Wednesday – October 5, 2016
God is so good, in fact, in reality, way beyond good, infinitely beyond. Glory to God in the highest, praise His Holy name! Greetings from Eastern Gate Ministries International and The Three Minute Word publications. And again I say, God is so good. Well, I will now pick up with our study from the wonderful epistle of Ephesians.
Ephesians 1:16-18 (KJV)
16 Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;
17 That 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:
18 The 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,
I want to point out that this prayer is not just something that Apostles pray for various congregations and perhaps even individuals, it is for us to pray concerning each other no matter the perceived level of maturity. The word eyes in verse eighteen (18 is the number of bondage) is talking about our spiritual eyes, the ability for us to look into the spiritual realm beyond where we are now. This ability, what we see when these spiritual eyes of understanding are enlightened is how to shed some bondages in our life. The understanding has to do with our mind and our imaginations. According to Strong’s Talking Greek & Hebrew Dictionary the Greek word translated here as understanding, three times, is more commonly translated as mind, nine times, and translated as imagination one time. So, God is talking about increased light coming into our mind, the core of our understanding, what we really believe and understand. The reference to the eyes we use (Godly spiritual eyes) for our understanding being enlightened means there will be a brightening that brings increased clarity, makes us to see a previously hidden Truth. Enlightenment, increased light, increased understanding and the Word of God are connected. Together let’s meditate the following passage.
Proverbs 4:17-20 (KJV)
17 For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.
18 But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.
19 The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.
20 My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.
We can clearly see here that wickedness and darkness go together and righteousness and light go together. The light of the just (righteous) is directly connected to attending to the Words of God. Our text (Ephesians 1:16-18) goes on to tell us that increased understanding is directly related to knowing (seeing with our own eyes, physical and spiritual), the hope of His calling, the riches of the glory of His inheritance in us, the saints. None of this is a past tense deal or relegated only to the future. Let’s think about what the hope of His calling might be. What is our hope at salvation? That hope which is only in Christ Jesus is eternal life. Eternal life is not just for our spirit man which we received at salvation but for our bodies as well which shall be made like unto His.
Philippians 3:20-21 (ESV)
20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
Ladies and gentlemen let me assure you, the devil is not offering this deal only the Heavenly Father. Think for a moment about “the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.”
Ephesians 1:18 (KJV)
18 The 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,
The word ‘riches’ in this verse is not just spiritual in this life and beyond but refers to wealth, money, possessions, and abundance now and forever more. Now let me ask, what did Jesus inherit?
Hebrews 1:2 (KJV)
2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
John 16:15 (KJV)
15 All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
So, all of it, everything that the Father has is Jesus’ and we are joint-heirs with Jesus and in Christ Jesus with His name as power of attorney. Seems like we are sitting pretty, why don’t we know it, why don’t we act like it, and more importantly why is it not manifest in our lives? Our text ends with the words “in the saints”. We are in Christ Jesus and all of this is in us. Remember, Jesus told us the Kingdom of God was within us and the Apostle Paul told us that the Kingdom of God was righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. Whatever we can imagine and whatever is beyond our current imaginations starts to approach “the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.”
By: Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
