The Work of the Father

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. (Ephesians 1:17-19 NIV)

These are very familiar verses and, whilst familiar, it is easy to miss what they are really saying. And so, I'd like to take a few moments to remind us of the depth of truth and revelation these few sentences contain. 

First of all, and Paul emphasises this, God is revealed as being the glorious Father. This God whom we love and worship is our Glorious Father, just as he is the Father of Jesus. That emphasis is not accidental, it is a deliberate reminder for us of who God really is, he is our Father. 

Then we read of a gift. A gift we are given. A gift given by the Father. He gives us the very thing we need to enable us to see who he is. We are given a spirit of wisdom and revelation which allows us to change our perception of who God is. Wisdom is often personified in the person of Jesus and revelation comes to us by and through the Holy Spirit. Here we have the other members of the Trinity helping us to see that God is our real Father. 

Paul's prayer is that we would come to know the Father and then get to know him better. A growing revelation and experience of who the Father is and who he wants to be to us. This revelation leads to the eyes of our heart being opened so we see him and so we also see who we really are. We come into a greater understanding of who we have been called to be (sons and daughters) and as we live in sonship so we discover the inheritance the Father has given us in Christ.

In fact, this all originates in the heart of the Father. At the start of the chapter we read why God wants us to see who he is and who we are:
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The Father has blessed us with with every spiritual blessing. 
The Father chose us before the creation of the world. 
The Father gives us the full rights of sonship. 
The Father made it possible for our sins to be forgiven through Jesus.
The Father made known to us the mystery of his will. 
Through Jesus, the Father gives us an inheritance. 

It's no wonder he wants us to know who he is when there's so much he wants to give us! 

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