PROCLAMATION
“I keep asking 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. 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, and His
incomparably great power for us who believe. …” Ephesians 1:17-19
(NIV)
EXPLANATION
These words were written by the apostle Paul,
under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God, to the believers in the church
at Ephesus. After his opening greeting and introduction, Paul
praised God for the spiritual blessings which they had already received through
Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 1:1-14) Then he offers a prayer for the
believers in Ephesus so that God would bless them with The Spirit of wisdom,
knowledge, and revelation, so that they would know Him better. Paul
also prayed that these believers would be enlightened, and know that to which
God called them, and know the riches of His glorious inheritance that He has
for His people, and that they would know His incomparable great
power. Paul ends this chapter by telling them about the authority
and dominion that Jesus, The Christ, has over everything in this world and in
the world to come. (Ephesians 1:19-23)
APPLICATION
We need to recognize that without the help of
God, that people would not understand that the church is the body of Christ. That is the way that God, The Father, planned
it. God, The Son, paid for it, and God,
The Holy Spirit, protects it. Paul prayed for the believers in his
day and we should pray for believers today. We all need God’s help
with understanding His Word. None of us
knows everything, especially about The Word of God. We all also need
to develop an appreciation for the almighty power of God working within us. Additionally,
we all need to develop a greater appreciation for the hope of blessings that He
has called us to receive by His Word and His Spirit.
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