Ephesians 1:18

“having the eyes of your heart enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints”

“Having”: “That your minds may be so enlightened” (TCNT). “These words are. rather poetic restatement of what Paul means by ‘give unto you. spirit of wisdom and revelation”” (Spiritual Sword Lectureship p. 18). “Eyes of your heart”: “The heart regarded as having eyes looking out” (Robertson p. 520). “His request is for an awakened and an enlarged moral perception, for. clearer spiritual vision” (Erdman p. 43). “Heart is not merely the seat of emotion, as in popular usage, but of thought and will” (Vincent p. 371). “In biblical usage the heart is the whole inward self. comprising mind as well as emotion” (Stott p. 54). “Enlightened”: Contrary to popular opinion, Christianity does not bring one into. state of ignorance, in fact the Christian is the truly "enlightened" person (Hebrews 6:4; Hebrews 10:32). It is the world that lives in darkness (Acts 26:18; Ephesians 4:17). God will not force one to open their eyes to the truth. Seeing the full truth demands. couple of things on our part: That we are honest (Luke 8:15), that we value "truth" above our own personal convenience, that is, that we love the truth more than we love ourselves (2 Thessalonians 2:10), and that we make an honest effort to understand (Acts 17:11). We must acknowledge that God's revelation is the final authority and only standard for what is "truth" (John 17:17), and having one's spiritual eyes opened depends upon our own choice (Matthew 13:15), and is linked with. humble attitude (James 1:21). “That ye may know”: “Actually get to know” (Lenski pp. 395-396). Know more fully and more practically.

“Nothing can bless men any more than sensitivity to spiritual truth. It is. sad fact that people may hear the glorious news of salvation in Christ until it no longer arouses any emotion at all in their hearts. God grant that our hearts may never be insensitive to such. message” (Coffman p. 133).

What we need to appreciate and know fully

“What is the hope of His calling”: “That you may realize the hope given by God's call” (TCNT). “The hope to which He has called them” (Bruce p. 270). Notice the singular "hope", for only one hope exists for all Christians (Ephesians 4:4). The Jehovah Witness doctrine of. heavenly and earthly hope, is not the "hope" mentioned in the gospel. The hope mentioned in the gospel, is eternal life (Titus 1:2). God "calls" us through the gospel (2 Thessalonians 2:14), and that call urges us to remain faithful so we can obtain eternal life. Unfortunately, many members never seriously contemplate what God wants to give the faithful. We do not allow ourselves to dwell on how glorious eternal life will be (1 Peter 1:4; Revelation 21:4). “His call was not. random or purposeless thing. He had some object in view when He called us. He called us to Christ and holiness, to freedom and peace, to suffering and glory. More simply, it was. call to an altogether new life in which we know, love, obey and serve Christ, enjoy fellowship with Him and with each other, and look beyond our present suffering to the glory which will one day be revealed” (Stott pp. 55-56). This hope includes the redemption of our physical bodies (Romans 8:23; 1 Corinthians 15:42 ff), the freedom from decay, corruption and death, complete satisfaction and fulfillment, the removal of everything that causes pain and frustration,. glorious home that will never become ordinary (1 Peter 1:4), no more conflict within, eternal contentment, purpose and meaning (Romans 2:10), and the perfect relationship (Revelation 21:7). This hope is an anchor (Hebrews 6:18). As Paul observes, if we really fully understood what God was wanting to give us, we would certainly put far more effort into living the Christian life, and sin would be seen for what it really is,. cheap imitation of happiness.

“The riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints”: “How gloriously rich God's portion in His people is” (Wms). The "inheritance" mentioned above, is not our inheritance, but God's inheritance. Out of everything that God has created, all that God will get is His people. “Paul prays that believers may understand how precious this church is to God. Members of the church, however, should appreciate their dignity. They are God's own people” (Erdman p. 44). “To say, as in v. 11, that ‘we get heaven and God gets us' initially causes one to think that God is being short-changed. But if we could really see the church as God sees it, like. beautiful bride (Ephesians 5:27), we would understand how highly God values His inheritance” (Boles p. 215). Do we appreciate the church like God does? Do we view and treat our brethren as valuable and important people? If Christians really "understood" that their brethren are part of God's inheritance, that God really wants these people saved, then congregations would never divide over opinion and personality differences. Attendance would not be. problem. God wants me saved and He has spared no expense (Acts 20:28)! “Paul prays here that his readers may appreciate the value which God places upon them” (Bruce p. 271).