Please find my teaching notes below for Pt. 2 of the “Chosen to Believe” series- What God Wants You to Know About Why He Chose You!  For the audio/video link of this teaching click HERE.  (c) 2014, Terry Broadwater

IT CAN POTENTIALLY CHANGE EVERYTHING WHEN YOU KNOW WHY YOU’RE WANTED!

HOW CAN YOU KNOW WHAT GOD WANTS YOU TO KNOW ABOUT WHY HE CHOSE YOU??  Eph. 1:15-23

FOUR times Paul uses the word “KNOW” in this text- (Greek- “Epignosis”) meaning “precise, accurate, expert knowledge!”  EX. It’s one thing to know about car engines; it’s quite another to have the expert knowledge of a mechanic. Paul’s prayer was that through a “spirit of wisdom and revelation”, the Ephesians would come to know WHO God is and WHAT He WANTS for our lives in a deeper, more perfect way that changes everything!

In Ephesians 1:15-23, Paul is praying that God would give “the people of God” a spirit of wisdom and revelation to TRULY KNOW GOD- YES, WHO God is, but also WHY he chose us and WHAT that means!

In 1:17-19, he elaborates- namely, that God wants us to know FOUR ESSENTIALS ABOUT our salvation that’s both encouraging and empowering for us to KNOW!

God wants us to KNOW ABOUT HIM BETTER! v. 17 “…asking the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, to give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you will KNOW him better.”

God wants us to KNOW ABOUT THE HOPE to which He’s called us!  v. 18a “I pray also that you will have greater understanding in your heart so you will KNOW the hope to which he has called us….”

God wants us to KNOW ABOUT HOW RICH AND GLORIOUS His blessings are!  v.18b “…and that you will KNOW how rich and glorious are the blessings God has promised his holy people.”

God wants us to KNOW ABOUT HOW GREAT His power is!  v. 19 “And you will KNOW that God’s power is very great for us who believe.”

How can we KNOW ABOUT these things?  God must give us a “spirit of wisdom and revelation” and “greater understanding in our hearts!”

Eph. 4:18 “Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him.”

Paul describes a culture, much like ours, of people who DON’T KNOW GOD because they can’t see him for who he truly is and don’t necessarily want to KNOW ABOUT who he really is!  In other words, sin blinds the minds of unbelievers and renders them incapable of understanding the truth of the gospel, UNLESS GOD OPENS THEIR EYES!

2 Cor. 4:4, 6 “Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God…  6 For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could KNOW the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.”

But here, Paul is writing to believers (“saints,” “us who believe,” 1:18, 19) so we have DEEPER INSIGHT!

Basically, Paul “prays” we will have an INTELLECTUAL AND EMOTIONAL grasp of WHO God is and WHAT he does for us!  THE APPLICATION is that as “believers in God through Jesus Christ” we ALWAYS need ongoing WISDOM and REVELATION!

KNOW ABOUT GOD BETTER  V. 17 “…asking the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, to give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you will KNOW him better.”

How do you know someone “better?”  You go deeper in the relationship, more intimate, go beyond the surface.  The Greek word here means “full disclosure, take the cover off!”

A “spirit of wisdom” comes from READING and STUDYING God’s Word, the Bible.  Gaining understanding in what the Bible says ABOUT God.  A “spirit of revelation” comes from RESPONDING to what you’re reading by realizing this is the BEST way for you to live.

Revelation has to do with the imparting of knowledge (in context) of spiritual things whereas wisdom has to do with the proper use of such knowledge in our daily lives.

It’s having SPIRITUAL INSIGHT.  Insight is having clear and deep perception, apprehension.  The Spirit of God enables you to know and see beyond your human capacity!  Paul wants us to have insight into what it means to be “in Christ”- be more than a follower, be someone who is taking on the very character of Christ!

KNOW ABOUT THE HOPE TO WHICH GOD HAS CALLED YOU  V. 18 “I pray also that you will have greater understanding in your heart so you will KNOW the hope to which he has called us…”

In Phil. 4:4 Paul talks about the “hope of YOUR calling.”  Here he says, the “hope of HIS calling.”  What’s this about?  It means God took the initiative for our salvation.  He CALLS everyone to be saved.  But then Jesus says this: Matt. 22:14 “Many are called, but few are chosen!”  Sadly, “many” ignore the initiative and invitation God has made and choose not to choose him!

Rom. 8:30 “And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.”  

PREDESTINED here means “a sequence; something doesn’t exist without a further element.”  It means, “YES, God called you to be saved AND further called you to be LIKE CHRIST!

SALVATION DOES YET DOESN’T REST ON OUR CHOOSING CHRIST!  What??  2 Tim. 1:9 “He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time…”

AND THAT IS “THE HOPE!”  That we can KNOW God has chosen us to be saved and to be like his Son- to KNOW it is possible the more we grow in the wisdom and revelation of WHO God is, WHAT God does for us, HOW we can live the best life possible IN CHRIST!  Each day we can, and must, CHOOSE to live in that hope, because this is God’s promise!

KNOW ABOUT HOW RICH AND GLORIOUS GOD’S BLESSINGS ARE  V. 18b “…and that you will KNOW how rich and glorious are the blessings God has promised his holy people.”

What a prayer!!  God wants you to know just how RICH you are in Christ!  We talk about that all the time, and it is true.  We are greatly blessed to know God, have salvation through Jesus Christ, have power and authority…

BUT WHAT IF THERE’S ANOTHER INTERPRETATION HERE??  NASB V.18 “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of HIS INHERITANCE IN THE SAINTS…”

Talk about revelation, knowing something profound and life changing!!  In other words, it’s NOT just about how blessed I am to know God, BUT that God KNOWS ME and I BELONG TO HIM!!  God KNOWS you!  He KNOWS the POTENTIAL you have in Christ!  That’s profound!!!

GOD WANTS YOU TO KNOW THAT YOU WILL SHARE IN CHRIST’S GLORY!

Col. 1:27 “For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory.”

Eph. 5:27 “…that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.”

Either way you interpret Paul’s prayer, whether we are heirs to a vast fortune in heaven or whether we are God’s special inheritance (both are true), the application is the same. We must live as citizens of heaven who belong to God.  We must live as saints, God’s holy ones, separate from this evil world.

KNOW GOD’S POWER IS GREAT  V. 19 “And you will KNOW that God’s power is very great for us who believe.”

Paul doesn’t merely pray we’ll know God’s great power, but “that power is the same as the great strength 20 God used to raise Christ from the dead and put him at his right side in the heavenly world. 21 God has put Christ over all rulers, authorities, powers, and kings, not only in this world but also in the next. 22 God put everything under his power and made him the head over everything for the church, 23 which is Christ’s body. The church is filled with Christ, and Christ fills everything in every way.”

WOW!!!  In other words, THERE ISN’T ANYTHING THAT GOD CAN’T RAISE US UP FROM!  Because everything Jesus accomplished, HE DID FOR THE CHURCH- YOU AND ME!

Again, salvation is not a joint project!  Jesus DIED FOR YOU!  Jesus DEFEATED DEATH, HELL, AND THE GRACE FOR YOU!  Jesus has DOMINION OVER ALL THINGS FOR YOU!

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR YOU??  It means you can KNOW just how powerful that is, and because you are “in Christ” you also can DIE TO SIN, DEFEAT SATAN, and have DOMINION THROUGH SUBMISSION TO CHRIST!

GOD WANTS YOU TO KNOW ABOUT THE POWERFUL LIFE THAT’S POSSIBLE BECAUSE HE CHOSE YOU IN CHRIST!

Talk about this next weekend in Pt. 3- but read it this week!  Eph. 2:1-10 

It’s like having the “ultimate bodyguard!”  People with bodyguards always feel more powerful than they really are!  You can pick a lot of fights if you’ve got Chuck Norris with you everyday!  Paul wants us to know just how powerful we are with Jesus in our lives!

2 Tim. 1:12 “I am suffering now because I tell the Good News, but I am not ashamed, because I know Jesus, the One in whom I have believed.  And I am sure he is able to protect what he has trusted me with until that day.”

1 Peter 1:5 “God’s power protects you through your faith until salvation is shown to you at the end of time.”

Jude 24-25 “Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault. 25 All glory to him who alone is God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. All glory, majesty, power, and authority are his before all time, and in the present, and beyond all time! Amen.”

So, maybe things aren’t perfect right now, there’s challenges, maybe even sin in your life… GOD KNOWS ABOUT ALL THAT!  That’s why he wants you to KNOW ABOUT SOME THINGS!  He wants to give you a “spirit of wisdom and revelation” to KNOW WHY HE CHOSE YOU and WHAT IS YOURS WHEN YOU CHOSE HIM!

To KNOW ABOUT GOD BETTER!  To KNOW ABOUT THE HOPE OF HIS CALLING!  To KNOW ABOUT HOW RICH AND GLORIOUS GOD’S BLESSINGS ARE!  To KNOW ABOUT GOD’S GREAT POWER

Maybe today you need to choose God, choose salvation in Christ…