Jesus Christ has saved us (those who have trusted in Him and His finished work) by His own shed blood on the cross. He went to Calvary to die for the sins of the world. He knew no sin, but instead was made sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:21). He died for our sins, was buried, and rose again the third day (1 Cor. 15:3,4). All we have to do is believe!
He has also called us with a holy calling. The word
“calling” means an invitation. The word “called” means to call aloud. God has
called aloud to us with a holy calling or invitation to do His will and to walk
in Him.
Ephesians 1:18-20 The eyes of your understanding
being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what
the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is
the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the
working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him
from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
Paul prays that we believers should know three things. These
three things will help us with our walk in the Lord.
- We are to know what the hope of His calling is. God has called us wit a holy calling. He has called aloud to us to walk worthy (Eph. 4:1) of that calling with which we were called into. There is a hope that goes along with that calling too. That hope is called a blessed hope in Titus 2:13. In 1 Thessalonians, the saints (dead and alive) will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. This meeting is called the Rapture. It will take place before the tribulation. We have a heavenly hope to reign with Christ in Heaven, while Israel had and earthly hope where they will in the future reign with Christ on the earth.
- We are to know what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in saints is. God has an inheritance in us just as much as we have an inheritance in Him. Eph. 1:11 says that “in Him we have obtained an inheritance.” And in verse 13 and 14, the Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance and we are sealed for the day of redemption (Eph. 4:30). In verse 14, it says we are His purchased possession. We belong to Christ now. We have been redeemed.
- We are to know what the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe is. The same power that raised Christ from the dead and the same power that saved us and called us with a holy calling is the same power that now works in us (Eph. 3:20).
God now gives us the power to walk in Him. To know these
things is to appreciate what we have in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ even
more. To know what our hope is, that God has an inheritance in us, and that He
gives us the power to walk worthy of that calling that He has called us into is
to give us the strength to be able to walk in Him. We can now do good works,
which God had prepared beforehand that we should walk in them (Eph. 2:10),
because of what Christ has done for us. The law of Moses couldn’t do this for
us. All it did was condemn us (Rom. 3:19-20). But now, because of the law of
the Spirit the righteous requirement of the law is now fulfilled in us; because,
we walk according to the Spirit not after the flesh (Rom. 8:2-4).
Also, read Colossians 1:9-11 and Philippians 1:9-11.
