God's Light Show

That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which He has called you, what are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints (Eph 1:17-18).

I love a great light show. Concerts. Sporting events. It really doesn't matter. Spotlights. Colored gels. Lasers. 

While those are cool, Paul writes about another light show that makes those look like a burned out bulb. He prays that we could witness God's light show.

The apostle is in a Roman slammer because of Jesus (Eph 3:1). He's trying to prepare his friends back in Ephesus for a heresy that's running through the region. 

Some spiritual snake oil salesmen have duped folks down the road in Colossae that Jesus may have saved them but they've got to keep themselves saved by following a very specific set of religious rules (Col 2:8, 16-23). 

Paul knows that the best way to prevent believers from falling for a counterfeit is to be captivated by the real deal. So he tells them to sit back and take a long, glorious look at who Jesus is and what He's done. 

That's exactly what we see in Ephesians 1:3-14. Immediately after that, the apostle lets his friends back in Ephesus know that he's praying for them (Eph 1:15), thanking God for what He's doing in and through this church (Eph 1:16).

But Paul's prayer doesn't stop there. He prays that God will crank up His glorious light show. 

He asks "that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which He has called you, what are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints" (v17). 

Flip on the heavenly spotlight. Turn on the colored gels of glory. Fire up the Shekinah lasers. Let God's light illuminate His amazing goodness to us. 

When we get a glimpse of His grace, our jaws will hit the floor. The apostle knows that once we see that, no crummy imitation will capture our attention.

The man from Tarsus asks God to "give you a spirit of wisdom" (v17). And why wouldn't he ask for Him for that. 

He's a giving God. He's a gracious God. It's just what He does. It's just who He is. He's a Giver. He gives and He gives and He gives. 

Paul asks that God blow the Ephesians' doors off with a "revelation in the knowledge of Him" (v17). 

He's NOT talking about a simple, sterile head knowledge of facts about God. He's asking Jesus to reveal Himself in an overwhelming, personal and experiential way to the folks back in Ephesus. 

The apostle has made this knowledge of Jesus the entire focus of his life. Everything else is just a big steaming pile compared knowing Him (Phil 4:8). 

The apostle asks God to crank up His light show so his friends can see and know Jesus for who He is and what He's done.

Paul prays that God would light things up so that we would have "the eyes of your hearts enlightened" (v18). He uses the Greek verb photizo/φωτιζω, which means to shine a light, illuminate, bring to light. 

The grammar is also, um, illuminating as well. The verb photizo/φωτιζω is in the perfect passive tense. 

What the what? Well, the passive means you don't turn on the light, God does. He's the one flipping the switch. And the perfect lets us know that once He turns it on His light it's ALWAYS on! 

When Jesus fires up His light show, it stays on. And on. And on.

The reason Paul asks God to turn on His light is so that "you may know what is the hope to which He has called you" (v18). 

What hope is he talking about? Hope isn't a what. Hope is a who. And that who is Jesus. "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col 1:27). He is the hope. He is OUR hope. He is YOUR hope!

Paul prays that God will flip on the lights so that we'll be blown away by what He's given us now and what's headed our way. He hopes we'll see "the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints" (v18). 

In other words, he asks the Lord to kick on His search light so we can see everything described in Ephesians 1:3-14. The apostle calls us to go back and let God shine His holy light on His breathtaking Tsunami of Blessings (Eph 1:3). 

He's handpicked each one of us in Jesus before creation (Eph 1:4). He decided a long, long time ago that we would be part of His royal family (Eph 1:5). Jesus used His very blood to get us out of spiritual bankruptcy and forgive our rebellion (Eph 1:7). 

God has pulled back the curtain and let us see that His entire plan all along has been to bring the broken universe back together in Jesus (Eph 1:9-10). 

In Jesus we're heirs to the royal inheritance (Eph 1:11). God even makes the divine down payment of His Holy Spirit so we can be sure of that inheritance (Eph 1:12).

What a light show! Paul asks God to shine His spotlight on all that He's given us. His blessings dazzle. Our inheritance sparkles. His grace shimmers. 

Let your jaw drop. Take it all in. It's phantasmagorical! Enjoy the show. 

Look at His goodness that He's graciously given you and continues to shower upon you. This is no lame laser show at the planetarium. 

It's Jesus. The Light of the world (Jn 8:12). "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you" (Is 60:1).

God's light show. Once you see it, you'll never forget it.

©2013

Jay Jennings