Ephesians 1:15-23

…Ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, ¹⁶ I never stop giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. ¹⁷ I keep praying that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, will give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in knowing Christ fully. ¹⁸ I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know the hope to which he has called you, just how rich his glorious inheritance among the saints is, ¹⁹ and just how surpassingly great his power is for us who believe. ²⁰ It is as great as the working of his mighty strength, which God worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, ²¹ far above all rule, authority, power, and dominion, and above every name that is given, not only in this age but also in the one to come. ²² God also placed all things under his feet and made him head over everything for the church. ²³ The church is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.     (EHV)

Dear Friends in Christ,

Paul prays for his readers “that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened.” What can you see with “the eyes of your heart”? If I asked you to close your eyes for one minute, what would you see? Engineers and architects are good at seeing things before they’re even constructed. If you watch some of the renovation shows on HGTV, you know how some can see instant potential for reconfiguring a house.

The Apostle Paul was praying that Christians would be able to picture things in their minds that regular eyes can’t see—not imaginary things—real things that were and are and will be. God Himself wants us to see, to behold, to visualize, and remember the awesome things which Christ our King has already done, the things He is doing now for His Church, and the awesome things that are yet to come. He wants us to see the glory “far above all rule, authority, power, and dominion” that Christ was crowned with at His Ascension. He wants us to see the very real things Christ has done for us to procure our salvation. He wants us to see the heavenly places that Jesus lives in and is preparing for us. He wants us to see ahead to the glorious day of Christ’s returning to judge the living and the dead and begin the age to come.

As we commemorate the Ascension—the glorious coronation day of our Lord—let’s follow the invitation of Paul in the words the hymn we will soon sing: “Look, You Saints, the Sight Is Glorious!”

See How Rich His Glorious Inheritance Among the Saints Is

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know the hope to which he has called you, just how rich his glorious inheritance among the saints is….

The day Jesus ascended the disciples saw the first part of Jesus’ journey back to the Father. Then a cloud came and hid Him from their physical eyes. With those eyes, they kept staring, trying to see Him. Finally two angels appeared to them and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” Since that day, we believers see Jesus, but with the eyes of the heart. We see all that He has done. In fact we intentionally review Jesus’ life and ministry on earth, beginning with His birth as Son of God and Son of Man which we celebrated 5 months ago on Christmas. Through the festival half of the church year we have seen with the eyes of our hearts Jesus’ perfect, sinless life. We have observed through Holy Scripture how Jesus fulfilled every prophecy of His coming and His saving work, even offering Himself as the perfect Passover Lamb on Good Friday. With our physical eyes we have read the inspired accounts of the resurrection, so we can see our risen Lord with the eyes of our hearts. Through the eyes of faith we see how Christ has conquered death and Satan. Through the eyes of faith we can see how Jesus restored the Father’s warm and gentle smile toward us by earning us forgiveness, life, and salvation through the cross and the empty tomb. God now sees us as forgiven saints through faith as Paul prayed: that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know … how rich his glorious inheritance among the saints is.And that is what we now are in God’s eyes.

Because Christ has done all these things for us, through faith in Him, we stand to inherit something else we have not yet seen with our physical eyes, namely just how rich his glorious inheritance… is. One man was permitted to see it and God told him to describe it for all of us in Revelation. Saint John wrote: Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, because the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. And the sea no longer existed. ² And I saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. ³ And from the throne I heard a loud voice that said, “Look! God’s dwelling is with people. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them, and he will be their God. ⁴ He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain, because the former things have passed away.” ⁵ The one who was seated on the throne said to me, “Look, I am making everything new!” He also said, “Write, for these words are trustworthy and true.” ⁶ And he said to me: It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To anyone who is thirsty, I will give freely from the spring of the water of life. ⁷ The one who overcomes will inherit these things. I will be his God, and he will be my son. (21:1–7).

Can you picture it? Can you see it with the eyes of your heart?!

See His Surpassingly Great Power for Us Who Believe

With the eyes of our heart, we see what Christ has done, and what awaits us in the age to come. In some ways, that’s a little easier than seeing with the eyes of faith what Christ is doing for us right now as we speak. What we see with our physical eyes is how many things threaten us and our faith. In these last days, scary prophecies are being fulfilled: “The love of most will grow cold” just as Jesus foretold. “Many will fall away from faith,” He said. “They will betray each other and hate each other. Many false prophets will appear and deceive many people” (Matthew 24:12, 10–11). We see it all happening, and the persecution, too, that Peter has been talking about in our epistle lessons these past couple of weeks.

It is at just such a time as this, that we need to remember one more great truth of the Ascension—that Christ is truly ruling in heaven over all the events of the earth, for the good of His Church. Paul continues:

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know…just how surpassingly great his power is for us who believe. ²⁰ It is as great as the working of his mighty strength, which God worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places.

Did you watch any of the royal coronation ceremony of King Charles? Did you see all the majesty and ritual? Did you hear the sackbuts, those old-fashioned valveless trumpets that announced from the balcony the King’s entry into Westminster Abbey? That should make it easier to picture with the eyes of your heart what the Sons of Korah described prophetically in our Psalm—the great coronation Day of our Lord, for that is what the Ascension is. 

Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy. ² How awesome is the Lord Most High, the great King over all the earth! ³ He subdued nations under us, peoples under our feet. …⁵ God has ascended amid shouts of joy, the Lord amid the sounding of trumpets. ⁶ Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises. ⁷ For God is the King of all the earth; … ⁸ God reigns over the nations; God is seated on his holy throne. ⁹ The nobles of the nations assemble as the people of the God of Abraham, for the kings of the earth belong to God; he is greatly exalted (niv).

On His Ascension Day, Jesus was crowned King of Kings and Lord of Lords as He was seated on His throne at the right hand of God the Father almighty. When the disciples stood on the ground, they saw with human eyes only the very beginning of the royal ceremony as Jesus left for the coronation.

What they didn’t see—what we see with the eyes of the heart is the rest of the glorious events of that day. With trumpets blaring and choirs of saints and angels singing, heaven celebrated the victory of Christ with all it’s perfect fanfare. On that day Jesus was enthroned far above all rule, authority, power, and dominion, and above every name that is given, not only in this age but also in the one to come. What a day that must have been for saints and angels above! “Look, you Saints! The sight is glorious! See the man of sorrows now!” But that day was only the first day of Christ’s eternal rule. He is your King! He is your Sovereign! He governs and arranges all the events of the world for us, the members of His Kingdom. God also placed all things under his feet and made him head over everything for the church.

No matter how frightening or dark or powerful the forces of evil may appear as they loom on the horizons of our lives and our world, with the eyes of the heart we see Who is really in control. Jesus takes the battlefield for us, and He cannot lose! For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 6:12). But for us fights the valiant One Whom God himself elected!

He goes on before us, banner unfurled as we march behind Him to carry out the mission He gave us just before He began His ascent: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…” (Matthew 28:18–19).

Can you see it? Can you see your King and Hero with your heart’s eyes? Can you see the glory and majesty? We get anxious watching this passing world deteriorate with our human eyes. We begin to lose heart when we observe things going from bad to worse. But with the eyes of the heart we see our real homeland, our real kingdom and our true King. He is alive! He is seated at the right hand of the Father! He is more powerful than the devil and all His angels! And He is our best friend! What could be more glorious? And the better we see, the more determination and boldness we have to spread the Good News!

But there is still one more glorious thing to come. To the disciples who had watched him rise, two angels appeared and said: “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11).    May the eyes of your heart be enlightened! Use the eyes of faith and see what Christ has done! The Ascension shows that Jesus accomplished His mission! He defeated sin, death and the devil! See how He earned your salvation and has gone to prepare a place for you in the kingdom of Heaven. See Him at the right hand of God and know that He also fills the heavens and earth and is with you every day. With the eyes of your heart, picture the glorious, majestic day of His return. Let that vision strengthen you today and every day that you may “always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, for you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58). Amen.