Spiritually Experientially Conscious

Excerpt from John Piper:  The Immeasurable Greatness of His Power Toward Us

So I say it again, my message for believers (and all who will listen) is this: The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and what became of him after his resurrection, shows the greatness of God’s power toward us now in this life. Sum it up with three words: resurrection power now—to live and die for the glory of Christ.

In Ephesians 1:15-23, Paul is praying for believers. He is concerned with the very thing I have been talking about—believers who do not feel the power of God in their lives now. He knows he cannot change this. Only God can. That is why he is praying. But he does write the prayer. And I am preaching a sermon. Knowing things matters when it comes to deep change in our hearts. God answers prayer through what he has given us to know.

What is he praying for? We are going to focus on the answer in verse 19. But glance first at Ephesians 1:17-18. Paul is praying “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 . . .” So boil it down to this. Paul is praying, and I am praying and preaching, that God would enlighten the eyes of your hearts—that is, take the dullness away that I referred to earlier—so that you may know . . . . something.

And the “knowing” here is not the kind of knowing the devil has. In one sense, the devil knows these three things that Paul is about to mention. That’s not the kind of knowledge Paul is praying for. He means “know” in the sense of conscious experience. It’s the difference between knowing this brown stuff is honey because of the label on the jar, and knowing this is honey because of tasting it. The devil doesn’t taste the wonder of this knowledge. Paul is praying we would know with the knowledge of conscious experience.

He wants us to know three things, and we are only concerned with the third. Verses 18-19: “. . . that you may know [1] what is the hope to which he has called you, [2] what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and [3, the one we are concerned with] what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe.” He’s not praying that we get the calling, or become heirs, or get the power. He is saying: You have the calling; you are heirs; you have the power of God toward you, and you don’t know them as you could and as you should. I want you to know them. I am praying that you may “know . . . the immeasurable greatness of his power toward you who believe” (verse 19). He is praying that we would be spiritually experientially conscious of God’s power toward us as believers now.