Ephesians 1:18a “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling,…”
The Apostle Paul prays in this section of scripture for believers. If you are a believer then you can insert your name. “I pray that the eyes of your heart, (insert name) may be enlightened…” He is praying to God that the eyes of our understanding will be open.
Paul has a reason that he wants our understanding to be open, and as we read on we will find out why. He says, “so that you (insert name) will know what is the hope of His calling.” Now let’s look at these three words.
KNOW: This word as used in the Greek means something we know instinctively. In other words, we know that we know.
HOPE: As Pastor Ron Lewis has said, “This is a confident expectation of a future unseen reality.” This is the blessed hope we have that someday Christ will come back for His church, and that we will live with Him in heaven forever. Isn’t that wonderful?
HIS CALLING: God’s call on our lives took place before the creation of the world according to Ephesians 1:4. (NIV) “For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight…” This is almost too wonderful for me to think upon. But, God actually chose you and me to be his adopted children before he even created the world. This boggles my mind. I can only say, “Why me Lord?”
Paul wants you and me to know all of this because it gives us the assurance of our salvation. We know that we know that we are saved and are on our way to heaven. Satan will come after us and tell us all sorts of lies. He is the father of lies. But, knowing where we stand now and what awaits us in our future gives us the courage to resist the devil. When we know the truth then we can be overcomers of whatever comes our way.
I’m glad Paul prayed for us. Aren’t you? We should pray this prayer for other believers also.
I’ve taken these thoughts from a sermon my pastor preached last Sunday. If you’d like to hear this very encouraging message you can click on the link below.
Related articles
- That We Would Know God (faithbiblechurchofwarren.wordpress.com)
hatchcreek.com Bible blog 
God has called us to be holy and blameless. In Ephesians 1:4, God is not calling invididuals to salvation, rather God is calling believers (already christians) to be holy and blameless in His sight. In verse 5, Paul is not teaching “who” God has predestined, but rather “what” has been determined by God. The idea of predestination is not “who” God has predestined, but “what” God has predestined believers to become. This is what the following verses show.
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[…] Has God Called You? (hatchcreek.com) […]
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Thanks for posting! This is so good. Gets the wheels turning!
May we “know” deeply
Hope: not just a flimsy wish
Calling: just not a general Gospel call
Make sure to post next week’s sermon, if you can
Hope you’re well!
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I’m glad you liked the post. I will try to post next week’s sermon. But, here are a couple of links that you can go to find this series on Ephesians my pastor is doing. http://www.faithbiblechurchofwarren.wordpress.com http://www.sermonaudio.com/fbcwarren
I’m doing much better now,thank you. How are you? Email if you get a chance and catch me up. Blessings…Bonnie * *
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