Thursday – October 6, 2016
Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Yesterday I left off with the ending phrase of the eighteenth verse concerning “the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints”. We decided that it was beyond what we could ask or think, at least for the moment, but we are committed to stretching into the fullness of His stature, after all we are in His image and likeness. I touched briefly on “the hope of his calling” so I want to return to that today and be clear it is not limited to eternal life and an incorruptible body.
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,
Natural hope is full of uncertainty, fear, anxiety, and disappointment but Godly hope has none of that attached. When we hope for something God has spoken to us, that is in the Word in one form or another it is a certainty, a future certainty. We must have the proper key which is the leadership of the Holy Spirit, we must be in the faith of God, love (agape) must be the fuel of our faith not greed and selfishness, and we must be operating according to Bible hope, a promise of God. All persons are called of God and each person makes a choice for God or for another god. Let’s all of us take a few moments and examine and meditate the following series of Scripture.
Hebrews 11:1 (KJV)
1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
We learned here that faith is the foundation, that upon which we rest or stand concerning the things hoped for. Faith is an unwavering faith in God, the Word of God.
Romans 14:23 (KJV)
23 And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.
Doesn’t look like too good of a future when we are not operating in faith. Hebrews 11:6 tells us that we cannot please God without faith, faith in God.
Galatians 5:6 (KJV)
6 For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.
We see that faith in God, the faith of God, is not adequate by itself, we need to be guided by love. Bible love, agape, is selflessness, observance of the Blood Covenant, and obedience to the Word of God.
2 Corinthians 1:20 (KJV)
20 For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.
Now we clearly see that whatever God has promised in the Word is a done deal when we are in Him, in Christ Jesus. This certainty is to show the goodness of God not only to us, the Church, but as a witness to the world that we have a wonderful God. Our God does not steal, kill, and destroy in our lives but guarantees abundance when we are in Him according to His will (guided by Him, not the lusts of our flesh, the lusts of our eye, or the pride of our life). The best part of all is that it is His will that this goodness be shown through and by us! Before we finish for today let’s take a quick look at the following passage.
Ephesians 1:18-20 (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,
19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
Notice the conjunctive ‘and’ between verses eighteen and nineteen making what comes before the ‘and’ as important as what comes after the ‘and’. This is important because this tells us that in order for us to understand and participate in the realities of this passage we must be enlightened in our understanding by the Spirit of wisdom and revelation as a result of our diligence in the pursuit of the knowledge of Him.
By: Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
