Rabbi Schneider - God's Divine Destiny for You
I love this series because it gives me understanding as to how I should pray and what my prayers should be focused on. And when I know that I'm praying according to God's will, I then have confidence that He's answering and, and giving me those things that I'm asking for. And so what we're doing, beloved one, in this series is we're going through the New Testament, examining the prayers that the apostles pray that are prayers that are applicable for you and I today. And we can know that by focusing our prayers on the same themes, on the same concepts that the apostles prayed for, we could be confident of, number 1, that we're praying according to God's will; but secondly that He's granting us those things that we're asking for because when we pray according to His will, we can know that we've received what we asked for.
So I'm picking up where I left off last week. I'm in the Book of Ephesians, chapter 1, and I'm just gonna quickly read verse 15-16 there because I want to give a, a launch into where I want to go today. We covered this last week. Hear the Word of God. Paul said: For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers. Then he begins to pray: That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. Paul continued in verse 18: I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling.
Now I covered all that last week. I really want to encourage you to get the entire series on Apostolic Prayer because it's, it's a classic series that's gonna be applicable for you forever. And it's based on rock solid truth that could continue to impact your life for the rest of your journey here on earth. I covered all that, so I'm just gonna launch forward now. I'm not gonna go back and review because we've got a lot of material to cover.
So let's continue on. Paul says, number 1, that you will know what is the hope of your calling. I covered that last week. And then he continues. And he wants us to know: what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints. So let's think about this for a second. Paul is saying, listen, I am asking that the Father of glory will give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you will know, he said, the hope of your calling. He wants you to know who you are, why you're here, and where you're going. He wants you to have understanding of the most fundamental questions that we as humankind have in our lives: Who am I? How did I get here? Where am I going? What is my purpose? That's what Paul is asking for there.
And as you and I get to know God, we're gonna come into the sense, beloved, of having, get it now, a divine destiny. You know, often as people ask what their purpose is in life, and you know, that's a, that's a question we all need to ask. But I want you to know, the answer to that question is bigger than what you do for a living. And it's bigger than your ministry. The answer to what is your calling, it's bigger than what your job is or what your career is. And the answer to what your calling is, it's bigger than what you might do in the church, you know. It's not just that whether you're a teacher, or a pastor, or a helper, or, or whatever. You're, you're ministry is not your ultimate calling. Your ultimate calling, beloved, listen to me, is God Himself. Paul said it's in Him that we live and move. The Scripture writer said, It's in Him we live and move and have our being. God is the One, beloved, in whom we find our calling.
So Paul goes on to elaborate on this as he continues in the prayer. Listen with me, beloved one, as we continue in this journey in the Apostolic Prayer. Hear the Word of God. I'm gonna start in verse 18 again: I pray that the eyes of your heart might be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, get it now, we just got done talking about that. And how does Paul continue? And, he says, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints. Did you get that? Paul says, I am asking, I am asking God that He will show you, I'm speaking to you. He said, I'm asking God to show you what is the riches and the glory of His inheritance in you. Look again. I'm asking that you'll know what is the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints. That's you.
In other words, listen, you are precious to God. And Paul was praying that you'll know this. Inside you there is something so beautiful. He speaks of it as the riches of God's glory in you, listen to me, that is God's inheritance. Do you know that you are Jesus' inheritance? When Jesus gave His life on the cross, beloved, He didn't just do it to forgive us, as important as that is. But even beyond that He did it to purchase us for Himself. We're His inheritance We're what He gave His life for. We're what He shed His blood for. It's because of us that He took the, the nails in His hands, and the spear in His side, and the nails in His feet. He did it, beloved, to redeem us or to purchase us. Listen, God didn't just send Jesus on the cross to die for you, but He sent Jesus to give His life and to shed His blood to purchase you, beloved one, and to marry you.
So I want you to know how beautiful, beloved one, you are. You are beautiful to God. You are special, important beyond any words that I could use to, to, to give the weight to it that it needs to be given. And this is what Paul was praying for here; that you and I will have revelation on understanding the riches of the glory of God's inheritance in us; that we mean something special to God. That's why we're actually called, once again, the bride of Christ. That's why we're going, in Revelation, chapter 19, beloved one, to the marriage supper of the Lamb. That's where it all ends, the marriage supper of the Lamb, Revelation, 19. John writes: Blessed is he that's invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb. I'm telling you, you are someone so special to God. Your importance, your value, our significance is so much greater than any validation this world or any man and woman, or man or woman on earth could ever give us.
Let me say it again. Our value, your value and my value, is so much greater than this world could ever validate. If we're looking to the world to confirm to us how valuable we are, if we're looking to some man or some woman to, to validate us, to give us a sense of significance, we are gonna be utterly disappointed because the world and nobody in it can ever validate us in a way that measures how valuable we really are. Listen what Paul said again: I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, and get it now, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.
I meet so many, you know, single women in the congregation that I shepherd and pastor, that are divorced or have never been married, and they're spending so much time looking for a man. They, they, they think, If I could only meet the right man, if I could only find the right husband, if I could only get married. They somehow are in this delusion thinking that all their problems would be solved. But I want you to know, beautiful women of God, there is no man on earth that could ever affirm you in the way that Jesus affirms you. And this is what Paul was praying for. I pray that you would understand the riches of the glory of God's inheritance in you.
You see, you are the bride of Christ. And likewise, the same thing is true for many of us men. You know, we get our affirmation from our position in life, by what we do for a living. We think that by what we do for a living, or by how much money we have in the bank, or by how good looking we are, or how tall we are, or how great of an athlete we are, or by what women love us. Somehow men think that these things will validate them and give them a sense of self-worth and significance. But let me say to you men, that you are so much more important and so much more significant, and so much more valuable than the world will ever tell you. I don't care if you're the President of the United States, that fails in comparison to knowing how valuable and special you are to God Himself, the Creator of all things. And this is what Paul is praying for here; that we would understand the glory that's in us.
You see, there's something in us, beloved, that is so incredible, so wonderful, so beautiful. Think about this. We look at the human body and how ingenious the human body is. I mean think about it, the DNA of the human body, the sophistication of the human body. We begin to, we begin to overheat, so what does our body do? It has a built in intelligence that causes the body to begin to perspire to bring the body back down into normal temperature range. The incredible built in, divine, genius, intelligence in the human body is fascinating to study. The way, for example, if we get an infection, what happens? The body begins to create antibodies to combat that infection. And we could go on and on about the divine intelligence in the physical body and how wonderfully and fearfully we're made; that we can see that our mind is a greater computer than any computer system on earth. The ability of the eyes to see, to focus, to take in light, to be able to perceive light, these are so, so incredible.
But listen, even beyond the genius of God in the physical body, listen, is who you are inside. In other words, you and I, we know, are more than our physical body. And some of us have read accounts of people, for example, I just was reading an account of someone that was involved in a kayaking accident. And in the kayaking accident they, they went over a falls, their kayak tumbled, they got trapped under water. They clinically were dead. And they went to heaven and then came back to earth, and they described what they experienced there. And what they described was how their inner person left their body. And they literally talked about how they remembered looking down at their body as they were going to be with God in heaven. The point is, whether you believe that story or not, you and I are more than our body. These bodies are just houses that we live in. And the person inside the body, the hidden person of the heart, the real person, the soul, if you will, beloved, is so incredible.
Think about it again how incredible the human body is, but there's somebody inside your human body that's the real you, that's so incredible words can't explain it. And this is what Paul was praying for. He wants you to understand who the real you is, the glory of God in the real you. And he wants us to understand that this real you is God's inheritance and is the reason Jesus died to purchase us with His own blood. So listen to this sentence once again as we continue on. Paul says: 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.
And so Father, right now, we pray that You would give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation to understand, Father, who we are inside, and the glory of who You made us to be inside, and Father, the fact that we are Your inheritance. Cause us to understand, Father, how beautiful we are to You, how glorious we are in the inner person, and Father, of the fact that You love us so much that You sent your Son to purchase us for Yourself so that we could be partners with You in love. And Father, we thank You for answering this and granting this request because we know we're praying according to Your will. So Father, I know that when we ask You this with truly a sincere heart, really wanting this, I want to thank You, Father, that you'll answer that prayer every single time, in Jesus' name.
Now let's continue on. Paul continues in verse number 19. He's continuing on this theme. I am asking that Father will give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation. What's the next thing that Paul is asking that we would have a spirit of wisdom and revelation about? Let's continue that now in verse number 19. He says: And what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.
We're gonna keep going there in just a second 'cause he continues on the same theme. But taking a step back for a second, the general point Paul is making here is that you and I would comprehend, get it, that the same power that Father God used when He raised Christ Jesus from the dead is at work in our life. That same power that came into Jesus' body while He was in the tomb brought Him back to life, raised Him from the dead, that same power that pushed the stone from the tomb out of the way, that same power that raised Him higher, and higher, and higher, and higher, and higher from the earth to the very right hand of God, that same power that exalted Him to a place that's above every power to the name that's above every name, that same power, beloved one, is at work in your life and in my life. There is the power of the resurrection that's working in you and Paul wants us to understand that. This is why it's important to grasp that when we feel down sometimes, when we feel depleted sometimes, when we feel discouraged sometimes, God wants us to know that you know what? We're not gonna fall.
The psalmist says though we stumble, we will never fall. Why? Because the power that raised Jesus from the dead is at work in our life. And you know what? As you and I by faith keep on putting one step in front of the other step, and as we keep going forward, as we keep on persevering, as we keep on pursuing God, even when we feel discouraged, even if we feel bored, even if it seems as though nothing is happening, as we keep on putting one step in front of the other, waking up each day, thanking God, giving Him glory, trying to do right, disciplining ourselves, you know what is happening? Your inner man is being strengthened by the power that raised Jesus from the dead. It's a power, beloved, unlike any other power. That's why the Bible says that everything we go through, things past, things present or things to come can never separate us from His love. Why? Because of the power of the resurrection that's at work in our life.
I want you to know, beloved, God has a plan for you, and His plan is that you will continue to overcome. The Bible says he that's born of God overcomes the world. You see, the spirit that lives within you and I, that is the same spirit, get it now, that raised Jesus from the dead. Listen what Paul says again: I pray, in verse number 19, that you would understand the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead.
I want you to know, there is a power in your life that makes you unconquerable. Even as the grave couldn't hold Jesus down, there is nothing in your life, beloved, that will ever stop you. That doesn't mean that you'll never get discouraged. It doesn't mean you'll never have a bad day. But at the end of the day, it is what it means is that you are unconquerable, that you are an overcomer because the power that raised Jesus from the dead is focused on you; that Father God, He's looking at you from heaven. His eyes are ever upon you. You're the apple of His eye. And the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is being exerted on your life from Father on high. And that makes you a winner. That makes you a victor. That means that because of the love of God you will never be defeated. And you know what? God wants you to know this and this is what Paul was praying for.
So Father, we ask that You would grant us a spirit of wisdom and revelation to understand that the same power that raised Your Son from the dead is at work in our lives today. Thank you, Daddy God. We love You in Jesus' name.