2026-03-29 Open eyes, living reality (Eph 1:15-23)

Last week pastor Mike shared Eph1: 6-14 with us. Today we continue with Eph 1:15-23, 15 For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, 16 I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. 17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

Have you ever experienced this: your phone was in your pocket, but you were looking for it everywhere, until you realised it was in your pocket? Have you? I have! “Oh, it’s in my pocket!” Nothing actually changed; only your awareness changed, and that made all the difference. In the same way, Paul has just told us what we already have the blessings “in our pocket”: we are chosen, forgiven, saved, adopted as God’s sons and daughters, and given the Spirit of God to dwell in us. Now, in v.15–23, Paul prayed for believers, and his prayer is not for God to fix their problems, but for God to give them the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that they can see something. What did he want us to see?

1, The hope of His calling – seeing our future.

Paul first prays that the eyes of our hearts may be enlightened, so that we may know the hope to which He has called us. Life is about hope. What is your hope? If you hope for a good job, you’ll prepare for it. If you hope to get married, you’ll prepare yourself. But God has given us an eternal hope, so we must prepare for it. Our hope is full salvation, the redemption of our body, soul, and mind, and our destiny in Christ.

Daniel in the OT saw a vision: the Son of Man was given authority, glory, and sovereign power. His Kingdom will never pass away, and the saints will receive it forever (Daniel 7:14). This is our destiny. This is our hope. Hope is about the future, but we’re called to live in it now, preparing for what is to come. We often pray, “Lord, help me pass the exam, help me fix this problem…” But God offers something far greater. He says, “Seek first My Kingdom and My righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” He’s saying, all that we need to survive this life will be given to us, we don’t need to worry, but there’s a condition, if we change our priorities. We put God first. But we tend to put our needs or problems first, “God, if you give me this…if you get my son to listen to me…if you help me…I’ll listen to you”.

But God calls us to first live in alignment with His Kingdom principles. For example, if you put God first, if you put on worship songs and praise Him after work, the Bible says He dwells in the praise of His people.

When His presence comes, darkness is driven out, and you’ll begin to see change in your home. So Paul prayed that the believers would have spiritual sight. In Ephesus, believers could easily lose sight of their calling because of what was around them. We’re the same. That’s why we also pray: “Father, give me the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so I won’t be blinded by what is around me, or get lost in today’s troubles.”

2, The riches of His glorious inheritance — knowing our identity

Then, Paul prays that we may know “the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints.” Inheritance speaks of belonging, ownership, and family identity. In Deut 32:9, it says, “The Lord’s portion is His people.” So you are not random. You are not forgotten. You aren’t called just to survive life like the wild animals. You’re sons and daughters of the Creator God.

And He doesn’t just want us to be His inheritance. He wants to make us a glorious inheritance. A people who can reflect His glory. In Exo 19:5–6, God says to Israel: “If you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be My treasured possession… you will be for Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” This reveals how God makes us His glorious inheritance, through our trust and surrender.

The people were once slaves in Egypt, abused, broken, full of anger and bitterness. They had lost their identity. But God brought them out, not just to save them, but to restore them and make them His treasured inheritance. However, moving from a slavery mindset to a sonship mindset is not easy. At Marah, the water was bitter, they couldn’t drink it, instead of trusting and praying, they immediately grumbled and complained. Why? Because they feared they wouldn’t survive. That’s the mindset of a slave. Even though they had just seen God part the Red Sea, their hearts were still full of fear. And it’s the same for believers today, When things get tough, we quickly go back to fear, complaint and blame.

Why? Because a survival mentality always assumes, “this is not good, I may not survive; I may not make it; I need to stay in control.” A survival mentality leads us to live like an orphan, trying to handle everything on our own, struggling to trust others, and slowly becoming bitter. But God doesn’t give up on us. He continues His work to make us His glorious inheritance. So what did God do? God showed Moses a piece of wood.

When Moses threw it into the water, the bitter water became sweet. The wood points to the Cross. 1 Peter 2:24 says, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness, by His wounds you have been healed.” God calls us to bring our survival mindset to the cross, to lay down control, fear, and bitterness, and to learn to trust in Him, and to build a sonship mindset that says: “What is the Father’s will for me in this situation? Let me nail my own will to the cross with Christ and align myself with His…” Then His victory is yours.

3, Rely on His incomparably great power for this life.

Finally, Paul prays that we may know “His incomparably great power for us who believe.” The word “incomparably” means surpassing, far beyond measure, beyond anything we can compare. The word power (dynamis) refers to supernatural ability, divine strength in action. Paul is saying: God’s power is not just big, it is beyond measurement, beyond comparison, beyond what our minds can fully grasp. Think about this. How much power do we need just to keep the lights on? How much power do we need to run a heater to keep warm?

But this power is far greater. When a person is dying, when their organs are shutting down, how much power would it take to reverse that? No human power can do it. But there is a power that can: the incomparably great power of God. It is the same power by which Jesus cast out demons and healed the sick. It is the same power that raised Him from the dead, not just to bring Him back to life, but to keep Him alive forever. What exceedingly great power this is! And this same power is now at work in us through the Holy Spirit. Don’t you see it? It is already there.

Yet many believers still say, “It’s too hard. I can’t change. I’ve failed again.” That is why Paul prayed: “Father, give them the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, open the eyes of their hearts so they may see.”

In the OT, twelve spies entered the Promised Land God had already given them. God had promised them victory. But ten came back discouraged because they saw the giants and their own weakness.

But two came back confident because they saw God and His power. So which one are you living like? God has already given you victory through Jesus Christ. He has already placed His immeasurably great power in you.

But you still need to resist old patterns that pull your eyes away from Him. Whether they come from a traumatised childhood, rejection, or other beliefs that have made you prone to lies and assumptions, “I’m not good enough…I’ll never change…This is just who I am…”, they’re not true!

You have the Almighty God who loves you. You have the authority and power to cast them down. So today, the question is not, “Do I have the power?” The question is: “What am I looking at? What am I agreeing with? Will I agree with lies? or agree with God? so that I declare in faith: “Yes, I belong to God. Your incomparable power is at work in me. I can be changed.”

Prayer:

Yes, Lord, worthy is Your name. You deserve all our praise, honour, and worship. Thank You, Jesus, for becoming the Lamb of God to rescue us from sin and death. Not only that, thank You for making us Your glorious possession.

We give You thanks. Like Paul prayed, we now ask You to give us the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that we may know You better.

We renounce a survival mindset that has kept us stuck. We choose to trust You as our Father. We choose to embrace Your Kingdom principles. Holy Spirit, help us to replace every lie with Your truth.

Open the eyes of our hearts, so that we may see the hope of salvation, the riches of our glorious inheritance in You, and experience Your incomparably great power at work in us, transforming us to be more like You. Amen!

Small Group Discussion Questions

1, In your own life, what do you tend to focus on most, today’s problems or God’s bigger purpose? What does that reveal about your priorities?

2, What does ‘the hope of His calling’ mean to you personally? How might your daily life change if you truly lived with that hope in mind?

3, Have you ever noticed a ‘survival mindset’ in yourself? (e.g. fear, control, assuming the worst, difficulty trusting) Can you share an example?

4, What lies or negative beliefs do you find yourself agreeing with? What truth from God’s Word can replace those lies?

5, Paul says God’s power is already at work in us, do you believe that? What is one area in your life where you need to rely on His power instead of your own strength?