“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 1:18)
Ephesians chapter 1 verse 18 is an interesting verse and I want to share a few passages of scripture, which teach that God’s people are His inheritance. We read in Deuteronomy 32:9, “For the LORD’S portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.” We also read in Psalm 28:9, “Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance: feed them also, and lift them up forever”.
A similar concept is found in the New Testament where Peter, writing to Christians in Asia Minor says in 1 Peter 2:9, “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light”.
This petition of Paul in Ephesians chapter 1, is a request that Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ might come to see that they are special to God, that they are what He considers to be His inheritance. With that in mind, let us consider together something of “the riches of the glory” which God has invested in His saints.
Consider with me first how God has invested a wealth of wisdom in order to save His people and make them His inheritance. God’s decision to have a people for Himself was not a spur-of-the-moment thing. We can see from the earlier part of Ephesians Chapter 1 that it was “before the foundation of the world” that God chose a people to “be holy and without blame before Him in love.”
When Paul speaks about this matter, he breaks out into the doxology of Romans 11:33, “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!”