15 - For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints,
16 do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers;
17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.
18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
19 and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might
V. 15-16 - “For this reason...” - Really, the 16th verse needs to be inserted so the sentence would read like this: “For this reason I do not cease to give thanks for you, while mentioning you in my prayers, since I have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love you have for all the saints.” (See: Col 1:4) Paul prayed about them, and as he learned that they were saved, he thanked God (probably continually).
V. 17 - "may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. - Here we see the purpose of Paul’s prayers: That those Paul was writing to, might be given wisdom and the knowledge of God. Paul was also writing for us, the believers in this day and age. But that is not all, that God may through His Spirit, reveal Himself to us, which will have more of an impact on the reality of our lives. This is a relationship-building process. Our life in Christ usually does not instantly change our human behavior - it is a growing process as we trust Him and learn to listen to His leading through the Holy Spirit. The more we ‘walk’ with Him, the more our lives are conformed to His desire for us.
The word “knowledge” in this verse is referring to a “true knowledge”, or rather, an intimate knowledge, a personal knowledge gained not by study, nor by reading, etc., but by spending time with Christ and God. God reveals Himself to us as we seek Him. (See: John 8:55; Col 1:10) This is an important concept - we must spend time with Jesus to get to know Him better. That is not an earth shaking revelation. But we need to continually remind ourselves of our complete dependence on the Lord.
The word “spirit” in “spirit of wisdom” does not necessarily mean that an infusion of a spirit (an angel or the Holy Spirit) be shed upon us. Know that when you accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, you are given the Holy Spirit. “Spirit” here can be read a “rational soul” or a “mental disposition”. For example, God has given us a “sound mind” (2 Tim 1:7 (KJV)). Paul is asking that God give us mental disposition toward wisdom, and toward accepting a revelation of Himself to us. You know God can show Himself and His will to us and we don’t pay attention! Again, He reveals Himself to us when we seek His face - not just a general idea of who He is, but Him personally - not remote and academic but a personal interaction.
V. 18 - "Eyes of your heart” - the KJV says “the eyes of your understanding”. I thank that says it pretty well. We memorize, or learn something “by heart”. The GNMM translation says “may your minds be opened to see His light”. This is part of the revelation of God to us.
Now to look at the goal(s) of the enlightenment. There are primarily three: (1) An understanding of the hope; (2) an understanding of the riches; (3) to come to understand His power working for us.
(1) “What is the hope of His calling”? See: 1 Cor 15:12-28; Eph 1:3; Rom 1:16-18; 1 Pet 1:3-4. Our hope is that Christ did indeed conquer death, and that by faith in Him we too may have life eternal.
(2) “The riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints” - The phrase “riches of the glory” is interesting. How do you put a value on glory? Think of the fame and glory men seek here on earth. Men will do almost anything to gain recognition! The glory of God is so much beyond our understanding. This verse seems to say that Jesus has a glorious and precious inheritance that is in those who believe in Him. Note this does not read like Col 1:12 (which says the saints are receiving an inheritance). This indicates that Christ Himself is receiving an inheritance, and the inheritance is we true believers! The Lord wants us to know how valuable we are to Him. He has given us to His Son, Jesus. (See: John 6:39-40, 10:29; 2 Pet 3:9; 2 Cor 2:14-16)
What possible reason could God have for wanting us to know how valuable we are? Ponder that.
V. 19 - "what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe." - This verse shows the third goal of the enlightenment mentioned in verse 18:
(3) “Understand His power working for us”: When God reveals Himself to us, we begin to understand the magnitude of God’s care for us. [Note: God wants us to know how valuable we are! When does a person begin to consider suicide, etc? When he feels that no one cares, that the world would be better without his presence. When we know someone cares for us, we can care for ourselves.] There is no way that we can completely understand God’s might. Note also to whom this power is directed - those of us who believe in Christ.
“These are in accordance...” - Why in plural? GNMM simply says that “this power in us,” indicating that it is only the greatness of His power. I think the 'these' refers to the three concepts just listed: hope of his calling, the riches of his glory, and the surpassing greatness of his power, and his power is indeed unlimited bcause He is the Lord God. Jesus does this because He can, He wants to shower his love on those who believe in Him.
Conclusion: Our hope, His riches, His power toward us are all the result of God’s working through Christ.
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