God's Eternal Purpose For Us In Him

GOD’S ETERNAL PURPOSE FOR US IN HIM

Eph. 3:14-21

Good Advice

Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully. Don’t believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want. When you say, "I love you," mean it. When you say, "I’m sorry," look the person in the eye. Never laugh at anyone’s dreams. People who don’t have dreams don’t have much.

Don’t judge people by their relatives. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson. Smile when picking up the phone, the caller will hear it in your voice. Cited on Andy chaps The Funnies

1. For this cause, I bow my knees. That you may not faint, but persevere. Paul is saying I frequently pray to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus. The apostle prays to God the Father that they may not faint; and he bows his knees in this praying. What can any man think of himself, who, in his addresses to God, can either sit on his seat or stand in the presence of the Maker and Judge of all men? Would they sit while addressing any person of ordinary respectability? If they did so, they would be considered very bad mannered indeed. Would they sit in the presence of the king of their own land? They would not be permitted so to do. Is God then to be treated with less respect than a fellow human is? Paul kneeled in praying, Acts 20:36: “he knelt and prayed with them.” 21:5: “There we knelt, prayed.” Stephen kneeled when he was stoned, Acts 7:60: “he fell to his knees.” Peter kneeled when he raised Tabitha, Acts 9:40: “Peter knelt and prayed”. Many parts of this prayer bear a strict likeness to that offered up by Solomon, 2 Chronicles 6:1, 13 He kneeled down upon his knees before all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands towards heaven . The apostle was now dedicating the Christian Church to God. He is praying for those blessings, which should ever rest on it; and he kneels down after the example of Solomon, and calls upon him to whom the first temple was dedicated, and who had made it a type of the Gospel Church.

2. Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named. Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ on earth, the spirits of just men made perfect in a separate state, and all the holy angels in heaven, make but one family, of which God is the Father and Head. Paul does not say, of whom the families, as if each order formed a distinct household; but he says family, because they are all one. All this family obtains its origin and being from God. Children derive their name from him who is the father of the family. So holy persons in heaven and earth obtain their being and their holiness from God, and therefore bear his name. Christ gives the name of Christians to all the real members of his Church upon earth. They are all the sons and daughters of God Almighty.

3. That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man.

This prayer of the apostle is one of the most grand and uplifting in the whole revelation of God. The riches of the grace of the Gospel, and the extent to which the soul of man may be saved here below, are most definitely pointed out here. Every word seems to have come immediately from heaven. No paraphrase can do it justice, and few commentators seem to have entered into its spirit; perhaps prevented by its unequaled wonder. Let us look at the phrases and let His word speak to us.

a. That he would grant you. You can expect nothing from him but as a free gift through Christ Jesus. May this be the passion of your heart when you pray to God?

b. According to the riches of his glory. According to the measure of God’s own eternal fullness. God’s infinite mercy and goodness being the gauge according to which we are to be saved and be blessed. In giving to God, it is a blessing that every one should give according to his ability. We are to give as God has given to us no matter if we are very poor or very rich. God acts up to who He is and gives out of His vast absoluteness according to the riches of his glory and grace.

c. To be strengthened with might. You may have many enemies who are sly and strong.

You may have many trials, too great for your natural strength.

You may have many temptations, which no human power is able successfully to resist.