Open Your Eyes!

Ephesians 1:15-23

Immanuel – 3/31/24

On some level we all feel it, the clock that is ticking away, the time that is running out, that one day we will all be laid, lifeless, in the ground. Everything that we love will go black and silent. And regardless of what you think happens once these eyes close, there is no greater dread than the dark finality of death.

And yet, because of the great love and mercy of our Creator, death need not swallow us. There is an escape, a hope, a resurrection.

Nothing in all human history, in all of existence, is more significant than the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth! His resurrection is that moment upon which all time pivots. For those who follow Jesus Christ, His resurrection is the most pivotal truth of your life; for it means your life, your everlasting life.

As Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.”

-John 11:25-26

Today’s message is for you, believers, whose life has been gripped by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I want you to see just how awesome is this hope we have in the Risen Christ, who has defeated our death, and called us up to unspeakable wonders!

And yet, if you sit in this room unconvinced, and today is more about tradition than devotion to Jesus, then I want you to listen in on what is true for every believer. As you listen, I pray your heart be opened to the awesome reality of immeasurable greatness of God’s power toward those who believe.

I want you to see this truth and know that I do not speak of things that are being kept from you. No! Rather, these things are being offered to you right now. All you must do is come to Jesus in faith.

Though I speak to believers, I deeply desire that what you hear would stir you in your unbelief, and make you yearn for things that death cannot steal.

Purpose

Believers, I want the eyes of your heart – of my heart – to see this awesome reality: The resurrection of Jesus Christ, and what became of Him afterwards, reveals the immeasurable greatness of His power toward those who believe.

Read vs 15-16

A Prayer

Our passage today is a prayer. The Apostle Paul has gotten word of the faith of the Ephesian Church, and the love they have for one another, and his heart is filled with thanksgiving. You get the sense that Paul is rejoicing over the Ephesian Church. Such joy is what moves him to pray for the church in Ephesus.

And what is it that Paul prays for?

Read vs 17-18a

See all those related words? Paul prays that God would give the saints wisdom, revelation, enlightenment, knowledge. All these words have to do with understanding something. But this is not understanding on the level of intellectual ascent, as if all God wants for us is more information in our brains. No! This is understanding on the level of experience. Know it because you live in it, you feel it, you can see it!

Let’s say you want to climb to the top of New York. You can read trip reports about Mount Marcy, look at maps, and watch YouTube videos. You can get together with friends who also want to climb Mount Marcy and talk about the very many challenges and rewards of reaching the summit. But all of that is nothing compared to actually standing atop the highest point of the Adirondacks: the accomplishment, the wind, the views for days, the balsam air and sun. All the talking and accumulation of information does not compare to the experience.

That is the kind of knowledge Paul is praying that believers would have: to know through experience. But there is a problem, and it is this problem that brings Paul to his knees.

In verse 18 we read, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened. Do you know what this implies? That though God has opened your eyes to see Jesus as supremely valuable, more precious than anything, your eyes are still dim.

It’s like living in a pitch-black cave and suddenly being brought into the brilliance of the noonday sun. Your eyes will tear and be blurry and you can’t help but try to shut them again – as if the darkness will somehow protect you from this new radiance. But what you need to do is open your eyes and see what the world truly looks like. You may have heard about these things in the darkness of the cave, but now it is time to experience and know.

Christians, our eyes are blurry and there is more to see! There is more we are to experience and know! And what is it that God wants us to see? Look at the three “whats” of verses 18-19. See if you can spot them as I read.

Read vs 18-19

Did you see them?

1. What is the hope to which He has called you – vs 18

2. What are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints – vs 18

3. What is the immeasurable greatness of His power towards us who believe – vs 19

If you believe in Jesus, there is a hope that God has called you to. There is a glorious inheritance, more valuable than all the earth’s riches that is yours in Christ Jesus. And both of these truths – your hope and your inheritance – come to you in this very moment through the immeasurable greatness of His power towards us who believe!

And then there is a hinge in Paul’s prayer, and everything pivots upon two words: according to. See that in verse 19: According to the working of His great might that He worked in Christ when…

We must not miss the flow of Paul’s logic. I grant that this is complex, especially when you realize that verses 15-21 are a single sentence. Paul loves long and complex sentences, and since we are not used to reading sentences like these, we can easily get lost along the way.

But see what Paul is doing here. The immeasurable greatness of God’s power towards us who believe accords with the working of His great might that He worked in Christ. This means that the same power God exerted to raise Jesus from the grave, and the power that lavished subsequent glories upon Him, is the same immeasurably great power that is at work towards you right now, in this very moment, and for every moment in your everlasting life!

Then, Paul lists five glorious resurrection truths that as the Father did for Jesus, so He also does for you.

1. As He raised Jesus from the dead, so will He raise us from the dead. (vs 20)

2. As Christ is seated at the right hand of God, so are we seated at the right hand of God. (vs 20)

3. As God defeated the powers of darkness before Christ, so have the powers of darkness been defeated for us. (vs 21)

4. As Christ reigns, so too do we reign. (vs 22)

5. As Christ is the fullness of God, so are we – together as the Church – the fullness of God. (vs 23)

I know. I know what I have just said sounds absurd, crazy. I know all this can sound like grandiose fantasies and ridiculous imaginations. But I assure you brothers and sisters, if you are in Christ, these things are true. We only have trouble seeing them with our dim eyes.

One at a time, I want to show you how Paul uses the rest of His letter to support these five callings, five glorious inheritances, five resurrection truths.

Resurrection truth 1. In verse 20 we see that as the Father raised Jesus from the dead, so has He raised you from the dead.

God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved. -Ephesians 2:4-5

This is both a spiritual and physical resurrection. Spiritually, you were dead in your sins and separated from God, strangled by your pride and drowning in selfishness, entirely unable to save yourself. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love toward us, made us alive together with Christ. By the greatness of His might, He freed you from the deadly grip of sin.

Your spirit lives! Christ has given you abundant life right now, filled with righteousness, hope, and joy, bursting with love. This is true life. Live it! O Spirit, give us the eyes to see this!

And when the day comes for these eyes to close, and for this body to end its function, there will not be a moment, not a millisecond, of separation from God in Jesus Christ. In that instant, you will be in His presence where there is fullness of joy. Gerry Scott and Audrey Price, two of our own that have recently passed, both know this living truth right now!

And more, on the last day, at the resurrection, God will raise our same bodies, but they will be made new. Your same hands and face and eyes, but they will be transformed, radiant, and they will not grow weary, or age, or fail. The Bible calls this glorification. Body and soul, you will be glorious – because of the immeasurable greatness of God’s power toward us who believe!

Again, because of God’s great love for you who believe, He lavishes upon you abundant life now and forevermore! Death has no hold over you! And what might a person do who is not afraid to die?

Resurrection truth 2. Verse 20 also says, as Christ is seated at the right hand of God, so are you seated at the right hand of God. Look at how Paul reiterates this in chapter 2.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us…raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. -Ephesians 2:4,6-7

Just as you have already been raised up – with Jesus – to life, so also are you seated with Him. God the Father has already seated you with Christ. Of course, this has nothing to do with some kind of literal throne. It means that if you have turned from your sins to believe in Jesus, God has given you the highest honor in all of heaven.

Of course, our honor does not mean that we shall be worshipped. It does mean that God looks upon us as His beloved sons and daughters. Is there a greater honor than to be called a son or a daughter of the living God? There is not!

We are His royal children, adopted, but family. And because we are honored as His family, He will show us the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us for all of eternity’s coming ages!

You are heaven’s royalty. Why are you so timid? Why do your insecurities so inhibit you? Because our eyes are dim. Be courageous, be bold, be secure. And be humble, because it is God’s power at work in you and not your own. You are nothing without Him.

Resurrection truth 3. We are His sons and daughters; if God is for us, who can be against us (Romans 8:31)? As we see in verse 21, as God defeated the powers of darkness before Christ, so have the powers of darkness been defeated for you.

These powers and dominions are demonic powers and dominions. We know this because of what Paul writes in chapter 6.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. -Ephesians 6:12

Paul then goes on to explain how, by faith, we can stand firm against all these wicked forces of darkness. And this should absolutely astound you! For what natural person can withstand the onslaughts of the supernatural forces of evil; these forces that devote their existence to your destruction? They would love nothing more than to see the sons and daughters of God be defiled and ruined. You have no power in yourself to hold back their bursting hatred for you! Can a grain of sand hold back the terror of a tsunami?

All those that surrender to their pride and selfishness, flooded by lusts and drown in their unbelief, these are the ones being swept away into eternal destruction – to the pleasure of those hateful forces of evil.

Brothers and sisters, you can only stand firm against our spiritual enemy because of God’s immeasurably great power toward us who believe! Though their temptations may splash up against us, and we are still afflicted by sins, God gives us the victory!

God has given you the power to resist the temptations and lies and doubts of the enemy. Satan’s work is to trip you up in sin and then accuse you and shame you for all the offenses you have committed. But on the cross Christ has taken those offenses upon Himself. The Father now looks upon you – sons and daughters – with nothing but love and forgiveness.

And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with [Christ], having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This He set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in Him. -Colossians 2:13-15

Now, by faith in Jesus Christ, Satan gets the shame, and we get the honor. The enemy gets nailed to the cross and we get to live in resurrection freedom! You are no longer condemned. Throw off your guilt and let His love swallow your fear; live now in resurrection freedom!

Resurrection truth 4. In verse 22 we see that as Christ reigns, so too do we reign. Jesus was given a name above every name, and all things have been put under His feet. In other words, He reigns over all!

In Ephesians 2:6 we read that the Father raises us up and seats us with Christ in the heavenly places. Yes, that is about honor, but is also about reign. The Bride of Christ will reign with Christ.

Elsewhere, Paul says, The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with Him, we will also live with Him; if we endure, we will also reign with Him; if we deny Him, He also will deny us; if we are faithless, He remains faithful. -2 Timothy 2:11-13

If we endure in faith, we will reign with Christ. But the reign of Christ is not one that is exerted through fear, or punishment, or proud self-promotion. As we read in Romans 14:17, the kingdom of God is experienced through righteousness, peace, and joy. So, as we live more fully in righteousness, peace, and joy, then we are reigning with Christ. And since His kingdom is not ours to keep, we work to bring righteousness, peace, and joy to others; thus extending His reign also to them.

How awesome to know that Christ will not bring this world into submission through violence and force, but through love! In other words, God is reconciling the world to Himself.

All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them. -2 Corinthians 5:18-19

God has made us His ambassadors and priests; He is reconciling the world to Himself through His Church. We are to extend His righteous reign. And it is not because we have the power to do so, but because of the immeasurable greatness of His power at work in us who believe!

That we would have eyes to see this present reality! Would we not spread the gospel of the kingdom of God throughout all the world?!

Resurrection truth 5. In verse 23 we see that as Christ is the fullness of God, so is the Church the fullness of God! Every one of these five resurrection truths are amazing, but this is the most surprising and, perhaps, the hardest to believe.

But listen to this: In chapter 3 Paul again prays that we would have experiential knowledge. And very similarly to chapter 1, Paul prays that we would, know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. -Ephesians 3:19

The fullness of God. If we would have eyes to see, truly see, the breadth, length, height, and depth of the love of God in a bloody cross and empty tomb, then that very love would flood our hearts. Rivers of living water will spill from us. The fullness of God dwelling in us, the Redeemed, the Bride of Christ.

Again, following the same theme of love, and now adding Christian unity as an expression of that love, Paul writes in chapter 4:

[Christ] gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

-Ephesians 4:11-13

When we are united in the faith, and in the experiential knowledge of Jesus Christ, then in our unity the fullness of the Son of God is made visible. Everywhere we go, so goes God’s fullness. And not because such fullness is our own, but because of God’s immeasurably great power towards us who believe, He rests His awesome fullness upon lowly sinners such as us!

So let us love one another, just as He has loved us. It’s what Christ has called us to: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” -John 13:34-35

We love those around us, and all peoples everywhere will know we are the disciples of Jesus. It’s because through love, we reflect the fullness of God. So carry one another’s burdens, rejoice with those who are rejoicing, weep with those who are weeping, outdo one another in honoring each other, consider others as more significant than yourself. And the immeasurable greatness of God’s power towards you will fill your life with His radiant fullness. All the radiant fullness of God!

Brothers and sisters, what would happen if our eyes were opened to these five resurrection truths? We would be fearless and free, steadfast against the enemy’s lies and temptations, flowing with love and joy, spreading the gospel everywhere we go! We would be alive, truly alive. It is a resurrection life to be lived not merely in the future, but now. For our life today streams forth from that empty Judean tomb.

Come out of the darkness, open your eyes, see this new life you have been given and the immeasurable greatness of God’s power at work in you.

And if the darkness still clings to you, if your heart is gripped by unbelief and your life hurtles toward death, then hear the words of Jesus once more:

“If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”

-John 7:37-38

“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

-John 11:25-26