Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of the of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power. Ephesians 1:15-19 I have heard it said that Ephesians is the New Testament version of Joshua. In Joshua, the children of Israel had just buried their beloved leader Moses and was given the instructions to “arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving them.” Joshua 1:2. It has been said that the greatness of a leader can be determined by what happens when they are no longer there. Too many times the vision and drive a leader tries to impart with their followers, dies when they die. The message and mission of Jesus did not die after He was taken into heaven. In fact, the eleven disciples and other believers took hold of the message and seriously started changing their world, by making disciples of all men. The church at Ephesus, was proof of the dedication of the believers and was a result of the Apostle Paul sowing prayers, love and the good news of the gospel to them. After starting the church, Paul left Pricilla and her husband Aquila in charge of the growth of the congregation. Paul was arrested, taken to Rome and imprisoned before his trial. During his time in prison, he wrote several of the epistles to the churches he had helped plant to encourage them. His letter to the Ephesians was a letter of encouragement for their undaunting faith and good works. Even Jesus told John in Revelations 2 Jesus told the Ephesians, that He saw their works, their hard work, and how they did not tolerate evil. The church at Ephesus was a great church who had soaked in all the gospel and was actively putting their knowledge into practice. Paul reminded them of the redemption of the blood for the forgiveness of sins because of God’s good pleasure, then Paul wrote “In Him we have obtained an inheritance.” If you asked people in the church today what is our inheritance as followers of Jesus, most will tell you we will be given a mansion and live in heaven with Jesus for eternity. While this is our end reward, there is so much more to our inheritance! Paul understood the short sightedness that many Christians had and he wrote, “may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of the of His inheritance in the saints” He wanted them to know shoes they were, the call of God on their lives and the inheritance they had been given. In order to receive an inheritance, someone must have something to give and they must die. When Jesus died on the cross, He transferred what He had to the believers. All churches teach, we must have faith in Jesus and a love for others so when we die we will spend eternity in heaven. The church has done a good job of teaching people that they are sinners (Romans 3”23 For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.) We all have sinned and we not only need the mercy of God, we need the blood Jesus sacrificed that has the power to remove all sins, not just atone for them. I know that I am so thankful that He was wounded for all my many iniquities. Even those who love God and are serious about serving Him, still sin and need the atonement from time to time. I think the Modern American Church struggles to teach about the rest of our inheritance. They fail to teach about our earthly inheritance that the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ has given us. To start to comprehend our inheritance, we need to look at Jesus and see what all he had to gift to the church. Isaiah prophesied in Isaiah 61:1-2 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the good tiding to the poor, He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and he opening of prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God. To comfort all who mourn.” One day Jesus went into the temple and was handed the scroll to read the daily scripture and it this was the portion that Jesus was given to read. God gave Him the mandate and the ability to fulfill His calling. Then Isaiah 53:3-5 tells about the victories and accomplishments that were completed when Jesus died on the cross. “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken by God and afflicted. But He was wounded for our iniquities, the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” We have salvation, peace with God and ourselves, both physical and emotional healing, and freedom from bondage and addictions. Sadly, as Christians we tend to settle instead of pursuing our full inheritance. Jesus has also given us power. Jesus promised that after He left, He would send the Holy Spirit, to teach all things, lead us, remind us of things Jesus did, and the Holy Spirit would anoint us with power to be witnesses. Act 1:8). Jesus promised to never leave or forsake us and that He would be with us to the end of the age. (Matt. 28:20) Jesus promised to “meet all our needs according to His riches in Glory” Philippians 4:19. Jesus promised to answer our prayers) Matt. 18:1920.) He gave us authority over all the enemy. (Luke 10:19) We have direct access to God, Hebrews 4:16 “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in the time of need. “We have His word that does not come back void (Isaiah 55:11). Jesus gave us the right to invoke the most powerful name of all, “Therefore God has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, and at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven and of those on earth and those under the earth.” Demons tremble and flee when a believer uses the name of Jesus. What an inheritance we have been given! We have been given all these things so we can give them to someone else in need. Jesus told the disciples in Matthew 10:7-8 “As you go, preach saying the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick cleanse the leopards, raise the dead, cast our demons. Freely you have received, freely give.” Sadly, many of those who love God and are called according to His purpose are bankrupt and do not have anything to give. Some are financially broke and have no money to help meet anyone else’s’ needs. Other people are struggling with their own health and are not physically able to help anyone. Then there are those who are fighting their own demons of addiction or mental health and struggle to just keep their head above the storm. No wonder he prayed for the church at Ephesus “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of the His inheritance in the saints.” I think I have a pretty good foundation in God’s word, but I will be the first to admit that I do not fully understand all of my inheritance and I could use more wisdom and revelation and for my eyes of my understanding do not perceive everything God has for me. I am praying for us, that we would have more knowledge and revelation of Him and that we would have our spiritual understanding and vision sharpened so we can fulfill the call of God on each of our lives. Will you join me in expecting a greater vison that ever before?
Cathy Nesmith