Eyes of Faith - Ephesians 1:15-23 I Evan Wilkerson

Evan Wilkerson closes out Ephesians 1 by tracing Paul's prayer for spiritual eyes, showing through a story of unexpected obedience in a parking lot how believers can know God not just intellectually but intimately, which enables us to grasp the hope, the inheritance, and the resurrection power that already belong to us.

Main Points:

• In October 2017, Evan sensed the Holy Spirit directing him to a specific neighbor's car window. When a startled couple rolled it down, the wife broke into tears because their son had just been arrested for heroin possession. Faith lets us see beyond the natural into what the Spirit is already doing.
• Paul thanks God for the Ephesians' faith and love, not just saving faith but practical, everyday trust that God will provide, protect, and lead. He also praises their agape love for one another, the same love Jesus modeled by washing his disciples' feet before commanding them to do likewise.
• The word "knowledge" Paul uses is not mere information about God. As Martin Lloyd-Jones explains, it's an immediate, personal, relational knowing, the way a husband and wife know each other, not a theological fact sheet.
• Evan describes a night when his air conditioner broke in summer heat. His kids were cranky, and a fan he bought didn't even work, yet simply remembering God's loving presence kept him calm instead of losing his temper, showing how conscious awareness of God changes daily reactions.
• Paul prays believers would grasp three realities: the hope they've been called to (both a present reality and a future glory), the riches of God's inheritance in the saints (meaning believers themselves are God's treasured possession, not the other way around), and the immeasurable power available to those who believe.
• That power is demonstrated by nothing less than Christ's resurrection and his sitting at the Father's right hand above every rule and authority. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is the power now at work in and through every believer.
• The church is called "the fullness of him who fills all in all" because while Christ fills all creation, only the church fully acknowledges and submits to him. Believers are meant to reflect Christ's kingdom now, while awaiting his return to establish the new heavens and new earth.

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