Ephesians 1:15–19 (KJV)

Ephesians 1:15 (KJV) Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints,
Ephesians 1:16 (KJV) Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;
Ephesians 1:17 (KJV) 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:
Ephesians 1:18 (KJV) 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,
Ephesians 1:19 (KJV) And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,

In our focal passage of Ephesians 1:15–19, Paul makes explicit mention in verse 17 of the “Spirit of wisdom and revelation,” through whom we advance in the knowledge of God.

Observe that Paul uniquely identifies God as “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory.” It is no coincidence that he describes God this way. In other instances, Paul refers to Him as “the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,” “our Father,” and “the Father of lights,” among other descriptions. However, in this particular instance, Paul designates Him as the “Father of glory.”

Throughout Scripture, the names and descriptions given to God reveal something of His nature and character. Thus, the term “Father of glory” presents Him to us as the One from whom glory proceeds.

Further examination of verse 18 shows that the ministry of the “Spirit of wisdom and revelation” involves the enlightenment of the eyes of our understanding. Paul then gives three things this enlightenment is intended to make known to the Ephesians.

The first is the hope of His calling.

This notion of hope is critical. Verse 15 indicates that Paul was aware of the Ephesians' faith and love, both commendable traits, yet Paul still prays that they would come into a fuller knowledge of hope. First Corinthians 13:13 asserts, “And now abideth faith, hope, love.” These three virtues go hand in glove.

Thus, Paul's prayer does not necessarily mean that the Ephesians had no hope. Rather, it shows that faith and love alone did not exhaust what God wanted them to know. Their understanding also needed to be enlightened concerning the hope contained in His calling.

So Paul prays that they would receive revelation concerning the hope to which God had called them. Peter elsewhere describes this hope as “a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:3–4).

The Epistle to the Hebrews further expounds this hope as an anchor of the soul, sure and steadfast, which lays hold upon Christ, our High Priest, and holds us fast to Him until the very end.

The second objective, which is my focal point, concerns the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.

This is pivotal.

It is noteworthy that this revelation comes from “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,” as He enlightens the eyes of our understanding, or, as the Amplified Bible expresses it, “flooding your eyes with light.”

Paul's language therefore joins enlightenment, knowledge, and glory together. This same thought appears elsewhere in Paul's writing:

2 Corinthians 4:6 (KJV) For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

The Scripture above echoes the same pattern. God brings light into our inner beings. With that light comes knowledge, specifically the knowledge of the glory of God. And this glory is revealed in the face of Jesus Christ.

Here, Paul introduces the wonderful spectacle of THE FACE OF JESUS CHRIST.

This connection between God's shining face and the giving of light is not foreign to Scripture. Many Old Testament saints also spoke of the shining face of the Lord:

Psalms 31:16 (KJV) Make thy face to shine upon thy servant: save me for thy mercies' sake.

Psalms 119:135 (KJV) Make thy face to shine upon thy servant; and teach me thy statutes.

Psalms 34:5 (KJV) They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.

Concerning “glory,” we know from 1 Corinthians 2:7 that there is a hidden wisdom of God ordained before the world unto our glory. Now consider the Scripture below, whose context concerns the glory of the New Covenant in contrast to the ministry of Moses:

2 Corinthians 3:18 (KJV) But we all, with open face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

According to this passage, when we look into the mirror of God's Word, we, by faith, behold the glory of the Lord. And since the glory of God is revealed in the face of Jesus Christ, our beholding is ultimately fixed upon Christ as He is revealed to us in the Word.

This same Jesus is the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:24), and this wisdom was ordained before the world unto our glory (1 Corinthians 2:7). In Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3).

And because wisdom makes the face shine (Ecclesiastes 8:1), there is a beautiful connection here between Christ as the wisdom of God and the glory revealed in His face.

As we behold Him, we are changed into the same image from glory to glory. The glory we behold is not merely something we observe from a distance. By the Spirit, it becomes transformative. We progressively shine like Him as we are conformed to His image.

God has ordained that we be transformed by what we behold. Moses' face shone with the glory of God after he had been in God's presence. In the New Covenant, Paul presents something even more glorious: as we behold the glory of the Lord, we are progressively transformed into His image.

When we behold Christ as the wisdom of God revealed in His Word, His glory increasingly finds expression through our lives.

So the “Spirit of wisdom and revelation” comes to give us illumination in the Word of God so that we may know God more fully. In that illumination, Christ is revealed to us. As we behold Him, the wisdom of God, we are transformed from glory to glory by the Spirit.

This brings us back to Paul's prayer concerning “the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.” The glory is not merely external or distant. God has placed something of immeasurable value within His people.

And on closer inspection, the riches of this glory include Christ in us (Colossians 1:27) and are described as the treasure we possess in these earthen vessels (2 Corinthians 4:7).

Thus, the Spirit gives illumination; illumination gives us knowledge of Christ; Christ is revealed as the wisdom and glory of God, and as we behold Him, we are transformed. The riches of that glory are not merely something we await in the future. They are bound up with Christ Himself, who dwells in us.