Recently I was studying Ephesians and went wild with joy. I can imagine in what state must have been the apostle when he wrote these glorious words. That he would write this to encourage them is astounding enough, that he would write it because it truly is so, is breathtakingly magnificent. No wonder he felt the need to pray, to pray that they would get it. Tozer wrote in ‘The pursuit of God’ that we obviously have spiritual senses that enable us to know God. Indeed we do; and the Holy Spirit works on these to sharpen them and make them effective; hence the pauline prayer in Ephesians 1.
He prayed for a spirit of wisdom and revelation that they would know God deeply and intimately. Indeed we can only see what has been shown, but our eyes must be in good order that they might see what is being shown to us. Such is the life of a Christian; Gehazi had not the eyes to see what the prophet was seeing yet the reality was there. The poor lad, his seeing was deficient and because his seeing was deficient, his knowledge was insufficient and he suffered for it. We must know God; faithlessness, prayerlessness, disobedience all stem from an inadequate knowledge of God, lacklustre Christian living is the mark of those not overwhelmed with their Maker.
The apostle brimming with joy, overwhelmed with revelation must have anxiously prayed that they would get it, they would see and know the hope to which they had been called, would understand the awesome inheritance that they now had in God; the magnificence of salvation and the degree of God’s power that was in operation in their lives, unlimited, all surpassing power.
It is one thing to say, it is quite another to see. He prays that they may see; I pray that I may see; I pray that the people I minister to may see. Often what limits us is not what we lack; but what we have and do not know we have. We live like paupers when massive investments have been made on our behalf and we only need to lay claim to our inheritance. The goodness of God is beyond description, the provisions he has made for his saints beyond explaining; and despite his great eloquence, the apostle says ‘I am praying for you’.
What God has done in Christ far surpasses anything we could need today for our daily lives. What God has done in Christ, when understood, secures complete peace, complete joy and perfect submission towards God and love and honour for Him. God has nothing to prove, all has been demonstrated in Christ. No tragedy, no circumstance, no difficulty can ever counterbalance it; no backsliding, no sin can ever be justified.
God has succeeded once and for all, His work on our behalf has been accomplished to perfection. Our highest, greatest attainment of blessing has been given in Christ; the greater value we place on it, the less all else weighs on us and the more God takes his rightful place in our lives as the supreme benefactor. Oh God, that we might see…