SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/5/2018 10:27 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-2
“Understanding the Greatness of God’s Plan”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Ephesians
1:18
Message of the verses: “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,”
We
have been talking about believers having their eyes and their hearts opened to
understand what is the hope of His calling, and what are the riches of His
inheritance. We have been looking at
that important word “inheritance” a lot as we have been looking at Ephesians
chapter one, and it is an important truth for us to understand what our
(believers) inheritance is all about.
There
is a wonderful story in the last chapter of the book of Luke that illustrates
what we have been talking about. I have
often wondered what it would have been like to be one of the disciples that
Jesus was walking with and talking to on the Emmaus road. Not sure if one of them was Luke or not, but
at any rate these two men were disciples of Jesus and as they walked that
lonely road soon after the death of Jesus they were sorrowful to be sure. Along comes Jesus who began to explain to
them from the Old Testament why the Messiah had to suffer and die, but they
could not understand Him or who He was.
All of a sudden at supper their eyes were opened and they knew they had
been talking to the Savior, and they knew why He had to die.
John
MacArthur writes “The first thing for which Paul prays for is that believers
‘be enlightened’ about the greatness of God’s plan. In the most comprehensive of terms, the
apostle asks that they be given understanding of ‘the hope of His calling’ and
‘the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.’ He prays for God to enlighten them about the
magnificent truths of election, predestination, adoption, redemption,
forgiveness, wisdom and insight, inheritance, and the sealing and pledge of the
Holy Spirit about which he has just been instructing them (vv. 3-14).
“Those
truths summarize God’s master plan for the redemption of mankind, His eternal
plan to bring men back to Himself through His own Son, thereby making them His
children. Now that they belonged to
Christ by faith (v. 13), Paul’s supreme desire was for the Ephesian believers
to fully realize what their new identity meant.
‘You were no afterthought of God,’ he says ‘God not only chose to save
you, but He chose to save you eons before you existed, eons before you would
have opportunity by His grace to choose Him.
That is who you are.”
As
true believers in Jesus Christ we have to comprehend who we truly are in Him,
for without that it is impossible to live an obedient and fulfilling life for
the cause of Christ until we know these truths.
I probably have mentioned a sermon that I heard many, many years ago and
even though I don’t remember all that was in it I do remember the title
“Becoming What You Are,” and that is what Paul is talking about here as God
looks down upon us and truly knows what we are in Christ, He wants us to know
this in order to live a life that will please Him. What we are talking about here is what is
called our heavenly citizenship, and we need to live here on earth like what we
are, citizens of heaven. We have to be
so heavenly minded that we are earthly good.
Romans
8:28 tells us “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the
image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;” being
predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son is the hope of His
calling. This surely will happen and
fulfilled in His kingdom, but as seen here we need to understand it, having our
eyes opened to live it out through the power of the Holy Spirit here on
earth. MacArthur adds “The fullness of
that hope will be experienced when we receive the supreme ‘riches of the glory
of His inheritance in the saints.’ It is
truth too magnificent for words to describe, which is why even God’s own
revelation requires the illumination of His Spirit in order for believers even
to begin to understand the marvelous magnitude of the blessing of salvation
that exist in the sphere of the saints.”
He
goes on to write “Our being glorious children of God and joint heirs with Jesus
Christ of all God possesses is consummation and end of salvation promised from
eternity past and held in hope until the future manifestation of Christ. There is nothing more to seek, nothing more
to be given or received. We have it all
now, and we will have it throughout eternity.”
My
Steps of Faith for Today: Continue to learn the inheritance that I have
in Jesus Christ.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible question: “14 years” (2 Corinthians 12:2).
Today’s Bible question: “The apostles told the high priest that God
has exalted Jesus to what two things?”
Answer in our next SD.
12/5/2018 10:58 AM
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