Title: Knowing God!/Ephesians 1:17-19
Contents In Paul's prayer to the Ephesians, Paul offers three prayers to God. I hope that Paul's three prayers in this Bible text today will be prayers for you and the Kyunghyang Church you serve.
The content of the first prayer in verse 17 was that the Ephesians might come to know God better. The content of the second prayer in verse 18 was that they would know the glory of heaven. The content of the third prayer in verse 19 was to thank the great God who works powerfully in their lives.
If these three prayers are answered, the Kyunghyang Church you serve will be the most powerful and influential church in this area. These three prayers should actually be the content of your daily and regular prayers.
I. View the contents of the first prayer.
Verse 17 says, “The God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, has given you a spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know God.” I would like to explain the contents of this prayer in the following three ways so that we can understand it easily.
1. The Christian's privilege is to know God personally in Christ.
2. The problem of sin becomes a serious obstacle to knowing God.
3. Here is the purpose of the church.
Now they know God. Paul is praying that they will come to know God better. This God is our God. Through the death of Christ, we have been reconciled to God and have access to God. Then how can you know God better? You can know God well by praying to God as Paul prayed in verses 17-18. Paul is praying that the Holy Spirit will give the Ephesians understanding and insight into the Word of God so that they may know God better. In the same way, we should get to know God better through the Bible and the work of the Holy Spirit working in us.
II. Look at the contents of the second prayer.
Verse 18 says, “Open your hearts and your eyes, and what is the hope of his calling, and what is the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints?” The second content of Paul's prayer in verse 18 was that the Ephesians wanted to know the glory of the kingdom of heaven.
In 1797, when the famous film director Alfred Hitchcock was dying at the age of 80, a famous wife visited the hospital to see him. When Hitchcock saw her, he took her hand and said, 'I'm dying.' Then her answer was: ‘One day you will die. And we will all die too.’ And she explained to him the death she was thinking of. It is said that his face was filled with fear as she left his room.
There was a famous British evangelist, Billy Bray. He fell ill in 1868 at the age of 74. The doctor who examined him said: 'Billy, you're going to die soon,' said Billy Bray, full of excitement, and exclaiming with joy. 'glory! God is worthy to be glorified! I'm going to heaven soon.'
III. Look at the contents of the third prayer.
Verse 19 says, “I pray that you may know what is the exceeding greatness of the power he has bestowed upon us who believe, as he works in the might of his might.”
The third part of Paul's prayer was to thank God for His great power in our lives.
It was the power of God that Paul wanted to thank in his Christian life. The same power of God who raised Jesus from the dead and took him up to heaven (Ephesians 1:20) is the same power that works in the lives of all Christians.
Dear saints!
It is the power of God that gives new life to the spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1). It is none other than God who gives life to us who are spiritually blind because of sin and transforms us into new people (Ephesians 2:5). This is a miracle, a miracle, and only God can do it. This same power is the power that works in us, the power to fight sin, and the power to obey Christ.
Oh, ability! The power that makes us strong! But it belongs to God. We must wait for power from heaven. Because God works in God's people like you and me. Let's pray that all of us, including you and me, may experience God's more "powerful power" (Ephesians 1:19). And for this, let us give thanks, praise and glory to our Almighty God! Hallelujah! - Amen -