Yes! There is Good News! 1.13.18

In almost all of Paul’s letters to the churches, he includes a prayer for them. Last week I quoted a part of his prayer for the Ephesian church. “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened” (Eph. 1:18). In our previous article, we talked about how we all need God’s help in having our hearts opened to His enlightenment.

Sometimes the Word of God can be a mystery. I have, in the past, likened it to a jigsaw puzzle: you need to put this piece in place before you can see where this other piece fits. So it was for me when I began reading the bible almost 40 years ago. Friends and brethren, there are still many pieces lying on the “table” that I haven’t fit into place yet. And there are some pieces that seemed to fit many years ago, but as I learn, read and studied, I realize they were in the wrong spot! My admonition to you: don’t ever be afraid to question your knowledge of God’s word. May God enlighten the eyes of all of our hearts!

The first petition of Paul’s prayer is “That you may know the hope to which He has called you…” This is an interesting request by Paul for his beloved brethren in Ephesus. At first blush one may wonder why they did not understand the hope of their calling. But I must ask the question, “Do you?” The Greek word Paul uses here is an interesting one. There are two words used in Greek for “knowledge.” Without getting too deep here, one simply means “an inception or progress in knowledge;” as in “I am coming to a knowledge of Spanish.” In other words, it’s an ongoing thing. While the one Paul uses in this prayer (oida) suggests “fullness of knowledge.” This “hope” to which we are called must be fully known, or better said, fully understood. This is a much stronger word.

Sometimes we might look at the word “hope” as a “maybe kind of word.” “I’m going fishing and I hope to catch some fish; maybe I will catch some and maybe I won’t.” But the hope that God calls His children to is never a maybe thing. This word that Paul uses here has a meaning of “having a favorable expectation with assurance.” We can expect a certain outcome and we are assured of it. Paul wants God to give his readers a true and full knowledge that His promise is assured. In other words, no doubts!

The second petition that Paul prays is that you may know “the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints.” No strange Greek word here. We all know what an inheritance is. God has promised us a portion of His estate. Wow! I mentioned to a group recently that in the known universe, if God wanted to divide equally among the 7 billion residents of the earth, all the stars, each of us could have 2 trillion of them. That’s a lot!!! But His inheritance to His children is worth even more than that.

Stay tuned, there’s a lot more to talk about.