Word of Encouragement (5/5/2021)
We are reflecting on Paul’s prayer in Eph. 1:16-18. The main petition of this prayer asks God to grant knowledge to us through the Spirit of wisdom and revelation (v. 16). Paul prays for three things that we would come to know in the knowledge of Christ. The first is “the hope to which he has called you” (or, “the hope of his calling”).
To those who live in the flux of time, hope is a much-needed, invaluable commodity. We are trapped in the present, not knowing what the future will bring. Hope is what gives us the strength and courage and even anticipation to look forward to the future, especially when our present is less than desirable. Without hope, we will be dragged through the corridor of time rather than walking resolutely toward our destination with a sense of purpose. And hell is supposed to be a place of utter hopelessness.
Hope being so important, people hope and go on hoping. But not all hopes are the same. Some things are worthy of our hope. But others are like a mirage: instead of water, they have only dry sand for our thirsty hope. So then, it is a great blessing to have true hope. And Paul wants us to know the hope of God’s calling. Let us briefly reflect on why this is a great blessing.
First, this is the hope of His calling. This hope is anchored in God’s act of calling us, not in our will, or desire, or imagination. Therefore, this hope is true hope. Because it is anchored in God, who is true and faithful and almighty in power, it is absolutely reliable; it cannot fail us or disappoint us. Think also of God’s act of calling. In the beginning, God called everything into being out of nothing by the power of His Word. And when Jesus called Lazarus to come out of the tomb, even the power of death and grave could not keep him back and stop him from walking out of the tomb according to Jesus’ call. When the almighty God calls, nothing can resist it, not even nothingness and death: “[My word] shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it” (Isa. 55:11).
Second, to what has God called us as the object of our hope? In the previous section, Paul listed some of them. God chose us (which is the same as calling us) in Jesus Christ to be holy and blameless before Him (1:4)—not that we should be holy and blameless by our own effort but through faith in Jesus Christ. He called us unto adoption as sons through Jesus Christ (1:5) and gave us an inheritance (1:11), along with the Holy Spirit as the guarantee (1:14). (Paul uses the word “sons” not to mean that only males are called but to emphasize our right to inheritance because only sons were entitled to inheritance at that time.)
Imagine how abundant and rich our inheritance must be if we are the children of God, who is infinite in His love toward us and boundless in His riches! We are also told that our inheritance, unlike the inheritance of the land for the Israelites, is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading (1 Pet. 1:3). It is not something we will lose when we die, like the riches of this world. Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection for our redemption, death is no longer the terrible Thief, who steals everything away from us; it is now the Executor, who delivers the whole inheritance to us! How grand and great is our hope! What is more, this hope is already realized—we are already justified as holy and blameless in Christ—even though it is yet to be fully consummated on the last day. We hope as those who have received a non-refundable deposit from God, who will not default on His promise. May you find rest and security in this hope, even today!