Hope, Inheritance & Power in Christ | Ephesians Devotional

“I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.” —EPHESIANS 1:18-19

In the above verse, Paul is continuing his prayer for the Ephesians. Yesterday we talked about knowing God through revelation, but here Paul talks about knowing the hope to which Christ has called us.

We normally don’t dwell on hope because it’s a little too tenuous, but understanding hope is to know that it is future looking, and is what we place our confidence in. It’s orientating our lives around the fact that this life on earth is not all there is. The problem is that we can become so preoccupied with the here and now that everything sits heavily on us, though much of it won’t matter in a year or even a month’s time. We need to live in the ‘now’ with heaven in mind, placing our hope in God for things not yet experienced, but will be.

Paul prays that we may know the riches of Christ’s glorious inheritance in the saints. Not only do we have an inheritance in Christ, which is Christ, Himself, and the unlimited resources that come with Him, but Christ has an inheritance in us. He now has another person who loves Him and who He can work through. The relationship isn’t that “I’ve got Christ”, which is fantastic, but it’s that Christ has us, and He thinks that’s fantastic! In fact, He calls it glorious.

Then there is “Christ’s incomparably great power for us who believe”. There are two aspects of this; Christ’s resurrection power and His reigning power. The last enemy to be destroyed is death, and Christ has already defeated it, which means anything that threatens to defeat us has already been defeated in Christ. To believe this is to appropriate it and say, “Lord Jesus, I am looking to You. I trust You and thank You for your resurrected life that lives in me.”

There is also Christ’s reigning power. He has been exalted to a position above all rule, authority, dominion and power. Though we are living in a fallen world where evil is active, there is going to come a day when evil will be destroyed and when the Lord Jesus will step out of heaven, and every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that He is Lord. As Christians, we are secure, not in the fact that we don’t get hurt or damaged, but in Jesus Christ, we are under an authority that will one day banish all that is evil and vindicate all that is right. Jesus now sits on the throne of the universe, and it is Jesus Paul prays that we come to know better, not just as doctrine, but experientially as knowledge of Him grows and thrives in our hearts.

Dear Lord Jesus, Thank You for the hope You have given us, not only for this life, but for the one to come. I look forward to your return when everyone will see You and know who You are.

Am I living with heaven in mind, and placing my hope in things to come?