inheritance was in Israel; now it is in the saints. We are not the inheritance, but heirs of God. We have obtained an inheritance in Christ. These thoughts should not be confused with each other; they are all quite distinct. Two great parts of this prayer are (a) that the Ephesians might know the place, and (b) that they should know the power that brought them there. That power is exceeding great and finds its measure in Christ’s resurrection from the dead. All around was in death. Man was dead in trespasses and sins, amid which God worked to effect His eternal purpose and at the same time to reveal Himself. The authorities sealed the tomb and set a guard, determined that Christ would never interfere with mankind again, but He was raised from the dead by the glory of God the Father. That same power quickens us together with Him and has raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. The first part of chapter 1 reveals our individual place in Christ before God the Father in eternity, while the second part shows our corporate relation to Christ as His body relative to the work of God to accomplish His eternal purpose.
The Second Prayer
In the third chapter, the Apostle sets forth his double ministry of the gospel and of the mystery, to make all men see what is the administration of it. That mystery relates to the present time; it will not be needed in heaven. It is intended that the conduct of the Christian here should be profoundly affected by it. The angels, the mighty powers in heaven, see in the church what they had not seen in creation nor in subsequent manifestations of God. In the revelation of the mystery is shown a new departure in the ways of God, namely, that the Gentiles should be co-heirs and co-partakers of His promise in Christ in the gospel. Its ill-assorted components (Jew and Gentile) nevertheless form one body, consisting of all who belong to Christ, united to Him in glory. The prayer is not that we may know our place in Christ (as in chapter 1), but that the truth may be freshly dwelling in our hearts in the fellowship of the Christ. There are resources in the riches of His glory — the power by which we may be strengthened by the Spirit in the inner man. It is the Spirit that brings about that the One who dwells in the Father’s bosom may dwell in the Christians’ hearts by faith! The first prayer was relative to our being in Christ; the second prayer, with His being in us. He is the center of eternal purpose; that center is brought into our hearts by the Spirit. The love of Christ will lead the saints to grasp the breadth, length, depth and height of the boundless sphere of glory (which cannot really be defined), and then to know that love itself which surpasses knowledge. The first prayer is objective, since the power is operating externally; in the second prayer the power is operating in us internally and is thus subjective in its bearing. It is very fitting that the prayer should conclude with such a wonderful doxology.
Adapted from J. A. Trench