Ephesians 1:15-23 

Ephesians 1:15-23

What Do You Need?

1. God has given us all we need for abundant life in Christ, so we must be growing to know Him intimately (Vv. 15-18a)

1. Paul opened his letter by praising God in order to turn the hearts and minds of His original readers and us towards God, that we would consider who He is, what He does, what that means for our lives, and move us to praise with him. Now Paul continues in prayer with thanksgiving for the evidence of faith and love present in the lives of these believers and us, and the desire for a greater and deeper understanding of who God is and what that means for the believer’s life. Paul begins by identifying God as the Father of glory, who redeems people through His Son, and the One who alone must grant us, revelation, wisdom, and knowledge of Himself through His Holy Spirit. There is a foundation of faith required to obtain this knowledge and understanding because it can’t be obtained through human efforts or human merit, but only by the grace of God. Paul isn’t praying for our head knowledge; he asks for the eyes of our hearts to be opened by God so that we would see who He is continually and more fully. God doesn’t desire us to know about Him, He desires us to be growing to know Him more deeply through an intimate relationship. He has revealed Himself through His Word, and through His Son to whom His Word points, because He desires to illuminate our understanding of who He is the deepest level of who we are so that we’ll have the wisdom to apply that reality as the foundation of our lives. In our minds we connect the heart to our emotions, but in biblical terms the heart is the center of our being and refers to the function of our minds, emotions, conscience, and will. To know God at the heart level means to understand who He is through the experience of walking intimately with Him through life so that we rely completely on Him, and He alone informs our thoughts, feelings, intentions, and actions. Knowledge of God on only a purely intellectual or purely emotional level won’t engage us deeply enough to experience His fullness. As a result, life won’t make sense and we’ll never have what we need because we don’t know and fully trust in the Creator, Sustainer, Redeemer, and Judge of all things, apart from whom life’s trials and difficulties will never have any purpose, and uncertainty and fear will rule over us. The key to meeting our fundamental human needs is growing in intimate knowledge and trust of the only One who can meet them. (Vv. 15-18a; Ps. 34:4-8; 119:18, 34, 135; Prov. 3:5-8; 4:23; Jer. 9:23-24; 17:5-10; Matt. 7:21-23; Luke 24:25-32; John 9:39; 14:25-26; 16:12-14; 17:3; 1 Cor. 2:9-16; 2 Cor. 4:6; Phil. 3:10)

2. God has given us all we need for abundant life in Christ, so we must be growing to know what we have only in Him (Vv. 18b-23)

1. Now Paul continues to identify and pray for the spiritual blessings which come only to those who share an intimate relationship with God in Christ, and which truly meet our most fundamental human needs. All people need true hope, so Paul prayed that we experience the true living hope in Christ that we have a certain, eternal, and good future which is far greater than any difficulty we face today. The false “hope” we obtain through the world and our own strength fades, disappoints, and perishes, but hope in Christ never disappoints, never fades, and never runs out. All people also need to know that they’re loved, valued, and that their lives matter. We seek to cultivate this sense of love, value, and worth through our achievements, possessions, and the approval of others, but all those sources will fail us. Paul prays that we would understand and experience the reality that as imperfect and fallible, but redeemed sinners in Christ, we’re God’s treasured possession and inheritance. The Creator, Sustainer, Redeemer, and Judge of all things loves you, cherishes your life, and values a relationship with you so greatly that He sacrificed Himself on the cross, enduring the suffering and shame for the joy of reconciling you to Himself. Value and worth like that are not possible through any other means, and so who we are to Christ must be the foundation of our lives, how we reciprocate His love, how we view ourselves, how we view other people, and how we show Him to the world. Lastly, all people need confidence that they have the resources and power to meet the challenges and difficulties in life. Paul prays that we would see clearly and experience fully the surpassing greatness of God’s power, strength of His might, and the fullness of His authority available to us in Christ. We struggle daily in life under the weight of uncertainty, fighting against guilt, shame, fear, worry, doubt, and dissatisfaction, turning to every possible source of strength but the One who has paid the price to grant gain our victory, who is enthroned over all things, and raises us up with Him! While we’re in this world we’ll experience difficulty, but every enemy that tries to rob us of joy, hope, peace, purpose, and satisfaction is already defeated in Christ, and through Him we’re more than conquer these difficulties! The question is, do you believe that this all already yours if you belong to Him? Do you truly know God? Do you trust Him to be who He says He is and do what He says He’ll do? That’s the key to living abundantly in Christ. (Vv. 18b-23; Ps. 110:1; Jer. 2:13; 29:11-13; John 14:1-3; 17:24; Rom. 5:1-5; 8:18, 28-39; 1 Cor. 13:12; 15:54-58; 2 Cor. 12:7-10; Gal. 2:20; Phil. 4:4-13; Col. 3:1-4; Heb. 12:1-3; 1 Pet. 1:3-9; 2:9-12; 2 Pet. 1:2-4; 1 John 3:1-3; Rev. 21:1-7)