In Ephesians 1:15-23 Paul prays we would know more of God, specifically these three things:
- God’s call (hope)
- God’s inheritance (riches of glory)
- God’s power (immeasurable greatness)
Our hope is rock solid. It is not a human, fallible, “Oh, I just hope, but am unable to bring it to pass. We shall see.” This is no aimless, nebulous calling of “whatever floats your boat” uncertainty. We are not left with an ancient book of mere platitudes of ideals. No. We are following a person who yet lives, breathes, and acts. Peter says, “For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps” (1 Pet. 2:21). The path we trod has been marked out for us by Jesus. God calls us to holiness, and we are driven along by a certain hope that will surely come to pass. When we understand God’s call, we see our clear purpose, and we can more easily recognize and resist the world’s pull toward functional aimlessness.
When we see with the eyes of our heart that God has made us his inheritance and there is a real, enduring, unfading, perfect inheritance being kept for us in heaven, we can more easily discern and resist the tug of the world toward functional hopelessness. All the body of Christ, that “great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages” (Rev. 7:9), will worship the Lamb and see his face (Rev. 22:3–4).
Gloria Furman is the author of Alive in Him and several other books. She lives with her family in Dubai. Content taken from Alive in Him: How Being Embraced by the Love of Christ Changes Everything by Gloria Furman, ©2017. Scripture quotations within these excerpts are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Used by permission of Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, www.crossway.org.
