[8:00 a. m.] Hope, Riches, and Power (Ephesians 1:18-21 )

As we pull back together, let's turn our attention to God's

Word. After a wonderful Holy Week, we

continue our series through Ephesians.

We're still in chapter 1 and it's a joy to continue working

through Paul's prayer. So our text this morning is

Ephesians 118 through 21. Paul continues to pray for the

Ephesians. He says, 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, And what is the

immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe,

according to the working of His great might, that He worked in

Christ when He raised Him from the dead, and seated Him at His

right hand in the heavenly places, 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. This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God. Please be seated.

Father, we sense that these are wonderful things in Your Word,

and so we pray with the psalmist that You would open our eyes to

see and to know and to love these wonderful things in Your

Word. In Jesus name we pray.

Amen. So at least one thing is clear

as we study Ephesians one Paul had rare spiritual vision into

who God is and what he has done. The Lord opened the eyes of

Paul's heart and what he saw changed everything.

Paul began to grasp all the privileges that we have in

Christ, what we've been talking about for a few months now.

And so Paul had this burden for believers and ultimately non

believers to understand all that we have in Christ or all that we

could have if we were in Christ. So for the last few months we've

been like divers and Ephesians one has been our ocean.

So each week we dive beneath the surface and come up with a new

treasure to take a look at and examine and figure out what to

do with. But these are not random

trinkets for us to sell on a secondary market.

These are precious things that God wants us to keep and to

treasure for ourselves. He wants to enrich our lives

with a deep knowledge of all that we have in Him.

The problem is we don't realize all that we have in him and what

it means for us. I said this a few weeks ago,

that Christians can be like a child of a billionaire living on

the streets. And what's interesting, there's

a real relationship. We're adopted children of our

heavenly Father, and there's real treasure.

We've been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

But there's also a real problem. We live like we don't know it or

like we don't have it. We're disconnected from our true

identity and our story. So as Paul prays that we would

have the spirit of wisdom and revelation to know God better,

he focuses here on three things that he particularly wants us to

see and to know. It's the hope to which he's

called us, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the

Saints, and the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us

who believe. So let's start by considering

the hope to which he's called us.

So what is hope? If you look in the dictionary,

you'll read hope is the longing or desire for something

accompanied by the belief in the possibility of its occurrence.

So we want something, and we have a reasonable expectation

that that might happen. So in the world, hope often

seems like wishful thinking. So we hope to find a good job,

or make it into a good school, or get married, see our team win

a championship. We think our hopes depend on

luck or chance or our ability to make it happen.

But in the Bible, hope is a little different.

It's this deep confidence in God's faithfulness to keep his

promises. When we know God, he transforms

our hopes. Our deepest longings and desires

become more centered in Him. And he also teaches us not to

trust in chance or trust in ourselves, but to trust in Him.

So what does hope look like in the Scriptures?

There could be so many examples. But think about Abraham.

He hoped that God would give him a child in his old age.

Or Moses who hoped to enter the promised land.

Or Peter who hoped that his failures when Jesus was arrested

and tried would not be the end of the story.

Now these men's hopes were fulfilled, but not as they

imagined or when they expected. Abraham had to wait till he was

100 years old to hold his child, Moses had to wait until he stood

on the Mount of Transfiguration in the Gospels with Jesus and

Elijah come into the promising, and Peter had to wait for an

encounter with the risen Christ on the shore.

So when we hope in God, he's faithful to his promises, even

when life goes differently than we expect.

But no matter what we believe, we all live by hope.

I don't know if you know the name Viktor Frankel.

He was a Jewish man who survived multiple Nazi concentration

camps during World War 2. It's really an amazing story.

Viktor survived, but along the way in camps, he lost his

parents, he lost his brother, and he lost his wife.

After the war, he had this long career as a professor and an

author. And in one of his books, Man's

Search for Meaning, he talks about what he learned in the

camps. So one thing that stuck with me

because I read this book a long time ago is a word he shares

about hope. Frankel writes those who have a

why to live can bear with almost any how.

Imagine being in a concentration camp, how easy it would be to

lose hope, to forget why you should hang in and hang on in

the face of so much suffering. So Frankel noticed that those

who lost their why would struggle and often not make it.

But those who held on to hope and had a why had perspective to

keep going. Which begs the question for us,

what's your hope? What gets you up in the morning?

What gets you through the day? Do you have a why that can help

you bear almost any how? Now, as I've reflected this

week, I believe there are two kinds of hope.

They're the hopes to which we cling.

And there's a hope to which we're called.

So what are the hopes to which we cling?

Years ago, Jim Carrey was a presenter at the Golden Globe

Awards. And as you probably know, Jim's

a talented, funny actor, but rarely serious.

And that night, his speech from the podium was sort of like a

sneak attack because all the actors were there hoping to win

an award. And of course, they thought Jim

was trying to be funny. But I think he was actually

showing them that they were clinging to the wrong hope.

Listen to what he said and I'll not try to be Jim Carrey.

He said thank you. I'm two time Golden Globe winner

Jim Carrey and when I go to sleep at night, I'm not just a

guy going to sleep. I'm two time Golden Globe winner

Jim Carrey. Going to get some much needed

shut eye. And they're laughing.

And when I dream, I don't just dream any old dream, no Sir.

I dream about being three time Golden Globe winner Jim Carrey

because then I would be enough. It would finally be true.

And you feel the laughter starting to turn to discomfort.

And I could stop this terrible search for what I know won't

ultimately fulfill me. And then pregnant pause.

And he says, but these are important, these awards.

Jim got a lot of laughs along the way, but by the end, they

became awkward laughs because we don't like it when people poke

holes in our hopes. But friends, this is what the

Bible does. Imagine if you were making a

speech like Jim Carrey. What hope would you unmask?

Are we hoping for some kind of belonging with friends, at

church, in marriage, with family, at a Country Club?

Are we hoping for some kind of success in school or work or

sports or a hobby? Are we hoping for some kind of

possession or wealth or comfort or pleasure?

Entertainment? We cling to all kinds of hopes,

thinking like Jim Carrey said, if I could just get that, then I

would be enough. It would finally be true and I

could stop this terrible search for what I know won't ultimately

fulfill me. The problem is, usually we hope

for good things. They don't seem bad.

But left to ourselves, we don't hope for God.

We cling to hopes that are too small for these hearts that were

made for God. So we look for significance and

security and satisfaction in these things that we cling to.

But sooner or later, if we're honest, we have to say this

isn't as significant as I thought.

This isn't as secure as I thought.

This isn't as satisfying as I thought.

And the most profound stories are the ones of the people who

get what they hope for. And you see so much frustration

and disappointment. And that's why Paul prays that

the eyes of our hearts would be enlightened to see not the hopes

we cling to, but the hope to which God has called us.

When the Bible talks about the Father adopting us as his

children, what's the implication that he initiated that He shows

us that he called us and that before he adopted us, we were

like orphans. In Ephesians 212, Paul describes

our life before we knew Christ. He says that we were without

hope and without God. So it makes sense because

orphans don't have hope. They can't imagine glorious

horizons for their life. But being called into a new

family means being called into a New Hope.

In Colossians 127, Paul boils the hope down to 3 words.

Christ in you, he says. Christ in you the hope of glory.

Remember Ephesians 113 through 14 just a few weeks ago.

In Him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of

your salvation and believed in Him, were sealed with the

promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance

until we acquire possession of the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of

Jesus Christ living in US, bringing home to us all the

glorious riches that we have in Christ now and forever.

So we already enjoy the first waves of this hope.

But this mighty ocean is coming. The Lord has called us to a hope

that is glorious and perfect. So let your imagination run wild

in glory. What will our relationship with

God be like? What will our relationships with

one another be like? What kind of satisfaction will

we experience? What will this world be like

when it's the new heavens and the new earth?

That's the hope to which we've been called, and it's ours in

Christ. In every dimension, the Lord has

called us to this hope that's beyond our wildest dreams.

And in all of these dimensions, the Lord will bring our hopes to

a glorious, perfect fulfillment. But it all started with a

calling. And a calling implies what?

A caller knowing this hope isn't ultimately about something we

did or decision we made. It's ultimately about his

calling, calling our name, calling us out of darkness and

into his glorious light. So friends in Christ we have the

greatest hope. Jesus becomes the center of our

lives now and forever. And that's why Paul can say in

Philippians 121 For to me, to live is what Christ, and to die

is gain. Why?

Because we get to go be with the one who is our hope.

So friends, we will always have temporal disappointments, but we

will never lose our eternal hope if we have the right hope.

So do we know this? And if so, why keep clinging to

these lesser hopes? May the Lord open our eyes to

see the hope to which He's called us.

And Paul also prays that we would know the riches of his

glorious inheritance. He says, what are the riches of

his glorious inheritance in the Saints?

So let's talk about inheritances for a minute.

Why do we ever receive an inheritance in the world?

Well, because we have a relationship with someone,

usually a family member, because they make plans to pass their

valuable possessions to us, and usually because they die.

Now imagine that our parents have vast resources.

What might we say about our inheritance?

I can't believe all that is coming to me now.

What do we see in the Scriptures?

God's Word talks about inheritance is really in two

ways. On the one hand, we learned that

we have an inheritance in Christ.

This is easier for us to understand.

Why? Because God is the Father.

He's the one with all the possessions.

Paul says in Romans 8 that if we're children of God, that

means we're heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.

It's this mind blowing idea that He wants to share everything He

has with us. Simply put, He is our

inheritance. But that's not the predominant

note in our passage if you look closely.

If that were the case, Paul would say the riches of our

glorious inheritance in Christ, but instead he says the riches

of his glorious inheritance in the Saints.

This is the more shocking idea that we are his inheritance, we

are what's coming to God, and he sees us as a glorious

inheritance. As strange as that sounds, it's

not a new thought in Scripture we see in the Old Testament.

This is just one example of many.

Deuteronomy 14. Two, For you are a people holy

to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a

people for his treasured possession out of all the

peoples who are on the face of the earth.

So we see it way back, but we also see it in the New

Testament. We see it here in Paul, but we

also see it in Peter. Both these apostles take this

ancient concept and apply it now to the church first.

Peter 29 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy

nation, a people for his own possession.

So if we compare an earthly inheritance to our heavenly

inheritance, how is it similar? Well, by faith in Christ, we

have a relationship with God the Father.

We are part of his family. Christ is our brother.

He's made a plan to bless us with an incredible inheritance,

and there's been a death. Christ died in order that it

might come to us. The difference is Jesus didn't

stay dead. Amen.

He rose again to win us for himself, but also to give

himself to us. We're united with Christ.

We're one with Him. The Bible pictures that as the

ultimate marriage. So we can truly say the Lord is

our inheritance. He is what's coming to us.

And the Lord can truly say that we are his inheritance, we are

what's coming to Him. What a glorious thought.

Remember Hebrews 12 for the joy set before him, the joy of a

treasured people. Jesus endured the cross.

So do we know this? Do we realize that we are His

treasure? Is he ours?

May the Lord open the eyes of our hearts to know the glorious

riches of His inheritance. Finally, Paul here prays that we

would know the immeasurable greatness of his power.

So let's talk power. We have a complicated

relationship with power, don't we?

We want to be powerful, but we often feel powerless.

We're drawn to those who have power in the world, but we're

also suspicious. We know the maxim power

corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Andy Crouch wrote a book about power called Playing God, and in

the book he argues despite all the abuses, power is actually a

great gift. Why is power a gift?

Crouch asks. Because power is for

flourishing. When power is used well, people

and the whole cosmos come more alive to what they were meant to

be. So God's infinite power is a

priceless gift because he has used it for our flourishing, to

renew us and the whole created world.

So Paul talks about the immeasurable greatness of his

power toward us who believe. Of course, God has acted for his

own glory. How could he not do that?

But he has also acted for our good.

Unlike so many rulers in the world, God has leveraged his

power and authority to bless others.

And Paul says we see his power on full display.

Where in Christ's resurrection and exaltation.

So do we know the power of God and the resurrection of Jesus

Christ. Ever since Genesis 3, we felt

the power of sin and death. Sin has wreaked havoc in the

life of every person not named Jesus of Nazareth.

It holds us back, it drags us down.

It separates us from God and his will for our lives.

And the wages of sin, Paul says, is death the just payment for

our sinful work, if you will? Is death being cut off from life

in God and life in this world? Sin and death bring misery into

even the most admirable lives that we see.

But something happened around 2000 years ago when Jesus Christ

died on the cross and rose from the grave three days later.

In his days on earth, Jesus lived the perfect life.

He never sinned in his thoughts, words, affections, or actions.

He went to the cross as the perfect, spotless sacrifice.

He alone did not deserve death, but he tasted death for his

people who do. And the Father vindicated his

Son's sacrifice on Sunday morning when he raised him from

the dead. Satan thought he had won on

Friday. Imagine a surprise on Sunday

morning when the stone was rolled away.

So Father, Son, and Holy Spirit work together to defeat sin and

death and Satan. So Paul reaches for everything

he can to paint this picture of this power.

In Greek, he actually uses 4 different power words in rapid

succession. The first is the root of our

word dynamite, it's raw power. The second is the root of our

word energy. It refers to that internal force

that drives or activates something.

The third is related to our word for autocrat.

It refers to the ability to conquer.

And the fourth word refers to strength or physical force.

So Paul grabs every word he can find to tell us what the great

powers that torment us are no match for the immeasurable

greatness of his power. And this power that we see in

the resurrection of Jesus Christ is in you.

If you are in Christ. Think about it.

It took nothing less than the immeasurable power of God to

save you, and he did that. It takes nothing less than his

immeasurable power to sanctify you, and he's doing that.

So if you feel weak, stuck, powerless to change, think about

the power that is in you. And if you do not know Jesus

Christ this morning, and you feel weighed down by the power

of sin and death. Do you know that he has the

power to bring you to life and change you bring your weakness

to Jesus and rest in his resurrection power.

Christ's resurrection is obviously a decisive moment in

the story of God's power. But Paul doesn't stop there.

He goes on to talk about the power of God and the exaltation

of Jesus Christ. Paul says that the Father look

at the end of verse 20 and then into 21.

The Father seated him at his right hand in the heavenly

places, 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.

So how did Jesus go from being raised to being seated at the

Father's right hand? It's through His ascension that

we read about in Acts One. In the presence of His

disciples, our Lord was bodily taken up to return to the

Father. We don't talk much about the

ascension, but it's wonderfully significant.

Let me show you just a few things about the ascension.

The ascension completes our Lord's incarnation journey.

He said himself that He came from the Father and He was

returning to the Father. So he left heaven, He came to

earth, He took on flesh, He died on the cross, He rose from the

grave, and now through the ascension he has returned to

heaven. Do you ever think about this,

that our Lord is in heaven with a body like ours?

The ascension begins a new phase of Christ's ministry to his

people. So Jesus came to earth to be the

high priest who would not just pray or offer sacrifices, but

offer himself as the sacrifice for his people.

He made that final sacrifice, but that doesn't mean like we

often think that his ministry is over.

Even now as I speak, Jesus lives, the Bible says to

intercede for his people. How often do you think about

that, That our Lord Jesus, it's praying for us.

The ascension is also the precursor to the sending of the

Holy Spirit. Jesus told his disciples, it's

better for me to go away because when I go away, send the Holy

Spirit, the Comforter, the Advocate to be with you.

And that's exactly what he did at Pentecost with Christ at the

right hand of the Father. Now the Spirit was poured out on

the church and we transitioned from a few decades of Christ's

physical presence with us to this wonderful age of His

spiritual presence with us. The Spirit empowers the church

for its mission to make disciples of all nations.

And you can literally say we would not be here this morning

without the ascension of Christ and the sending of His Spirit.

The ascension is ultimately the coronation of Jesus as King of

Kings and Lord of Lords. What has been all over our

liturgy and in our singing. He's exalted, Paul says, far

above all rule and authority and power and dominion, above every

name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to

come. Just like with power.

Don't you see how Paul is reaching for every word he can

find to try to describe this exaltation, cosmic power and

glory, and yet he wants it to hit us at this deeply personal

level. Remember Jesus prayer in John

1724. Father, I desire that they also

whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my

glory that you've given me because you loved me before.

The foundation of the world. Jesus deep desire is for us to

be with Him where He is through his resurrection and ascension.

He has gone before us, but he will not remain there alone.

One day he will return and we will reign with Him forever.

Do you know the immeasurably great power that he has toward

us? So I read a fascinating story in

a commentary this week and I want to share it with you.

To close, it's a about a town called Atasca, Texas.

Has anyone been there a few? OK, cool. 50 miles South of Fort

Worth, there's I guess evidence that's a real place.

Before World War 2A fire hit the school there, it took the lives

of over 250 children. So you can imagine the whole

town was rocked by this tragedy. And the town was unable to

rebuild the school in the midst of the war.

But after the war, they rebuilt the school and they put in a

state-of-the-art sprinkler system, as you can imagine.

And they were proud of what they created and confident that that

kind of tragedy would not strike again.

And it didn't. And so I'll just let you know

that they offered tours for people to come and see the

school and this wonderful sprinkler system.

Now, the town continued to grow. And after World War 2, just a

few years later, they needed to expand the school again.

And so they added a new wing to the school.

And as they were constructing and expanding, they made a

shocking discovery. Their amazing sprinkler system

had never been connected. They had all the hope, all the

riches, all the power of this state-of-the-art sprinkler

system. And it wasn't plugged in.

And it's such a wonderful illustration because it's a

picture of how we struggle in the Christian life.

We have all the hope, all the riches, all the power in Christ,

but it's like our lives haven't been connected to it.

So what a gift to have all these privileges in Christ.

Friends, have we connected our lives to them?

Let's pray, Father, for those who know you this morning.

May the eyes of their hearts be enlightened.

May they know deeply the hope, the riches, and the power that

they have in Christ. Or it helped them to believe

that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is in them

and with them. May they experience more and

more of the resurrection life. And Father, for those who don't

know you, open the eyes of their hearts today.

Help them to feel that the hopes they cling to are fragile.

Help them to know the hope of Christ, the glory of being your

beloved child, and the greatness of Your power to save them and

to change them. Oh Lord, as we come to this

table, we look to you as we eat the bread and drink the cup.

Make the reality of all that we have in Christ more real to us,

for we long to know You in a way that changes everything.

And your great name, the name above all names we pray.

Amen.