Knowing Our Hope

You’ve probably heard someone criticize or make fun of a Hallmark movie due to their standard line of, “follow your heart.” As Christians, we know that “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it” (Jeremiah 17:9). Paul addressed the Corinthian church for following a similar mindset. John MacArthur writes: “One cause of immaturity in the church at Corinth was reliance on feelings above knowledge. Many believers were more interested in doing what felt right than in doing what God declared to be right (2 Cor. 6:11–13) … Instead of their emotions being controlled by God’s truth, their emotions distorted their understanding of His truth.”[1]

This is as big of a problem in today’s culture, even within the church, as it was in the Corinthian church. Emotions are not all bad, but Paul knew the dangers of emotions distorting our understanding of God’s truth. So, when he prayed that the believers’ would be given the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him [Jesus], he immediately connected that knowledge to believers’ hearts being enlightened in three ways. We will look at the first two ways today.

15 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.[2]

Ephesians 1:15-23

We connect the heart to our emotions, but in the ancient world, many cultures, including the Hebrews and Greeks, regarded the heart not as an emotional wellspring but rather the hub of thinking, knowledge, wisdom, and understanding. Scripture further connects the heart to our motives, affections, what we value, mind, and will. When Paul prays for believers’ hearts to be enlightened, he is not speaking to emotions. He is speaking to the deepest core of our being.

Paul prayed for the eyes of our hearts to be enlightened. Paul uses enlightened to mean that we will love what God loves. We will see the world around us the way God sees it – as some have phrased it, through a Biblical lens. Paul knew this was imperative. Our natural response is to pray for circumstances to change, but it is more important that our perspective changes. As Richard Coekin further explains: “Our perspectives depend upon our values, which are shaped by the affections of our heart.” [3]

Let’s look at two Biblical examples. First, the king of Syria was warring against Israel. He would plan an attack, but God through Elisha would alert Israel’s king, thwarting the Syrian king. The king of Syria grew tired of being thwarted and sent a great army with horses and chariots to surround the city where Elisha was. Elisha’s servant looked out and saw the great army: “’Alas, my master! What shall we do?’ 16 He said, ‘Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.’ 17 Then Elisha prayed and said, ‘O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.’ So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha”[4] (2 Kings 6:15-17, emphasis added).

Elisha’s servant needed to have his eyes opened to see the reality of God’s army surrounding them and the Syrian army. It wasn’t that the servant’s eyes had been physically closed. They were spiritually closed. He was not seeing the circumstance the way God and Elisha saw it. He placed more value on the armies of men than on the greatness, omnipotence, omniscience, and sovereignty of God.

Second, one of my favorite Old Testament accounts tells of God directing Moses to send twelve men to spy out the land of Canaan (Numbers 13). After forty days, the spies returned and reported to Moses, Aaron, and the people of Israel. They told all those gathered about the land flowing with milk and honey and showed them the fruit from the land. But then, ten of the spies went on to describe the people of the land, their strength, their gigantic size, and their large, fortified cities. The Israelites were like little grasshoppers before the people of Canaan.

The ten spies were afraid to go into the Promised Land, and their fear infected the people of Israel. Their minds were set on earthly things to the extent of weeping and wishing they had died in Egypt or the wilderness or perhaps choosing a different leader to take them back to Egypt. They needed the eyes of their hearts enlightened. Their affections were not set on God, His promises, or His abundant provision thus far. They valued immediate comfort and earthly security.

There were two spies who thought differently, Joshua and Caleb: “6 And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes 7 and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, ‘The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. 8 If the Lord delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. 9 Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them’”[5] (Numbers 14:6-9).

Joshua and Caleb saw the situation the way God saw it. The people of Canaan were like little grasshoppers before God. Joshua and Caleb loved what God loved. Their affections were set on God and the things of God. They feared God not man because they knew God was with them and He was faithful to do what He promised to do: give them the Promised Land. Joshua and Caleb had the eyes of their hearts enlightened.

In his letter to the Colossian church, Paul expressed this idea in another way: “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” (Colossians 3:1-2). As we set our minds on things above, we make a deliberate choice to seek God, to know Him more fully, and to view our circumstances through what we know is true about God from His Word.

So, what do we need to see as God sees? What specifically do we need to know? First, “that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you.” Paul will later write: “remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world” (vs 2:12, emphasis added). Before we were redeemed and forgiven (vs 7), we were without hope. In Christ, God has called us to hope.

As you may know, Biblical hope is not wishful thinking. It is a certainty rooted in God’s unfailing promises, in His character – like Joshua and Caleb, who were ready to enter the Promised Land because they trusted that God would do what He promised to do. The hope to which God has called us is the hope of the Gospel. For those in Christ, this world is not all there is. In fact, it pales miserably in comparison to the future that awaits us, eternity with God in glory.

Paul prayed for believers to know this hope because what we know Biblically about our future should transform how we live in the here and now (2 Thessalonians 1:11; 2 Peter 3:11). Are we investing in temporary things of this world, or are we investing in eternal things? How do you spend your time and your money? What governs what you watch, listen to, and read? What characterizes your conversations? Are you connected and serving in a local church body?

Gospel hope transforms our identity. In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul listed who the Corinthians (and we) were before coming to saving faith. Then he exhorts: “And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11, emphasis added). Part of our new identity in Christ is what Paul already outlined in verses 3-14. We need to know the hope of our identity to be able to live according to who we are in Christ.

Second, what we need to see as God sees, what we specifically need to know is: “what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.” Several weeks ago, we examined what this inheritance means in “Blessed by Being Sealed for Inheritance” ( from vs 11). You may remember there are two possible understandings for inheritance. The first understanding states that believers are Christ’s inheritance (John 6:37, 39; 10:29; 17:2, 24). The second understanding states that believers receive an inheritance (1 Peter 1:3-4). Both are grammatically and theologically correct. However, believers receiving an inheritance fits most closely with the rest of Paul’s teaching in verses 3-14.

We also noted that we have received part of our inheritance now and will receive the full inheritance when we are resurrected and glorified. In Paul’s letter to the church in Rome, he stated that we are heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ. John MacArthur in commenting on this verse, detailed that we inherit eternal salvation, God Himself, glory, and everything in the universe. Unlike the Jewish practice where the firstborn son had primacy, we are fellow heirs with Christ. God has made Jesus heir of all things. “Every adopted child will receive by divine grace the full inheritance Christ receives by divine right provided we suffer with him” (MacArthur). That truth should certainly transform the way we live in the here and now. What is a bigger house or better car in comparison to eternal salvation, glory, everything in the universe, and God Himself? Add to that, no more tears, no more sorrow or suffering, no more sin.

This is our hope. This is our inheritance. Pray to really know these truths and let them transform you.

Reflection

1.    Do you pray for others to see the world as God does? To love what He loves? Who can you commit to praying for in this way? How specifically can you pray this? (i.e. God loves and values life. He has compassion for the lost. He desires that no one perish. God sees unrighteous anger as murder.)

2.    What have you been viewing with an unenlightened heart? What has been capturing your affections to keep you from seeing as God sees? How does seeing it the way God sees it change your perspective? Change how you respond in the circumstance?

3.    How are you investing in temporal things? How are you investing in eternal things?

4.    How does knowing the hope to which God has called you encourage you? Transform how you live now?

5.    How does knowing the riches of God’s glorious inheritance in the saints encourage you? Transform how you live now?

[1] John F. MacArthur Jr., Ephesians, MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1986), 45.

[2] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Eph 1:15–23.

[3] Coekin, Richard. Ephesians For You. The Good Book Company, 2023.

[4] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 2 Ki 6:15–17.

[5] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Nu 14:6–9.