September 12 2025

Friday September 12

“The Riches of the Glory of His Inheritance”

Ephesians 1:15-18

“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 His inheritance in the saints.”

We are continuing to look at Paul's prayer for the church at Ephesus. In verse 17, Paul prayed for them to know God. “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation and the knowledge of Him”. There can be nothing more important than that we pursue the knowledge of God, to know Him, to know the power of His resurrection, the fellowship of His suffering, to be intimately acquainted with Him (Philippians 3:10). We can do that through the power of the Holy Spirit, along with reading, studying and meditating upon the truths about Him in His Word.

Paul not only prayed that they would know God, he prayed that they “may know what is the hope of His calling”. What is the hope of His calling? It is the hope that we have because of the calling that we have in Christ Jesus. We're called to salvation. We're called to sanctification. We're called to service for the Lord Jesus Christ. We are called to live holy lives for His glory. With that calling comes hope. When you live for that which is eternal rather than that which is temporal, you are reminding yourself every day, that you have a hope that's steadfast and sure. You have something to look forward to.

This hope that belongs to our calling is a dynamic force in our lives. It encourages us to be pure. 1 John 2:28–3:3; "Because when we see Him, we shall be like Him. And every man that has this hope in Him purifies himself even as He is pure." It calls us to live pure, holy lives. “Be ye holy for I am holy”, God says to us (1 Peter 1:16). It calls us to be obedient. Obedient to the Lord, obedient to our leaders, obedient to the truths and leadings of the Holy Spirit in our lives every day. It causes us to be faithful. “Moreover, it's required in a steward that he be found faithful”. In Luke 12, the faithful steward was rewarded. God wants us to be faithful.

This hope, this living for that which is eternal rather than that which is temporal, gives us something to live for and to be glorified in Christ for. Which leads us to the third thing that Paul is praying for: “What are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.” Now this is interesting. In Ephesians 1:7 we are told that we  have an inheritance in Christ. But now this phrase here in verse 18, does not refer to the inheritance that we have in Christ, but to the inheritance that Christ has in us. What an amazing truth that God should look upon us as part of His great wealth.

Just as a man's wealth brings glory to his name, so God will get glory from the church because of what He has invested in us. And when Christ returns for us, we shall be to the praise of the glory of His grace. God deals with us on the basis of our future, not our past. He said to cowardly Gideon, hiding from the Midianites as he was threshing his wheat, "The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor" (Judges 6:12). I can imagine that Gideon looked around and said, "Who are you talking to? I'm scared to death." Jesus also said to Simon, Andrew's brother, "Thou art Simon, you'll be called Cephas”, which means a stone (John 1:42). And as you know, Gideon did become a mighty man of valor. And Simon did become Peter, a rock.

My friend, we live in the future tense even now. And our lives should be controlled by what we are already in Christ Jesus. Jesus, who for the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross (Hebrews 12:2). He looked forward to that day, that wonderful day when He would receive His church, His Bride to Himself. “…just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:25-27).

On that great and grand day Jesus Christ will be greatly glorified as He receives His inheritance. What a encouragement and blessing to know today that you and I are a part of His inheritance. But even today, as we live for the future, we should glorify His name!

Today we should desire to be more like Jesus, and can be by looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith. Jesus lived for the glory of God and so should we.

God bless!