His Inheritance
Ephesians 1:18-23 ISV
(18) Then, with the eyes of your hearts enlightened, you will know the hope of his calling, the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints,
For the one in the middle of a job loss, family break-up, personal failure, financial disaster, or physical/mental disability it might be acceptable to at least acknowledge the difficulty at hand. There indeed may be a necessity to bring that thing up before God, but it is interesting how Paul entered into prayer for His beloved Ephesians. He made his prayer for them to be all about Christ and the overabundance of provision that was part of His inheritance and His right as the Son of God. There were certainly issues that could have been discussed and addressed, but in the end it would not really matter the depth or extent of the difficulty, because there is way more than enough abundance in the incredible glorious inheritance in Christ than any opposing circumstance. Rather than proclaiming the apparent magnitude of any challenges before them, He instead chose to focus His prayer on the greatness of Jesus’ victory with regard to His body and its wholeness.
‘Riches’ imply the ability to acquire, gain, and stride in a manner that depicts indifference to the cost, technical difficulty, or physical ailment. Where there is opulence with regard to an inheritance, it has much more to do with the benefactors resources than the one who is set to inherit them. Also, once the relationship between them has been established, there is no more need for verification or validation. The provision is there because of who He is and has nothing to do with the present condition of any inheritor.
‘Among the saints’ indicates that everything about Jesus’ greatness towards us is a family affair, not a flying solo contest. If there is one thing that is realized and acquired with regard to this inheritance, it will be something that is ultimately family oriented, with kingdom purpose. Everything comes from Him and all glory will go to Him and His body.
There is an inheritance waiting to be presented to us today, but there will need to be a cutting away of anything that would dislodge our fixation on Jesus. As His power, might, goodness, love, and ability are the focus in praise and worship, we’ll begin to see Him as our source and provision for everything having to do with life and Godliness, along with an established place in His body.