Man’s Part – God’s Part – Faith’s Part

Puzzle_Pieces-webby Rex Rouis

In the first chapter of Ephesians, Paul describes the things he prays for when he prays for believers.

Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: 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, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fullness of him that fills all in all. Ephesians 1:15-23

He prays that God would give them a ‘spirit of wisdom and revelation’ and that he would open the ‘eyes of their understanding’ concerning three important areas, they are:

1. Man’s Part

“..the hope of his calling..” – A Christian is expected to know their calling and the will of God for their lives. God has a hope and a plan for each of us. It takes time and effort to find it. Sometimes it takes years before we get a true sense of God’s will and where we are in it. Once we know that we can adjust our lives and establish priorities. There is great peace in knowing what we are meant to be and to do.

Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Ephesians 5:17

We cannot fulfill the will of God if we do not know the will of God. It is not sufficient to assume that whatever happens to us is God’s will. If that were the case then we would not need to have our eyes opened to the hope and the plan of His calling. Finding our calling is our responsibility.

2. God’s Part

“..the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints..” – God did great things for us through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We have been adopted into the family of God and we have received a rich inheritance. We must learn what this inheritance is and how to use it. An inheritance is no good if it is not found and executed. He has given us everything we need and it is waiting for us.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Ephesians 1:3

His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue. 2 Peter 1:3

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God.  II Corinthians 5:17, 18a

He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not also with Him freely give us all things? Romans 8:32

3. Faith’s Part

“..the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe..” – We access God through faith. It is the single most important concept in the New Testament after the love of God (John 3:16). Jesus mentions faith repeatedly, and cites it as the reason people were healed. But how powerful is faith? Is it sufficient to fulfill our calling? Our ability to carry out our part is based on a combination of His grace and our faith. We know that His grace is sufficient, but we also need to know that the power of our faith is sufficient.

Simply said, the amount of power accessible through faith is equal to the power God exerted when He raised Christ from the dead. That should be more than sufficient

And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, (it is) 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, Ephesians 1:19, 20

God did great things in us, and now through grace and faith we can do great things for Him. He has done His part and now we must do ours. What we need to do now is to understand and experience the power that is resident inside of us through faith.

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, Ephesians 3:20

God did great things in us, and now we should do great things for Him

Comments

    1. Author

      George – Thank you and God bless. The ball is truly in our court with God.

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