It’s For Your Good

After Paul’s berakah introduction in Ephesians 1:3-14 (see last week’s post for more on that), he shifts his attention to his normal format of prayer for the church to whom he is writing.

Just like vv3-14, this section from vv15-23 is one long sentence. Again, we get the sense of Paul’s excitement overflowing as this prayer just pours out from him! There’s a very simple structure to what Paul prays here:

• Thanksgiving (v15-16)
• Prayer for the church (v16-20)
• Statement of Jesus’ power (v21-23)

Paul’s prayer for the church is an interesting one, and quite different from how we in the 21st Century Western Church might tend to pray. He doesn’t ask God to bless the church, he asks God to give them “spiritual wisdom and insight so that they might grow in their knowledge of God” (v17). Why doesn’t he ask God to bless them? The answer is further back in verse 3:

“All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.”

Ephesians 1:3

Paul doesn’t pray that God will bless the church, because God has already blessed the church with every spiritual blessing! Instead, he prays that God will give the church wisdom and insight so that they will know and understand more fully the blessings they have already received.

We also see within this section three key words: hope, glory and power.

“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…”

Ephesians 1:18

This is not a vain hope, like “I hope it doesn’t rain today,” or “I hope Spurs win the league.” This hope is based upon Jesus – the one in whom God is uniting the whole universe as we saw last week. This hope is about our salvation now – we are saved, set free, forgiven and made holy because of the death and resurrection of Jesus – and also about future glory when Jesus returns to remake the world and bring about the fullness of the Kingdom of God.

“… the confident hope he has given to those he called – his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.”

Ephesians 1:18

Some Bibles will have a footnote here that says something like “and the rich and glorious inheritance he has given to his holy people.” The Greek is somewhat unclear, but most scholars agree that the better translation is what we see above – that we, the Church, are God’s rich and glorious inheritance. We are God’s treasured possession that he looks forward to enjoying forever! He has chosen us and purchased us through the blood of Jesus to be his. What an amazing truth!

“I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honour at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.”

Ephesians 1:19-20

Ephesus was a very spiritual city, with lots of different expressions of worship taking place towards a wide variety of gods. There was a strong presence of the occult there, and many people lived in fear of that power, so when Paul rocked up preaching the gospel, healing the sick and casting out demons people took notice! It even led to a mass book burning, as people brought their occult books to be destroyed once they saw the mighty power of God at work (you can read about that in Acts 19:17-20). Paul here in praying for the church to know God’s mighty power more, is wanting to remind them that there is no power that can stand against God’s power. After all, this is the same power that raised Jesus from the dead and seated him in the place of honour in heaven! That power now lives in you if you are a follower of Jesus, so there is no need to fear any other power.

Paul rounds off his prayer with a stirring statement about the power and rule of Jesus.

“Now he is far above any rule or authority or power or leader or anything else – not only in this world but also in the world to come. God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.”

Ephesians 1:21-23

So there is nothing that can compare to Jesus. There is no-one like him and none can stand against him! Notice here this little detail that Paul gives us: that God has made Christ head over all things for the benefit of the church. All that power – all that authority – is for our benefit! We are made full and complete by Jesus because he is filling all things everywhere with himself.